FEST Writing Group

Authors Note:  This is an early rough draft of the opening section of a longer paper in process

 

Vedic Science and Bowen Theory/Transcendence and DOS

An Interdisciplinary Study

 

 

All humans are born beneath a moon.

If we wake in the stillness of the night,

and step outside our little house beneath the mountain,

the full moon can teach us something.  

 

The moon, like the self, is our forever companion.  

But our level of appreciation for its fullness

waxes and wanes. 

 

Same with family,  

And many have been kept awake by that moon.

 

                                   -Erik Thompson

 

BOWEN THEORY

 

Bowen theory is an attempt to describe a distant drumbeat that has always been heard.  It is a theory of human behavior describing something written in nature.  Like the invisible force of gravity that rules the behavior of both golf balls and galaxies, the family system is invisible until it is described.  Once described, it can be experienced, developed, and a way of thinking can eventually become a way of being.

A theory is a model, a living conversation with nature, housed within science.  Science can be described as “What is”, but it can also be seen as a method of discovering “What is.”  A theory is a disciplined effort to codify “What is”.   As Murry Bowen wrote:

 

“The BT contains no ideas that have not been a part of the human experience through the centuries.  The theory operates on an order of facts so simple and obvious that everyone knew them all the time…. the theory listens to a distant drumbeat that people have always heard.  This distant drumbeat is often obscured by the noisy insistence of the foreground drumbeat, but it is always there, and it tells its own clear story to those who can tune out the noise and keep focused on the distant drumbeat.”    Bowen, FTCP

 

The Bowen theory has eight concepts, including the cornerstone concept, Differentiation of Self, an undeveloped 9^thconcept “Spirituality” as well as Kerr’s proposed concept, the “Unidisease Model”.

 

The study of the human made great progress throughout last century, using microscopes.  The microscope helped us cure rubella and scarlet fever.  It helped us discover the genetic aspect of diseases, releasing new cures to old human problems.  But it proved less effective at curing the mind and the family.  Like the weather, the diseases of the mind, such as schizophrenia still elude the science of the microscope.  Even now, in the 21^stcentury, microscope science, and the therapies for schizophrenia that have been developed from it, are considered by many to be a disappointment.  The same can be said for other symptoms of the mind such as ADHD and depression, as well as family symptoms like divorce and childhood anxiety.

 

Though some scientists grip tightly to their successful microscopes, others, showing the adaptive flexibility characteristic of humans, learned to set aside the microscope within their mind, and begin testing another way of thinking.

 

As the search continues for the microscopic roots of human diseases of all types, another avenue of science, has been explored.  This avenue can be likened to the use of a different lens, the wide-angle lens, rather than the microscope.   As with the study of hurricanes, 20^thcentury scientists began attempting to map the mind by studying the complex adaptive systems within which it lives. The microscope, as precious as it has been to humans, was found to be unsuitable for this type of study.

 

Murray Bowen was a pioneer of this type, and the complex adaptive system he began to map was the human family.  If we were to consider the human mind to be an apple, Bowen began to wonder about a science of the apple tree, and eventually the apple orchard of multi-generational family process.  Though this sounds like common sense, the relationship had not been systematically explored by science.  While Freud’s theory considered relationships critical to the understanding of the human mind, and the human mind to be critical to the understanding of human behavior, Bowen’s wide-angle lens took that understanding much further.  Whereas Freud was concerned with the impact of early childhood events on the inner structure of the individual mind, Bowen began to see that the inner structure of the mind was impacted by both past and current family events, and that the minds, emotions and behavior of all family members were constantly impacting each other, in a manner consistent with a dynamic, self-interacting system.

 

THE FAMILY AS A SYSTEM

 

Bowen theory studies the apple of self, but not by cutting into it.  It identifies the effect of the apple tree on the individual apple.  Self is considered a property of both the apple, and the tree and the properties within the apple are derived from its interaction with the apple tree.  Bowen theory also includes concepts that define emotional process over multiple generations, or the apple orchard.  I will return to the metaphor of the apple and tree later, when I discuss the relationship of transcendence to basic self.

 

An early observation was that family functioning was reciprocal.  (Kerr, Family Evaluation) A style of functioning used by one family member, such as helplessness, was inextricably linked to the style of functioning of other family members, such as over-helpfulness.  This led to new solution paths.  If an over-helpful family member could learn to adapt their style of functioning, a chronically helpless family member could change their style as well, become more confident, self-determined, and goal oriented. Bowen began to wonder if “systems thinking”, and the solution paths it generates, might prove more effective for solving many human problems than those the microscope had generated. As the Bowen center’s website defines it,

 

“Systems thinking grows out of a theory of human behavior which describes the profound effect individuals within a family, business team, religious or social group have on each other’s thoughts, feelings and actions.   The influence is so profound that it appears that members of a “relationship system” are living under the same “emotional skin”.”

