# data[].attributes.headline
Illustrations of some of the animations made in illustrator before taking into after effects.

# data[].attributes.subject
Illustrations of some of the animations made in illustrator before taking into after effects.

# data[].attributes.body
Some animations visuals were made in illustrator before animating in after effects whereas other animations were directly created in after effects with its variety of assets and effects.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sketches of inspiration for the animations. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Sketches of inspiration for the animations. 

# data[].attributes.body
With these sketches, I was trying to map out the shape and forms of each animation as well as thinking about the movement I would like to create for each one.

# data[].attributes.headline
All 9 solfeggio frequencies pure tones, source material for music.

# data[].attributes.subject
All 9 solfeggio frequencies pure tones, source material for music.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Solfeggio Frequencies - Pure Sine Waves - Healing Tones : loopool / Jean-Paul Garnier : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Solfeggio Frequencies - 10 minute segments of pure sine wave fundamentals 174 Hz - Pain Reducer 285 Hz - Influence Energy Fields 396 Hz - Happiness 417 Hz -…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
And breeaaathe: the animation supergroup creating meditation TV for Netflix's Headspace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For the directors behind Headspace Guide to Meditation, it was a challenge unlike any other. So just how have they envisaged inner calm for a streaming audience?

# data[].attributes.body
The linked article explores the concept of "Musica Universalis," also known as the "Music of the Spheres," an ancient philosophical idea that posits celestial bodies emit harmonious sounds as they move through space. It delves into how this notion has influenced various cultures throughout history, from ancient Greece to the Renaissance and beyond. how this idea connects music, mathematics, and astronomy, inspiring thinkers and artists alike. It also reflects on modern interpretations and the ongoing fascination with the cosmic harmony underlying the universe's fabric.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A long time ago in a galaxy called the Milky Way, on a planet called Earth, there were people who believed the universe was actually a huge musical instrument. How dumb, right? Well, it turned out to be true.
Before we humans got to the point where we were basically aware of what's going on in space ('basically', because there's still a ton we don't know, thank god) we used to think our planet was surrounded by celestial spheres, which produced divine music with their movement. While the first is pretty much true, the second didn't use to be. I know, this is probably confusing but bear with me.

Sure, until one point it was easy to say 'haha, those people back then were really stupid to think there's a connection between the moving of celestial bodies and music' - but then came science. In the spirit of recent astrophysical discoveries, or, should I say, confirmations, since Einstein thought of gravitational waves a hundred years ago, I'd like to re-ask the following question: What IS music? Why, vibrations, of course. You what vibrates? Matter. What else? Space itself. And by space I don't mean the darkness you see when you look up at the night sky, no. I mean all space everywhere, the 'place' where all matter is, where you are, everything. So yeah, I would say the connection between enormous objects moving around each other (and away from each other, but that's a topic for an article on astrophysics) is quite obvious for those who understand how a musical instrument actually works. To avoid coming off as condescending, I'd like to explain.

The ancients called it Musica universalis or Music of the spheres, or Harmony of the Spheres. It was more a philosophical concept than an actual belief and it stated that celestial bodies such as the Sun, the Moon and the planets (well, the ones we were aware of back then) moved around in specific proportions, thus creating a form of music, seen as the mathematical outcome of their heavenly interrelations. Let's face it - music is basically math that sounds good. Thank god you don't have to be good at arithmetic to be able to pull off a killer guitar riff, right?

So, yes, to your disappointment, the music people of ancient times were talking about was not really the music you expect to hear coming from your headphones. It was the idea of divine harmonics, a religious concept if you will, expressed with the language of mathematics. By the way, when I say 'ancient', I should really pointy out that the idea of Musica universalis continued to attract the thoughts of thinkers, scholars and even humanists up until the late Renaissance. It was indeed one of those times in history when science blossomed, or maybe 'exploded' is a better way to describe the sheer size of what was happening. Discoveries were popping here and there and a bunch of them very conveniently determined some of the physical phenomena created by the orbital motion of celestial bodies, namely orbital resonance.

This was, I imagine, exciting news for those who had lost all hopes of ever proving there was such a thing as the Harmony of the Spheres. And there were many of them, I presume. But the scientific knowledge of a direct relation between sound and physical dimension had existed ever since Pythagoras figured out that the pitch of a musical note depended on the length of the string producing it. Another basic observation attributed to him is that of the simple numerical ratios formed by the intervals between harmonious frequencies. The Harmony of the Spheres, or the theory that the Sun, the Moon and all planets each emit their own distinctive hum, based on how they revolve in their orbits? Also Pythagoras. Of course, according to the theory, these undetectable hums directly influenced the quality of life on Earth, as it reflected the quality of their celestial sounds. This sounds refreshingly wrong and gives us the rare chance to look down on ancient scholars as if being born a few thousand years later is somehow our own accomplishment. Too bad that, when you really think about it, they were actually right. Of course cosmic vibrations influence our lives. In fact, they do it all the time. Duh, matter IS vibration.

Then Plato came and, as if knowing that you and I were going to be bragging about being smart in the future, combined astronomy and music into one twinned definition. They were the studies of sensual recognition. One, astronomy, was meant for the eyes and the other, music, for the ears. Unfortunately for almost any living musician today, they both required an understanding of numerical proportions.

Any serious text concerning ancient thought on practically any subject sooner or later arrives at Aristotle. Here's what he said about the Harmony of the Spheres:
"We should see evidently, after all that proceedes, that, when they talk to us about a harmony resultant of the movement of those bodies, same as the harmony of the sounds that are entwined, there is brilliant comparison being done undoubtedly, but vain; that is not the truth nowise. There are indeed people [the pythagoreans] that figures out that the movement of bodies so big (the planets) must produce necessarily noise, because we hear all around us the noises that bodies without mass nor a speed as equal as the Sun of the Moon.

Because of that, one believes being authorized to conclude that stars so numerous and immense cannot go by there making translations moves without making any intense noise. Admitting at first this hypothesis, and supposing that these bodies, thanks to its respective distances, they are for its speed in the same proportion than harmonies, this philosophers come to pretend that the star's voice, which moves into circles, is harmonious. But as it would be very surprising that we did not hear that pretentious voice, it explain us the cause, saying that noise is in our ears since our birth date. This causes that we cannot tell the noise, the thing is, we have never had the contrast of silence which would be its opposite: because voice and silence make themselves distinguishable the one to the other".

Right, as I'm sure you're a bit confused, just as am I every time I read Aristotle, I'll try to jam all we've said so far in a tiny, one-sentence, takeaway bag:
The Music of the Spheres is a beautiful metaphysical concept, which states that the 'tones' created by the motion of celestial bodies can be seen as music and expressed as mathematical relationships, using numbers, shapes and sounds, all following a divine pattern of proportion.

I feel like we may need to start sounding less abstract. In our next article we'll see how modern science used satellites and observations of the Earth's magnetosphere to unintentionally prove the we, indeed, live in a giant musical instrument. Stay tuned! 🙂

Meanwhile, head over to Drooble for more interesting facts about music and tons of exciting people from all over the world!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Musica Universalis: The Sound Of The Heavens - Drooble The Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A long time ago there were people who believed the universe was actually a huge musical instrument. Well, it turned out to be true.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Science behind Solfeggio frequencies.

# data[].attributes.subject
The Science behind Solfeggio frequencies.

# data[].attributes.body
The link explores the science behind Solfeggio frequencies, a set of ancient musical tones believed to have healing properties. It discusses how these frequencies relate to brainwave activity, explaining their potential effects on relaxation, stress reduction, and overall well-being. The article delves into studies suggesting that exposure to Solfeggio frequencies may induce various physiological responses, such as decreased heart rate and enhanced meditation states. It also touches on the historical origins of Solfeggio tones and their resurgence in modern alternative medicine and sound therapy practices. Overall, it offers insights into the potential benefits of incorporating these frequencies into daily life for improved sleep and health.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Whether you're relatively new to soothing sounds or are a seasoned listener, the term 'Solfeggio frequencies' might be entirely new to you.

Solfeggio frequencies refer to specific tones of sound that help with and promote various aspects of body and mind health. These frequencies are reputed to date back to ancient history and said to be the fundamental sounds used in both Western Christianity and Eastern Indian religions, chanted by the Gregorian Monks and in ancient Indian Sanskrit chants.

Physician and researcher, Dr. Joseph Puleo, rediscovered Solfeggio frequencies in the 1970s, bringing their benefits back into public awareness. In his research, he used mathematical numeral reduction to identify six measurable tones that bring the body back into balance and aid in healing.

These Solfeggio frequencies were believed to profoundly affect the conscious and subconscious mind in order to stimulate healing and promote vitality. Thanks to Puleo's work and the renewed interest, many scientists have since unearthed more evidence supporting the positive effects that these frequencies have on the human body.

The science behind the Solfeggio frequencies

The scientific community began connecting the dots between the type of music played and the variety of physical effects on the human body. In 1988, biochemist Dr. Glen Rein made a discovery that confirmed what the ancient spiritual traditions understood when he tested the impact of different music on human DNA.

Rein exposed similar DNA vials to four kinds of music with different frequencies - Gregorian chants, Sanskrit chants, classical, and rock. By measuring the rate of UV light absorption, an essential function of healthy DNA, Rein was able to assess the effects of each type of music. And the results will make you reconsider the type of music you listen to when you want to relax.

The Gregorian and Sanskrit chants had the most positive, even healing, effects by increasing UV light absorption between 5 to 9 percent. The classical music increased UV absorption by small amounts. And rock music decreased UV light absorption, harming the DNA. Rein's research supported the theory that sound frequencies do produce serious effects, for better or worse, on health and well-being.

Since Rein's illuminating discovery, further research has come to light that shows Solfeggio frequencies have profound mental, emotional, and physical effects. Additionally, this understanding has led to music therapy becoming established as a health profession to help individuals therapeutically using various aspects of music creation and listening.

However, to understand what's so special about the Solfeggio frequencies and how they differ from other tones, it's first important to understand the Schumann resonance.

Scientific tuning and the Schumann resonance

You might be wondering why it is that Solfeggio frequencies produce more positive effects on the body than any other sounds or tones. The answer lies in the Schumann resonance.

In 1952, German physicist Winfried Otto Schumann mathematically documented the electromagnetic resonances existing between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere-the electrically charged part of the Earth's atmosphere. Schumann discovered that these electromagnetic waves, originating from discharges of lightening, resonated at a low frequency ranging between 7.86 Hz to 8 Hz. He determined that this frequency was, in essence, the Earth's heartbeat. It has since been coined the Schumann resonance after its founder.

Schumann's successor, doctoral candidate Herbert Konig, took this research a step further. He studied the connection between the Schumann resonances and found them to match various levels of human brain activity by comparing EEG recordings with the Earth's electromagnetic fields.

Konig discovered that the resonances matched five different brainwave states: delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. These are the brainwave states that occur naturally during all daily activities from sleeping to creating to learning.

Further research supports Konig's findings that confirm the incredible similarities between the Schumann resonance and human brain activity. Additionally, other research shows that the low frequency of the Schumann resonance has been found to provide synchronization for higher brain function.

So, how do the Schumann resonances relate to Solfeggio frequencies?

The Solfeggio frequencies have such positive effects because they resonate in harmony with the Schumann resonance of 8 Hz. Musically speaking, the frequencies are derived by beginning at 8Hz and working up the musical scale octave by octave until the C note is vibrating at the 256 Hz frequency and the A note is vibrating at 432 Hz. When music is tuned to harmonize with this frequency it is known as scientific tuning.

The Solfeggio frequencies include, but are not limited to, six different tones. Let's take a more in-depth look at each frequency and its unique healing effects on the body and mind.

The benefits of the different Solfeggio frequencies
432 Hz
Many ancient musical instruments were constructed for 432 Hz tuning and before the mid-20th century, 432 Hz was the standard of instrumental tuning. Since then 440 Hz tuning has become the norm. The 432 Hz frequency resonates with the Schumann Resonance of 8 Hz and is known for its deeply calming and soothing effects.

A recent double-blind study from Italy showed that music tuned to 432 Hz slows down the heart rate when compared to 440 Hz. This frequency fills the mind with feelings of peace and well-being, making it the perfect accompaniment for yoga, gentle exercise, meditation, or sleep.
528 Hz
Even though the science on the reparative effects of the 528 Hz is still in its infancy, early research indicates that it has the ability to heal and repair the body.

A 2018 study from Japan discovered that music tuned to the frequency of 528 Hz significantly reduced stress in the endocrine systems and autonomic nervous systems-even after a mere five minutes of listening. And in a study published in the Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, the frequency of 528 Hz reduced the toxic effects of ethanol, the principle ingredient found in alcoholic drinks, on cells. Even more astounding was that this frequency also increased cell life by about 20 percent.

The energizing and healing effects of music set to 528 Hz make it ideal background music any time you feel under the weather or simply need to unwind.
396 Hz
Music tuned to 396 Hz helps remove subconscious fears, worries, and anxiety. It also helps to eliminate feelings of guilt and subconscious negative beliefs blocking the path to achieving personal goals.

Listening to music tuned to this frequency is most helpful when you want to feel more uplifted, secure, and give power to your goals and dreams.
639 Hz
The frequency of 639 Hz helps balance emotions and elevate the mood. It also promotes communication, love, understanding, and brings harmony into interpersonal relationships.

Music set to 639 Hz is perfect when you need a significant boost of love and positivity or are dealing with conflicts in relationships.
741 Hz
Music tuned to the frequency of 741 Hz helps with problem-solving, cleansing the body, and self-expression. It also helps to awaken intuition and promote living simply and purely.

This frequency is ideal if you're struggling with living a healthy lifestyle, expressing creativity, or speaking your truth.
852 Hz
The 852 Hz frequency helps to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, making it ideal when nervousness or anxiety is bringing you down. It also aids in awakening intuition and inner strength.

You'll enjoy listening to music set to 852 Hz if you're seeking to communicate with and live in harmony with your highest self.

Whether you prefer to have it as background music during daily activities or to accompany you while you sleep, each Solfeggio frequency has unique uplifting and soothing effects that you'll undoubtably enjoy. All of the frequencies mentioned can be found in the BetterSleep app to mix with other sounds or content.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Science Behind Solfeggio Frequencies | BetterSleep

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Whether you're relatively new to soothing sounds or are a seasoned listener, the term 'Solfeggio frequencies' might be entirely new to you. Solfeggio frequencies refer to specific tones of sound that help with and promote various aspects of body and mind health.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
and Poemotion 2 books of astonishingly beautiful patterns. They are beautiful because they are so simple and yet I struggle to describe them here. The book comes with a lined overlay, and when the images of the book combine with the overlay, they dance and amaze.

These dancing patterns arise from something called a Moiré pattern, a creature of math and physics. These kinds of patterns naturally arise when two patterns are overlaid.

You've probably seen Moiré patterns when people wear busy patterns on tv:

We usually associate Moiré patterns with annoying visual artifacts, but science has found several ways to exploit them. Moiré patterns can be used to measure strain in materials. They can also be exploited to take microscope images at high magnification. The little lines on US dollars are designed to create Moiré lines when scanned, as a mechanism for defeating counterfeiters.

Kurashima's Poemotion (just in black) and Poemotion 2 (in color), contain dozens of Moiré patterns. Every time I look at them, I feel such simple joy. The patterns are so deeply familiar and yet I had never consciously noticed them before. These books made me look at the world differently.

This entry was posted in artists and books, Science and tagged animation, art, book, interference, math, Moiré patterns, moire pattern, motion, pattern, poemotion, science, takahiro kurashima, visual on by .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Art and Math: Poemotion (Takahiro Kurashima)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Poemotion and Poemotion 2 books of astonishingly beautiful patterns. They are beautiful because they are so simple and yet I struggle to describe them here. The book comes with a lined overlay, and when the images of the book combine with the overlay, they dance and amaze.

# data[].attributes.body
exploring how conscious breathing techniques can aid emotional regulation. It highlights how controlled breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, triggering relaxation responses that counteract stress. The piece emphasizes the importance of rhythmic breathing in managing emotional states, citing its ability to calm the mind and promote focus. Techniques such as box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing are recommended for their simplicity and effectiveness. Overall, the article underscores the profound impact of intentional breathing on emotional well-being, advocating its incorporation into daily routines for enhanced stress management and resilience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One of the more challenging aspects of daily life is regulating your emotions. Scientists and philosophers from modern-day to as far back as the classical age have wrestled with the idea of how emotional responses affect us.

Marcus Aurelius, famed roman Emperor and stoic, regularly contemplated the role emotions play in our lives, devoting much of his memoir, Meditations, on the topic: "The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing." - Marcus Aurelius

For the stoics, doing something about their situation while regulating their emotional responses was considered the ultimate expression of stoicism. Of course, many of the stoics had the advantage of living in a time where the trappings of daily life were much simpler, making their approach more straightforward.

Thankfully, we have something that classical Stoics didn't, and that's a good few thousand years of breathing techniques to lean on. So keep reading, and learn how you can use your breathing as a tool to maintain peak emotional regulation.

All About Control

One of the more essential pieces of info to keep in mind when trying to regulate your emotions is the idea of control. While there are many events in your life that you don't have control over, the one thing you consistently have control over is your emotional response to those events. It's a key component of regulatory breathing techniques, mindfulness ethos, and the stoic philosophy - so it's a pretty crucial tidbit to remember.

Often we try to suppress or avoid our emotions. However, avoidance is usually never a solution to certain problems. Instead, identifying and managing your emotional responses should be the key priority. The best way to do that is by managing your breathing through conscious control.

So, if you find yourself in a tense situation and your struggling to decide what to do, often the best solution at that moment is to simply breathe.

Why This Works

The reason breathing works for managing emotions comes in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system controls your fight-or-flight response, while the parasympathetic controls your body's ability to rest. Both systems are advantageous in their own right, though the dominance of one over the other can lead to poor decision-making and a lack of emotional regulation.

When faced with a situation that leads to high emotions, controlled conscious breathing allows you to stimulate the vagus nerve, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This lowers the heart rate and reduces the production of adrenaline in the body, keeping you calm in the process.

Remaining calm is crucial during times of stress. When you're relaxed and focused, you can assess situations more clearly and efficiently, allowing you the opportunity to make the best decision possible in that moment.

So, the next time you find yourself facing a moment where emotions are running high, take a moment consciously breathe, focusing on your breath as you inhale and slowly exhale. You'll be surprised by the difference it makes.

For more information regarding how to manage your breathing for a more effective lifestyle, visit our other blogs here at The Exhale to get the latest tips and tricks. For free guided breathing exercises that you can take anywhere, try out the Breathwrk app here.

And remember: Breathe Better, Live Better.

Ciao!

‍

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Breathing Can be the Key to Emotional Regulation | Breathwrk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One of the more challenging aspects of daily life is regulating your emotions. Scientists and philosophers from modern-day to as far back as the classical age have wrestled with the idea of how emotional responses affect us. Marcus Aurelius, famed roman Emperor and stoic, regularly contemplated the role emotions play in our lives, devoting much of his memoir, Meditations.

# data[].attributes.body
Exploring the profound impact of breath on physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It delves into various breathing techniques and practices from different traditions, highlighting their therapeutic benefits such as stress reduction, increased focus, and improved immune function. It discusses scientific research supporting the connection between breath and health, as well as personal anecdotes illustrating its transformative effects. The article emphasizes the importance of conscious breathing as a tool for self-care and healing, offering practical tips for integrating breathwork into daily life to cultivate balance and vitality.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In ancient and pre-industrial societies, breath and breathing have played a very important role in cosmology, mythology, and philosophy, as well as an important tool in ritual and spiritual practice. Various breathing techniques have been used since time immemorial for religious and healing purposes.

Since the earliest times, virtually every major psychospiritual system seeking to comprehend human nature has viewed breath as a crucial link between nature, the human body, the psyche, and the spirit. This is clearly reflected in the words many languages use for breath.

In the ancient Indian literature, the term prana meant not only physical breath and air, but also the sacred essence of life. Similarly, in traditional Chinese medicine, the word chi refers to the cosmic essence and the energy of life, as well as the natural air we breathe by our lungs. In Japan, the corresponding word is ki, which plays an extremely important role in Japanese spiritual practices and martial arts. In ancient Greece, the word pneuma meant both air or breath and spirit or the essence of life. The Greeks also saw breath as being closely related to the psyche. The term phren was used both for the diaphragm, the largest muscle involved in breathing, and mind (as we see in the term schizophrenia = literally split mind).

In the old Hebrew tradition, the same word, ruach, denoted both breath and creative spirit, which were seen as identical. The following quote from Genesis shows the close relationship between God, breath, and life: "Then the Lord God formed man {Hebrew adam} from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." In Latin the same name was used for breath and spirit-spiritus. Similarly, in Slavic languages, spirit and breath have the same linguistic root.

In the native Hawaiian tradition and medicine (kanaka maoli lapa'au), the word ha means the divine spirit, wind, air, and breath. It is contained in the popular Hawaiian aloha expression that is used in many different contexts. It is usually translated as presence (alo) of the Divine Breath (ha). Its opposite, ha'ole, meaning literally without breath or without life, is a term that native Hawaiians have applied to white-skinned foreigners since the arrival of the infamous British sea captain James Cook in 1778. The kahunas, "Keepers of Secret Knowledge," have used breathing exercises to generate spiritual energy (mana).

