Acem Meditation main principles

This is a translation of a chapter from Stillhetens psykologi ("Psychology of Stillness"), a book on Acem Meditation in Norwegian.

Acem Meditation main principles

The purpose of this chapter is to clarify fundamental principles of the method of Acem Meditation.

Acem meditation is a type of meditation that can not be learned by studying the following pages, or any other text for that matter. Acem Meditation is acquired through an individual learning process consisting of personal instruction, guidance and discussions throughout the introductory course.

Meditation techniques differ greatly in how they are performed and how they work. In general, it appears that the results one is able to achieve by practicing a meditation method depend on

a. the specific characteristics of the method,
b. the meditator's psychology and
c. his or her degree of motivation to practice the technique regularly.

Considerable experience with Acem meditation indicates that the conceptual and pedagogical framework within which the teaching of the meditation technique takes place fundamentally influences the meditator's progress. However, the differences between various meditation techniques and systems of learning will not be dealt with here. Below, we shall instead describe how Acem Meditation works.

Acem Meditation is performed in the psychological field in which voluntary and spontaneous activities of the mind interact. Briefly, the method consists of constantly finding an effortless repetition of the meditation sound which increases the spontaneous release of tension and liberation of blocked resources. On a long term basis, and only after regular practice of meditation, this process promotes actualization of basic personality traits. Personal unfinished business, limitations and tensions which otherwise scarcely would have been changed are worked through, making the subconscious accessible to insight and modifications. This seldom takes place without an amount of resistance. Many stop meditating when this process starts. For this reason, it is important to cultivate an attitude towards the meditative process which can help the meditator to carry on through difficult phases and thereby benefit from the possibilities inherent in the method.

This is how one meditates
Acem Meditation is performed while sitting comfortably in a chair, sofa or bed with firm support to the lower back. One should sit in a position which does not demand a significant amount of attention or strain. Meditation is also easiest to do when surrounding stimuli, such as the light and noise, are kept at minimum. Acem Meditation is done twice daily, usually for thirty minutes each time, usually in the morning and before dinner in the afternoon.

When one meditates, the activity level of the body slows down. After a meal the blood supply to the digestive system increases. To avoid conflict between these opposite physiological processes, it is a good rule to postpone meditation until two hours after any major meal.

One meditates with one's eyes closed. The meditator repeats a meditation sound in his thoughts. This is to be done with ease, without strain and without concentration. At the same time, thoughts, impressions, experiences, images, bodily sensations and feelings spontaneously come and go, and influence to a varying degree the repetition of the meditation sound.

At times, thoughts take over and become the focus of attention. When the meditator becomes aware that this has happened, he returns, with a minimum of effort, to the repetition of the meditation sound, without concentration.

Willed activity and spontaneous activity
Personal change and growth through Acem meditation come about as a result of the practice of the meditation method, and not through specific states of consciousness or the influence of a "higher power". It is ultimately the meditation practice that determines this process. Progress depends on what the meditator himself does; the meditation performance or willed activity maintains or expands the limits for growth. What the meditator experiences during meditation plays a subordinate role. Modification of meditation behaviour typically leads to changes in how the individual is able to master the challenges of life.

Although using concepts from a behaviouristic model might clarify some aspects of meditation, this does not imply that Acem Meditation is a kind of behaviour therapy. The results of Acem meditation are achieved through inner mental activity and not because of conditioning or unconditioning, reward or punishment.

New behaviour is usually acquired by following certain rules and/or through experience. Acem Meditation is learned both ways. The introductory course and later instruction clarify the rules and principles of the practice of meditation. Regular meditation represents learning by doing. Guidance, discussions and the study of literature on meditation contribute to clarifying the meditator's understanding of the process and thereby to increasing his skill in performing the technique under changing inner conditions.

Behaviour always takes place and exercises its influence within a certain context. Meditation is performed in relation to the changing conditions of the mind; for example, the stream of thoughts, images, emotions and the mood we are in will always be present in different ways during meditation, just as they are when we are not meditating. This is called the spontaneous activity of the mind and is partly a reflection of resources, and partly unfinished business or residual tension from the individual's past and present history. Acem Meditation is one way whereby an individual, through his own conscious activity, can change the psychological conditions in his or her life.