 

This science of Bowen theory has progressed throughout the 20^thcentury and remains alive in the 21^stcentury.  Though not a mainstream science, the theory has continued to advance, mostly outside academia, through the efforts of a disciplined group of scholars who have continued to refine the concepts and have worked actively to test them against knowledge emerging from the accepted sciences.

 

AN OPEN SCIENCE

 

Science advances when people see “What is” more clearly.  If a theory is a living open system, it will evolve.  Disciplined observers will test it, challenge it, and refine it.  Just as Bowen disrupted traditional models of human behavior by looking with a different lens, Bowen theory should be advanced by disruption, by new facts and new ways of looking at the nature of the human and of the family system.

 

In order to disrupt a theory, one must first understand it.  Bowen theory is not well understood in psychology in general.  Even within the community of Bowen theory scholars one often hears senior members question another senior member’s grasp of the theory. As with its cornerstone concept, Differentiation of Self, there is no blood test for understanding Bowen theory. The best tool we have developed thus far is expert observation.

 

The author is a published Bowen theory scholar of 25 years, with a respected sponsor and mentor, Dr. Ann Bunting, and directs a Bowen theory training center, The Vermont Center for Family Studies.  He also leads the Washington, DC based, Bowen Center for the Study of the Family’s national online study group for organizational consultants.

 

VEDIC SCIENCE

 

Vedic Science a modern science of consciousness that has emerged from the wisdom tradition of ancient India, through its living representatives, and the disciplined efforts of professional scientists over the past 50 years.  Vedic science has advanced within academia, through the efforts of professional scientists who have explored and developed new theory and technologies of consciousness through over 500 peer-reviewed studies. Recently the American Heart Association reviewed the quality of the evidence from the research on various complimentary treatments for heart disease.  The research on transcendental meditation received the highest rating.  Vedic science was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  Born in 1918, he earned a degree in physics at University of Allahabad in India, before entering a 14-year study of the ancient Vedic wisdom tradition of his native India.  He studied with one of the pre-eminent Vedic masters of his era, who later asked him to take what he learned to the west, to see if it could contribute to world peace. From his earliest teaching in the west in the 1950’a he took a great interest in modern science.  He taught that “Veda” can be translated as “What is” or “Truth” and that it’s assertions should be tested using the tools of modern science.  This emphasis generated a life-long dialogue with an impressive list of distinguished scientists, researchers and scholars, and the founding of two accredited research universities, one in Europe and one in the United States, Maharishi University, in the 1970’s.  Mahesh Yogi became famous in the late 1960’s when the accomplished English musicians “The Beatles” began their life-long appreciation of his wisdom.  In fact, the notoriety that came with the brief Beatles chapter proved a mixed blessing, as the press distorted the nature of his work, and emphasized his personality over his ideas. In fact, Mahesh Yogi was never a personal “Guru”.  He was far more interest in knowledge, science, and the bettering of mankind than he was in fame.  The glare of fame never distracted him, but it has distracted some in the west from the Vedic science he founded.  Though he maintained the traditional dress out of great respect for the Vedic tradition from which he came, his global life work was very down to earth.

 

Some elements of this biography resonate with that of Murray Bowen.  Bowen was born around the same time, in 1913, from humble beginnings. He too made early studies with a famous sponsor (Karl Menninger), had a life-long interest in advancing science and the human condition, experienced a brief period of fame in the early 1970’s, which at times obscured his more important, though less famous work that followed.  Bowen’s name became associated with a technique of family therapy, which has caused many to miss the depth of his scientific theory, without which the family therapy he helped discover is an empty shell.  Mahesh Yogi carefully standardized an ancient technique, Transcendental Meditation or TM, because it provided a new lens through which to “see Veda” (what is.)

 

This paper is an interdisciplinary exploration of Bowen theory and Vedic Science.  Work on the Bowen theory has typically occurred in the realm of clinical mental health, and the serious symptoms that patients are challenged by.  For that reason, the higher ranges of the scale of differentiation have not been fully explored.  Vedic science can contribute here.  It has developed an empirical model of higher stages of human development, one that resonates with the scale of differentiation of self.  Beyond that, I will propose that Vedic science can help develop Bowen’s cornerstone concept, Differentiation of Self. I propose that the repeated experience of transcendence is more than complimentary to the effort to grow Basic Self, it can grow Basic Self directly.  Finally, I will also show how Vedic science can help develop Bowen’s proposed 9^thconcept, a systems theory of spirituality.  For its part, Vedic science contains maps of relationship processes, but they are not complete. Bowen theory provides a unique, precise map of human relationships, and their impact on human functioning, that can be useful to Vedic scientists seeking ways to verify higher stages of human development. Also, the tools that have emerged from Bowen theory can help those who use the technologies that have emerged from Vedic science find success in marriage, parenting, and other significant relationships.