It has been known for centuries that it is possible to influence consciousness by techniques that involve breathing. The procedures that have been used for this purpose by various ancient and non-Western cultures cover a very wide range from drastic interference with breathing to subtle and sophisticated exercises of various spiritual traditions. Thus the original form of baptism practiced by the Essenes involved forced submersion of the initiate under water for an extended period of time. This resulted in a powerful experience of death and rebirth. In some other groups, the neophytes were half-choked by smoke, by strangulation, or by compression of the carotid arteries.

Profound changes in consciousness can be induced by both extremes in the breathing rate, hyperventilation and prolonged withholding of breath, as well as by using them in an alternating fashion. Very sophisticated and advanced methods of this kind can be found in the ancient Indian science of breath, or pranayama. William Walker Atkinson, American writer, who was influential in the turn-of-the-century (1890s-1900s) spiritual/philosophical movement wrote under the pseudonym Yogi Ramacharaka a comprehensive treatise on the Hindu science of breath (Ramacharaka 1903).

Specific techniques involving intense breathing or withholding of breath are also part of various exercises in Kundalini Yoga, Siddha Yoga, the Tibetan Vajrayana, Sufi practice, Burmese Buddhist and Taoist meditation, and many others. Indirectly, the depth and rhythm of breathing gets profoundly influenced by such ritual artistic performances, as the Balinese monkey chant or Ketjak, the Inuit Eskimo throat music, Tibetan and Mongolian multivocal chanting, and singing of kirtans, bhajans, or Sufi chants.

More subtle techniques, which emphasize special awareness in relation to breathing rather than changes of the respiratory dynamics, have a prominent place in Buddhism. Anāpānasati is a basic form of meditation taught by the Buddha; it means literally "mindfulness of breathing" (from the Pali anāpāna = inhalation and exhalation and sati = mindfulness). Buddha's teaching of anāpāna was based on his experience in using it as a means of achieving his own enlightenment. He emphasized the importance of not being mindful only of one's breath, but using the breath to become aware of one's entire body and of all of one's experience. According to the Anāpānasati Sutta ( sutra), practicing this form of meditation leads to the removal of all defilements ( kilesa). The Buddha taught that systematic practice of anāpānasati would lead to the final release ( nirvā na).

Anāpānasati is practiced in connection with Vipassanā (insight meditation) and Zen meditation ( shikantaza, literally "just sitting "). The essence of anāpānasati as the core meditation practice in Buddhism, especially the Theravada school, is to be merely a passive observer of the natural involuntary breathing process. This is in sharp contrast with the yogic pranayama practices, which employ breathing techniques that aim for rigorous control of breath. However, anāpānasati is not the only Buddhist form of breathing meditation. In the Buddhist spiritual practices used in Tibet, Mongolia, and Japan, the control of breathing plays an important role. Cultivation of special attention to breathing represents also an essential part of certain Taoist and Christian practices.

In materialistic science, breathing lost its sacred meaning and was stripped of its connection to the psyche and spirit. Western medicine reduced it to an important physiological function....In the last few decades, however Western therapists have rediscovered the healing potential of breath and have developed techniques that utilize it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stanislav Grof, a psychiatrist with five decades of experience in research of nonordinary states of consciousness, offers a glimpse into the history of breathwork and the healing power of breath. ,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Although most religions have rites of passage for the dead, their teachings about death itself (and what follows it) are few and far between. Religions' vagueness and mystery surrounding this subject is reinforced by death being a taboo topic in many cultures. Buddhism, in contrast to most other faiths, deals with it head-on, in a very frank and quite detailed way, both in theory and in practical preparation.

The Buddha himself described death as the 'the greatest of all teachers', 'the sickness' and 'the most important manifestation of impermanence'. It is helpful to recall that most Buddhist cultures, even well into this century, were made up of integral, extended families in which ageing and dying happened in the home and not in external institutions such as old peoples' homes and hospitals. People were confronted with mortality as a real and recurring feature of daily life. It led to many natural questions and was a constant reminder of the Buddha's teachings on impermanence.

Since Buddhism's earliest days, Buddhist monks have gone to funeral grounds to observe bodies left there to be eaten by wild animals and insects. This may seem macabre and gruesome at first, to a modern Western mind, but for monks it is an invaluable and time-saving device. Many people have to wait decades - until parents or spouses die - to go through the unique learning cycle afforded by observing death at close hand. The meditator, calmly observing the waxen, inanimate corpses deposited daily in charnel grounds, takes only days or weeks to understand the point: the vital distinction between the body and the mind which animates it. Believing in reincarnation, he or she sees the biological shell as a guest-house in which the travelling consciousness sojourns but briefly, soon to go to another, quite different, place. This almost endless, age-old journey will involve staying in hundreds, thousands, of such temporary residences until liberating truths finally release the weary traveller.

Observing this ephemeral fragility of life can sow the seeds of great compassion for those who cling to it as though it would never end. Most importantly, awareness of death leads to a awakened appreciation of every precious moment of life. Each hour, each day, becomes a fresh opportunity for working for the long-term spiritual weal rather than inconsequential material pleasure. On a deeper level, death is not only a physical reality but also a powerful metaphor for the psychological death of ego which must occur before the mind is liberated into limitless wisdom.

Preparing for death

Buddhists prepare for death in many ways, depending upon how well they have learnt to master their own minds, through meditation. In one way, the finest and most thorough training is simply to lead a good and virtuous life - physically, verbally and mentally. The good karma this creates and the wholesome, virtuous mental reflexes it develops will become one's best friends at the time of dying and in the after-death experiences, when spontaneous reactions and the mighty drive of karma prevail.

People used to meditation on specific Buddhas and bodhisattvas - and in particular on Buddha Amitabha and bodhisattva Avalokitesvara - will find special support at the time of death. Through familiarity, they will welcome the experience of these beings of light coming to receive them into their paradises. Most other people are so totally overawed and frightened by such brilliant experiences that they turn away from them and shelter in mind's shadows. Those who have gone beyond the creative phase of meditation and who have experienced voidness in its ultimate phase will maximise the brief opportunity occurring soon after death, when the relative mind dissolves into its absolute nature, like a raindrop falling back into the ocean. There will be natural and lasting bliss and peace. For most other people, it passes elusively, like a flash.

Other Buddhists train in the bardo teachings. By familiarising themselves with the long succession of experiences and hallucinations which follow death, they prepare themselves for the real thing, rather like karate students going through the various motions of combat in training for true conflict. Even if, when the actual moment comes, they themselves are incapable of mastering the situation in the traumatic, dream-like state between lives, they may nevertheless respond more readily to the psychic guidance given by lamas and friends reciting the traditional bardo prayers designed to lead them through the experiences and into a good rebirth.

Yet other accomplished meditators perform the profound consciousness transference (po-wa) practices of vajrayana. These enable the mind to be forcefully or peacefully (depending upon the prowess of the meditator) fused with the primordial enlightened mind of Buddha, either temporarily or permanently. Finally, those of unwavering faith will experience their guru or their yidam coming to welcome them away from the coarse, dark limitations of this life into the boundless light and truth that is mind's true nature.

Forever In-Between: Bardo

Buddhists believe nothing lasts. Everything is always in a state of change. When viewing things with microscopic precision, it becomes clear to them that, in the world of mind, consciousness is renewed every split second and that, in the world of matter, atomic particles are always in flux and movement. Tantric teachings describe all existence as a migration from what was to what will be. In that sense, all is bardo or 'in-betweening'. However, this continual flux, viewed macroscopically as beings' lives, has four distinct phases, each with its own very specific type of experience.

Being born and being alive is known as the this life bardo: the most powerful phase of them all. In it, one has more control over the mind than in the other three bardo and can choose lucidly how to act physically and verbally. The period at the end of life, as one dies, is the traumatic dying bardo. The breakdown of the biological support of life during this period engenders a series of moods and feelings which are hard to dominate. The moment immediately after death, usually very brief, when the primordial nature of existence manifests, is the expanse of purity bardo. The ensuing dream-like state between lives, in which one has little or no choice of action, is known as the becoming bardo.

The Traumatic Bardo of Dying

What exactly do Buddhists believe happens at death? It can be summed up technically as the progressive cessation of activity of the five bio-dynamic forces (prana) and the resorption of the bodily elements.

As the digestive bio-dynamic (Fire Companion prana) degrades, food can no longer be digested and bodily heat diminishes, from its extremities inwards. As the oxygenating bio-dynamic (Life Sustaining prana) degrades, the mind becomes unclear and confused. As the excreting biodynamic (Downward Expeller prana) degrades, one can no longer eliminate bodily wastes. As the energising bio-dynamic (Upward-Moving prana) degrades, one can no longer eat or drink and finds it increasingly difficult to breathe. When the motility bio-dynamic degrades, the limbs can no longer function and the blood vessels shrink.

As the earth element dissolves into the water element, one can no longer stand, the head lolls, the face takes on a grey complexion and one loses saliva. One feels dull and depressed. When the water element then dissolves into the fire element, the mouth dries up and the tongue becomes hard and twisted. One feels hazy and irritable. As the fire element dissolves into the wind element, the body loses its warmth and the breath feels cold on the nose and lips. One vacillates between clarity and confusion. When the wind element then dissolves into consciousness, the breath starts to rattle and the eyes roll upwards. Inwardly one is bewildered and can hallucinate, positively or negatively depending upon one's karma.

Simultaneously, the five secondary pranas, governing the senses, disappear. One can no longer clearly perceive external forms, sounds, odours, tastes or physical sensations. Then, consciousness dissolves into space and breathing stops. The body lustre fades and rapidly becomes cadaveric but there remains a slight warmth around the heart. Some texts say that, in certain cases, some people can still recover at this point. Beyond it, there is no hope.

The mind is then left to experience the fruits of its own actions and the enormous range of possibilities from this point onwards is largely dependent upon mental habits while alive. Those well-trained in meditation have a chance to fuse into the clear light of absolute reality, which shines soon after death. Others may have beautiful experiences. Others, on the contrary, may be terrified and enter a long-enduring nightmare.

The Primordial Purity Bardo

As the components of this life's consciousness collapse back into what is eternal and universal, there is a short but vital opportunity to fuse with the Buddha within. Very experienced meditators can use this to the full but, for most people, it is a brief and unrecognisable flash to which they react with all the reflexes of personality, thereby steering themselves away from the eternal and back into the stream of rebirth.

The Becoming Bardo

Rebirth does not happen immediately after the moment of primordial purity. Before the next conception comes the 'intermediate state' (becoming bardo) experience, familiar to many people through what has become known as 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'. This title was borrowed by Evans-Wentz from the famous Egyptian Book of the Dead but the parallel between the two books is far from obvious. A more precise translation of the Tibetan text's title would be Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State. The work is, in effect, a vivid description of the forty-nine main stages of experience following death, along with instructions about how best to relate to them. The text is read into the dying person's ear, and can also be recited by lamas or by relatives, as a prayer, during the forty-nine days following death, in the hope of guiding the deceased's mind in its confused travels.

The above are but a few general details from the complete trainings for death given in tantric texts. Advanced meditators, in long retreats, prepare their minds systematically for all these experience and there were two special places in Tibet where yogis could actually go through a simulation of the forty-nine-day bardo in the total darkness of a special retreat centre.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Although most religions have rites of passage for the dead, their teachings about death itself (and what follows it) are few and far between. Religions' vagueness and mystery surrounding this subject is reinforced by death being a taboo topic in many cultures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why are some people rich yet some poor, some happy yet others in misery, some lucky and some unlucky? Moreover, why are some pure, innocent beings afflicted with terrible misfortunes whereas evil tyrants remain healthy and rich? These are difficult questions for most faiths, believing in a just and compassionate God, to answer. The Buddhist explanation is to see this life as but one in a series of many. In this existence, one is reaping the harvest of seeds sown by actions (karma) of past lives, while at the same time planting new seeds to ripen in the life to come. There is no natural evolution in this process, hence a higher state of existence can be followed by an even better one or a worse one, depending entirely upon how it is utilised. Going up or down from one life to the next and returning again and again to the same patterns of action, through habit, and thereby reaping again and again the same results, this endless round of existence is represented by the 'wheel of life'.

Among the almost endless possibilities of existence in the cosmos, a human birth is considered to be very special. It is while human that most karma is created, with other states being mainly the experience of the results of human actions. Animals and other non-humans do create some karma, but it is quite weak. As the force of karma depends upon the motivation behind it, the karma of humans is, on the contrary, strong, since they possess intelligence and free will.

Unlike many other religions, Buddhism does not think of external beings who reward or punish one for altruistic or selfish acts. Future benefits or handicaps are shaped entirely by the nature of action itself, through its ongoing influence upon the mind. Just as good cherry seeds, as they fall to the ground, have the power to produce delicious fruit, some time in the future, and aconite seeds have the power to produce deadly poison, so do our acts already contain a quasi-genetic programming of future happiness or suffering. The ground onto which they fall is our ongoing continuum of consciousness. Like a complex garden, a human (or other) existence is the ripening, side by side, of many different things planted in the past. Some, like mighty trees, have been developing over many generations. Others, more like small flowers and mushrooms, are much more temporary phenomena.

The word karma is the Sanskrit term for action, encompassing not only the initial action itself, but also all its consequences. Thus it is called 'karma, cause and effect'. A seed does not cease to exist when it falls into the ground: it just disappears from sight, to develop later into a shoot which eventually becomes a fully-matured plant. Like buried seeds in winter, the imprints of actions rest dormantly in the 'storehouse consciousness', as potential prime causes of future experience. When this psychological potential meets with certain supportive circumstances - the equivalent of the seed being awakened by the spring sun and rain - results start to emerge. Thus it is not until one meets the trigger of certain people or places that a specific karma from past lives will start to manifest.

One must distinguish between 'virtuous' karma and 'untainted' karma. Virtuous acts produce, in the long term, pleasant results for their doer, such as long life, good health, wealth and friends for their doer. Unvirtuous acts produce suffering. Since both virtuous and non-virtuous actions are performed with the fundamental triplistic delusion of there being a doer (ego), a doing and a done-to (other persons and the world) - both belong to the illusion of worldly existence (samsara). Thus virtue and non-virtue determine the experiential quality of one's samsara yet cannot, in themselves, free one from samsara. Both belong to the category of 'tainted' karma (tainted by ego). Actions performed within the lucid clarity of voidness, in which there is no triplistic delusion, are known as 'untainted' karma. These can free one from samsara.

Another special category of karma, known as 'karma of immobility', applies uniquely to concentration meditation. By remaining calm, poised and one-pointed, one is not doing anything, in the ordinary sense, but rather undoing habits of action and not-doing things which perpetuate worldly reflexes. This lucid inactivity forms a vital part of the path to personal liberation. Scriptures describing it map out the various stages of mastery that emerge from it, while alive, and the possible rebirths into purely mental states that human meditation can engender.

The Wheel of Life depicts the six main types of conscious beings found in the universe. Its inner ring portrays the three main causes for being reborn: craving, aversion and ignorance. The outer ring shows the twelve main stages through which initial ignorance leads to worldly suffering. These are known as the twelve links of interdependence. The whole wheel is held like a giant mirror in the hands of Yamantaka, the Lord of Death, since at death, when the mind leaves one type of existence and embarks on a journey which will end up in a new existence, possibly in another realm, the previous life's actions become all-determinant.

The Wheel is mainly used to depict the real states of existence taught in the first Noble Truth: the Truth of Suffering. However, it can also be considered an allegory for the six main states of a worldly mind and the type of relationship they create with the people and places that make up one's life. The three upper realms are paired with their counterparts in the lower realms.

The Tree Upper Realms
The Deva Realm
One is reborn a god (deva) as a joint result of doing many good actions but being proud. The good deeds - in particular acts of generosity and pure conduct - bring splendour and wonders. The pride brings first a feeling of natural superiority and then, when the good results come to their end, unbearable sadness. The bodies and powers of the gods vary according to their previous karma. Most have beautiful and naturally perfumed bodies of light, upon which spontaneously appear garlands of celestial flowers and various fineries. In delightful garlands and palaces, they sport with their consorts and enjoy the most subtle pleasures of the senses. A day in one of these heavens lasts for hundreds of human years and the deva's lifespan is long indeed. But as it approaches its end, the bodies start to produce unpleasant odours and other gods avoid the fading deva. The flower garlands deteriorate. Worse, the god can see his or her next incarnation, so tawdry, dark and limited compared with its present condition. Heartbroken, incredulous and overwhelmed by self-pity, they have nothing to do but await the inevitable fall. Thus, the deva realm exemplifies the cycle of pride however it manifests.

The Buddha manifests in this realm playing a lute delightfully. This represents the need to gain the respect and attention of the proud before any message can get through to them.

The Asuras

also have good karma and are like demi-gods. Whereas the gods' good karma is tarnished by pride, the asuras' is spoilt by jealousy and some people refer to them as 'jealous gods'. Envying the superior joys and possessions of the gods, the asuras wage war on the latter, in the hope of deposing them and usurping their palaces. However, lacking the karma to possess such splendour, they are defeated and humiliated. Jealousy is like this everywhere, bringing the anguish of envy itself, competitive battles and eventual defeat.

The Buddha manifests to the Asuras with a sword of primordial wisdom in his hand. This symbolises that the jealous respond primarily to force and need to learn to channel their competitivity into a quest for wisdom, defeating ignorance rather than other beings.

Humans

As rare as a star in daytime, a human rebirth is considered to be the rare result of much good karma. Sometimes compared to a wish-fulfilling gem, it is considered the most precious existence of all, because of its tremendous potential. Unfortunately, this potential is rarely exploited and the gem is like a buried treasure. The majority of humans are so busy with their desires and projects that they are not even aware of spiritual possibilities. However, being exposed to more suffering than are gods or demi-gods, humans do have a better chance of giving rise to compassion: one of the most vital keys to spiritual development. Their main sufferings are those of birth, ageing, sickness and death, along with those of striving to fulfil their needs, not getting what they want, getting what they do not want and preserving what they have.

The Buddha appears to humans bearing his alms bowl and staff, the symbols of the ascetic life. This shows them that, in their world of multiple choices, the finest option is to follow the way of the sage.

The Three Lower Realms
Animals
"Most of them live in the sea" is the remarkable comment from early Buddhist scriptures, in times when most people ignored the existence of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and had no knowledge of submarine life. One is reborn an animal as a result of ignorance: fostering delusion rather than truth. They fall into two main categories. Wild animals live in constant fear and spend their time seeking food or eating each other. Domesticated animals are enslaved by humans. Their nature is one of submissive acceptance of their lot, the counterpart of the acquisitive dissatisfaction of the Asura.

The Buddha appears to the animals bearing a book, showing that the only way out of stupidity is the development of clear reason and the cultivation of knowledge.

Pretas

are spirits, born into states of frightful deprivation through former greed. With distended stomachs and needle-like throats, they search for ages for food and then only find disgusting scraps, or else see their find disappear before their eyes. Others manage to eat or drink but are burnt by they ingest as though it were molten metal. Unlike humans and animals, these spirits are aware of their former births and the greed which threw them into this condition. Their destitution is the counterpart of the complexity of possessions in the human realm. The Buddha appears to them bearing gifts and bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, as Khasarpani, feeds them soothing nectar. This symbolises the need to draw the greedy and mean to truth by manifesting generosity.

Hells

are, like the Preta worlds, states of severe hallucination into which the mind is thrown once it leaves the body and has passed through the post-death experience. It is the bitterness and anger imprinted in the mind, through past malevolence and hatred, which generate the hellish environment experienced. Some of these nightmares take the form of hot hells, with various agonies of burning and torture. Others take the form of frozen wildernesses, in which frostbite is the worst enemy. All seem to last for endless ages and many take the form of pain which leads to death then revival, only to pass through the whole cycle again and again. This is the opposite of the luxurious indulgence of the gods.

"Who could have created the beings there and the hellish weapons? Who made the burning iron ground? The Great Sage has taught these, and similar things, to be the fabrications of an unwholesome mind."

The Buddha appears in the hells bearing the flame of purification, a sign of finding liberation from suffering by relating to it in an enlightened way.

The Basic Poisons

Just as a whole and healthy body loses its power when stricken by a tiny amount of poison, so does the mind lose its limitless wisdom due to 'mind poisons' (klesa) and thereby wanders in the confused illusions of the six realms. There are three basic poisons - ignorance, craving and hostility - represented by the pig, the cock and the serpent at the centre of the wheel. The three poisons feed off each other, as do the animals in the circle.

The Links of Interdependence

The twelve main stages in the cycle of rebirth are represented by the twelve icons forming the rim of the wheel:

ignorance - the blind leading the blind
karmic creations - a pot being thrown
consciousness - a monkey in a room with six windows
name and form - a boat
the six doors of perception - a house
contact - people embracing
feeling - an arrow piercing an eye
involvement - a man being served tea by a woman
craving- gathering fruits
becoming - two people procreating
birth - a woman giving birth
ageing and death - a corpse being carried to the funeral pyre.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why are some people rich yet some poor, some happy yet others in misery, some lucky and some unlucky? Moreover, why are some pure, innocent beings afflicted with terrible misfortunes whereas evil tyrants remain healthy and rich? These are difficult questions for most faiths, believing in a just and compassionate God, to answer.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The child who is decked with prince's robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step.

In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world, and is afraid even to move.

Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gitanjali 8 - The child who is decked with prince's robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step.