This may enable the individual to work more effectively for changes in the external conditions for the person's life, such as educational, material and socio-cultural relations.

Acem Meditation is a mental behaviour that provides relaxation, but it's essential effects are evident in a person's active life.

In the rest of this chapter we present a more comprehensive description of the following main concepts:

Meditation-sound
Repetitions
Free, open mental attitude
Mental attitude towards the process

Meditation-sound
The meditation-sound used in Acem Meditation is a combination of meaningless sounds. The repetition of these sounds has a profound, but not yet completely understood effect on the body and mind. The meditation-sound is a necessary tool in the process that characterizes Acem Meditation. In Acem, the meditation-sounds have neither verbal/linguistic nor symbolic meaning. They combine particular vowels or diphthongs with some of the consonants in such a way that the whole sound creates one or more suitable patterns of rhythm. As the meditation-sound is repeated in the mind without effort, a reflectorial relaxation mechanism in the central nervous system is released. An American physiologist, Herbert Benson, has called this the "relaxation response".

The meditation-sounds which are used in Acem Meditation have two main functions: To harmonize and to provoke.

The repetition of the meditation-sound has a harmonizing effect, and induces relaxation, peace of mind and the liberation of new resources. It is also provocative - it serves as a facilitator because it actualizes tensions and personal limitations. In certain periods it will also provoke resistance, unease and tendencies to intensify the individual's defense mechanisms. In such phases, the meditator will unconsciously tend to use of the meditation-sound incorrectly. This will manifest itself either in relation to his meditation habits, i.e. how regularly he practices the meditation, or the meditation performance itself, or both.

A meditation-sound is not something that can be constructed by oneself. It is far from what some people have been led to believe: merely a sonorous sound combination that is pleasant. Aesthetic qualities are not criteria for guidance in finding the key to the correct sound combination.

The meditation-sound is given individually by a trained meditation teacher as part of the introductory course. In some places, all the members in a beginning meditation group are given a common meditation-sound. The selection criteria are not based on a personality assessment, but rather on the individual's stage of development in regard to age, sex and cognitive style.

For didactic reasons, the criteria for the proper selection of meditation-sounds are not common knowledge. The trained meditation teacher readily finds a suitable sound combination for the individual learning to meditate. There is not a unique meditation-sound for every individual. The sounds are given according to a system which involves the iteration of certain categories.

If a person for some reason changes the sound combination he or she has been given, this will sooner or later become noticeable in the effects of the regular meditation. The correct sound is therefore important.

The meditation-sound can be made more effective by following certain ascending series. When an individual has Acem-meditated for 2-3 years he or she can, after a short interview, be given a reinforced and intensified meditation-sound. Additional reinforcements can later be given at 2 to 3 year intervals. The relaxation effect is almost the same with the reinforced meditation-sound. The difference is that the intensified meditation-sound speeds up the meditation process. It intensifies the actualization of unworked through parts of the personality and the liberation of new resources.

If an intensified meditation-sound were to be given to a beginner, this would make the meditation performance difficult. However, when given at the proper time, most people experience that it considerably enriches the meditation.

The meditation-sound should be used exclusively for meditation. It should be kept to oneself, never said aloud or be written down - if it is, the effects of the sound combination will be impaired. It is essential that the meditation-sound remains non-associative, that it has no meaning or connection to business, emotions or relationships. The reasons why a meditator does not say his meditation-sound aloud to another meditator are in other words completely pragmatic. Even for couples the same rule holds, even though they may know from their meditation teacher that they have the same meditation-sound.

For someone who is unaware of the dynamics of this method, and lacks knowledge of the areas in which it is sensitive, this attitude may appear somewhat strange. Years of experience with the method, however, confirm the necessity of regarding the meditation-sound with an attitude of privacy and discretion - otherwise, it will lose some of its non-associative quality.

Repetition
The meditation-sound is repeated in the mind at suitable intervals, usually from just under 2 to 4 seconds, but this will vary. Normally, the speech organ is not to be used. Neither should the repetition accompany the breathing rhythm or heartbeat. From time to time the repetition may spontaneously start to follow these rhythms, but it is important that the meditator does not try to attach the meditation-sound to any rhythmical sensations in the body.

