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June 19, 2005
Bandler & the Buddha
Abstract: The author tries to connect the NLP and Vipassana style of meditation. The author argues that the all NLP modalities are not born equal. The contention is that the Kinesthetic is the primal modality through which rest of the modalities (Visual and Audio) express. By elevating the kinesthetic modality to primary position, there are new implications for NLP.
TOC:
* Introduction to NLP
* Where NLP got it right?
* Where NLP went wrong?
* A new model of NLP
* Introduction to Vipassana
* Theory behind Vipassana
* NLP & Vipassana
* What is next?
Introduction to NLP
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is one of greatest self-help tools developed in the recent past. One of the basic axioms of the NLP is that "map is not the territory". We experience the world through our own filters of language, beliefs and biases. The mental map we build of the world is not anywhere near the actual world itself.
The way we experience the world is through our senses. Our experiences could be represented in video, audio, kinesthetic, olfactory or gustatory (taste) representational systems. But for most of the people, the Video, Audio and Kinesthetic are the main representation systems. The representational systems are not mutually exclusive; each experience could consist of multiple systems. The representation systems are also called modalities.
Each of the modalities has submodalities. The picture you visualize in your head could be in color or in black & white; it could be located on left side of your head or right; it could be very intensive or feeble. Further distinctions of each of the modalities (representational systems) are called submodalities. Some examples of the Visual submodalities are color or black & white, framed or unbounded, whether yourself is in the picture or not, contrast, brightness, clarity, movement, size, speed of video. Some examples of Audio submodalities are stereo or mono, volume, timbre, location of the sound, distance from the sound, clarity. Some examples of kinesthetic submodalities are location, pressure, shape and weight.
Different people are good at different modalities. Some people experience the world intensely through Visual modality while others in Auditory. For one person, it could be V > A > K which means Video is more primary than Audio which is more primary than Kinesthetic. But for somebody else, this order could be A > V > K.
The main insight of the NLP is that by manipulating the submodalities of the experience, you could reduce the hold of the experience on you. Say you are scared of spiders or roller coaster rides; you can sit down and analyse the modality & submodalities of the experience. As soon as you think of roller coaster ride, you may have been visualizing certain video in your head. Analyse the pictures and video to see where it is located in your head, what color is it in, whether it is moving fast or slow etc. Now by manipulating these submodalities, you can loosen the fear of rides or the fear of the spiders.
If you want to gain further insight into NLP, there is tremendous amount of literature on the web and in print.
Where NLP got it right?
The basic insights on modalities and the techniques developed out of modality manipulation for self-help were great things. Techniques like swish pattern were very successful in helping people.
Where NLP went wrong?
To get the best out of NLP, it needs the help of external therapist. The NLP does not have in-built rigorous disciple to be used by an individual by himself. It requires the intervention of an external therapist who interprets, articulates and leads you to a solution.
NLP as a self-help tool failed since it lacked the formal inbuilt discipline needed for a serious spiritual/self-help path. To use any of the techniques (e.g. Swish Pattern) for self-help, it requires an enormous amount of unbiased objective analysis of oneself. (For me, after 3 years of experimentation with NLP, the addiction only turned into more & more reading of NLP literature rather than working to fix my problems. I felt at some point that I needed help from a therapist to make better progress).
A new model of NLP
My feeling is that NLP got wrong in understanding the representational systems or modalities (A, V, K). All three modalities are not different. There is only one primary modality, which is Kinesthetic. All other modalities express themselves through Kinesthetic. My insight is based on my experience with Vipassana style of meditation. So you just need to work on your K (kinesthetic) modality to fix any problem. However, the kinesthetic is the subtlest of all modalities. I try to explain below why Kinesthetic is the primary one.
Introduction to Vipassana
Vipassana is the meditation technique used by Theravada style of Buddhism. The Vipassana meditation consists of working on your bodily sensations to liberate your mind.
Vipassana is taught generally in a 10-day course. The first three days consists of focusing your awareness on your breath. By the end of the three days, the mind gets so acute that one will be able to observe the subtlest bodily kinesthetic sensations. After these three days, the student is taught to focus on the sensations throughout the body instead of just nasal area. The main thing is to develop equanimity to the bodily kinesthetic sensations.
Equanimity is what gives you the results. You are asked not to focus on the individual thoughts; you are not supposed to analyse the connection between a particular individual thought and the kinesthetic sensations thereof. The 10-day program basically instills the discipline to experience the bodily sensations without reacting to them. It is a very tough and hard work but if you do your work diligently, you can see that the deeper mental complexes evaporating from your mind.
Do we need a 10-day course to learn Vipassana? Can't we learn it just by reading a book? Possibly not. The path is so hard that anybody would need at least one 10-day course to instill the discipline and to understand the proper intent of the technique.
Theory behind Vipassana
We need to understand the Chain of Conditioned Arising or Causal Genesis to learn why & how the Vipassana technique works.