# data[].attributes.headline
Jungian Concept of the self and individuation.

# data[].attributes.subject
Jungian Concept of the self and individuation.

# data[].attributes.body
Jungian concepts of the Self and individuation. The Self is seen as a central archetype and dynamic force, guiding personal development. Individuation is the process of realizing one's potential through the integration of opposites, like conscious and unconscious elements. This process, essential for personal growth and self-realization, often accelerates through psychoanalytic therapy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Individuation and the Self, By Martin Schmidt

Jung's thinking about the Self and its dynamic of individuation separates Jungian analytical psychology from other psychoanalytical schools. He uses the concept of the Self to describe his understanding of who we are and the concept of individuation to describe the process by which we can fulfil our potential to become all that we can be.

The Self

In the Freudian/Kleinian psychoanalytic tradition, the self is described as a by-product of ego development. By contrast, for Jung the self is present before the ego; it is primary and it is the ego that develops from it. The self retains its mystery. We can never fully know or embrace it because we are dependent upon the relatively inferior ego to perceive it. Perhaps this struggle in apprehension has led to very different understandings of the self's qualities.

Jungian analytical psychology sees the self as many things including psychic structure, developmental process, transcendental postulate, affective experience and archetype. It has been depicted as the totality of body and mind, the God image, the experience of overpowering feelings, the union of opposites and a dynamic force which pilots the individual on his/her journey through life. This latter idea is quintessentially Jungian, for even though other psychoanalysts have talked about the self in a similar way, Freudian psychoanalysis still largely sees the self as a structure within the mind, similar to an object representation, and not as a teleological agency.

Individuation

Individuation describes how this agency works. Jung saw it as the process of self realisation, the discovery and experience of meaning and purpose in life; the means by which one finds oneself and becomes who one really is. It depends upon the interplay and synthesis of opposites e.g. conscious and unconscious, personal and collective, psyche and soma, divine and human, life and death. Analysis can be seen as an individuation process. It not only fosters but accelerates individuation and creates conditions in the relationship between patient and analyst which offer the possibility for rarefied experiences and transformation of self which otherwise may not happen. This is because the analytic situation allows both participants to join in a quest for the truth; to express and experience the self in ways which are often prohibited by the compromises made in the service of social acceptance in non-analytic relationships.

The concept of individuation is the cornerstone of Jung's psychology. Here are some of the salient features of his thinking on this topic and some of the questions that arise.

Collective and personal

Jung (1935) stressed that individuation requires the integration of both collective and personal elements. The neurotic condition is one where the collective is denied, the psychotic where the personal is denied and archetypal inflation can overwhelm the ego.

If someone is over concerned with his own personal affairs and status he is in danger of becoming too identified with his persona e.g. the school teacher who is didactic at home, or the analyst who never stops analysing. Living such a blinkered life, focussed on short-sighted and egocentric goals, denies the value of the collective. This can lead to a neurotic narcissistic alienation from a deeper sense of oneself and one's place in society. In psychosis there is an absorption by the collective, where the fascination with the internal world and its processes can lead to a loss of interest in the external personal world of relationships and work.

As Jung (1935) puts it:

"The aim of individuation is nothing less than to divest the self of the false wrappings of the persona on the one hand and the suggestive power of primordial images on the other."
Jung (1935) (para. 269)

Two halves of life

Fordham (1985) described how individuation begins in infancy, but Jung saw it predominantly as a development in the second half of life. In the first half, one is concerned with expanding the ego and "adaptation to collective norms", such as building personal social status. The second half of life is concerned with coming to terms with death, finding meaning in living and the unique part each one of us plays in the world. It is in the vicissitudes of negotiating the individuation process that Jung saw the major causes of neurosis. In the young, neurosis comes from a fear of engaging with life; in the old, it comes from clinging to an outdated youthful attitude and shrinking back from death.

Relationship

The self is relational. Individuation is dependent upon relationships with others. Jung went so far as to say:

"The self is relatedness... The self only exists inasmuch as you appear. Not that you are, but that you do the self. The self appears in your deeds and deeds always mean relationship."
(Jung 1935-39, p. 73)

However, in his autobiography (1961), Jung presents us with a conundrum when he also states that the goal of individuation is detachment from emotional relationships. Emotional relationships he defines as tethered because they are relationships of desire with expectations of others. He recommends that in order to attain objectivity and selfhood, one needs to withdraw the projections inherent in emotional ties to others. In this light, analysis could be seen as the playing out of emotional relationships between analyst and patient with a view to facilitating the reintrojection of projections in the resolution of the transference/countertransference. Jung implies this when he describes the transference phenomenon as, without doubt, one of the most important syndromes in the process of individuation.

State or process?

Another area of confusion is whether Jung considered individuation to be a state, capable of being attained, or an on-going process. In Memories, Dreams, Reflections (ibid, p188), he declared that finding the mandala, as an expression of the self, was for him, attaining the ultimate.
Jung (1961, p. 276) also cryptically refers to the 'completion' of his own individuation. The objectivity he experienced in a dream about his wife after her death he described as part of a "completed individuation".

However, Jung (1939, para 520) perceived self realisation as different from Eastern mystical ideas of achieving Nirvana or Samadhi (a state of perfection attained by yogis). The "universal consciousness" such mystics describe, he understood as equivalent to unconsciousness, where the unconscious has swallowed up ego-consciousness. He states that "universal consciousness" is a contradiction in terms since exclusion and discrimination are at the root of everything that lays claim to the name "consciousness". Jung concedes that yogis can achieve a remarkable state of extension of consciousness where subject and object are almost completely identical.

However he also argues that individuation is an active on-going process and not a static state when he proclaims:

"Consciousness should defend its reason and protect itself, and the chaotic life of the unconscious should be given the chance of having its way too - as much of it as we can stand. This means open conflict and open collaboration at once. "
(ibid, para 288)

Individuation can be seen as a process that is never fully completed but is one that can generate experiences, which feel, momentarily, as if it has been attained.

The prevalence of individuation

How widespread is individuation? Is it universal and commonplace or aristocratic - a vocation for the elite? Of course this depends upon what we mean by it. Jung calls individuation an unconscious natural spontaneous process but also a relatively rare one, something:

"only experienced by those who have gone through the wearisome but indispensable business of coming to terms with the unconscious components of the personality."
( 1954, para 430)

He also stated that it is a border-line phenomenon which needs special conditions in order to become conscious (1935, para 431). This is a different type of individuation from that described by Fordham.

Michael Fordham, perhaps more than any other post-Jungian, has contributed to our understanding of individuation as a process that starts in infancy and not just in the latter half of life. Fordham's field theory of the self, which describes how the self as a primary integrate develops through the process of deintegration and reintegration throughout the whole of life, is very useful for our comprehension of the normal process of maturation. He claims that this basic underlying process of individuation is identical in childhood, adolescence and adulthood (Fordham, 1985).

However, Jung was also talking about something other than the normal day to day development of ego and self. He adumbrates:

"There is no linear evolution; there is only circumambulation of the self. Uniform development exists, at most, only at the beginning; later everything points towards the centre."
(Jung 1961, p. 188)

This is an important distinction. Individuation requires the development of ego, but it is not synonymous with it. Although the process of deintegration and reintegration occurs throughout life, Jung argued that there is a functional difference in the underlying process of individuation in later life as opposed to childhood. He was trying to emphasise the difference between early development, which is mainly concerned with the establishment of ego, and later individuation which involves a surrendering of the ego's dominion. Jung complained that people's understanding of the individuation process often confuses the coming of the ego into consciousness with the subsequent identification of the ego with the Self:

"Individuation is then nothing but ego-centredness and autoeroticism."
(Jung 1954, para 432)

Individuation requires the ego to enter into service of the Self to facilitate its expression and realisation.

Jung has been criticised for an over-optimistic view of the self and of individuation. Some have protested that Jung's view is too wholesome and positive, not recognising the self's failings.

Anti-individuation

Our clinical work reminds us that the Self is not always experienced as benign and positive. It can be self-regulating and yet the experience of it can also be very destructive. The ego needs to be sufficiently strong to withstand the coming into awareness of aspects of the unconscious, which is the greater part of the self. Ego strength is dependent upon how successful mother and baby have been in creating a facilitating environment to manage anxieties, surrender omnipotent fantasies, form symbols, establish, mourn and repair object relationships.

We can find ourselves with those whose ego has been unable to successfully manage this emergence of the self. In these cases, individuation has become distorted or stuck. If there is an environmental or constitutional deficit, the primary self may feel under attack from outside and within. Defences of the self may be mobilised which can lead to narcissistic false self organisation. Here we are confronted with anti-individuation forces. Instead of the formation and nurturing of relationships, the lifeblood of individuation, we see a psychic retreat into infantile omnipotence. It is then necessary for the analytic work to be focussed on creating conditions whereby the ego can be supported and facilitated in its development.

Self and ego

It can be useful, in clinical practice, to think of the work as symbolic of the struggle between the Self and ego and to see the task as engaging with this individuation/anti-individuation battle of opposites. The ego, of both analyst and patient, acts as if it wants to remain in control, to expand and promote itself at the expense of other aspects of the personality. It has a quality which seems manufactured or man made. The Self, by contrast feels like a force of nature, it seems to have a wider view, a perspective that the ego can't understand and is in the service of a greater truth.

The Self, in its quest for consciousness, requires the surrendering of ego inflation - the narcissistic delusion that the ego is the self. Although purposive, the Self can be experienced as violent and destructive if the ego is unable to facilitate its expression. This may result in an individuation crisis for both analyst and patient.

Self and God

Jung (1942a) saw the ego in service to the Self - its representative on earth. The Self he called the Greater Personality, ultimately unknowable, linked to a universal sense of cosmic unity - not surprisingly he related to it as the image of God within us. He went further and described self realisation, as seen in religious or metaphysical terms, as amounting to God's incarnation. Jung saw God, in psychological terms, as an archetype in that there has to be something in the psyche which resonates with the manifold images of God throughout history. However, he qualifies himself by saying:

"Psychology...is not in a position to make metaphysical statements. It can only establish that the symbolism of psychic wholeness coincides with the God-image, but it can never prove that the God-image is God himself, or that the self takes the place of God."
(Jung, 1951: para. 308)

Jung (1931) contends that we often mistake the ego for the Self because of that bias which makes us all live from the ego, a bias which comes from overvaluation of the conscious mind. The ego has to suffer to allow the Self to express itself. Jung sees the hero myth at work in nearly all individuation processes. He admits that:

"Individuation is an heroic and often tragic task, the most difficult of all, it involves suffering, a passion of the ego: the ordinary empirical man we once were is burdened with the fate of losing himself in a greater dimension and being robbed of his fancied freedom of will. He suffers, so to speak, from the violence done to him by the self."
(1942a, para. 233)

He adds:

"Human nature has an invincible dread of becoming more conscious of itself. What nevertheless drives us to it is the self which demands sacrifice by sacrificing itself to us."
(Jung 1942, para. 400)

Individuation could therefore be understood as the drive of the Self to consciousness.

References

Fordham, M. (1985). Explorations into the Self. The Library of Analytical Psychology,
Vol 7, London: Academic Press
Jung, C. G. (1931). The Aims of Psychotherapy. CW 16
---(1935). The relations between the Ego and the Unconscious. In: Two Essays on
Analytical Psychology. CW 7
---(1939). Conscious, unconscious and individuation. CW 9i
---(1942). Transformation symbolism in the mass. CW 11
---(1942a). A psychological approach to the trinity. CW11
---(1946/1954). The psychology of the transference. CW16
---(1951). Aion. CW 9ii
---(1954). On the nature of the psyche. CW 8
---(1935-39). Nietzsche's Zarathustra: Notes on the seminar given in 1934-1939.
Ed J. L. Jarrett. Princeton University Press 1988
---(1961). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. London: Fontana Press
Schmidt, M.A. (2005). 'Individuation: finding oneself in analysis-taking risks and making sacrifices', The Journal of Analytical Psychology, Vol 50,5,595-616.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jung's thinking about the Self and its dynamic of individuation separates Jungian analytical psychology from other psychoanalytical schools.

# data[].attributes.body
How does one engage in “the most living”? In what way does Camus conceive of temporality, especially in terms of our experience in/of it?

Camus writes that “during every day of an unillustrious life, time carries us. But a moment always comes when we have to carry it.

“carried by time” and “carrying time”

One can either be pushed along by the everyday flow of things, or one can assert oneself and make the choice to determine one’s own course of actions.

Furthermore, my experience of time changes depending on whether it is me or time that is doing the “carrying.”

Everyday temporality (what Bergson calls “spatialized time”) is thus relative: we use certain symbols (second, minute, hour) to designate specific periods of time, and all clocks are relatively tuned to a central one in London. By describing everyday temporality as relative, Bergson hints at the disconnect between symbolic representations and actual lived experiences of time.

On the other hand, an absolute understanding of time comes out of the experience of being in time. When “I insert myself in [an object] by an effort of imagination,” then I gain absolute knowledge of it. “What I experience will depend neither on the point of view I may take up in regard to the object, since I am inside the object itself” (Bergson 21), nor on the way the experience is translated into symbols, because absolute knowledge is not expressed symbolically.

Bergson's name for this 'insertion' is intuition, and an intuition of time yields what he calls duration, or pure time. Since duration is constantly evolving– one moment slips into the next with no clear division in between– intuition must also adjust with(in) the duration that is being examined.

# data[].attributes.headline
Patanjali's Yoga sutras and the alchemical process of individuation.

# data[].attributes.subject
Patanjali's Yoga sutras and the alchemical process of individuation.

# data[].attributes.body
Jung (1968, p. 228) understood the alchemical art as a psychological projection of the alchemist's own unconscious fantasies onto matter. Therefore, to Jung, the terms "alchemy" and "alchemical" refer not only to the historical art of converting lead into gold, but more precisely to the psychological dimensions of the individual conversion of interior "lead" (unconscious aspects, or "shadow") into metaphorical gold (the dawning of consciousness, or integration). Jung termed this process of bringing consciousness to unconscious aspects of the self individuation.

Unlike the tantrikas and Siddha yogis, who used their bodies as alchemical ves-

sels, medieval Western alchemists utilized the laboratory, specifically the crucible

or furnace, where raw, dense materials (prima materia) were converted to a more

purified, refined product called the lapis, or philosopher's stone. Considered by

the alchemist to be the ultimate goal, the creation of this stone and its discovery

was believed to bring immortality to the one who created it (Goodrick-Clarke 2008,

pp. 73-74).

Individuation

Jung saw his concept of the Self, the archetype of integration and wholeness, as the psychological equivalent of the lapls. To Jung, the goal of both the alchemical and psychological work was the creation of a more differentiated unity (the Self). He termed this journey of Self-becoming individuation. Jung defines individuation as the psychological process through which an individual becomes more whole, or integrated, through "bringing into consciousness the un conscious contents of the mind . . . thereby facilitating their differentiation and ultimately their integration" . Individuation is primarily a process

of differentiation, a "separating out" (the alchemical separatio), in order to reintegrate as a more fully differentiated whole.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PATAÑJALI'S "YOGA SŪTRAS" AND THE ALCHEMICAL PROCESS OF INDIVIDUATION on JSTOR

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
David M. Odorisio, PATAÑJALI'S "YOGA SŪTRAS" AND THE ALCHEMICAL PROCESS OF INDIVIDUATION, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 65, No. 3 (JULY 2015), pp. 717-730

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My senior thesis project rejects this world view, and instead celebrates "ambiguity as a way to experience and actively engage the world" by rethinking a series of everyday communication objects - which normally embody that restrictive world view - to make them ambiguous and open to personal interpretation.

PROTAGNIST [Anonymous]

You

OBSTACLE [Ambiguity]

Ambiguity

ACT I [setup: Reality]

Replication of real life

ACT II [confrontation: Dream]

A self-contained potential narrative

The protagonist's storyline in 15 days - a moon cycle

ACT III [resolution: Dream Diary]

Personal interpretation

Under the dominant education system in China, I gradually accept a prescribed philosophical perspective - that every object and interaction has predetermined meanings and that everything is 100% knowable - very low tolerance of ambiguity. This way of imagining the world is suffocating.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My senior thesis project rejects this world view, and instead celebrates "ambiguity as a way to experience and actively engage the world" by rethinking a series of everyday communication objects - which normally embody that restrictive world view - to make them ambiguous and open to personal interpretation.

# data[].attributes.headline
Student Thesis: a visual exploration of capturing time and motion.

# data[].attributes.subject
Student Thesis: a visual exploration of capturing time and motion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This website documents the work of our talented and passionate graduating class as well as offers insight into the point of view, ideas, issues, critiques, and passions of communications design students during the academic year 2022-2023. In this capstone course students write a semester-long project proposal and generate a body of work built around their interests that synthesizes the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the B.F.A Communications Design program. With an emphasis on research, intention, contextual analysis, and innovative formal outcomes, this course asks students to reflect on their field of study, articulate a point of view, and contextualize their work within the larger discipline and world.

Past Years: 2020 2021 2022
Learn More: Pratt Institute B.F.A. in Communications Design

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This website documents the work of our talented and passionate graduating class as well as offers insight into the point of view, ideas, issues, critiques, and passions of communications design students during the academic year 2022-2023.

# data[].attributes.headline
Design Thesis Research and Ideas and notes

# data[].attributes.subject
Design Thesis Research and Ideas and notes

# data[].attributes.body
An important theme in developmental psychology is that relationships act as mirrors.

An infant is not born with a sense of self. That sense is acquired over the course of many interactions with others, especially caregivers. The child that is loved and nurtured internalizes those experiences and feels worthy of love. The child that is neglected or abused internalizes those negative experiences and later might find it difficult to accept love from others.

Where does such perfectionism come from? More often than not, the self-critical adult was a child who received plenty of attention for his or her performances in school and extracurricular activities. Repeated experiences of being praised for good grades and successful performances, as well as experiences of not receiving support when results were less stellar, provide a kind of mirroring. What is internalized is the sense of being only as good as one’s performances. Conditional praise becomes a mirror that leads to conditional self-acceptance.

A good therapist is a good mirror: if I can value her company and conversation, perhaps that starts her on the path of valuing herself as an equal.

One implication of the mirror principle is this: When we set our calendars, we define who we will be. The activities that populate each hour of our schedules are the sum and substance of how we’ll experience ourselves that day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you walk into a professional training gym, you're likely to see mirrors on one or more walls. Whether it's a gym for bodybuilding, martial arts, dance, or another physical performance activity, it's helpful for participants to see themselves perform. First, the mirror is an aid to training, as performers can see when and how they are moving with proper form. Second, the mirror is a psychological aid, reinforcing a performance-driven self-image. I recall walking onto the floor of a training center for fashion models. There were mirrors everywhere, helping the participants look beautiful but also feel beautiful.

Imagine looking in a mirror once, twice, one hundred times. Over time, we internalize an image of ourselves-and that image becomes part of our identity. Much of self-concept and self-esteem begin with self-image. We experience ourselves as we see ourselves.
Relationships As Mirrors
An important theme in developmental psychology is that relationships act as mirrors. An infant is not born with a sense of self. That sense is acquired over the course of many interactions with others, especially caregivers. The child that is loved and nurtured internalizes those experiences and feels worthy of love. The child that is neglected or abused internalizes those negative experiences and later might find it difficult to accept love from others. Many of a parent's interactions with a young child are of the variety, "You're such a good girl!" and "Look how big you are!" Those mirroring statements form an important support for the developing sense of self when the brain is most plastic.

As a psychologist, I've worked with many high-achieving perfectionists. They often accomplish a great deal, but experience more than their share of stress and distress in the process. When outcomes are less than ideal-and in financial markets, that's a near-certainty-there is plenty of room for second-guessing and self-criticizing. For the perfectionist, so much time can be spent focusing on the rear-view mirror of imperfect performance that opportunities are missed in the present.

Where does such perfectionism come from? More often than not, the self-critical adult was a child who received plenty of attention for his or her performances in school and extracurricular activities. Repeated experiences of being praised for good grades and successful performances, as well as experiences of not receiving support when results were less stellar, provide a kind of mirroring. What is internalized is the sense of being only as good as one's performances. Conditional praise becomes a mirror that leads to conditional self-acceptance.

Later in life, many relationships become important mirrors, including those between managers and employees. By now, most of us are familiar with the statistics on the low average level of engagement expressed by employees. What do you think is mirrored to them by managers who spend little time with them, who focus on criticizing mistakes, and who demonstrate little commitment to their growth? One reason organizational culture is important is that it defines the amount and kind of positive mirroring among its members. If work relationships mirror frustration and negativity, those will be the feelings internalized employees.

Once you understand how relationships can serve as powerful mirrors, you're well on the way toward appreciating how counseling and psychotherapy work. A good helping relationship provides fresh, positive mirrors to people stuck in negativity. One of my more challenging experiences as a young psychology intern occurred when I began work in a day treatment center. A young woman diagnosed with a psychotic disorder came to my office for her first session. Upon entering the room, she immediately began taking off all her clothes. How was I to respond to this? Set limits on her "inappropriate behavior"? Flee the room and avoid any possibility of a malpractice suit? Clearly those would mirror the kind of rejection she had dealt with all her life.

Fortunately I had reviewed her history before the session and was able to provide a different kind of response. With a soft voice I pointed out,"You've had too many men in your life who have taken advantage of you for sex. I don't want to be one of those. I want to get to know you." To my surprise, as well as relief, she immediately put her clothes on and began talking to me about her history of sexual abuse. A good therapist is a good mirror: if I can value her company and conversation, perhaps that starts her on the path of valuing herself as an equal.
The Mirror Principle
Let's take another leap. We started with physical mirrors in gymnasiums and then moved to relationship mirrors. Now imagine that we have a relationship with everything that we do in life. Every one of our activities is a mirror, because each expresses a relationship that we have with some portion of our worlds. When we invest, we have a relationship with financial markets. When we exercise, we have a relationship with our bodies. Each activity is a way in which we experience ourselves. Over time, those experiences become a crucial part of our reality. Our sense of self is the sum of what we internalize from our activities.