The mental repetition of any stimulus, whether auditive, visual or kinetic, will tend to induce a degree of relaxation. Monotonous stimulation usually produces what in physiology is known as habituation. During meditation, this will partly shield against external stimuli and induce an increased corresponding sensitivity towards internal processes.

The repetition itself is a relatively simple and mechanical aspect of the meditation performance. It seldom causes problems. What may cause problems however is, among other things, the way in which the meditation-sound is repeated. This will be discussed in the next section.

Free, open mental attitude
In everyday language behaviour is often described by a verb denoting some kind of movement or process, for example, to walk, to think, to smell, to hit, to repeat. Some words describe more specifically the characteristics of the behaviour, for example, to walk vigorously, to think slowly, to strike angrily, to repeat patiently. Such supplementary words are called adverbs.

Adverbs give a characterization of the verb, they are, so to speak, supplementary to them. When an adverb does not denote something about time relations, space relations or the sensory quality of what it describes, it denotes what one in psychological terms might call an attitude - it conveys how the behaviour is done and indicates something about the individual's emotional state when he is behaving the way he is .

The meditation behaviour consists of repeating a meditation-sound in the mind. The attitude with which the meditation-sound is repeated is essential to the process. How should the meditation-sound be repeated? The answer is that it should be repeated without strain, concentration or pressure. This does not mean using no absolutely effort at all, as that may lead to what we call "floating out". The meditation-sound should be repeated with a free, open mental attitude.

The reader might perceive this as a simple and easy thing to do. At the same time, it may be difficult to understand how such a simple technique can have far-reaching consequences for personality development. Couldn't one achieve the same results just as well simply by adopting a free, open mental attitude in one's mind - without the use of a meditation-sound?

However, while the repetition of the meditation-sound itself is a simple and mechanical component of the performance, the free open mental attitude is not. Repetition of the meditation-sound induces a degree of spontaneous muscular, vegetative and mental relaxation which is greater than what is possible by just deciding to relax. During meditation small, manageable doses of bundled up tensions in one's body and mind are released. Tensions are transformed from a passive to an active state. They become actualized; their influence on the activities of the mind becomes perceptible - including the way one repeats the meditation-sound. Actualized tensions lead the repetition away from being performed with a free, open mental attitude towards concentration or "floating out". Thus, correct meditation initiates processes which sooner or later will lead to tension dominated performance errors.

Initially, the meditator is not aware of what is taking place - he is only aware that the meditation is less satisfactory or goes at a slower pace. As the meditator becomes aware that concentration or "floating out" dominates his performance in ways which were previously unconscious, the person attains sufficient clarity and freedom to make a choice. In meditation he is able to choose to expand some of his boundaries, to transcend ways of behaviour which were previously under the complete influence of tensions.

When we meditate, we meet limitations in our personality in the form of deviation from free, open mental attitude, a tendency to concentrate or "float out". In the organism, a tendency of constriction or muscular tension correspond to concentration in meditation. Hypotonia (too little muscular tonus) corresponds to "floating out". If the repetition of the meditation-sound is dominated by concentration or "floating out", the performance will not modify the actualized tensions.

The challenge when one meditates is again and again to find the free, open, non-concentrated, non-floating out mental attitude, which gives room for spontaneous integration of experiences and personality development.

The free, open mental attitude in Acem-meditation is an attitude similar to free floating awareness in psychoanalysis, where one tries to freely associate. In psychoanalysis, however, the focus is on analyzing the content of the freely associated thoughts, and if possible to track their active emotional residues back to early formative experiences in childhood. In Acem Meditation, as in psychoanalysis, the stream of consciousness is supposed to pass freely. This is the rule irrespective of whether one finds the stream of consciousness tedious, silly, immoral, banal, interesting or fascinating. The difference is that in Acem Meditation one is indifferent towards the content of the thoughts; one doesn't attempt to understand or analyze it any further. Thus, meditation does not provide a new understanding of childhood experiences etc. What is essential when one meditates is not the thoughts themselves, but the fact that one lets them pass. The meditation-sound helps to achieve a free, open mental attitude, which otherwise would have been impossible. In other words, it establishes increased openness in parts of the mind which otherwise would have been inaccessible.