 

Bowen theory and Vedic science are different disciplines. They each have their own integrity, and the purpose of this discussion is not to crush them together.  Are they two trains running on different tracks, both valuable, but which will never meet, and are not of particular use to each other? Or are they complimentary, two views that can help each other along their own track?  A third possibility is that they are more than complimentary, that they can be unified into a theoretical framework that enhances them both.

 

Bowen often admonished his students not to sell Bowen theory, though many have found it a challenge to heed that advice.  Likewise, the purpose of this paper is not to sell Transcendental Meditation, or any other meditation practice.  Rather, it is to explore ideas that have the potential to better the human experience.

 

An interdisciplinary discussion is endangered when terms are not clearly defined.  For example, one can say, “Meditation builds emotional connections” and another respond “No, meditation is emotional distancing behavior”, and both can be right.  One person is using the word meditation to describe one activity, and the other is using the word completely differently.

SELF

 

If one examines words most commonly used in the publications by Bowen experts, the word “Self” would surely make the top 5.  It might be #1.

 

The same is true for Vedic Science.  “Self” might rank #1 there as well.

 

In Bowen theory, self is a way of thinking that can become a way of being.  Bowen theory is a science of self because self, as defend in Bowen theory is observable and potentially measurable, in the way people act with each other, especially in their families.  Self in Bowen theory cannot be understood outside the context of family relationships. Vedic Science describes self differently.  It is viewed as the ground of Being, an impersonal, universal, aspect of nature that underlies all of creation, just as the gravitational field in physics is said to underlie the entire physical universe.  Self, in Vedic science, is “transcendental”, meaning beyond the individual mind.  Mind, in Vedic Science, is said to be the reflection of this universal aspect of self within the individual person and physiology.

 

I will explore the relationship between these two definitions of self.

 

THE PRACTICES OF BOWEN THEORY: ATTENTIONAL AND RELATIONAL

 

Bowen theory has given birth to a unique set of precision tools for impacting the family and solving all types of family problems.  These practices fall into two categories, attentional and relational.  Primary among the attentional practices is observing. A student of family emotional process must learn to observe the difference between being “inside” and “outside” the family emotional system.  This includes the important capacity to observe “emotional reactivity” to the family system.  When one can see their own emotional and behavioral reactions to problematic family processes, they shake loose from the hook of blame and new solutions to old problems are now in reach.

 

But the attentional practices that have emerged from Bowen theory are considered necessary, but insufficient to grow Basic Self.   The innovative relational practices that have grown from the theory are required to produce increased differentiation of self, which is the lynch pin for family transformation, because it is the essential substance of family emotional process.   Such relational practices include developing a wider network of “person to person” relationships within the extended family, “bridging cutoffs”, managing self differently in the intense emotional field of family, and “defining self” by taking “I” positions within that field. (Kerr, Gilbert)

 

Basic Self is distinguished from Functional Self in Bowen theory.   Basic Self is considered more fundamental, that which does not fluctuate based upon circumstances, including sea changes in the relationship system within which self is housed.

 

Because the family system is viewed by most Bowen theorists as the evolutionary root from which mind, and the self, emerged, the self is viewed as inextricably linked with the relationship system.  As Dr. Michael Kerr has said “The family is THAT fundamental.” (Personal communication).

 

MEDITATION AND TRANSCENDENCE

 

Transcendence can mean many things to many people.  Transcendence is defined here as a mind state, not a practice.  It is the state of content-free awareness, or wakefulness without thoughts.  This state has been referred to by modern representatives of the ancient Vedic tradition of India as pure consciousness, referring to consciousness without any object other than itself.

 

Transcendence is a concept within Vedic Science.  Transcendence is not the property of transcendental meditation (TM), any more than the ocean is the property of a boat.  The transcendent is part of nature. TM can be defined as any systematic technique that leads the mind to the experience of transcendence.

 

Meditation has been rightly described as a “squishy” term.  It can mean reading a book to one person, paying attention to the current moment without judgement for another, and repetition of a Christian or Islamic verse to still another.  The popular term “mindfulness” has grown squishier through popularity, though there are efforts being made to define both the practice and state of mindfulness more scientifically.  This study will not attempt to explore mindfulness.

 

The author is knowledgeable about some meditation practices, having read, practiced, and taught Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness meditation in the past.  He has more extensive experience with Transcendence, with over 10,000 hours of personal practice over three decades and has read widely in both modern science and ancient wisdom on the topic.  He holds an academic degree that incorporated study of Vedic science.

 

Transcendence is a distinct state of awareness, encompassing, but beyond waking awareness, dreaming and sleeping.  It can be considered by the intellect, but it cannot be fully known until it is experienced. One cannot know a strawberry by hearing a lecture about its genetics, its molecular structure, or the best methods to grow one.  Even a description of how a ripe summer strawberry tastes does not satisfy the desire to know it. One knows a strawberry by picking one and putting it in the mouth.

