071 - Let the Light Enter
Meditation, creativity and god forbid LSD
A modern myth has it that Goethe’s last words were More Light1. While the words and their meaning are disputed, there is no doubt on another phrase attributed to him — ‘Generally, beware of dissipating your powers, and strive to concentrate them.’
In Issue 31 of Daak, this writer meditated on time. In it was the an idea of how choice is an enemy of time, that to have fewer choices upon your time is a better way to make the most use of it. 2
40 issues later, we go back to it, but with a perspective of concentrating to gain insight, to bring more light. To go deeper, than broader with our time and mind.
Recently two essays landed my way on the subject of mind alteration.
Tim Doody’s Heretic takes us back to 1966, to Dr. James Fadiman’s lab where he is about to micro-dose high performing volunteers, who each had three highly technical problems from their respective fields, with LSD and monitor the effects it had on their creativity. The drug would soon be banned, despite Fadiman’s success with his experiment — LSD absolutely had helped them solve their complex, seemingly intractable problems. And the establishment agreed. The 26 men unleashed a slew of widely embraced innovations shortly after their LSD experiences…
Meanwhile, in Manufacturing Bliss, Nadia Aspaouhova’s documents her Jhana meditation experience over at Asterisk and spoke of the mind altering effects it had on her in week long experience and beyond, particularly this - Halfway into the retreat, after a particularly memorable session — my mind exploding into indescribable beauty, followed by nothingness, that exceeded the intensity of some psychedelic experiences, besides a thorough breakdown of going through the first four of Jhana’s 8 stages, including one in to the fifth!
Jhanas are a technique for invoking altered states of consciousness through sustained concentration, which can then relax our brains to perceive the world more clearly, she concludes.
Having read about and studied Jhanas through books3 and online guides, I was not surprised about Nadia’s experience; reading Tim Doody’s Fadiman profile however let me see it a new light. Both together reminded me of the lessons from one of the most popular books on learning how to draw — Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, where she speaks about the creative problem solving ability that switching the visual side4 of the brain on provides. Unlocking this visual side helps us observe better, see things for what they are, and thus create more clearly.
My very unscientific conclusion, drawing parallels from all the three was that there is scope to unlock the brains visualising and problem solving power, that we can, but often don’t, tap into. While LSD is making a small come back, art and meditation offer a far more accessible way to tap into this dormant part of our brain with lesser side effects.
The predominant conversation around meditation is often binary, one the religious and scriptural practice, and develop an insight on life, and the other as an antidote for stress and anxiety. This while true, leaves the scope of meditation limited as therapeutic or spiritual. Also, meditation need not entirely follow a spiritual guideline, art can also offer a similar path (if not an experience) as Jhanas do, by offering something to sustain concentration.
Even without an artistic practice, consistent contemplation of artistic pursuits can open the ability to go deep, quieten the mind’s chatter by giving it something play with it. Elliot Holt did this with poetry, reading the same poem everyday for an entire month. In his bestselling guide How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, Arnold Bennett suggested similar to build sustained concentration over a 100 years ago5.
Here again, both Jhanas and art differ from the general idea of concentration, which is about strong will and focus. Jhanas are about contemplating what is joyful, art offers the same for things beautiful. It is about going deep into something you derive joy from and come back with new a way to see the world. It is about letting the light enter6.
Frances Harper immortalised this disputed claim with her poem (from which this issue takes its name), interpreting his words as a metaphor, rather than the current notion of a very practical request for more light in the room
Like most writing on the web, those words were intended primarily for its owner
The Right Concentration by Leigh Brasington is an excellent book to get started on
I am aware the science of the two sides of the brain is tenuous, but the book really does work in learning how to draw, whatever the science be
…do not care what you concentrate on, so long as you concentrate. It is the mere disciplining of the thinking machine that counts. But still, you may as well kill two birds with one stone, and concentrate on something useful. I suggest—it is only a suggestion—a little chapter of Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus.
Arnold Bennett. How to Live on 24 Hours a Day (pp. 26-27).
Darkness is chatter, light is quiet; the meditative aspect of the mind lies in the realm of light. It is not the absence of shadows or darkness, but their perception as an absence of light, of quiet, that lends this state its weight. One gets to direct this light, and see things whole, see things clearer in such a state, that’s how insights are generated. Almost as if one is looking into well of light, and the longer we stare into its depth, we find darkness abating and a pool of light emerging in its stead, and all one needs to do is stay still and observe, the light will make its way up — this was part of the first draft of this letter, and I didn’t have the heart to cut it out.