The zombie effect

Darin, modified 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 4:37 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 4:37 AM

The zombie effect

Posts: 22 Join Date: 2/3/13 Recent Posts
I've maintained a daily meditation practice for over two years.  My wife has been saying that lately I've become difficult to read.  I am considerably less reactive relative to the past.  Less irritated, less angry, but also less prone to smile and laugh.  In social settings (not so much work settings) I am less responsive and feel detached.  I am listening intently to what people are saying but struggle to respond as socialy expected (eg with humour).  Despite this I feel pretty calm and at ease most of the time.  There is less stress, less worry, and very little anxiety.  Is the meditation causing these changes?  Should I be concerned?  Will it pass?  Will it intensify?  Thank you for your comments and thoughts. Namaste. 
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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 11:20 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 11:20 AM

RE: The zombie effect

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
Darin:
I've maintained a daily meditation practice for over two years.  My wife has been saying that lately I've become difficult to read.  I am considerably less reactive relative to the past.  Less irritated, less angry, but also less prone to smile and laugh.  In social settings (not so much work settings) I am less responsive and feel detached.  I am listening intently to what people are saying but struggle to respond as socialy expected (eg with humour).  Despite this I feel pretty calm and at ease most of the time.  There is less stress, less worry, and very little anxiety.  Is the meditation causing these changes?  Should I be concerned?  Will it pass?  Will it intensify?  Thank you for your comments and thoughts. Namaste. 

Hi Darin, 

I have some questions for you about this stage. 

#1 Is there anything disatisfying in it?
#2 Did this phase arise from dukkhan nanas [1] and a resultant bliss release (subtle or gross) from dukkha nanas?
#3 Do you feel a conceited/superior removal from people and their feelings (could be like "pity")?


[1] Dukkha nanas: a phase wherein a person may become suffusively informed with negativity about themselves and/or their world context, feel helpless, distraught, dispair, anxious, reactive... brainstem land.
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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 11:26 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 4/4/15 11:26 AM

RE: The zombie effect

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
#4 What is it about work settings that is "less responsive and feel detached"?

There is less stress, less worry, and very little anxiety.  Is the meditation causing these changes?  Should I be concerned?  Will it pass?  Will it intensify?
I'm sure you see that this in itself is stress. So I'll ask, too:
#5 Are you concerned about destroying your avowed friendship (marriage)?


I'm asking because, to me, there is very much a subtly stressful phase of "low equanimity" (dissociation) that can occur in a meditative suit. And just by the nature of your questions and your context (as in "Despite this I feel pretty calm and at ease most of the time.") I would speculate that this is an equanimity that is heading to low equanimity and back into more knowledges of stress (dukkha nanas), which knowledges are the base for a "wisdom/understanding", that mental gentle, reliable insight that sees the condition of living and dying in all living species.
Darin, modified 8 Years ago at 4/5/15 2:40 AM
Created 8 Years ago at 4/5/15 2:40 AM

RE: The zombie effect

Posts: 22 Join Date: 2/3/13 Recent Posts
Katy, thankyou for taking an interest in my post.  In response to your three questions:

#1 The dissatisfaction can be found in the difficulty in maintaining or forging social connections.  I feel as though I am less socially adept than before.  A sort of social discord has replaced an easier and more fluid interaction in social settings.  

#2 I haven't experienced extended or frequent episodes of the dukkha nana's and I don't believe that these feelings arose oout of them.

#3 In social settings it is more a feeling of inadequacy by I sometimes wonder how people get by with little or no experience of dhama or meditation. In this sense there is a kind of judgement taking place.  

#4 I do a technical job and only a small part of a typical day involves social interaction, therefore I kind of fly under the radar when it comes to my newly discovered discord in social encounters.

Your suggestion that the envelope is edging at low equanimity makes sense to me based on my reading.  However the distinct lack of a strong and prolonged dark night phase might also suggest dissolution.

Thanks Katy and Namaste