Episode 31: The Dark Side of Meditation
Episode 31 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Christine Kupfer come on to the show to talk about the meaning of spiritual crisis and how these experiences are spoken about in religious and clinical settings.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
Why meditation has a dark side, contrary to its very positive perception in the West.
What we can do if we experience spiritual crisis and how can we try to prevent it.
How different traditions and clinical professionals talk about spiritual emergencies.
Dr Christine Kupfer is an independent researcher with a background in medical anthropology and education, and an expert in Rabindranath Tagore's philosophy. Her current work seeks to establish better materials for the difficult and challenging aspects of meditation - that people might encounter during and after their practice.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Meditation can be a challenging experience for many people.
”So it's definitely perceived as something positive: ‘Why don't we just all meditate? Why don't we all invest into this?’ Rather than seeing it as something that, in some situations might be really, really helpful, but maybe they are also some contexts or for some people it might not always be the best thing at that very moment.”
The language and direction styles meditation leaders use is critical when considering that anyone in the group may be at risk of encountering difficulty.
”There is a high likelihood that if a teacher has a group of meditators, there will be somebody with trauma experience. It's just very likely. And to know, for example: don't use breath as an anchor because that might be uncomfortable. Maybe you want to use sound instead or, you know, just being flexible, giving people choices so that they feel in control... maybe you want to keep your eyes open rather than closed, because that might take you into a different zone, a different space that is hard to deal with. These are things that can help to prevent entering into deeper difficulties.”
In her work, Christine interviewed a number of people suffering from spiritual crisis.
”I spoke with quite a few going through what they call the Dark Night of the Soul. Their world had turned black. They were close to suicide. Huge depression. And the thing that was most helpful to them was a form of submitting themselves, like, letting go and trusting. That was something that I don't think is quite there in the literature yet. It was just this moment of: 'Yes, there's absolute darkness, but I am trusting this process.' I found that really interesting.”
The best place to find Christine is here.
See you next week!
