#249 Meta-Awareness, Consciousness and Transcendental Meditation - My Anthropology Thesis

Siim Land (0:00)

Welcome to the Siim Land Podcast. I'm your host Siim Land, and today we have a special solo episode. If you didn't know, then I actually studied anthropology in the university, and I thought that it would be pretty interesting for me to talk about my thesis, which was called Transcending the Divide in One Self, An Enquiry over Body-Mind Dualism and the Nature of Consciousness in Transcendental Meditation. So basically, it's about how meditation affects your consciousness and sense of self from an anthropological perspective. In this episode, I'm just going to make my thesis into like an audiobook that you can listen to. If you like topics such as philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, quantum physics, and you'll also like to think about the nature of consciousness and the world around you, then this episode is going to be just for you. If you don't like these topics, then it might be a bit hard for you to listen to because the paper is written in quite academic words and phrases. But nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this unique episode of the podcast. This episode is brought to you by Kaatsu Training. Kaatsu Bands incorporate blood flow moderation training that tricked the body into thinking that it's lifting heavier weights than it actually is. When traditional weightlifting requires you to reach 70-80% of your one repetition maximum to stimulate muscle hypertrophy, then Kaatsu Bands achieve that effect only at 20-30%. So it's perfect for treating injuries or used when you don't have access to heavier weights. Research about Kaatsu Bands also shows it lowers blood pressure, speeds up recovery from injuries, releases stem cells, builds muscle, burns fat, and prevents injury or muscle loss. These things are amazing, and I use them almost every day to recover from my heavier workouts. If you want to try out the Kaatsu Bands, then use the code SIIM for a 10% discount at kaatsuglobal.com. That's Siim at kaatsuglobal.com.

Preface This thesis draws knowledge from fieldwork done amongst the Transcendental Meditation Organization's Estonian branch located in Tallinn. It was established during the re-independence period of Estonia when the Soviet Union collapsed. The idea for my thesis originated from my year as an exchange student at Durham University in the United Kingdom. There I wrote a research project on how meditation could influence a person's state of consciousness. Before that, I had followed various meditative practices. Wanting to continue my work, I decided to make my thesis on a similar topic.

The overall goal of my fieldwork was to conduct participant observation amongst the Transcendental Meditation Organization and to practice the technique individually. Me personally practicing the technique was an essential part to the thesis because it allowed me to gain my own subjective experience. Even though I had previously practiced other types of meditation, I approached this particular training as a full beginner and let myself be taught by my instructor. At the same time, my prior contact was actually beneficial because I made progress faster thanks to knowing some of the fundamental principles of meditation.

Introduction. The mind-body problem.

I first came into contact with meditation when I just graduated from high school. Of course, I had heard about it previously, but it always remained to be this mystical and weird thing, something only yogis and spiritual people would practice. To be honest, my initial interest for trying it out came from this selfish desire to improve my mental performance, to sharpen the blade we call the mind. It worked. I was able to enhance my focus in life, the ability to concentrate for many hours, and be more present and in control of my behavior.

As I continued my practice, I never had the intention of progressing further with it. That's why throughout the thesis I take the Socratic position of I know nothing.

The underlying conflict and tension of this thesis and my meditation experiences involves the notion of body-mind dualism. It was René Descartes who notoriously brought it to surface as it exists in science today by saying in 1641, I think therefore I am. The mind-body problem is the problem of explaining how mental states, events, and processes such as beliefs, actions, and thinking are related to the physical states, events, and processes given that the human body is a physical entity and the mind is non-physical, or the relationship between these two worlds of body and mind. Cartesian dualism takes the position that mental phenomenon are non-physical, or that the body and mind are distinctive from one another, with the latter existing separately from the former. Most modern philosophers maintain that the mind is not something separate from the body, because there's not an identifiable meeting point between a non-physical mind and its physical body. An anthropological account on the mind-body problem represents more the monist view. The paradigm of embodiment postulates that, quote, the body is not an object to be studied in relation to culture, but is to be considered as the subject of culture, or in other words, as the existential ground for culture, end quote. Hence, it's already situated in and constituted by culture.