There are four mental processes or aggregates (khandha) which give rise to whole process of how our thinking process works:
1) Consciousness (Vinnana): The first process of the mind is the receiving part, which registers the occurrence of any input, physical or mental. It notes the raw data of experience without assigning labels. This is where you receive all the experiences of the world through your senses. You hear something or see something. There is no judgment of whether this is good or bad. Your friend just uttered some words but you haven't judged those words.
2)Perception/Recognition (Sanna): This is where you make judgment of the registered raw data. In the previous process, you merely heard or saw something in raw terms. But now in the current step, you are making judgment, assign labels & categories, evaluate whether it is good or bad. The words uttered by your friend in the previous process are evaluated now and labeled, as either they are good words or bad words. It basically filters the raw input and presents a colored image of reality. This judgment process itself is conditioned by one's past experience. We are evaluating the current raw input based on our past-accumulated reactions.
3)Kinesthetic sensations or feeling (Vedana): This is the subtlest of all four processes. A kinesthetic sensation or feeling arises in the body as soon as the first step happened i.e. as soon as the raw input is received. So long as the second process of evaluation of the input has not happened, the sensation remained neutral. But once a value is attached to the raw input, the kinesthetic sensation turns pleasant or unpleasant. The kinesthetic sensation is the bridge between mental and physical experience but itself is rooted in the physical body.
4)Reaction (Sankhara): If the kinesthetic sensation is pleasant, we wish to prolong or intensify the experience. If it is unpleasant, we wish to stop it. The mind reacts with liking or disliking. We are merely reacting to the bodily Kinesthetic Sensations (Vedana) but such a reaction is so powerful that it determines our future conditioning to the experience. The greatest insight to take is that we are not really reacting to the valuation we gave in the second step (i.e. whether your friend's uttering were praise or abuse), but rather we are reacting to the physical kinesthetic sensations manifested in third step. The new Sankharas form the basis by which you will judge and evaluate the future raw inputs. And thus the cycle of conditioning continues.
Now what? We keep going through this loop of forming new Sankharas and the Chain of Conditioned Arising continues in a loop. But here comes the insight of the Vipassana. By learning to observe the Sensation (Vedana) objectively, one can break the chain of conditioned response. Basically we are breaking the conditioning of the registered experience forever. The Perception/Recognition (Sanna) instead turns into Wisdom (Vinnana).
You are not supposed to focus on the thoughts but instead on the sensations. It is very difficult to link what thoughts caused what physical sensations. But that is the origin of discipline in Vipassana. Normally it is very tough to focus on thoughts for novices to trace them to the resulting kinesthetic sensations. (But I believe, one can learn such prowess as one practices more & more).
Why is the technique so subtle and why is it not so self-evident? Everybody needs an explanation of why and how a technique works. But the Vipassana is an experiential technique, not an intellectual experience. You don't need to understand how it works to get the benefits. Even my explanation of the technique is only an approximation. One only needs to go through the 10-day course to experience the benefits of it.
NLP & Vipassana
Have you ever done a yoga asana on a stressful day? A single yoga asana seems to relax the stress and get you into good moods. Even the tai chi focuses on bodily kinesthetic movements as spiritual tool. The salvation lies in the human body. The kinesthetic sensations talked about in Vipassana are nothing but the knots in our psychosomatic field.
There is one subtle difference in NLP and Vipassana. Vipassana never focuses on an individual thought and resultant kinesthetic sensations. It is not humanly possible for a novice to connect the individual thoughts and the resulting the kinesthetic sensations. Vipassana frowns upon such an experiment itself. But I believe, once the practitioner gains more experiences, it is possible to do such thing. The NLP addresses a certain particular psychological problem while the Vipassana addresses the deeper complexes. I don't think, it is possible to fix your phobia of spiders in a Vipassana sitting. But a deeper surgery of psychological complexes is only possible in Vipassana.
NLP indulges in analytical approach to identify the root causes of the problem. In Vipassana however, the fact that you are uncomfortable with a certain thing is good enough. Rest is hard work of equanimously observing the physical sensations without reacting. The underlying complex reasons come up the surface and evaporate by the exercise. You are expected to hold your equanimity during the meditation; neither crave for more of the similar sensations nor run away from them. Otherwise you are only strengthening the conditioning.
What is next?
There is need for more research into kinesthetic modality as the tool for NLP. I would urge the NLP community to give a try of Vipassana mediation. I believe, Vipassana can complement nicely the work NLP or even replace NLP as the ultimate spiritual tool. If you want to experience the technique, one can sign up for a free course at http://www.dhamma.org/. The course itself is free.
Posted by nachiketa at June 19, 2005 02:08 PM
Comments
Dear nachieta,
as a long-term Vipassana meditator, I just finish my NLP-Practicioner this week and am organising my thoughts and my attitude, of how to combine/ divert these two techniques.
Your words were very interesting to me and gave me a starting point. Do you know if there is more discussion and comparision of the two techniques anwywhere? It would be very nice if you could tell me.
Greetings from Italy
Roger.
Posted by: Roger at August 6, 2008 04:26 AM