 

A LEAST EXCITED STATE

 

Transcendence is experienced by the mind when “the excitations of the mind gradually to settle down until the least excited state of mind is reached.  This is a state of inner wakefulness with no object of thought or perception, just pure consciousness aware of its own nature.”  (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

 

When liquid helium is super-cooled to its “least excited” atomic state, it behaves strikingly different from other liquids.  It’s relationship to the laws of gravity itself changes, and it begins to climb the walls of the container it resides in.  Similarly, the mind in transcendence experiences a phase transition, and behaves in a fashion strikingly different to normal waking awareness.

 

A state of awareness without content, without thoughts, is hard for most of us to imagine, and may be considered a fanciful notion by some.  However, it has been precisely described in wisdom traditions from around the world, as well as poets from many traditions and cultures (Pearson).  For example, here is a section of what is arguably the most famous poem in the English language, Lines Composed Above Tintern Abbey, by William Wordsworth (dates)

 

“That blessed mood…

In which the affections gently lead us on

Until the breath of this corporeal frame

And even the motion of our human blood

Almost suspended, we are laid asleep

In body, and become a living soul;

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,

We see into the life of things.”

 

EXPLAIN

 

Transcendence has been likened to the white shimmering screen behind which the movie of waking and dreaming awareness is shown.  In transcendence, the mind is awake, but without content.  Transcendence is perception, but it is unlike any particular perception.  It is the perception of the perceiver itself, perception without any object other than the perceiver.  For this reason, the transcendent is called the Self behind the self.

 

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

 

TM is defined thus:

 

“The transcendental meditation technique differs from most other procedures in that it involves no concentration or control. It is easy to learn effortless to practice- so easy even 10-year-old children can do it. It is practiced for 20 minutes twice a day while sitting comfortably with eyes closed. It is neither a philosophy nor a belief system; one need not even believe it will work.

This technique enables mental activity to settle inward spontaneously and naturally.  This is called process transcending, meaning to go beyond. It culminates in a state of deep inner silence and peace, beyond thought- a state of pureconsciousness, consciousness aware only of its own nature. At the same time body settles into a state of deep rest, enabling the body to dissolve cumulative stress and fatigue and to revitalize and rebalance itself.” 

 

-Dr. Craig Pearson,

“The Supreme Awakening” page 30

 

But transcendence, like Bowen theory, is not a technique.  Transcendence is not a practice.  Most practices are things the mind does, Transcendence is what the mind is. The lens currently being employed by Bowen theorists is wider than the lens of Freudian theory, biological psychiatry, and many other models of human behavior.  Many Bowen theorists rightly consider meditation a valuable individual practice, based in individual thinking.  This view may be accurate for some, even most meditation practices, and the bodies of knowledge from which they emerge (though I doubt it).  It is not true of transcendence.

 

DISTANT DRUMBEAT

 

Bowen’s description of the process of hearing nature’s distant drumbeat of the family system is strikingly applicable to the process required to “hear “the transcendental aspect of nature:

 

“This distant drumbeat is often obscured by the noisy insistence of the foreground drumbeat, but it is always there, and it tells its own clear story to those who can tune out the noise and keep focused on the distant drumbeat.”    Bowen, FTCP

 

In Vedic science, the “noisy foreground” is more than mankind’s self-centered foreground drumbeat of individual thinking.  It goes beyond one type of thinking (individual), and the thoughts it generates, to encompass all thoughts.  Transcendental meditation, then, is a generic term describing any practice that allows the mind to “tune out the noise” of thoughts and experience the “distant drumbeat” of the silent transcendental aspect of nature.

 

The mind is capable of hearing this, but it cannot be heard by those who consider the finest “ear” of the mind to be the intellect.  In Bowen theory, the intellectual system is considered the topmost perceptual faculty, the highest aspect of the higher brain.  Bowen liked to comment that medical schools should have a course in their regular curriculum entitled “What We Don’t Know”.  Thoughtful neuroscientists, and Bowen theorists would agree that there is much we don’t know about the perceptual capability of the human brain.  If one needs a wide-angle lens to think systems about the human, one needs something like a panoramic, or a metaphorical three-dimensional lens, to see the transcendental aspect of the human, and to think Vedic Science.  Or, to use a different lens metaphor, Bowen theory adds a wide-angle lens to the microscope of individual theories.  But both lenses are looking at the surface of the ocean of the human. Vedic science and transcendence add a lens that can see a new dimension of the human, one that lies just beyond the surface in the depths of the ocean of the Self.

 

As I will attempt to show, Vedic science, with its cornerstone concept of transcendence, is not detectable by the current Bowen theory lens.