You've no doubt heard the phrase, "You are what you eat." The mirror principle suggests that we are always digesting life experience. When we decide who to spend time with and how to spend our time, we define the experiences that form our psychological diet. Just as a therapist is a good mirror, the right experiences mirror the best of who we are: our deepest strengths, values, and abilities.

One implication of the mirror principle is this: When we set our calendars, we define who we will be. The activities that populate each hour of our schedules are the sum and substance of how we'll experience ourselves that day.

What kinds of mirrors do we select for ourselves? Over time, what do we internalize from our daily experiences? If we're consuming life experience, how healthy is our diet?

In years of studying happy, successful, productive, creative professionals, I've found one consistent theme: people who lead fulfilling lives are unusually good at surrounding themselves with fulfilling mirrors. They grow in their caring and gratitude because they surround themselves with sensitive, thankful people. They grow intellectually and emotionally because they seek out new, challenging, stimulating experiences. They achieve by immersing themselves in the creative accomplishments of others. As psychology researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky emphasizes, the myth of happiness is that particular desired achievements or outcomes will lead to forever fulfillment. It's the mirrors we choose, not any single images we latch onto, that fuel our ongoing joy and satisfaction.

The mirror principle says what we do defines who we are and how we experience ourselves. Whether you're an abused young woman or a seasoned executive stuck in a mid-life crisis, your path to a new life begins by finding new mirrors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Mirror Principle: Shaping Your Experience, Shaping Your Self

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you walk into a professional training gym, you're likely to see mirrors on one or more walls. Whether it's a gym for bodybuilding, martial arts, dance, or another physical performance activity, it's helpful for participants to see themselves perform. First, the mirror is an aid to training, as performers [...]

# data[].attributes.body
Citizen's "time is TIME" installation at Milan Design Week 2016 explored the concept of time through an immersive, experiential exhibit. the installation featured over 120,000 suspended main plates from Citizen watches, creating a shimmering effect that symbolized the passage of time. The installation highlighted Citizen's Eco-Drive light-powered technology and aimed to provoke thought on the absolute yet subjective nature of time. The exhibit included sound art by Evala and technical design by Yutaka Endo, providing a multi-sensory experience that linked the cosmos, nature, and human life to the concept of time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
designboom | architecture & design magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
dictating the rhythm of our days, light has always been central to our ability to read and comprehend time. season after season, moon cycle after moon cycle, day after day, humans have measured their existence by utilising the sun's movements. citizen's experimental and experiential installation at milan design week 2016 celebrated the relationship between light and time - in the hopes of reminding us that the latter is about a lot more than just a number on a screen.

ephermal atmosphere of the 'time is TIME' installation
video courtesy of citizen watch

'time is TIME' focused on citizen's light powered watch eco-drive which combines the latest technology with nature's elemental forces. citizen teamed up with co-founder of paris-based architecture firm DGT (dorell.gotmeh.tane) tsuyoshi tane - founder of atelier tsuyoshi tane and whose work focuses on urban, architectural and spatial design - to realise the project. tane, who has worked with the company since 2013 on previous exhibitions including 'light is time', employed over 120,000 main plates (a part that is the foundation of citizen watches), suspending them in the air to create a glittering veil of light.

tsuyoshi tane used over 120,000 main plates to create the immersive installation

tsuyoshi tane states that; 'the goal was to show that there is an absolute quality to time. in the universe and on earth, it has a fixed measurement yet every one perceives it differently' and the aim was to question ' what is time? time contains many individual moments, including the one we call 'now'. it is impossible to make time stand still. it always keeps moving. keeps changing. this is an immutable, external truth.'

tsuyoshi tane has worked with the company since 2013
image © designboom

yutaka endo, the founder of LUFTZG - recognised for producing unique creations involving music, video and computer technology - was involved in the technical design of the installation. he worked alongside evala - known for recording and releasing electronic music and creating installations, concert performances, festivals and art exhibitions - who directed the sound art.

the main plates are suspended in the air creating a glittering veil of light

the exhibition consisted of two parts titled A and B with an external space where the eco-watches were displayed. under the theme of 'time is TIME' the installation explored the notion of 'time' from a variety of angles - how the universe, earth, living creatures, mankind, life and society - are all linked to 'time'. it also exhibited various forms of 'time', that demonstrated different motions through mechanical and electronic movements in these spaces. visitors enjoyed a completely immersive experience, encouraging them to question and ponder on the thought that however separate our lives may seem, we are all equally connected to the same time.

the installation presented various forms of 'time' that demonstrated different motions through mechanical and electronic movements

the installation explored the notion of 'time' from a variety of angles

the centerpiece holds the individual main plates

the architect states that 'the goal was to show that there is an absolute quality to time'

the installation focuses on citizen's light powered watch eco-drive
image © designboom

image © designboom
see designboom's instagram coverage @milan.design.week

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
citizen explores the notion of time with an experimental and experiential installation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
dictating the rhythm of our days, light has always been central to our ability to read and comprehend time. season after season, moon cycle after moon cycle, day after day, humans have measured their existence by utilising the sun's movements.

# data[].attributes.body
‘The playfulness that gives meaning to our activity includes uncertainty, but in this case the uncertainty is an openness to surprise. This is a particular metaphysical attitude that does not expect the world to be neatly packaged, ruly. Rules may fail to explain what we are doing. We are not self-important, we are not fixed in particular constructions of ourselves, which is part of saying that we are open to self-construction. We may not have rules, and when we do have rules, there are no rules that are to us sacred. We are not worried about competence. We are not wedded to a particular way of doing things. While playful we have not abandoned ourselves to, nor are we stuck in, any particular "world". We are there creatively. We are not passive. Playfulness is, in part, an openness to being a fool, which is a combination of not worrying about competence, not being self-important, not taking norms as sacred and finding ambiguity and double edges a source of wisdom and delight.’ - Maria Lugones, 'Playfulness, "World"-Travelling, and Loving Perception', 1987. ⁠

⁠

Images: ‘Din blinde passager’, 2010. Tate Modern, London, 2019. Photo: Anders Sune Berg.⁠

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Official website of Olafur Eliasson and his studio: Studio Olafur Eliasson

# data[].attributes.headline
Experiencing a childlike sense of awe and wonder. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Experiencing a childlike sense of awe and wonder. 

# data[].attributes.body
I want to explore the how as adults when we open ourselves upto a childlike sense of awe, wonder, curiosity; we can be able to cope more with the different absurdities that our individual lives comprise of.

Children understand what it’s like to be small. Not just small in stature, but small in the recognition that there is so much about the world that is beyond themselves. There is an expansive curiosity in the way they approach their everyday experiences that opens them up. They have not been desensitized to the uniqueness and beauty that surround us at every moment.

Researchers at the Universities of Toronto and California-San Francisco have studied the emotional experience of awe, and they say that it changes us. Jennifer Stellar, PhD, and her colleagues define awe as “the emotion we feel in response to something vast that defies our existing frame of reference in one area or another, and leads us to change our perception of that frame of reference.” They have discovered that awe, as opposed to other emotions like inspiration or surprise, makes us feel small. This sense of “self diminishment,” as scientists call it, is actually good for us.

“Feeling small makes us feel humbled (thereby lessening selfish tendencies like entitlement, arrogance, and narcissism). And feeling small and humbled makes us want to engage with others and feel more connected to others,” Gordon adds. “All of that is important for wellbeing.”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When was the last time you were in awe of something?I mean, really taken over by the magnitude of whatever it was?It's something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

Watching my son walk the dog is amazing.He is only four years old, so the dog is really walking him.Our little circle is only about 1/4 mile trek, but it can take over 30 minutes to make it all the way around.My son stops to inspect every ant, pick up every rock, pluck every flowering weed along the roadway.He often wants to keep these items because he is so enamored with them.

When Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven, he once described it in terms of receiving it like a child.In fact, he is quoted as saying that the kingdom of God "belongs to such as these" and that "anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

So obviously there's something important about this being-like-a-child thing.But what is it?Is it their innocence?Their openness?Their curiosity?I submit that all of these things are certainly part of a child's magnificence, but what might serve as a common denominator for them all is a certain innate sense of wonder.

Children understand what it's like to be small.Not just small in stature, but small in the recognition that there is so much about the world that is beyond themselves.There is an expansive curiosity in the way they approach their everyday experiences that opens them up.They have not been desensitized to the uniqueness and beauty that surround us at every moment.

Researchers at the Universities of Toronto and California-San Francisco have studied the emotional experience of awe, and they say that it changes us.Jennifer Stellar, PhD, and her colleagues define awe as "the emotion we feel in response to something vast that defies our existing frame of reference in one area or another, and leads us to change our perception of that frame of reference."They have discovered that awe, as opposed to other emotions like inspiration or surprise, makes us feel small.This sense of "self diminishment," as scientists call it, is actually good for us.

As humans, we spend a great deal of time focused on what's going on in our world and the things that are directly affecting us."Awe changes that, making us see ourselves as a small piece of something larger," says Annie Gordon, PhD."Feeling small makes us feel humbled (thereby lessening selfish tendencies like entitlement, arrogance, and narcissism).And feeling small and humbled makes us want to engage with others and feel more connected to others," Gordon adds."All of that is important for wellbeing."

Some other findings from their studies seem to indicate that people feeling awe focus more of their attention outward and value others more in social interactions.They also seem to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses in a more balanced way, and are more likely to recognize the role of outside forces (such as good fortune, a greater being, or others) in their personal accomplishments.People who reported experiencing frequent awe even appeared to have better immune health.

As I read about these discoveries, I can't help but notice that the experience of awe seems to help us become less preoccupied with the worries of everyday life and more connected with nature and the people around us.It also seems to provide us with an openness to seeing things differently, and an acknowledgement that we aren't here all alone.Perhaps this is what the kingdom of heaven is like, and just maybe this is why Jesus said that the way to receive it is to become more like a child.

Though we grow old, may we never grow tired of all the magic and mystery of the universe.May we see with new eyes, over and over again, just as the children do.Let us soak up every drop of our lives and take none of it for granted.Let us always be ready to receive something that might seem out-of-the-box to our older selves, and may we always remember that we are a part of something larger that is magnificent and grand.

Matthew Thames, M.A., LPC

Find the scientific information about awe referenced here: www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/why-scientists-say-experiencing-awe-can-help-you-live-your-ncna961826

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Experience of Awe and How It Changes Us

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When was the last time you were in awe of something?I mean, really taken over by the magnitude of whatever it was?It's something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A new model based on Future Thinking to realise innovative ideas.

The Future Narrative Framework: a model inspired by Future Thinking strategies

This article is inspired by my talk "Back FOR the future" at SmashingConf Antwerp in October 2023.

During my three years of working for a FinTech startup company (time that included the Covid pandemic), I realised that I had been approaching ideas of the future from the wrong perspective. Rather than attempting to predict the future, as designers we actually have the tools at our disposal to design it for ourselves.

However, to do this effectively, we require a clear sense of purpose, a well-defined process, and the right mindset.

This article explains how these elements come together, to create a new model for working on innovative ideas that can become real in the future.

I have relied on traditional storytelling to present experiences and solutions clearly and concisely. As per Aristotle's philosophy, storytelling is an essential connection between cause and effect. Donald Miller's book, "Brand Story," further emphasises this connection via the Brand Story Framework.

I have written extensively about how I use storytelling to design user experiences in this Smashing Magazine blog post.

The traditional storytelling approach to present experiences and solutions clearly and concisely.

However, as a designer in our ever-changing world, it's important not to limit my focus on developing ideas only for the present. I must also consider solutions that will remain relevant and valid in the future. Startups often require this forward-thinking approach, as they are seeking solutions that will stand the test of time and remain effective three to five years down the line.

This approach holds true for many other companies who wish to survive over time in a world that changes quickly and with no warning.

This is where my traditional storytelling approach falls short.

I started to experiment by using different tools, such as those from Design Fiction, Scenario Planning, and Future Foresight strategies. These present different and useful ways to incorporate the storytelling approach into design, by opening opportunities to the future.

However, I encountered two issues when using these tools:

1. Ideas are sometimes so unrealistic and imaginative that they are unlikely to win the trust of investors and stakeholders.

2. They try to predict the future, which is almost impossible (not to mention time-consuming).

So I soon realised that the best approach for we designers is to predict the future by shaping it ourselves!

In doing so, we can conjure ideas that we believe are likely to happen and live in our new scenario, which I call a Desirable Future.

I have implemented a new, self-developed framework called The Future Narrative Framework (FNF) in all of my recent projects, particularly those that demand a renewed approach.

My framework has allowed me to develop innovative solutions for problems that do not yet exist, but may appear in the near future (three to five years).

The Future Narrative Framework shares many similarities with the storytelling approach I have been using, but adds tools and techniques taken from future foresight strategies.

It is still divided into three acts and follows a temporal line (the present, possible futures and a desirable future). In each act, the designer is invited to look at different aspects of a design idea and apply specific tools and mindsets.

To navigate the FNF effectively, it's best to start at the end of the framework. Collaborating with the team to define and determine the purpose will inform all the necessary steps and help design a Desirable Future, in which the organisation sees their product or service thrive.

Designers cannot work in isolation, and the purpose can help a group of people imagine various ways to impact the world.

Defining future goals is not a new concept, of course: the inspirational author and speaker Simon Sinek calls it 'Find Your Why'. Successful organisations that wish to make an impact with their innovative ideas are not driven by problems or profit but by purpose. This they use as a roadmap to achieve the Desirable Future they want to build.

Designers learn to ask, "How do I want the future to look?" and then "What steps should I take in each of the three acts in order to achieve it?"

When defining the purpose of the organisation or the product, you need to ensure it has these specific qualities to make an impact:

· Invariable: It is above changes despite the context (it looks at the planet)

· Motivational: It is inspiring to motivate for action (it thinks of people)

· Enhancing: It adds value (it brings prosperity to both the people and the planet).

Once your purpose is defined, it can be positioned at the end of the FNF.

Then you and the team can work towards achieving those goals, using the remaining steps in the framework.

Now that you have a purpose, you are ready to embrace FNF Act One: Explore.

Explore is set in the present and uses two tools, the Research and the Sensemaking Map.

This Act must be approached with an empathic mindset. When designing a Desirable Future, empathy is not just about understanding users' needs, goals or frustrations but also understanding and capturing signals from the future: through people, technology, and the planet.
(images: 3 circles with the 3 realities/lenses) People: feel, think, say; Technology: Accessible, compatible; Planet: Sustainable, responsible.
Act 1 / Tool 1: The Research

When we design the future, designers need to look at the present through these three lenses or realities:

The People: Those who will ultimately benefit from our actions and innovations (feel, think, say).

The Technology: Devices and advancements that are at our disposal and crucial in realising our purpose. Accessibility and compatibility are key factors.

Accessibility: Ensuring that our solutions are accessible means that they can be readily used by a wide range of people (our target), including those with disabilities or in diverse situations. This inclusivity maximises the positive impact of our innovations.

Compatibility: Compatibility ensures that our solutions can seamlessly integrate with existing technologies and systems. It minimises disruption, encourages adoption, and enhances the overall usability of our creations, making them more likely to be embraced and become successful in the real world.

The Planet: Recognising that our ideas exist in a larger context, we must incorporate ethical considerations into every question we ask, ensuring our path to the Desirable Future is responsible and sustainable.

Responsible: By considering the ethical implications of our ideas and innovations, we ensure that they do not harm individuals, communities, or the environment. Responsibility entails accountability for the consequences of our actions, promoting fairness and ethical conduct.

Sustainable: Sustainability involves designing and implementing solutions that can be maintained and do not deplete resources or harm the environment over time. It ensures that our efforts are not short-lived but contribute positively to the long-term well-being of society and the planet.

Act 1 / Tool 2: Sensemaking Map

This tool creates a map that helps make sense of your discoveries.

The Sensemaking Map is inspired by the Wheel of Future but is expanded to incorporate the three lenses as explained (the people, the technology and the planet).

During the research phase, you will no doubt have gathered lots of information. The Sensemaking Map helps designers understand its context, identify patterns, and organise their data so that it can be easily used to help imagine alternative futures in Act Two of the FNF.

The map uses the storytelling principle of cause and effect.

So we create small scenarios, starting with the problem our purpose is trying to solve. Then we expand the map to consider the consequences this problem brings to people, technology, and the planet.

The closest circles have a direct connection to the problem. Those further out include indirect consequences.

When using the Sensemaking Map, we must consider consequences that are both positive and negative. In fact, the ultimate goal of the Sensemaking Map is not only to organise our research but also to find 'grey' areas or opportunities in which an innovative idea can make a genuine impact.

These opportunities must be taken into Act Two of the FNF to be explored further as possible scenarios or alternative futures.

Act Two is what I have termed Envision. This takes place in an alternative future.

Envision is a crucial step in our future-design process and it starts with the conviction that there are many possible and alternative futures, rather than just one.

In this act, designers can visualise scenarios and prepare for disruptive change.

Envisioning is a powerful way to navigate through uncertainty, so this act must be approached with a healthy imagination. However, imagination is a mindset that, in dormant environments, can become hindered.

For this reason, Act Two uses two tools to exercise the imagination: Scenario and Forced Connection.

These tools are fun and straightforward to use, helping designers generate a number of ideas that can be further analysed in the next and final act of the FNF.

Act 2 / Tool 1: Scenario Planning

To plan and envision different scenarios, I use the Cone of Plausibility.

The first public mention of the "Cone of Plausibility" was by Charles Taylor in 1988, to illustrate geopolitical scenarios and study military readiness.

Since then, it has been used in business strategy to help plan possible scenarios for an organisation's growth.

This same tool can help designers imagine narratives that achieve a Desirable Future.

The Cone of Plausibility moves inwards. Its first cone is Possible Futures.

This larger cone encompasses the broadest range of scenarios and possibilities, including both plausible and less likely outcomes. It explores a broad spectrum of potential futures without excluding any options.

The second cone filters these possible scenarios into Plausible Futures.

Plausible Futures refer to potential outcomes that could reasonably occur within the bounds of uncertainty. These are futures that are not certain, but are well-grounded in existing knowledge and trends (that we gathered during the Explore phase).

The smaller cone is Probable Futures.

Probable Futures are scenarios and possibilities that are highly likely to happen based on current trends, data, and well-established factors. They represent outcomes that are expected to materialise.

Plausible, probable, and possible futures deal with inbound change.
They are based on actions and causes that have already occurred, or may occur, as we analyse the present in Act Two/Explore.

Inside the sphere of possible, plausible and probable futures, we can also imagine some disruptive events or Wild Cards.

Wild Cards are less predictable, often unexpected scenarios or disruptions that can significantly impact the future (think of any episode of the acclaimed Netflix series Black Mirror for an example).

Wild Cards, while unlikely to happen, help designers prepare for unexpected scenarios by maintaining flexibility, adaptability, and resilience in their designs. They need to think creatively and be ready to pivot should unforeseen developments occur.

Ultimately, designers' real focus should be firmly on the Preferred Futures cone.

The Preferred Future represents the vision, or set of possibilities, people or organisations desire and actively work towards. Usually, these desirable outcomes reflect the organisation's goals, values, and the positive impact they want to achieve.

The Preferred Future scenarios will be developed and finalised in Act Three/Share.

Act 2 / Tool 1: Forced Connection

Another way to stimulate imagination is through another useful storytelling tool, called Forced Connection.

I use Forced Connection myself, whenever I need to find a metaphor for a brand experience that is complex and multifaceted.

The steps are very simple, and can be taken in groups or alone:

1. Consider the object you are trying to design.

2. Brainstorm session: Pick an object or situation that is entirely unrelated. Start with simple prompts and avoid judging them.

3. "Force" a connection: list seemingly unrelated objects/adjectives/sensations/features. Find a connection between these, the prompts you are working on, and the seemingly unrelated objects/adjectives/sensations, etc...

Innovative products may arise from combining disparate functions, materials or processes. From the ridiculous to the practical, some of the most unfamiliar and original ideas can emerge just by using this easy-to-follow tool.

Ultimately, the true power of storytelling lies in its ability to visualise and share stories that can spread and bring about change.

For this reason, the last Act of the FNF is Share.

It is set in the Desirable Future; the future that organisations wish to create.

In creating a Desirable Future, designers will ideally use a collaborative mindset and work with organisations and stakeholders through two essential tools: Implementation and Impact.

The goal of this step is to find individuals who believe in the same Desirable Future as the organisation, and hence are ready to invest in it (economically and ideologically).

For this reason, sharing is a critical part of the framework.

'Share' is where most startups fall down, including some I worked with, that tried to reproduce all of the future scenarios they found during the Envision phase. This is not efficient in terms of time and costs. But through sharing, organisations can maximise their impact, involve actors (stakeholders) and implement their ideas.

Act 3 / Tool 1: Implementation

Implementation is where we begin to iterate around the idea, mostly using prototypes. It is a very dynamic aspect of Act Three, that moves between exploring and making (between present and future).

Designers return to Act One to collect new data, then work towards Act Three to implement their ideas in the Desirable Future.