Merely repeating a meditation-sound is not sufficient to activate the process. The mental attitude with which the repetition is performed is also essential. In this sense there are important differences between different meditation methods, which all have the repetition of a meditation-sound or mantra in common. The most important difference lies in the mental attitude with which one repeats the meditation-sound. Techniques which are based on concentration (i.e. different kinds of japa) often have sounds with a specific meaning. Acem Meditation is completely different: the mental attitude is open and free. In order to avoid complicating the free, open mental attitude, the meditation-sounds in Acem-meditation are therefore without linguistic or symbolic meaning.

We have now described the three necessary and sufficient components of Acem Meditation:

the meditation-sound, which contributes to spontaneous relaxation and actualization,
the repetition, which shields from external stimuli and thus increases the openness towards inner processes in the actualization processes and
the free, open mental attitude, which leads to psychological development.

In the following, we look at the fourth topic which is of central importance in Acem Meditation.

The attitude towards the process
Attitudes express values in relation to a subject, process, person or object. They characterize behaviour and experience, tolerance and adaptation. The regular practice of Acem Meditation leads to relaxation, more energy and personality development. The process may, however, in phases lead to tiredness, restlessness, resistance and contact with unpleasant emotions. Acem Meditation is a potent, but nevertheless mild and gradual process. The probability that actualization may psychologically overburden the individual are insignificant; in a sense the process is self-regulatory. Nevertheless, resistance phases in meditation are reflected in the meditator's motivation, regularity and the will to continue. With an understanding and constructive attitude to these matters it is easier to continue through such phases. One often meets people who tell that they once learned Acem Meditation. They may express themselves like this: In the beginning I was very satisfied with the results, but after a while I became less satisfied. I didn't achieve the results I initially experienced. Gradually I stopped meditating.

Statements like this shed light on aspects of the meditation process of which people who meditate, and others, are far too little aware. The elementary instruction is quite simple. To always be able to repeat the meditation-sound with a free, open mental attitude is not something those who meditate regularly can take for granted. Since what is involved is a process, some things will constantly change. What one understood and what gave results at an early stage, is after a while not sufficient to achieve further progress. The meditator is never able to exhaust everything there is to learn about meditation. One therefore needs to continuously re-examine and refresh one's practical understanding of the main principles of the method.

Learning Acem Meditations takes place in two stages. The first is the initial stage, where one learns the basic instruction. The second stage involves learning how to use the performance principles to work through actualized tensions. One learns to live with meditation and use it to achieve greater self awareness and growth.

It is therefore important to stimulate an attitude with the beginner, which enables him to continue even though the meditation changes after a while. In Acem there are more extensive courses, which stimulate the clarification process and provide a more extensive understanding of the principles of performing the method, which enables the meditator to perform the daily meditations in a better way - especially in phases dominated by resistance.

Guidance is another way in which the mediator may become aware of unclear aspects of his performance. The counselor asks which make the meditator aware of which aspects of his meditation performance which are preventing him/her from making further progress.

There is therefore little basis for maintaining that Acem Meditation gives less results over time. Relaxation is usually achieved in all phases, but is often undervalued during actualization. The method actually leads to results on a different level after the initial phase. In this process, in which the meditator moves from initially rather concrete results to later phases with more subtle effects, many stop meditating before they understand what is going on. Phases of actualization often last for months and return later in the meditation process. It is however most important to get through the first actualization phase. This enables the meditator to understand the process and how he can deal with later periods of resistance. The important thing is to keep meditating regularly and to work constantly to maintain a free, open mental attitude under the shifting influence of the spontaneous activities of the mind.

In actualization periods the meditator goes through phases of trying, making mistakes and clarification until he or she is able to make qualitative changes in his/her performance in relation to the way he repeats the meditation-sound. Contact with meditators, guidance, courses and literature about meditation are important aids in mastering such phases. They also enable the individual to work through the actualization phases more quickly.