Autism and meditation?

David Lawrence Platzer, modified 8 Years ago at 3/7/16 3:39 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/7/16 3:39 PM

Autism and meditation?

Posts: 3 Join Date: 12/29/12 Recent Posts
Hi -- I'm a phd student in anthropology at Johns Hopkins. I'm currently exploring the possibility of doing a bit of research on the experiences of dedicated meditators who identify as autistic (or "Aspie") or have been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. 

If anybody has any thoughts or experiences they might like to share, you can reach me at dlp@jhu.edu. 

Thanks!

David
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Stick Man, modified 8 Years ago at 3/13/16 6:45 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/13/16 6:44 PM

RE: Autism and meditation?

Posts: 396 Join Date: 9/23/14 Recent Posts
Yeah I often wondered this. Given that so much of what buddhists regard as defilements of the mind are emotionally based, what happens when someone is lacking in emotion from the get-go, do they have a head start ?

Or, even, was buddha autistic and therefore only too keen to give up the normal emotional life of most of society. In short, is buddhism an autistic enterprise - and that's why so many people with the full deck of emotions and drives fail the path ?

And how far can we say that a monk who practices detatchment is truly going against the grain of human nature, or simply didn't have much of that nature anyway ?

And the unemotional end of things, like what they refer to as Actual Freedom, which means an end to emotions - is that simply an autistic take on buddhism ?

There you go, possibly all those questions are based on ignorance, but nothing ventured etc...
David Lawrence Platzer, modified 8 Years ago at 3/13/16 9:41 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/13/16 9:41 PM

RE: Autism and meditation?

Posts: 3 Join Date: 12/29/12 Recent Posts
Thanks for your reflections, John. I think these are really interesings thoughts. 

From what I understand, the question of autism and emotion is very complex. Some people who identify as being on the spectrum indeed say that they experience alexithymia, an inability to process, express, or perceive emotions. But others say that their emotional lives as just as robut as non-autistics, perhaps even more vivid, though articulating feelings or accurately recognizing them in others is a challenge. 

The handful of dedicated spectrum meditators I've communicated with suggest that meditation if anything helps them perceive and voice feelings more fully. So in this sense meditation wouldn't necessarily be a means of transcending emotions, but integrating them. 

Anyhow, I'm interested in exploring more. So if anyboydy else is reading this and wants to share their thoughts, I'd be very interested to speak. 
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Stick Man, modified 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 1:54 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 1:54 PM

RE: Autism and meditation?

Posts: 396 Join Date: 9/23/14 Recent Posts
hmm... and some autistic people (I believe) experience extreme distress if a predictable life rhythm is broken. So is there an attraction to the repetitive side of religious life - mantras, prayer wheels, cycles of attention and thought ?
David Lawrence Platzer, modified 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 9:54 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 9:54 PM

RE: Autism and meditation?

Posts: 3 Join Date: 12/29/12 Recent Posts
I've heard this suggested a lot. Less in terms of meditation as such, but there have been quite a few people who have suggested that monks of various traditions have historically been ASD. It makes a lot of sense, though I haven't seen anybody really investigate in detail. 
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Stick Man, modified 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 11:02 PM
Created 8 Years ago at 3/14/16 11:02 PM

RE: Autism and meditation?

Posts: 396 Join Date: 9/23/14 Recent Posts
A little memory bell tinkles...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_%28Sufism%29

"According to Meher Baba, a mast is one who is entranced or spellbound by internal spiritual experiences and ecstasies, who cannot function outwardly in an ordinary way, and may appear mad to a casual outside observer. Such experiences, according to Meher Baba, stem from the station of a mast's consciousness (his or her state of consciousness) on inner involution."

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