Because of the dynamic and collaborative nature of Act Three, the implementation will help designers avoid living in an alternative future that doesn't work; instead making the right decision to move forwards.

For this reason, it is important to prioritise and compare what we think we know against what we don't. Collaboration between all stakeholders is an essential part of this step.

To help prioritise scenarios before creating prototypes, designers can adopt the Assumption Map.

The Assumption Map is an exercise and tool in which a team unpacks their assumptions about a new product or service's feasibility, viability, and desirability.

"What assumptions am I making?" is the big question we ask ourselves before building any prototype. Here lies the key to designing and delivering thoughtful, innovative products and services.

Once outlined, each assumption is prioritised by importance and potential risk.

By using the Assumption Map, organisations can speed up implementation by avoiding non-working elements and improbable scenarios. They can also involve valuable stakeholders in testing and experimentation.

Act 3 / Tool 2: Impact

To achieve a Desirable Future, it is essential to make a positive impact.

It is essential to make a positive impact to achieve a Desirable Future.

Such impact can be created through synergy of three factors:

1. Confidence and trust: Foster confidence and trust by nurturing a solid foundation around the organisation and its purpose, rather than a specific product or idea. This approach ensures that even if an idea fails, both the organisation and its purpose will remain resilient, bolstered by the trust they've earned. This trust empowers them to pursue their purpose through alternative ideas, projects, or services.

2. Holistic approach: Embrace an approach that engages a wide spectrum of stakeholders, inviting not only potential investors but also individuals who will directly or indirectly benefit from your product or service. This inclusive narrative ensures that your vision is accessible and relatable to diverse actors, some of whom may be identified in Explore's Sensemaking Map.

3. Collective Intelligence: This widely disseminates innovative ideas, nurturing a community whereby the purpose transcends the organisation and becomes a shared vision. This collective community envisions and embraces the future as the organisation intends to shape it. In this way, a Desirable Future ceases to be the exclusive domain of a select few; it becomes the shared aspiration of a larger group dedicated to standing by and actively supporting the organisation in its creation.

The FNF enables designers to pose new questions and adopt a fresh perspective at every step of the model.

In light of the FNF, design thinking evolves into future thinking. Predicting the future transforms into creating the future; mission and vision shift to evoke a desirable future and purpose. Profitability expands to optionality and user-centricity broadens to planet-centricity.

Design thinking is not dead. It has evolved into Future Thinking, a powerful tool for creating innovative solutions.

The FNF can find its use and help create new ideas in organisations that integrate design as part of their strategy, as a bridge between the present and the desired future.

So if you wish to design the future, you will need to seek those junctures where design connects two worlds - today with the desirable tomorrow - and empowers meaningful impact.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Design the future through the power of storytelling

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During my three years of working for a FinTech startup company (time that included the Covid pandemic), I realised that I had been approaching ideas of the future from the wrong perspective. Rather...

# data[].attributes.headline
Principles of Physical Experience Design and examples of projects.

# data[].attributes.subject
Principles of Physical Experience Design and examples of projects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Illustration by Celina Liao

Let's Make Place

By Ripon DeLeon
At their core, physical experiences are about elevating spaces into places. Spaces are defined by their edges (think walls or boundaries). Places are defined by the activities and engagements happening within them. This evolution affords tremendous opportunity to transform real-world spaces to create meaningful experiences. Places that communicate feeling, create impressions and impart a sense of 'wow' to build memorable connections with their visitors.

Physical Experience Design (PXD) combines and leverages an array of traditional design disciplines (such as UX/UI, industrial design, architecture, interior design, behavioral design and more) to build places in new, unique, innovative, and impactful ways. Through layering interaction with physical and digital content, PXD works to transform previously banal everyday spaces into impactful and memorable places.

In our world of ever increasing digital noise, one of the few spaces left to stand apart is in the "real world." As companies devote more and more resources to online and digital experiences, the relative scarcity of their physical touchpoints only increases their significance and the importance of getting them right.

I've spent the better part of the last ten years designing and building Physical Experiences, most recently at Capital One. What follows are 10 principles of PXD I've learned through the successes and failures of numerous projects-my own and others-collected with the help of my Physical Experience Design team at Capital One. These principles are lenses we use in designing our experiences; they help us understand and unpack what makes a successful physical experience.

Think Near, Far and Inbetween
People don't magically teleport from one place to the next; they move continuously walking from one place to the next place. This means people don't magically appear in an experience, they have to make a choice-even if it's subconscious-to engage. By curating a path (both literally and figuratively) to follow, you can lead a visitor into the experience.

People perceive different levels of detail at various distances. An experience can take advantage of the levels of detail to communicate specific information at each distance. What is perceptible at 40 feet from an experience is different from what is perceptible at 10 feet or at 2 feet. A physical experience must work across all these scales in order to draw a visitor in. Each scale has key distinguishing criteria that maps to a visitor's journey as they engage in the experience.

From afar, at a 40-foot level of detail, an experience is viewed holistically. Any content tends to be low resolution, open-ended, and interactions are passive. This scale is where a visitor's first impression is made, effectively asking a them to get closer and learn more. The basic goal for this scale is to make the experience intriguing so that a visitor wants to come closer and engage in the experience.

Inbetween, at 10 feet, a visitor is in a spectator or transition zone. Their immediate attention has been grabbed, however they haven't yet committed to fully engaging the experience. Interactions can be both passive or active. Any active interactions are typically low resolution, with sensory inputs at the detail level of the visitor's body. Content is designed to be shared among a group of visitors; it is not customized to individual visitors.

Near, at two feet, a visitor is now full engaged and immersed in the experience. Content is provided in its highest resolution via video, images, text, etc. Interactions are typically active with medium to high resolution inputs like gestures such as touch or swipe. Active interaction at this level helps maintain a visitor's engagement by empowering them to explore and discover for themselves.

The Project Elements Pop-up by Capital One strikes a strong balance across all scales of the experience. From 40 feet away, the experience creates an area of activity around a large projection screen where people are gathering, drawing other visitors in. As visitors move closer to 10 feet from the experience, they begin to understand the content on the projection screens as filtered video of themselves and are encouraged to continue into the experience to further discover. Up close at two feet, visitors are able to actively interact with the experience by picking up different cards and changing the video filters accordingly. Following this pathway visitors were able to easily navigate the experience, fully engage, and discover deeper levels of content.

Keep It Simple Stupid
I can't stand experiences that waste my time and don't get to the point! Did you know the typical attention span is only four seconds? Think about that. It is in this four-second window that a physical experience must compete against the rest of the world to grab a visitor's attention. It must then sustain that attention to engage people in a more in-depth experience.

Think of it this way; you have to ask someone out on a date before you can start a relationship. Physical experiences build relationships by targeting multiple levels of engagement from first a four-second pick-up line while someone is walking by. Next, a 10-second flirtation while they stop for a look. Then a long term relationship of 30 seconds to a few minutes as a sustained interaction. An experience builds off this courtship of quicker interactions to draw visitors into complex longer engagements.

An underlying goal of experiences is to shepherd a visitor to their core content and close-up engagement. The path of a visitor's journey through a physical experience can be mapped through the different levels of engagement (or relationship status). Providing clarity along this path is critical to the success of an experience. It is all too common to get lost in an experience and miss what the underlying message due to the amount of extraneous content and interactions, or other noise. To create a cohesive and navigable experience, it is critical that every element and layer of an experience reinforces the core message and journey.

It is important to acknowledge that not every experience needs to last minutes. Many great experiences deliver a quick hit and are done. They acknowledge it might be all they have time for. Equally important, don't expect everyone to give a shit; not every visitor wants to engage in the full depth of an experience. A great experience can create a memorable impression even in four seconds if it's concise and compelling.

Graffiti Nature by teamLab is a perfect example of an experience that is simple but not simplistic. The compelling virtual environment grab visitors' attention within the first four seconds and leads them through a journey to discover the experience. Visitors are given coloring-book-style drawings of creatures to color as they choose. These drawings are immediately converted into graphic textures for the virtual creatures in the projected environment. Visitors can then interact in real-time with their own custom creations. This simple yet novel interaction gives the visitors control over the experience while creating an immersive, complex, and rich environment.

At this point you're hopefully excited to go run out and find a physical experience to unpack or create one. My hope here is that you can take these principles out into the world and better understand the physical experiences you visit. Admittedly, I prescribe to the theory that you can't fully appreciate a design until you understand how it works and how to evaluate it. Not every experience will exemplify all of these principles nor should they. But, I'm confident the most memorable, impactful or just simply enjoyable physical experiences will be the ones that incorporate most of these principles.

This article was developed in collaboration with the Physical Experience Design team @ Capital One: Jess Kessin, Lisa Whitsitt, Matthew Wilson, Janak Dadhaniya, Cheng Xu, and Celina Liao Illustrations by Celina Liao

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Principles of Physical Experience Design

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Ripon DeLeon At their core, physical experiences are about elevating spaces into places. Spaces are defined by their edges (think walls or boundaries). Places are defined by the activities and engagements happening within them. This evolution affords tremendous opportunity to transform real-world spaces to create meaningful experiences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Transformational design requires the ability to design holistically on these 4 levels of the design: The experiences narrative guides the culture, which facilitates the users journey, which is anchored in artifacts.

Resonance is the musical concept of bringing harmony between, and this is the goal of the Transformation Experience Design (TED) model, to empower a growing movement of change makers and designers creating resonant transformative experiences. The rising star German sociologist Hartmut Rosa writes about harmony brought about from resonance as an anecdote to the accelerating pace of society.

At the most abstract level we will look at narrative design and at the most concrete level artifact design. This is a model that can be used to design and innovate in human system, as we have been doing for 30 years at the Kaospilots. Transformational expert, Carola Verschoor summarizes the Transformation Experience Design (TED) model beautifully:

"We all agree that transformation needs to happen across many levels if it is to last and be adopted by people. Designing for behaviors at one end of the spectrum or designing the narrative at the other end, don't do the trick by themselves. For behaviors to stick, people must co-design the narrative. For the narrative to come alive, there have to be artifacts that will guide and sustain the behavior."

Transformative experiences color the way we experience all other things. GIF art made by Rasmus Stride as an output of our conversations about transformation.

Transformational experiences open doors that were once closed, and leave those doors open. According to Robert Kegan, becoming an adult isn't about learning new things, adding things to the 'container' of the mind. It's about transformation - changing the way we know and understand the world, adding new meaning making lens that evolve and add depth way we experience everything.

Creating a transformative experience is about evolving the way people make meaning. By transformational experiences, I am talking about those that enable the expansion and growth of a person. A transformational experience never really ends. Strategic designer, Alberto Barreiro says, " to become is the outcome of transformation" (why we named our new transformation focused online program Become). Before we get into the TED model, lets first look at why we need to focus on designing transformation today.

Humanities interconnected challenges require a wave of transformation

To aim to transform people you need to assume that people can develop. Exploring theories of developmental psychology is beyond the scope of this article, but incredibly important to understand for those wanting to positively transform adults. Read more about the above model here.

We need human development to be the goalpost that organizations and governments around the world aim for. There is groundbreaking clarity coming from the new science of happiness, that can empower a new generation of entrepreneurs and designers with a formula for human development and societal health.

As society is getting more complex, this results in people's psychological development being outpaced by the complexity of society. Research on adult development is still nascent, yet the body of empirical research that exists clearly points to a fact: most people do not reach the highest stages of adult development. Robert Kegan's talk here is a great summary of this.

"Personal and interpersonal development is a societal concern that's too important to solely remain a private responsibility. It must become one of the most central issues in public life."

When looking deeply at the issue of systemic racism, environmental destruction, loneliness and stress, we can see that these challenges will not be solved without personal and interpersonal development.

To transform a human system, the people in the system must be able to experience that transformation.

"We should think of what is experienced as what is available to a person... What is available is that which we have access."

- Alva Noë

What is available for a person to experience at any given time, depends upon their sensory inputs - the environment - but also crucially what they can do. Consider the case of literacy. To an illiterate person text might as well be invisible. The consciousness of the person who can read, in contrast, is captured and transported by the combination of letters. Thus the 'literacy' of the person having an experience is a crucial factor for you as a designer to consider. Not everyone can experience the depth and layers of meaning you have designed for them because they can't 'read' that level of experience yet. A movement of transforming people, systems and society, must go hand in hand with a movement of education, personal development and integration of experiences.

How could this experience positively change the user's story of who they are?

The design at this stage is focused on enabling the user to tell a new story of who they are and what they are capable of. It is about understanding and supporting a transformation that the user intrinsically wants to make themselves and getting them all the way from desire for change into actual change in behavior.

What it is about:

Enabling a person to transform themselves

Understand the existing narrative

The title matters - a lot.

Enable people to transform themselves
An experience will mean more to someone than you can ever plan if you give them the trust to make their own meaning. You can never make someone change, though we do love to try! This can be a very empowering perspective, as it means you need to co-create and learn as much as possible, continually testing your assumptions, about the person/system you wish to transform.
Understand the existing narrative, in order to create a new one
If you want to change the narrative that a person or organization holds dear, start with sensing and deeply understanding the roots of the beliefs, values and assumptions that are guiding the system. We like to use systems thinking methods to do this initial mapping of a system in order to understand the leverage points for change. This work requires time and real relationships to be built with those you are hoping to impact.
The title matters - a lot
When creating an experience, what you name it is the first pebble you throw, that may will ripple out rings of transformation. We have learned from the work of Diane Nijs with High Concept Thinking. One take away is that surprisingly large transformations of human systems can be created by giving a system a new name. Giving a district of a city the title Fashion District, or changing the name from Human Resources to Employee Experience, will have rippling and potentially transformational impact. Diane writes in her book Advanced Imagineering, "Design is a matter of shifting the collective focus in an aspirational way as to create the context in which all actors are inspired to use their own imagination and creativity to generate a more desired reality together."

What culture could support the desired transformation?

What it is about:

Relationships are built from shared experiences

Using three levels of interaction to help you design a strong social fabric: Personal, Friends Group and Whole Community

Design at this level is focused on positively influencing the social context the experience will take place in. In cultural design we find the metaphor of social fabric helpful. The social fabric is the culture that is created from the shared experience that weave together the individual threads of a system. When we design experiences, we layer the relationships, by creating different relational constellations. For example creating 'Home teams' that are focused on leadership development and 'Case Teams' that are focused on solving a specific challenge together. These different teams develop a unique culture, based on how their context is designed.
Relationships are built from shared experiences.
The strengthening or disintegration of the social fabric of a community is a result of what experiences have been shared. If we want to create an organization where we feel more harmony, we can look at what experiences are currently shared and then design the shared experiences that would enhance the feeling of harmony.

There as three levels of interaction you can use to help you design a strong social fabric and culture for transformation to happen in. Pigalle Tavakkoli introduced this fantastic model to us.

Personal: What experiences are individual and allow for personal interaction, reflection and growth? In the immersions we run, silence and time in pristine nature are elements of personal time that people soak up like sponges.

Social unit of friends: What experiences can support people in connecting to and meaningfully interacting with their friends? In any social system, people tend to clump together with people they feel most safe with, be it their partner, friends, or new acquaintances.

Larger community: What experiences create the larger sense of we? What rituals can everyone take a part in? We like to create a strong entry and exit experience, to make tangible the intangible sense of shared purpose.

What are the steps of the users journey?

What it is about:

Design everything with a narrative arc

BOOM + pause + reflection

Integration! Integration! Integration!

In the hereo's journey, the hero changes by interacting with challenges out in the world, and she only realizes how she has changed when she comes back home.
Design everything with a narrative arc:
People remember and retell experiences as stories. When you aim to transform someone, start with that end in mind and ask: What story do I want this person to tell about how this experience transformed them? Use your answer to this question to design the experience, so it is natural for your users to tell that story! Our talented friend Aga Szóstek, introduced us to this useful question.

" Stories are easier to remember - because in many ways stories are HOW we remember." - Daniel Pink

BOOM + pause + reflection: This simple formula (BOOM + pause + reflection) is a powerful frame for creating a transformational learning experience. To do this, aim to momentarily launch people into a powerful experience of awe - so they don't have words for what they are experiencing. After this BOOM, let people have little PAUSE so they have time to themselves, then gently follow up with a REFLECTION have a chance to sense-make, and learn from each others reflections. We like using the User Experience Fish Bowl to debrief powerful share experiences. The pioneering experience designer Nelly Ben Hayoun does something similar with her experiences and call this tactic "total bombardment."

Integration! Integration! Integration! Many if not most potentially transformational experiences are sandwiched into daily life and the transformational potential is squeezed out and left for dead. If you wish an experience to make a lasting impact, make sure the integration back into peoples lives, is part of your design. As more transformation experiences are created, so will the awareness of the importance of integration. The goal for you as a transformational designer, should be the way some feels and behaves once back in their daily lives - the state they are left with - not the moment of the peak experience.

What artifacts do users interact with on their journey towards transformation?

Objects hold meaning

In an increasingly digital world, physicality matters more

The artifacts that people interact with are their windows into experience, meaning and creating narratives. Designing an experience at this level is going into the details of the physical/digital world the users interacts with. This is where you look at what objects and environment support the transformation you want to create. The digital/physical interactions start from the moment the user become aware of the experience, what we call the Excitement ( see the 5E model). The Extension, a physical object, take with the user after the experience, can be a powerful way to anchor the core of the experience into something tangible.

Objects hold meaning: Give people a chance to integrate their transformative experience with things they can take back into their daily lives. If you want a change of culture, move your organization into a building/neighborhood that embodies this change you wish to create.

In an increasingly digital world, physicality matters more: As our time is spent largely experiencing the changing images on our screens, our senses of touch, smell, taste... are longing for the chance to stretch their legs.

It is important to learn how to create experiences, that actually result in real change in our human systems. In my experience, the TED model requires the ability to bring resonance between many levels of thinking as a designer and facilitator of transformational experiences. Though no design process is strictly linear, it does generally move from abstract to concrete. The narrative of an experience is integral in creating the culture, which facilitates and makes the users journey flow, which is in turn anchored in the artifacts that bring the experience to life. In order to design transformational experiences, you can use these levels as a guide to help you consider the most important places to focus.

The scale of the challenges that we face, necessitate the creation of waves of transformative experiences on all levels of society. Our current systems compels us to destroy our future to 'get by' today. We need to change our systems in a radical way. The basis of systems change is the transformation of the people creating the systems. To make radical organizational and systems change, people need to be supported, and grow into the new ways of being together. They need a new generation of designers and facilitators to meaningfully create resonant transformative experiences.
Further Resources:
Use our 5E Experience Design Model to design your next experience.
Written for Kaospilot Experience Design
Since 1991, Kaospilot have worked systematically with the management of change and co-creation processes. We are a creative and experience design driven school that makes professional training programs in leadership, innovation, creativity and experience design. Our professional programs are not create simply to prepare leaders for the future, but to help them design it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Designing for Impact: Transformational Experience Design Model 🧑‍🚀

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Transformation Experience Designmodel, to empower a growing movement of change makers and designers...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Experiential Design? (And Why Every Space Needs It)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The practice of Experiential Design helps businesses of all kinds create spatial interactions between built environments and those who inhabit them.

# data[].attributes.body
Jung's therapy emphasizes helping people find their true selves, and it often uses tools like art and myth to help patients make contact with these deep feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. In addition, Jungian therapy involves getting in touch with the unconscious mind, which he believed plays a large role in shaping people's thoughts and behavior.

Art. Art can provide a way to access the unconscious and explore images that arise. Through art, we can learn about our self-image and what symbols and themes emerge when concentrating on a particular problem.

Dream analysis. One of the most important means of achieving insight in the Jungian analysis is through dreams, which often provide material to work with in therapy.

Active imagination. This technique allows you to imagine yourself in scenes that represent the unconscious material you are working on.

Word association. This is a technique in which you say the first word that pops into your head after hearing another word. This exercise can help reveal the unconscious thoughts and feelings that influence your behavior.

will provide you with an opportunity to discover the root cause of your issues through dreams, fantasies, art, play, and active imagination techniques.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you interested in Jungian therapy? Learn more about this form of therapy originally developed by Carl Jung.

# data[].attributes.body
Jung rejected the concept of tabula rasa, or the notion that the human mind is a blank slate at birth to be written solely by experience. He believed that the human mind retains fundamental, unconscious, biological aspects of our ancestors. These "primordial images," as he initially dubbed them, serve as a basic foundation of how to be human.

Jung's four major archetypes are: the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the self.

Over the course of development, children learn that they must behave in certain ways in order to fit in with society's expectations and norms. The persona develops as a social mask to contain all of the primitive urges, impulses, and emotions that are not considered socially acceptable.

The persona archetype allows people to adapt to the world around them and fit in with the society in which they live. However, becoming too closely identified with this archetype can lead people to lose sight of their true selves.

The shadow exists as part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings.

This archetype is often described as the darker side of the psyche, representing wildness, chaos, and the unknown. These latent dispositions are present in all of us, Jung believed, although people sometimes deny this element of their own psyche and instead project it on to others.

Anima/Animus : In many cultures, however, men and women are encouraged to adopt traditional and often rigid gender roles. Jung suggested that this discouragement of men exploring their feminine aspects and women exploring their masculine aspects served to undermine psychological development.

The combined anima and animus is known as the syzygy or the divine couple. The syzygy represents completion, unification, and wholeness.

For Jung, the ultimate aim was for an individual to achieve a sense of cohesive self, similar in many ways to Maslow's concept of self-actualization.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Archetypes are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors, and personalities that play a role in influencing human behavior. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's theory suggested that these archetypes were archaic forms of innate human knowledge passed down from our ancestors.

In Jungian psychology, these archetypes represent universal patterns and images that are part of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that we inherit these archetypes much in the way we inherit instinctive patterns of behavior.

Personal vs. Collective Unconscious

Jung was originally a follower of Sigmund Freud. The relationship eventually fractured over Jung's criticism of Freud's emphasis on sexuality during development, which led Jung to develop his own psychoanalytic approach known as analytical psychology.

While Jung agreed with Freud that the unconscious played an important role in personality and behavior, he expanded on Freud's idea of the personal unconscious to include what Jung called the collective unconscious.

Jung believed that the human psyche was composed of three components:

According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious mind, and the personal unconscious contains memories-including those that have been suppressed.

The Origins of Jungian Archetypes

Jung believed that archetypes come from the collective unconscious. He suggested that these models are innate, universal, unlearned, and hereditary. Archetypes organize how we experience certain things.

"All the most powerful ideas in history go back to archetypes," Jung explained in his book, "The Structure of the Psyche."

"This is particularly true of religious ideas, but the central concepts of science, philosophy, and ethics are no exception to this rule. In their present form, they are variants of archetypal ideas created by consciously applying and adapting these ideas to reality. For it is the function of consciousness, not only to recognize and assimilate the external world through the gateway of the senses but to translate into visible reality the world within us," he suggested.

Jung rejected the concept of tabula rasa, or the notion that the human mind is a blank slate at birth to be written solely by experience. He believed that the human mind retains fundamental, unconscious, biological aspects of our ancestors. These "primordial images," as he initially dubbed them, serve as a basic foundation of how to be human.

Jung believed that each archetype played a role in personality, but felt that most people were dominated by one specific archetype. According to Jung, the actual way in which an archetype is expressed or realized depends upon a number of factors, including an individual's cultural influences and uniquely personal experiences.

The Main Archetypes

Jung identified four major archetypes but also believed that there was no limit to the number that may exist. The existence of these archetypes cannot be observed directly but can be inferred by looking at religion, dreams, art, and literature. Jung's four major archetypes are: the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the self.

Archetypical Figures

Jung acknowledged that the four main archetypes can intermingle and give rise to 12 archetypical figures (also known as archetypical images). These include:

A Word From Verywell

Jung's ideas have not been as popular as Freud's and his archetypes have not been viewed favorably in modern psychology. This might be because his work tended to veer into the mystical and pseudoscientific, and is therefore often studied more as a historical artifact and in realms of literary criticism and popular culture applications of mythology than as a major contribution to the science of the mind and behavior.

Other criticisms of Jung's archetypes suggest that they are overly stereotyped, reductionistic, and culturally biased.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Jung's 8 personality types?

In addition to his theory of archetypes, Jung also introduced a theory of personality that became the basis for the MBTI personality typology. Jung's eight personality types are:

1. Extraverted thinking

2. Introverted thinking

3. Extraverted feeling

4. Introverted feeling

5. Extraverted sensing

6. Introverted sensing

7. Extraverted intuitive

8. Introverted intuitive

What is my Jungian persona?

According to Jung, your persona is the social mask that you wear and present to the world. It is designed to make an impression on others, but it also serves to conceal your true self.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Carl Jung described archetypes as models of people, behaviors, and personalities. Learn about the major archetypes that Jung identified and their characteristics.

# data[].attributes.headline
Carl Jung's Archetypes and the collective unconscious.

# data[].attributes.subject
Carl Jung's Archetypes and the collective unconscious.

# data[].attributes.body
Carl Jung's archetypes are universal symbols or patterns that are present in the collective unconscious of all humans. They are innate and inherited, and they shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Jung believed that by understanding these archetypes, we could gain insight into the human psyche and better understand ourselves and others.

Jungian archetypes include the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus, the self, and the hero. The persona is the mask we wear in social situations, while the shadow represents our repressed or hidden aspects.

Personal Unconscious has a large variety of emotions and memories that the person has rejected or repressed. In most cases, it is impossible to recall these emotions and memories consciously. A person may be unaware about these but his personal unconscious may repress memories of pain, hatred, bitterness and many others.

An example of Collective Unconscious is how different cultures have same legends featuring similar themes and characters, for instance the beginning of the universe.

These archetypes are universal symbols that represent common human experiences and emotions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What are Carl Jung's Archetypes?

Carl Jung's archetypes are universal symbols or patterns that are present in the collective unconscious of all humans. They are innate and inherited, and they shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Jung believed that by understanding these archetypes, we could gain insight into the human psyche and better understand ourselves and others.

Jungian archetypes include the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus, the self, and the hero. The persona is the mask we wear in social situations, while the shadow represents our repressed or hidden aspects.

The anima/animus represents the feminine/masculine aspects of our psyche, while the self is the true, integrated, and balanced self. The hero is the archetype of the journey and represents the struggle and transformation that we go through in life.

Jung's archetypes have been influential in the field of psychoanalysis, particularly in the areas of dream interpretation, personality assessment, and therapy. By identifying and exploring these archetypes, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of their unconscious motivations and conflicts, and work towards greater self-awareness and personal growth.

‍

‍

Who was Carl Jung?

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist who proposed theories about how common myths and symbols affect human mind at both the levels of subconsciousness and consciousness. In the beginning, Jung worked with Sigmund Freud, but they both changed their paths, as Jung disagreed with Freud's opinion about the impact of biological factors such as the experience of intimacy, on human personality and behavior.

Jung was interested in studying how different areas of the human mind develop and influence the psyche. Carl identified the persona, or the image of one's self that people like to present to the world, from their shadow, which may include repressed thoughts and hidden anxieties.

He developed theories related to the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the psyche, which have had a significant impact on the field of psychology and beyond. Some of his most well-known concepts include the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the Self.

One of Jung's main focuses was on understanding human personality. He believed that the psyche was made up of both conscious and unconscious elements, and that the unconscious mind contained archetypes that were universal across all cultures and time periods.

These archetypes are symbols or images that represent certain aspects of the human experience, such as the mother, the hero, or the trickster. By understanding these archetypes, Jung believed that individuals could gain insight into their own personalities and the world around them.

Jung also documented the link between people's personal unconscious, which holds their personal ideas and memories, as well as a collective unconscious, a combination of ideas and memories. Jung described shared concepts as archetypes, which arise as characters and themes in people's dreams and presented in literature, paintings, and films.

Jung observed that disparity between thinking in the conscious and personal subconscious could develop inner conflicts that may result in particular dominant personality attributes or anxieties.

Jung believed that these inner conflicts can be resolved by letting repressed thoughts to reach the conscious and accommodating these thoughts (instead of destroying). Hence, developing a state of inner harmony, by way of a process termed as individuation.

Below are Jung's theories related to psychoanalysis and some of Jungian archetypes.

‍

Personal Unconscious

Jung's concept of the personal unconscious is very close to the concept of unconscious proposed by the other psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud. C.G. Jung believes that Personal Unconscious is a personal experience which is different from collective unconscious, which is shared with other individuals.

Personal Unconscious has a large variety of emotions and memories that the person has rejected or repressed. In most cases, it is impossible to recall these emotions and memories consciously. A person may be unaware about these but his personal unconscious may repress memories of pain, hatred, bitterness and many others.

As people live in their conscious state, they are unable to reach their personal unconscious, but it appears when they are in a hypnotic state of regression or in their dreams.

Collective Unconscious

Itholds an important place in Carl Jung's theories of mind for including the archetypes. John Locke was an English philosopher, who thought that humans are born as a blank slate and a conscious mind is purely influenced by its surrounding environment. Unlike him, Carl Gustav Jung believed each individual holds a collective unconscious by birth.

An example of Collective Unconscious is how different cultures have same legends featuring similar themes and characters, for instance the beginning of the universe.

Carl Jung believed that the Collective Unconscious is composed of archetypal personalities that are shared by all humans. These archetypes are universal symbols that represent common human experiences and emotions.

‍

‍

The four main Archetypes

According to Jung, collective unconscious holds many archetypes that everyone can identify. A model image of a role or person is called an archetype.

A mother archetype has behaviour traits of being compassionate, and caring. People belonging to different cultures hold similar perception of a mother figure for instance using the term 'mother nature.'

Archetypes are often shown as characters in films, novels and myths - for example, role of Leigh Anne (Big Mike's mother) in the film Blind Side,' who is portrayed as a strong woman but is gentle by heart. Also, 'M' is depicted as the mother archetype in the James Bond spy series, whom the spy believes in and returns to.

One example of an archetypal personality is the Hero, who represents the desire for achievement and the need to overcome challenges. Another is the Wise Old Man, who symbolizes wisdom and knowledge. These archetypes are present in myths, legends, and stories from all cultures around the world.

Personality typology systems, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Enneagram, also draw on Jung's concept of archetypes in their own ways. For example, the Myers-Briggs system identifies 16 different personality types, each with its own set of traits and tendencies that can be linked back to Jung's archetypes.

Similarly, the Enneagram system identifies nine different personality types, each of which corresponds to a different archetype, such as the Perfectionist or the Helper. By exploring these archetypes and how they manifest in different people, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and others.

‍

The Innocent

Seeks safety and happiness, and desires to be free from harm and wrong-doing.

The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal

Seeks connections and belonging, and values being down-to-earth and connecting with others.

The Hero

Aims to prove worth through courageous acts and difficult challenges, and aspires to use mastery to improve the world.

The Caregiver

Aims to help and protect others, often putting others' needs before their own.

The Explorer

Seeks to understand the world and their place in it, and values autonomy, ambition, and being true to oneself.

The Rebel

Seeks radical change and disruption of the status quo, and is willing to destroy what isn't working.

The Lover

Seeks intimacy and experiences that involve love, relationships, and personal satisfaction.

The Creator

Aims to create something of enduring value and give form to a vision, and values authenticity and imagination.

The Jester

Seeks to live in the moment with full enjoyment, and uses humor and play to make others happy.

The Sage

Seeks truth and understanding, and values wisdom and intelligence.

The Magician

Aims to make dreams come true and transform reality, and values knowledge and the fundamental laws of how things work.

The Ruler

Seeks control and wants to create a prosperous, successful family or community.

‍

The Persona

Jung believes that people have an identity or persona that they want to project to others. People's persona are different from their inner self. Jung purposely used the Latin word 'persona,', for the mask of an actor or an individual's personality, because the persona can be influenced by the thinking of social roles in society or created from the collective unconscious archetypes.

For instance, a father may try to conceal his actual behaviour traits and acquire attributes which he thinks are usual for a father - disciplining and sober.

Since the persona is an idealised image not a real reflection of one's consciousness, associating extraordinarily with a persona may result in repression of a person's individuality and cause inner conflicts. However, according to Jung, it could be controlled through individuation.

Shadow archetype

Jungian Archetypes include the shadow archetype, whichconsists of behaviour traits of one's self that he sees as negative. People conceal this aspect of the self to others as it could be a source of shame or stress. But, a shadow archetype can also include positive attributes, for example perceived weaknesses (such as empathy) which is opposite to the 'toughness' that people wish to show to others in their persona.

The shadow archetype is mostly shown as a villainous character in literature- for example, Gollum represents the shadow archetype in the trilogy of The Lord of the Ring s. Also the snake in The Jungle Book or the Garden of Eden

Animus/Anima archetypes

In Jungian Archetypes, the animus (in women) or anima (in men) depicts the other gender to one's self. As someone builds a gender identity he/she tends to repress the attributes of his/ her personality which might be associated with the opposite gender, such as demonstrating empathy in everyday life in public.

As these attributes create part of the true, they are hidden from one's persona and are demonstrated in form of the masculine archetype animus in women or feminine archetype anima in men.

As people grow older, they may allow different aspects of their personality repressed while forming their gender identity. For instance, a male may show his empathetic behaviour more often after developing his masculine persona.

The animus and anima are frequently found in different cultures. For instance, the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, shows the aloof romantic Mr Darcey 's anima archetype.

The animus and anima archetypes are essential to understanding the depth of personality in individuals. These archetypes represent the masculine and feminine qualities that exist within every person, regardless of gender.

By exploring and integrating these archetypes, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. It's important to note that the animus and anima are not fixed identities, but rather fluid and evolving aspects of the psyche.

The Self

The Jungarian archetype 'self' indicates the unified consciousness and unconsciousness of a person. In most cases, C. F. Jung indicates the self as a mandala, square or circle.

Self-creation takes place through a process termed as individuation, which incorporates different aspects of human personality. According to Jung, conflict of the conscious and unconscious minds may result in psychological troubles.

Bringing this disharmony into knowledge and accommodating in conscious understanding is an important aspect of the process of individuation. Jung believes that there are two distinct centres of personality:

At the core of consciousness is the ego; however, self remains at the core of personality.

Personality includes both the conscious and the unconscious mind and ego.

One may understand this by supposing a circle with a dot at its center. The complete circle give rise to the self, and in its center the small dot indicates the ego.

Jung believes that the ultimate goal for a person is to gain a sense of Ego-feeding, self-validating behaviors and cohesive self, in some ways close to the concept of self-actualization by Maslow.

‍

‍

Brand Archetype

A brand archetype indicates a brand in the same way as a writer presents a fictional character in a story. Brand archetypes demonstrate distinct messages, behaviours, values and symbology to show a brand story and persona, which is identifiable, and apparently relatable, to its target audience. Following are the brand archetypes:

The Innocent brands

Everyman brands

Hero brands

Outlaw brands

Explorer brands

Creator brands

Ruler brands

Magician brands

Lover brands

Caregiver brands

Jester brands and

Sage brands.

‍

‍

‍

‍
Great Mother
The idealised attributes of the mother figure are present in The Great Mother archetype. She is loving, caring, dependable and compassionate, and, just like the Wise Old Man, she may provide guidance whenever needed. The Great Mother archetype is frequently shown in novels, stories and films as a fairy godmother.
Individuation
According to Jung's theory of archetype to gain individuation and demonstrate one's true self, instead of repressing those attributes from the shadow, people should 'integrate' these attributes by bringing them to the surface and allowing them to coexist with true self.
Extrovert and Introvert Personalities
Jung did not only categorise people for their psyche, C.G. Jung also proposed that individuals can be divided in terms of their personality type. He pointed towards the extrovert and introvert personality types. Introverts are unsociable and quiet and sometimes take more time to find the solution to a problem; whereas, extroverts are more popular in their peers and do not hesitate to express their feelings.

Jungian Psychology in Modern Times

Jungian theories had a great impact on the analytical psychology field, which is named as Jungian psychology. Although, his theoriesdid not gain as much popularity as Freud's psychodynamic approach, his ideas were influential and their impact can still be found in 20 th century.

Carl Jung's ideas such as the difference between outgoing extrovert and inward-looking introvert personality types, and that people tend to project an idealised and inspirational version of themselves in their personas, not real personality have resulted in the development of various tests in context of personality that are still in use today.

Human personality is a complex and multifaceted concept that has been studied extensively throughout history. However, Jung's archetypes have provided a unique perspective on understanding the different aspects of human personality.

In modern times, these archetypes are still used in various personality tests and assessments to help individuals gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their behaviors. By identifying and exploring these archetypes, individuals can gain insight into their strengths, weaknesses, and potential for personal growth and development.

‍

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What are Carl Jung's Archetypes, and what is their significance for understanding personalities at more profound levels?

# data[].attributes.body
Dig deep and uncover the underlying problem. Do this by diagnosing the problem, studying the symptoms and establishing the real causes of the issue.

> Analyse and interpret the entire system as well as people’s personal experiences and perspectives.

> Learn about the people affected by the problem and find out about their personal experiences by utilising ethnographic research techniques such as speaking to, interviewing and observing behaviour.

Remember why you are doing the project, who it is for and avoid falling into the pitfalls of ‘big ego’ or ‘self-referential’ design.

Make Issues Public. Tell Stories & Build Networks.

> Reframing: By presenting your issue in a new way, you can change the way the public things about it. For example, by packaging baby carrots as junk food, advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky made vegetables more appealing to children. They packaged the carrots in similar crinkly packaging to crisps, placed them inside vending machines and ran a ‘Baby Carrots: Eat ’Em Like Junk Food’ campaign. Their campaign reversed record declines in the carrot business and ignited conversations around healthy snacking.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Last year I completed my MA in Design and Environment ... I wrote my thesis on how to design for positive social change and innovation because I believe that design has the power to make the world better.

Below is a summary of Design strategies for social change. I have outlined the tools and methods you can use to help design for social innovation and positive change. Many of these are inspired by leaders in the field of social design, social innovation and design thinking including and social design Lucy Kimbell, Geoff Mulgan, Ezio Manzini, Pelle Ehn and Roger Martin.

1. Define the Problem
Immerse yourself to uncover the underlying problem.

> Dig deep and uncover the underlying problem. Do this by diagnosing the problem, studying the symptoms and establishing the real causes of the issue.

> Analyse and interpret the entire system as well as people's personal experiences and perspectives.

> Learn about the people affected by the problem and find out about their personal experiences by utilising ethnographic research techniques such as speaking to, interviewing and observing behaviour.

Empathy Map

An Empathy Map will help you to gain insight into the people you are designing for:

> Aim to find out something unexpected, something you didn't know about to help shatter any existing biases within you and your team.

> Try to form networks and build trust between you and the people you are working with.

> Remember why you are doing the project, who it is for and avoid falling into the pitfalls of 'big ego' or 'self-referential' design.

Journey Map

Mapping someone's journey will help you to see things from their perspective.

Start by trying to define the problem and pinning down the key issue. Part of the problem definition involves unravelling any assumptions that are being made about the challenges. By identifying assumptions, we can start to turn these around and reframe issues to come up with new, innovative solutions.

2. (Re)Define
Analyse the entire system.
Use the following tools to help analyse the wider environment in which your problem or issue is situated.

By analysing the entire system, environment and culture that you are designing for, you can start to identify new connections and come up with more suitable solutions to complex issues.

Outlined here are a set of methods to help you interpret systems at both micro and macro levels including the Cynefin and Drivers of Change Frameworks and how to Re-frame an issue.

Cynefin Framework

Use this framework to help break apart your problem or issue into simple, complicated, complex and chaotic. Think about the wider environment which frames the problem.

Drivers of Change

Use this framework to map your issue within different systems such as political, technological and environmental through from 10 years ago to how you predict it to sit 10 years into the future (Kimbell 2015).

Reframing

To help see an issue in a new light, try placing it within a different context. This will reframe your issue and help you and others to understand how the problem is affected by the system or environment it is situated in. You can also use this technique later in the project to create desired behaviours based on how you present the choices.

3. Share & Connect
Make Issues Public. Tell Stories & Build Networks.
Make issues public and connect with people to help design better solutions with instead of for those affected. Designers can help make issues tangible through bold and clear visualisations. Visual tools help to summarise, trigger and support social conversations. By bringing social issues to the surface and making them visible can spark new innovations. Finding a way to capture people's attention, particularly those with power, can help to accelerate social change.

Use this at various stages of your project, at the start to help bring on stakeholders, spark conversations and build networks as well as throughout later stages of the project to help draw attention to your issue and create the behaviour change you are seeking.

Infographic Visuals

These are useful for communicating facts and figures in a way that is visually appealing and easier to absorb.

Campaigns

Utilise high impact media such as Posters, Videos and Online Platforms to capture the attention of the public, foster social conversations or even call for ideas. Here, it is useful to draw on behaviour change methods used in advertising including the use of Emotion, Collectivism, Ownership, Play, Utility and Reframing (Ferrier 2014):

> Emotion: Using emotive imagery can shock and spark a response and direct people towards desired action.

> Collectivism: Create a movement and get people invested in your cause by playing on the idea that people like to copy each other. For example, wearing a pink ribbon for Breast cancer creates a sense of a movement and gives the person wearing the item a sense of social status for being involved in a good cause.

> Ownership: Ask people for their opinion and/or facilitate co-creation to help confer ownership. This will make people more engaged and invested in the cause. Coca-Cola did this in 2011 when they put the150 most popular names on their coke cans to give their consumers a sense of ownership. when buying a can with their name on it By doing this, they empowered their customers who in turn, become co-creators of the brand, for example by posting images of themselves with their 'personal' Coke can on social media channels.

> Play: By making your campaign interactive and fun you can engage the public and prompt people to act the way you want. For example, the way that advertising agency DDB did for Volkswagen with their Piano Staircase as part of their 'The Fun Theory' Campaign:

Here, commuters were faced with the unexpected choice of taking the escalator or walking up 40 stairs which had been transformed into a giant piano. Each stair you walked on made a different sound. Suddenly, the commute had turned into a game and thereby captured attention of the public. This also effectively changed behaviour, with 66% more people taking the stairs.

> Utility: Combine utility with communication to draw attention to what you want to say. Ogivly achieved this for IBM in 2013 when they created useful outdoor advertisements. Billboards doubled up as shelters and benches to communicate IBM's vision for 'smarter cities':

> Reframing: By presenting your issue in a new way, you can change the way the public things about it. For example, by packaging baby carrots as junk food, advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky made vegetables more appealing to children. They packaged the carrots in similar crinkly packaging to crisps, placed them inside vending machines and ran a 'Baby Carrots: Eat 'Em Like Junk Food' campaign. Their campaign reversed record declines in the carrot business and ignited conversations around healthy snacking.

Co-design

This involves the people concerned, instead of designing for, designers act and design with the people they are designing for. Bringing stakeholders, citizens, communities, users and even ex-users together to connect. Designers can advise on and facilitate co-design methods. Continue to utilise the methods outlined above including storyboarding, journey mapping and prototyping as a group. Some further useful methods are outlined below, including De Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats', Forum Theatre and web based tools.

> Six Thinking Hats: De Bono's Six Thinking Hats is a systematic method to help people think in a new, more creative and focused way by looking at things from different perspectives. The idea is that a team wears six different symbolic hats:

The White Hat: Asks for facts and information.
The Yellow Hat: Explores the positive benefits.
The Black Hat: Is there to judge and explore the difficulties and dangers.
The Red Hat: Explores emotions and intuitions.
The Green Hat: Looks at possibilities, exploring alternatives.
The Blue Hat: Is the control, there to manage, organise and oversee the process.

This allows the group to focus their thoughts and conversation collectively.(The de Bono Group 2017).

> Forum Theatre: Was developed by Augusto Boal and is used to help think of solutions to difficult issues as a group. The audience watches as both actors and non-actors perform stories of oppression. At any time, the audience can stop the show and take over from another actor, to rewrite the story. The remaining members of the audience shout 'magic' if they don't believe the story to be realistic and someone else continues.

> Web Tools: Being digitally connected allows us to connect, collaborate and co-create regardless of where we are. There are a range of online crowdsourcing and open innovation platforms. Utilise online communities to connect and network.

4. Evolve ideas
Propose Solutions, Prototype: test, tweak, fail fast and small.
Produce things that were not there before to test, imagine in different scenarios and to inspire alternative ways of being.

By producing something for users to try and out, test and tweak, ideas evolve and grow into solutions that better meet people's needs. The intention is to work quickly and at a small scale, without getting too caught up in the details. Doing this early on and at a small scale means you can see what works and what doesn't before committing too many resources. It will also help you to engage with your users, involve stakeholders by communicating your ideas with them and continue to strengthen your networks.

Since prototyping is an iterative process, it will also allow you to develop your ideas. Utilise rapid prototyping techniques that allow fast and collaborative creation of solutions, experiment, beta test and trial ideas. A prototype can take many forms including storyboards, paper prototypes, models, role plays, mock-ups or desktop walkthroughs. The aim is to produce something tangible (not perfect), to get an idea across.

Developing a Prototype

The are a variety of ways to prototype your idea. Start by asking questions about why you want to create the prototype and what you hope to achieve by doing it. Then consider the best medium to create it. Avoid dwelling too long on this though, it is best to start with something and then iterate.
> Why
Focus on prototyping the parts of your project that are most important to learn about first. Ask the following questions:

What you want to learn from the prototype?

What questions need answering?

What you may want to communicate to others using the prototype?

What is the main purpose of the prototype? To explore ideas, test how they work or communicate and share them with others?

Is the main focus to explore viability and resources, the experience or the value of the innovation or idea?

> How

Different methods can help you to answer different questions. For example, models may work better for experience based ideas whilst visual examples may work better for story telling. I have outline some more options:

Experience prototype
Use props and role play to act out real life situations. Use this to help convey emotions and communicate the aim of the project.

Paper prototype
Use pen, paper and/or post it notes to visualise ideas.

Storyboard
Create a storyboard of someone interacting with your service. Think about how they feel, the when, where, why and how, what the outcome is.

Test your Prototype

Share the prototype with the people you are designing it for and obtain feedback about what works and what doesn't. Utilise the networks you have built at this stage. Make sure you capture real and honest feedback by assuring the people testing your prototype that you welcome both negative and positive feedback. Make and stick to a list outlining what you want to gain from testing your prototype. You can use written notes, photos, video, voice recording or drawing to help capture feedback.

> Group Interview: Use a group interview to answer questions about your prototype.

1. Establish who you want to interview.
2. Chose a neutral location.
3. One person should ask the questions whilst another takes notes and observes.
4. Aim to hear everyone's opinion by engaging quieter members of the group.

> Co Creation Session: A co creation session sees people in the group not as interview subjects but as designers. Facilitate co creation by enabling people to actively redesign and make changes to the prototype. For example, by having people adjust a model, draw new visuals or map a new journey. You can identify people to engage in a co creation session from your group interviews.

> One to one Interview:
1. Conduct the interview in their space.
2. Come prepared with a set of questions about your prototype. Start with broad questions and drill down to specifics.
3. Capture exactly what they say, not your interpretation.
4. Also observe their body language and facial expressions.

> Online Tools: Utilise social media and testing websites to gain feedback from a wider range of people. This can include posting your campaign on Twitter or conducting an online survey using tools such as SurveyMonkey to gain feedback.

Evaluate and Iterate

Evaluate and learn from the feedback. Now quickly produce another prototype to better meet the needs of your users, share again to get feedback. Repeat this process over and over to get to the right solution to create the social change you are seeking. Below are some methods to help synthesise and analyse the feedback gathered so far:
What did you find out?
> Gather your findings: As soon as possible after testing, get down all of your findings including observations, facts, stories and hunches on paper. Use post it notes on a large board or paper.

> Synthesise and analyse your findings: You can use Frameworks above to help organise all of your feedback. Using frameworks such as 2x2 grids, venn diagrams or customer journeys will make you begin to see patterns in all of your findings.

Ideas and Iterations
Start to imagine new opportunities, ideas and solutions based on your findings. Use this to begin the iteration of your -prototype.

> Brainstorm: Using your findings as inspiration, get all your new ideas down on paper. Post its and a large board are great for sharing ideas.

> Start Building the next iteration of your prototype: Do this quickly and test it again. Repeat the process of developing, testing and iterating your prototype to refine your idea until you are confident it will be adopted by those you are designing it for.

5. Check in with Sustainability
Balance economic, social and environmental values.
At this stage, it is useful to check that your idea is sustainable. Will it benefit society, the environment and the economy?

Design for social innovation needs to be sustainable. Once an idea has been prototyped until it is just right, it needs a plan to make it sustainable. This involves confronting the tension between the social change mission, environmental considerations and financial survival.

I have outlined some tools to help you think about sustainability and thereby help your innovation to become and stay a reality.

Understanding Sustainability

Sustainability is the balance of economy, ecology and equity. For an innovation to be truly sustainable, it needs to address economic, social and environmental challenges holistically.

Design thinking

Design thinking is the ability to balance opposing ideas, and can help you to consider and find ways to balance the opposing values of sustainability. Roger Martin calls this integrative thinking. It is the ability to balance analytical with creative thinking.

Sustainability Framework

The diagram and framework below illustrates the various issues of sustainability to engage with. Use this to help map your innovation in terms of sustainability.

Work through each of the sections in the diagram and add a description of how your innovation engages with these challenges.

Ecology involves considerations of the environment and how your idea can make positive contributions to the environment.

Economy is about the viability of your innovation and it's ability to be financially stable and even make profit.

Equity involves society and asks how your idea contributes to society both internally and externally.

Below are some example questions you can ask yourself and your team to situate your innovation and see where your idea can meet each of the sustainability values:
ECOLOGY
> List the positive and negative environmental impacts of your idea.

> How can you minimise your negative impacts and make further positive contributions to the environment? Consider the use of materials and resources, waste disposal, energy use, use of suppliers and carbon emissions.

> Is your ecological strategy economically viable too?

> How can you prepare your innovation for sustainable growth? Sustainable growth means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
ECONOMY
> Can you make or provide your product or service at a profit?

> Can you sustainably increase the capital of the business without compromising the social or natural world?

> How much do you have to pay people to bring your product to market?

> Can you reduce your production costs? This could be material or time costs.
EQUITY
> Fairness: If you are going to be employing people, will they earn a living wage? Are men and women paid equally?

> How will your idea contribute positively to society?

> How is your product or service going to affect future generations?

6. Adoption
Make Public (again) and Assess.
Once you have refined your prototype, draw on the techniques for Making issues public outlined in section 3 to share the solution with the wider public.

Draw on your network to help publicise the solution. For systemic change to happen you need to continue to share the vision of the project and ideas to support it. Create new evidence, prototype and share the new system, design, test and create frames for change. Provide relevant training that equips people with new skills and attitudes and empower those who benefit from the new system to help create the desired change.

If possible, strip down and simplify the idea or innovation. The more simple and modular an idea, the easier and quicker it will be for others to adopt it.

More complex ideas take longer to spread and often require more professional skills in terms of training.

Below I have outlined a few example methods to help with the adoption of a new innovation.

Adoption

To help encourage people to adopt, use and spread your new solution or innovation, you can utilise some of the methods below:

Media: Branding, Promotion, Free Information
Branding both raises awareness of an issue and provides a guarantee of quality, such as the branding of 'Organic' or 'Fairtrade'. Promotion and marketing of innovative solutions can help others to adopt and change. For example, the NHS 'Change4Life' campaign which promotes healthy eating and being active using branding, promotion and information.

Financial Incentives
You can use financial incentives or rewards to encourage new activities help people adopt a new innovation. This could be in the form of shopping or childcare vouchers, phone credits or free admissions for example to healthcare clubs.

The University of Sheffield trialled such an incentive by offering shopping vouchers of up to £200 to breastfeeding mothers in the poorest areas of the UK, in an attempt to help improve breastfeeding rates. This scheme did see an increase in mothers breastfeeding and also saw other benefits like bringing mothers together to talk about the vouchers and the support network that came with the scheme.

User groups
The public, consumers and/or users play a vital role in both creating and the adoption, demand and spread of innovations. In numbers, people are powerful, for example by putting pressure on businesses to stop bad practices and showcasing alternatives.

Events and Fairs
Events and Fairs are a great way to help spread information about a new innovation and also act as useful networking tools.

Setting New Standards
By setting new regulations or requirements, innovations can spread faster. This is particularly relevant in the public sector where new policies and regulations can create change. For example, if the government set a requirement that all schools need to be carbon neutral, then construction companies would be in demand to develop and supply environmentally friendly techniques.

Consultants
People with specialist knowledge play an important role in the adoption of a new product or service. They can advise, train and educate others about the new innovation. The aim should be to share as much of their knowledge as possible.

Events and Fairs
Events and Fairs are a great way to help spread information about a new innovation and also act as useful networking tools.

Collaborations
Promote collaboration by giving people the tools and resources they need to work together and help to spread an idea. For example, through online platforms such as netsquared.org.

How to Guides
Handbooks, toolkits and how to do it guides are useful in helping to spread an idea and increase its adoption.

People
Much like in groups, people on their own are also powerful. Train and educate people to help understand the mission behind your innovation. Professional development programmes such as apprenticeships play a central role. Everdale Organic Farm in Canada does this by operating an organic farm whilst teaching and promoting sustainable living practices.

Metrics

To determine whether or not an innovation is working, that is having the intended impact and ability to create social change, the following methods can used:

Social Impact Assessment
Social Impact Assessment involves analysing and monitoring both the intended and unintended, positive and negative social consequences, of planned interventions (i.e. a new policy or programme) and any social change involved. It involves assessing any changes to the way people live, their culture, their environment, health, political systems, fears and aspirations and does this through a variety of activities including social profiling, scoping, interactive design activities and working working with stakeholders. SIA attempts to estimate the direct costs of an action (for example, a financial incentive), the likelihood of it working, and the estimated impact on future changes such as any increases in breastfeeding rates.

Life Satisfaction Measures
Developed by Professor Paul Dolan, Life Satisfaction Measures are a set of approaches that social actions and public policies by estimating how much additional income people would need to gain the same increased life satisfaction. One study, for example, showed that by increasing the spend on home safety and repairs by 3%, generated 4 times as much value when measured in terms of life satisfaction.

Assessing Change

Use this framework to plot intended outcomes of any changes made to policies, the environment, cultural interactions and any other systems your innovation may affect and define how you will know if the outcome has been achieved, both short and long term:

We need to be putting people at the heart of the designing process, designing with instead of for those affected by the issue, spending time truly understanding the problem through quantitative research, studying the micro and macro environments the issue sits within and appreciating the different drivers of change. It means thinking of the problem not as an isolated case, but thinking about the systems and networks that it forms part of and utilising design thinking to address the issues of ecology, equity and economy in our designs.

Further Reading

To find out more about this topic of social design and social innovation, I'd highly recommend the following reads:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to design for social change - NYC Design - Medium

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Last year I completed my MA in Design and Environment ... I wrote my thesis on how to design for positive social change and innovation because I believe that design has the power to make the world better. Below is a summary of Design strategies for social change.

# data[].attributes.body
It creates an artificial self and then believes that this artificial self is the real me: “This is me; look how beautiful I am.” We present an artificial emanation to ourselves, believe that this false image is real, and then present ourselves to others in that way.

Lord Buddha’s teaching on universal reality is so profound. It shows us the best way to be healthy by shattering all our concepts and illusions. He said, “Even if you hold concepts of me, the Buddha, you’re still trapped in samsara.”

The Buddha taught so that we might also become buddha: healthy, eternally happy and free of all concepts, misery, doctrine and bondage. That’s all he wanted.

“All existent phenomena in the universe and I are of one reality.” At the moment, our ego divides us from other phenomena. It says, “You are this, this, this; I am that, that, that.” It keeps us from getting close to even our loved ones. We spend our whole life with another person but never get really close because of the games our ego plays. Our ego prevents us from understanding one another.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The main body of the yoga meditation begins with the shunyata mantra, OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHO SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM.

First, it's significant that the words of this mantra are the original Sanskrit-just hearing or reciting them imparts great blessings.

Also, this mantra contains a profound explanation of the pure, fundamental nature of both human beings and all other existent phenomena. It means that everything is spontaneously pure-not relatively, of course, but in the absolute sense. From the absolute point of view, the fundamental quality of human beings and the nature of all things is purity.

We need to understand what the mantra means by "nature," or "natural." Much of the time we are unnatural; we go against our nature. Our ego tries to be clever and intelligent; it's always dreaming up ways to generate hatred, anger and desire, but that's bad, negative intelligence. It creates an artificial self and then believes that this artificial self is the real me: "This is me; look how beautiful I am." We present an artificial emanation to ourselves, believe that this false image is real, and then present ourselves to others in that way.

As long as we're on this kind of psychological ego trip we can never be natural. In order to touch our fundamental nature we have to go beyond our false self. When we do, we touch purity.

Thus the shunyata mantra also shows that the self-pity wrong conception that constantly repeats in our mind-"I'm hopeless, I'm impure, I'm a bad person, I'm evil, I can't do anything, I can't help myself, I can't help others"-is completely deluded and an unnatural way to think. In other words, Lord Buddha's philosophy and psychology teach us that we should not believe that we are totally negative or sinful by nature. That's absolutely incorrect. Our fundamental nature is pure. The artificial cloud projected by our ego is not our nature; it's just something fabricated by our intellectual ego. Therefore, we should disregard this wrong view and just be natural, as we are.

Let me give you an example of how we're not natural. Look at how people have changed through the history of human evolution. Women have changed their image; men have changed the way they work. Have you noticed? I have. I don't look at the world from only the religious point of view; I observe human history, too. This kind of change explains the generation gap: old people don't understand the way young people act. They look at them and think, "What on earth is that?" Young people look at the elderly and think they're out of touch. They see their peers acting and dressing in a certain way, believe that that's the best way to be, and adopt a new kind of emanation. But it's completely artificial, not at all natural. Therefore, through understanding the fundamental nature of the human being, we should try to be natural.

The shunyata mantra shows the positive reality of what a human is. Why should we have only a negative self-image? That's just ego. And that's why Buddhism never has anything good to say about the ego. From our point of view, the ego is always bad because all it brings is suffering. And that's why we practice meditation-it's the way we transcend artificial thought, gain peaceful tranquility and touch our fundamental reality.

Reciting the shunyata mantra helps us cut the conceptions that lead us to misery, such as ideas of permanence and the inherent existence of the self. Such conceptions should be cut. If they are not completely eradicated they just build up; they diminish today and tomorrow recur. We have no control. We suppress something here, it comes out there; we suppress something there, it comes out here. Sublimating problems is no solution.

Anyway, whether or not you recite the shunyata mantra, the important thing to understand is that the self-pity image of yourself to which you cling does not exist. I could easily explain this in a detailed, philosophical way but the simple approach is to look at how you hold yourself today-"I am that-this"-and compare that with how you held yourself last year. Do you hold yourself the same way or has your self-conception changed? It's actually very difficult for that to change-we always feel that the "me" of today is exactly the same as the "me" of last year. But of course, that's wrong, both relatively and absolutely.

First of all, things are constantly changing in the shortest fraction of a second. There's no way that the Mr. Jones of today can be exactly the same as the Mr. Jones of yesterday. It's just not possible. And when you clearly see the way in which you hold a permanent self-image, all you can do is laugh at yourself. It's just so nonsensical. You believe that you're the same person you were ten years ago. That's what Lord Buddha meant when he said that we're deluded, deluded, deluded!

Deluded means holding and hanging on to nonsensical conceptions and hallucinated projections of ourselves and as long as we don't eradicate this cause of all problems, we're not doing a good job. We can meditate for twenty or thirty years but if we don't touch the root of problems, if we don't shake our ego, if all we do is make it more beautiful and solid, we're not doing a good job at all.

What we need to do is to shake our samsara, the root of ego, the way our ego conception holds things. When we shake the Mt. Meru of our ego, our entire samsaric mandala collapses. That's a real earthquake.

Lord Buddha's teaching on universal reality is so profound. It shows us the best way to be healthy by shattering all our concepts and illusions. He said, "Even if you hold concepts of me, the Buddha, you're still trapped in samsara."

The so-called religious practitioners of today are going to run to their guru saying, "You're a fantastic guru, I love you; please love me." They're going to want their self-existent guru to love their self-existent selves. That's their ego at work. If people had run up to the Buddha like that he'd have told them to get lost. That's beautiful. Lord Buddha didn't want people to be hung up grasping at anything, much less him and his doctrine. He said that such people were foolish; that that was no way to be healthy. He said even if we're attached to the bodhisattva path, the six perfections, the tantric path-any Buddhist philosophy-we're trapped.

It's very simple. Lord Buddha made no exceptions. He said that we should grasp at neither samsaric nor religious phenomena, not even Buddhist philosophy. His aim was universal health.

We also find that many gurus are attached to their disciples and want their disciples to be attached to them. That's totally wrong, too. Gurus should not be attached to their disciples; disciples should not be attached to their guru. True spiritual practitioners should not be attached to any person, doctrine or philosophy. It's unhealthy. The Buddha taught so that we might also become buddha: healthy, eternally happy and free of all concepts, misery, doctrine and bondage. That's all he wanted.

Therefore we have to recognize the falsity of the conception of the permanent, concrete self of last year that we're clinging to right now and break it down; we have to see how our ego-grasping creates an atmosphere of ignorance within which we then grasp at sense pleasures, which tantalize and trick us by their dancing in the dark.

This shunyata mantra is most profound: "All existent phenomena in the universe and I are of one reality." At the moment, our ego divides us from other phenomena. It says, "You are this, this, this; I am that, that, that." It keeps us from getting close to even our loved ones. We spend our whole life with another person but never get really close because of the games our ego plays. Our ego prevents us from understanding one another.

The mantra finishes with, "That is me," HAM. "All existent phenomena in the universe and I are of one reality and that is me; I am that." This signifies divine pride. Through experiencing shunyata we experience a kind of unity of self and other, like pouring milk into milk. When you mix two lots of milk they become indistinguishable from one another. That is the beauty of the nature of shunyata-understanding, experiencing or realizing it makes our dualistic mind vanish. Dual means two; relatively speaking, you and I are dual. But from the ultimate point of view, when I realize my universal nature and yours, we become indistinguishable.

People talk about racism: it's a bad thing, we should do away with it; many people have been killed as a result of racism. From the Buddhist point of view, without destroying the dualistic ego there's no way to eliminate racism; it's too deeply rooted within. So until we discover the reality of universal unity, any talk of racism disappearing is a joke. It's just not possible.

However, Lord Buddha gave precise, practical teachings on overcoming duality that we can implement in our everyday life. That's the beauty of being human; that's why from the Buddhist point of view, humans are beautiful. In the relative world we can practice charity and so forth but we can also transcend the relative world; we're capable of both functioning in the relative world and going beyond it into the absolute.
Experiencing emptiness
From the practical point of view, tantric techniques help us gain direct experience of shunyata. The usual way to do this is to first visualize the deity that you are practicing-Maitreya, for example-in space in front of you, seeing this deity as your guru, a buddha or a bodhisattva, depending upon your level of understanding. A laser-like beam of radiant white light emanates from Maitreya's heart and shoots into your heart, transforming all the energy of the self-pity image you have of yourself into radiant white light. This white light image of yourself then gradually dissolves, becoming smaller and smaller until it completely disappears into the space of non-duality. Then, with complete awareness, you concentrate single-pointedly on that.

This technique for experiencing emptiness epitomizes the tantric approach. Lord Buddha taught tantra so that we could not only understand emptiness intellectually but also to experience it directly.

If you want to practice this technique right now, do it as follows. First, close your eyes. We meditate with our eyes closed because, from the Buddhist point of view, sense perception is no good-the moment we open our eyes we're assailed by dualistic impressions. So close your eyes and visualize Maitreya in the space in front of you. As if magnetically attracted, a laser beam of radiant white light shoots out of his heart into yours, instantly burning up your entire concrete self-image. This nuclear energy transforms your body into radiant white light. It gets smaller and smaller, dissolves into atoms, neutrons...and completely disappears into selflessness. Remain in this state, fully aware, and just experience it without any intellectualization; just let go.

[Meditation]

Your normal, ego-conceived self-image disappears. Think strongly that it has completely gone. Let go.

[Meditation]

Think, "My self-pity image of myself is universal reality." Feel this, fully aware; let go without intellectualization.

[Meditation]

Think, "In the great universal reality of emptiness there's no form, no color, no substantial physical energy."

[Meditation]

"The view and experience of non-duality is great peace. This is the experience of enlightenment."

[Meditation]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Appendix 1: An Explanation of the Shunyata Mantra and a Meditation on Emptiness

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Yoga Method of Buddha Maitreya, prefaced by an introduction to Buddhism

# data[].attributes.body
I always design in a way that embraces decay and dissolution as the final outcome. Transience and ephemerality are processes of fashion as much as they are of death.

Design for decomposition is design for life that is next to come.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Life soup, seething, roiling, oozing, in dankness or lukewarmness, is what disgusts. Not because all ends in death, but because there is no fixed point. All is flux and in flux, eternal recurrence.
-William Ian Miller, The Anatomy of Disgust, (106) [1]

I felt my brain traverse a quick succession of emotions:
There is a lizard where I didn't expect one.

Aww: Cute, I really like lizards. I go toward it with the intention of moving it out of the hot shed.

Disgust: Its tail isn't where it's supposed to be. I must have scared it, making it drop its tail as a defense against attack.

Sadness: It's not moving. It's dead.

Deeper Disgust: It's not just dead. It has been dead for a while. It's mummified.

I wasn't ready to deal with the corpse at that moment, so I shuffled the fridge back and closed the shed door. Throughout the week, I've been pondering this lizard. Its tiny corpse creeps into my thoughts. Was it living in the fridge when I moved it into the shed a year ago? Is that what caused its tail to drop? Was that the same day it died? Could its tail have disconnected after it died? Did it suffer? And what am I going to do with its body? I have so many questions about this small creature and about why I care about its tiny death.

Reflection on dirt involves reflection on the relation of order to disorder, being to non-being, form to formlessness, life to death. -Mary Douglas, Purity & Danger (6) [2]

In Purity and Danger, social anthropologist Mary Douglas discussed the human need to use ritual as a way to purify things that are "out of place." When something isn't where we expect it to be, it is often seen as not belonging: other, negative, and dangerous. But there is power in danger. I too am out of place. I'm not entirely comfortable calling myself a biodesigner, yet I am part of the biodesign community through affiliation, collegiality, and teaching. Instead of "bio" or the stuff of life, I design, redesign, and manipulate the stuff of death. I'm less biologist and more thanatologist. Perhaps I'm a "thanotos-designer"?

In my professional life, I've dressed the dead bodies of more than 150 people. This is pretty wild for someone who is not a mortician, not a funeral director, not a pathologist, and not associated with a medical profession. However, technically, I am a doctor. My "specialist training" is in fashion design. I completed a doctorate almost a decade ago with a dissertation that encouraged people to dress their own dead [3]. I questioned why we dress the dead and what we leave behind in the grave. For the family of the dead, I designed funeral garments for look and ease of dressing. But I also studied the decomposition of bodies and cloth in soil. I chose raw silks and linens and embroidered and printed weaves and painstakingly sewed them into garments to dress the dead. I saw, smelled, and touched the cloth, bodies, and soil. As time passed, I could no longer distinguish one from the other.

I'm a pracademic in the school of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University in Melbourne where I have been teaching since 2007. As sites for designing clothes, the catwalk and the cemetery couldn't be more at odds. But outside of my teaching, where I specialize in material science and conceptual design, I've spent the last decade of my creative practice addressing death with tools, methods, and theoretical perspectives typically applied to fashion. I've washed the dead. I've repaired the dead. I've seen inside of skulls and the yellow biohazard bags that are placed inside the thoracic cavity after a postmortem. I've been nine feet down in a grave to recover the remains of someone buried decades earlier. I've used a needle and thread to reattach body parts so that I can dress them. And I've dressed the skeleton of someone who was found five years after they died. In that last case, I used textiles to fashion a body around a skeleton so that the family had something to hold before they said goodbye.

Often I would not meet the dead (or their families) if it were not for the occasion of their death. It is a strange way to "meet" someone, made even more strange that I'm one of the last to ever see and touch their bodies.

It's been a few days since I found the lizard. I needed some time to think about what to do with its body. As a designer, this is my area of expertise: addressing the dead is what 'I do.' As a fashion designer, I think about how I'm going to dress this little creature, and no, not as in make a frock for it, but rather what material I will use for our encounter-to pick it up and to wrap it. As a biodesigner, I design for how things will come apart, be it by integration with earth, air, fire, or water. So, deciding what to do about this lizard occupies more space in my brain than it would for other people. Do I perform:

Conventional burial: Pick it up in a plastic bag, tie a knot, and put it in the bin, never to intermingle with the elements, destined for an afterlife of landfill?

Cremation: Slip a piece of paper under it and throw it in the fireplace?

Aquamation: Pick it up in toilet paper and flush it down the drain?

Natural burial: Wrap it in a tissue, dig a little hole in the garden to bury it?

Body composting: Put on my gardening gloves, pick up its two pieces, and transfer it to the compost bin?

Sky burial: Put it in the bird feeder and offer it to our magpies?

Exposure: Just leave it to dry to a crisp during summer and keep falling apart into smaller and smaller pieces until it's no longer recognizable and eventually just becomes part of the accumulated dust and dirt in the corners of the shed?

"The three D's"-dying, death, and disposal-offer a quick summary of the work of academics in end-of-life study. In the professional context, disposal is not a word used, because it conjures notions of waste and rubbish, of dirt and disrespect. But truthfully, it is illegal in most countries not to dispose of human corpses.

This might surprise you-I don't particularly want to pick up the dead lizard with my bare hands. I'm pretty good around dead things, but I still catch myself having to overcome my own sense of disgust at thinking about my bare skin coming into contact with its dry, hard, mummified body and tail. Truth be told, it would be worse if the corpse were soft and squishy, or if it had been crushed and smeared under the refrigerator, oozy. Skin, the lizard's skin and mine, defends us from the outside, protects us from contamination, but also keeps our personal viscera inside where it belongs.

When things aren't where we expect them to be, whether those things are alive or dead, they stir disgust within us. By putting ritual around a corpse, adorning and dressing it, we are able to displace disgust.

While there is evidence of mourning in some animal species, humans are the only species to use ritual in the act of disposing of the dead. For more than 100,000 years we have been dressing the dead, adorning them, and placing objects alongside their corpse. This ritual is uniquely human. It is also one of the earliest suggestions of symbolic thinking, and of culture itself [4]. The dead were left with grave goods for an afterlife. While the dead body would decay like all living things, we, in some ways, found it impossible to imagine being dead-instead we chose transcendence.

Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order to blindly and dumbly rot and disappear forever. -Ernest Becker, Denial of Death (26) [5]

I always design in a way that embraces decay and dissolution as the final outcome. Transience and ephemerality are processes of fashion as much as they are of death. There is power in the otherness of being a fashion designer for the dead and also for bringing the elements of death and decomposition to the fashion world. I use my practice as an example of sustainable design. I work with the chemistry of materials and with bodies-how they intermingle, untangle, and reduce to the smallest molecules possible. I advocate for my students to push beyond "reuse" and "recycling," asking them to consider work that can be composted and what can grow from it. Instead of cradle to cradle, think grave to grave. Design for decomposition is design for life that is next to come.

Through ritual, I have sought to give meaning and context to a loved one's body gradually coming undone. As they slowly transform from body to corpse, they become more likely to elicit disgust. To avoid feeling disgust about someone we've loved, we wrap and dispose of the body before we can witness this un-forming.

Disgust, as a physical, evolutionary adaptation, is a protective mechanism; for example, we possess a reflex to spit out food that is spoiled or dangerous substances that could contaminate and kill us. But disgust is also a moral barometer. And morals, which are based on cultural and social norms, change with time and fashion.

In the 21st century, where knowledge and hand sanitizer are readily available, disgust seems outdated and irrational. We understand that our mouths and noses are entry points to our bodies. We wear masks to cover them, and practice good hygiene to keep ourselves healthy. But there is a point in every lifetime where health is no longer achievable. Then, the boundary between life and death becomes a thin, translucent, increasingly permeable membrane.

The dead I dress are not my own. I work in service to those whose lives are going to be re-designed through their death. I address death, I dress it, I redress it, and I undress it.

So tomorrow I'll dispose of the lizard. While it is out of place in my shed, we have cohabitated, and thus, its death has become mine to address. The action of thinking through its death, dying and disposal, and furthermore dispersion, is the ritual I use to overcome disgust. The process has me consider my own mortality and my temporary place in this world. And then I consider that my service in this temporary place is rife with contradiction. I design for decomposition and what is de composition besides the undoing of composition, the undoing of design?

[1] Miller, William Ian. The Anatomy of Disgust. Harvard University Press, 1998.

[2] Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: an Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Taylor & Francis Group, 2002.

[3] Interlandi, Pia. [A]Dressing Death: Fashioning Garments for the Grave. 2012. RMIT University, PhD dissertation.

[4] Smirnov, Y. (1989). Intentional Human Burial: Middle Paleolithic (Last Glaciation) Beginnings. Journal of World Prehistory, 3 (2), 199-233. Retrieved April 18, 2021.[5] Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. Free Press, 1997.

Dr. Pia Interlandi is a designer and Senior Lecturer at the School of Fashion & Textiles at RMIT University. Her teaching and research explores the materials and materiality of death, disposal, and dispersion. From fashion to forensics, Pia's creative practice Garments for the Grave has been commissioned nationally and internationally to demonstrate contemporary approaches to touching, dressing, and addressing the dead body. Pia has dressed over 150 people and is called upon for specialist body care and ritual facilitation by professionals in the funeral industry. She combines tacit and explicit knowledge to traverse academic and professional practice. Pia is a founding member of the Order of the Good Death, Natural Death Advocacy Network, Australian Home Funeral Alliance, and the Australian Death Studies Society.

Cite This Essay
Interlandi, Pia. " Designing for Death." Biodesigned: Issue 7, 19 May, 2021. Accessed [month, day, year].

Life soup, seething, roiling, oozing, in dankness or lukewarmness, is what disgusts. Not because all ends in death, but because there is no fixed point. All is flux and in flux, eternal recurrence.
-William Ian Miller, The Anatomy of Disgust, (106) [1]

I felt my brain traverse a quick succession of emotions:
There is a lizard where I didn't expect one.

Aww: Cute, I really like lizards. I go toward it with the intention of moving it out of the hot shed.

Disgust: Its tail isn't where it's supposed to be. I must have scared it, making it drop its tail as a defense against attack.

Sadness: It's not moving. It's dead.

Deeper Disgust: It's not just dead. It has been dead for a while. It's mummified.

I wasn't ready to deal with the corpse at that moment, so I shuffled the fridge back and closed the shed door. Throughout the week, I've been pondering this lizard. Its tiny corpse creeps into my thoughts. Was it living in the fridge when I moved it into the shed a year ago? Is that what caused its tail to drop? Was that the same day it died? Could its tail have disconnected after it died? Did it suffer? And what am I going to do with its body? I have so many questions about this small creature and about why I care about its tiny death.

Reflection on dirt involves reflection on the relation of order to disorder, being to non-being, form to formlessness, life to death. -Mary Douglas, Purity & Danger (6) [2]

In Purity and Danger, social anthropologist Mary Douglas discussed the human need to use ritual as a way to purify things that are "out of place." When something isn't where we expect it to be, it is often seen as not belonging: other, negative, and dangerous. But there is power in danger. I too am out of place. I'm not entirely comfortable calling myself a biodesigner, yet I am part of the biodesign community through affiliation, collegiality, and teaching. Instead of "bio" or the stuff of life, I design, redesign, and manipulate the stuff of death. I'm less biologist and more thanatologist. Perhaps I'm a "thanotos-designer"?

In my professional life, I've dressed the dead bodies of more than 150 people. This is pretty wild for someone who is not a mortician, not a funeral director, not a pathologist, and not associated with a medical profession. However, technically, I am a doctor. My "specialist training" is in fashion design. I completed a doctorate almost a decade ago with a dissertation that encouraged people to dress their own dead [3]. I questioned why we dress the dead and what we leave behind in the grave. For the family of the dead, I designed funeral garments for look and ease of dressing. But I also studied the decomposition of bodies and cloth in soil. I chose raw silks and linens and embroidered and printed weaves and painstakingly sewed them into garments to dress the dead. I saw, smelled, and touched the cloth, bodies, and soil. As time passed, I could no longer distinguish one from the other.

I'm a pracademic in the school of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University in Melbourne where I have been teaching since 2007. As sites for designing clothes, the catwalk and the cemetery couldn't be more at odds. But outside of my teaching, where I specialize in material science and conceptual design, I've spent the last decade of my creative practice addressing death with tools, methods, and theoretical perspectives typically applied to fashion. I've washed the dead. I've repaired the dead. I've seen inside of skulls and the yellow biohazard bags that are placed inside the thoracic cavity after a postmortem. I've been nine feet down in a grave to recover the remains of someone buried decades earlier. I've used a needle and thread to reattach body parts so that I can dress them. And I've dressed the skeleton of someone who was found five years after they died. In that last case, I used textiles to fashion a body around a skeleton so that the family had something to hold before they said goodbye.

Often I would not meet the dead (or their families) if it were not for the occasion of their death. It is a strange way to "meet" someone, made even more strange that I'm one of the last to ever see and touch their bodies.

It's been a few days since I found the lizard. I needed some time to think about what to do with its body. As a designer, this is my area of expertise: addressing the dead is what 'I do.' As a fashion designer, I think about how I'm going to dress this little creature, and no, not as in make a frock for it, but rather what material I will use for our encounter-to pick it up and to wrap it. As a biodesigner, I design for how things will come apart, be it by integration with earth, air, fire, or water. So, deciding what to do about this lizard occupies more space in my brain than it would for other people. Do I perform:

Conventional burial: Pick it up in a plastic bag, tie a knot, and put it in the bin, never to intermingle with the elements, destined for an afterlife of landfill?

Cremation: Slip a piece of paper under it and throw it in the fireplace?

Aquamation: Pick it up in toilet paper and flush it down the drain?

Natural burial: Wrap it in a tissue, dig a little hole in the garden to bury it?

Body composting: Put on my gardening gloves, pick up its two pieces, and transfer it to the compost bin?

Sky burial: Put it in the bird feeder and offer it to our magpies?

Exposure: Just leave it to dry to a crisp during summer and keep falling apart into smaller and smaller pieces until it's no longer recognizable and eventually just becomes part of the accumulated dust and dirt in the corners of the shed?

"The three D's"-dying, death, and disposal-offer a quick summary of the work of academics in end-of-life study. In the professional context, disposal is not a word used, because it conjures notions of waste and rubbish, of dirt and disrespect. But truthfully, it is illegal in most countries not to dispose of human corpses.

This might surprise you-I don't particularly want to pick up the dead lizard with my bare hands. I'm pretty good around dead things, but I still catch myself having to overcome my own sense of disgust at thinking about my bare skin coming into contact with its dry, hard, mummified body and tail. Truth be told, it would be worse if the corpse were soft and squishy, or if it had been crushed and smeared under the refrigerator, oozy. Skin, the lizard's skin and mine, defends us from the outside, protects us from contamination, but also keeps our personal viscera inside where it belongs.

When things aren't where we expect them to be, whether those things are alive or dead, they stir disgust within us. By putting ritual around a corpse, adorning and dressing it, we are able to displace disgust.

While there is evidence of mourning in some animal species, humans are the only species to use ritual in the act of disposing of the dead. For more than 100,000 years we have been dressing the dead, adorning them, and placing objects alongside their corpse. This ritual is uniquely human. It is also one of the earliest suggestions of symbolic thinking, and of culture itself [4]. The dead were left with grave goods for an afterlife. While the dead body would decay like all living things, we, in some ways, found it impossible to imagine being dead-instead we chose transcendence.

Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order to blindly and dumbly rot and disappear forever. -Ernest Becker, Denial of Death (26) [5]

I always design in a way that embraces decay and dissolution as the final outcome. Transience and ephemerality are processes of fashion as much as they are of death. There is power in the otherness of being a fashion designer for the dead and also for bringing the elements of death and decomposition to the fashion world. I use my practice as an example of sustainable design. I work with the chemistry of materials and with bodies-how they intermingle, untangle, and reduce to the smallest molecules possible. I advocate for my students to push beyond "reuse" and "recycling," asking them to consider work that can be composted and what can grow from it. Instead of cradle to cradle, think grave to grave. Design for decomposition is design for life that is next to come.

Through ritual, I have sought to give meaning and context to a loved one's body gradually coming undone. As they slowly transform from body to corpse, they become more likely to elicit disgust. To avoid feeling disgust about someone we've loved, we wrap and dispose of the body before we can witness this un-forming.

Disgust, as a physical, evolutionary adaptation, is a protective mechanism; for example, we possess a reflex to spit out food that is spoiled or dangerous substances that could contaminate and kill us. But disgust is also a moral barometer. And morals, which are based on cultural and social norms, change with time and fashion.

In the 21st century, where knowledge and hand sanitizer are readily available, disgust seems outdated and irrational. We understand that our mouths and noses are entry points to our bodies. We wear masks to cover them, and practice good hygiene to keep ourselves healthy. But there is a point in every lifetime where health is no longer achievable. Then, the boundary between life and death becomes a thin, translucent, increasingly permeable membrane.

The dead I dress are not my own. I work in service to those whose lives are going to be re-designed through their death. I address death, I dress it, I redress it, and I undress it.

So tomorrow I'll dispose of the lizard. While it is out of place in my shed, we have cohabitated, and thus, its death has become mine to address. The action of thinking through its death, dying and disposal, and furthermore dispersion, is the ritual I use to overcome disgust. The process has me consider my own mortality and my temporary place in this world. And then I consider that my service in this temporary place is rife with contradiction. I design for decomposition and what is de composition besides the undoing of composition, the undoing of design?

[1] Miller, William Ian. The Anatomy of Disgust. Harvard University Press, 1998.

[2] Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: an Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Taylor & Francis Group, 2002.

[3] Interlandi, Pia. [A]Dressing Death: Fashioning Garments for the Grave. 2012. RMIT University, PhD dissertation.

[4] Smirnov, Y. (1989). Intentional Human Burial: Middle Paleolithic (Last Glaciation) Beginnings. Journal of World Prehistory, 3 (2), 199-233. Retrieved April 18, 2021.[5] Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. Free Press, 1997.

Dr. Pia Interlandi is a designer and Senior Lecturer at the School of Fashion & Textiles at RMIT University. Her teaching and research explores the materials and materiality of death, disposal, and dispersion. From fashion to forensics, Pia's creative practice Garments for the Grave has been commissioned nationally and internationally to demonstrate contemporary approaches to touching, dressing, and addressing the dead body. Pia has dressed over 150 people and is called upon for specialist body care and ritual facilitation by professionals in the funeral industry. She combines tacit and explicit knowledge to traverse academic and professional practice. Pia is a founding member of the Order of the Good Death, Natural Death Advocacy Network, Australian Home Funeral Alliance, and the Australian Death Studies Society.

Cite This Essay
Interlandi, Pia. " Designing for Death." Biodesigned: Issue 7, 19 May, 2021. Accessed [month, day, year].

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is that sickening feeling when you encounter a dead thing? Designer Pia Interlandi reframes feelings of disgust around death and decay by interlacing fashion, sustainability, and funeral rites.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada

1. Introduction

The article is an attempt to enable the reimagining of personal and collective wellbeing based on denaturalizing the need for constant certainty as a pre-requisite for the above. It introduces the idea of acknowledging and valuing the prevalence of paradox as an integral component of life, leveraging on Buddhist insights that are able to highlight unified realities emerging from divergent forces, the push and pull of which point toward the richness of middle paths. This is vital in a world ridden with anguish on various levels and driven by certainty-seeking behaviors, with the staying power of certainty often insufficiently understood or overestimated in the flux that is life. In the present context in which I write, specifically in the immediate as well as the more slowly unfolding but sustaining scenarios over the past few years, a troubling feature has been the rise in divisiveness and polarization in the sociopolitical arena intensified further by the economic upheaval and psychophysiological anxiety generated by the pandemic as the world tries to keep up with disagreements over statistical projections, civic restrictions, vaccine camps, and conspiracy theories. These disagreements can be lived with; we only need to learn how to.

The current crises are not really current; they have always been there with the only change being in terms of how they manifest. That said, they are becoming more complex in settings of heightened connectivity and plurality marked by multiple realities and rationalities. We have never been this connected yet disconnected at the same time, a pivotal aspect of our lives that finds ample mention in Giddens' ( 1990) work on the structural changes of modernity with specific references to the reformulation of time and space. Zooming in on the current context, the pandemic has been a great unifier and differentiator on various levels but the one constant it has generated is a sense of pervasive anxiety over endless what-ifs and what-thens. Often, when that happens, we tend to outwardly project our problems onto others and can quickly deviate from the norms of civility. Although it is generally easy to maintain peace and decorum in a seemingly well-regulated society, peace is not just the absence of conflict, and it takes surprisingly little to disrupt that decorum in an assumed normalcy that is more fragile than it looks, as was evident in the controversial Milgram (1974) experiment (as cited in Kupperman 2005) where 'good' people continued to render shocks of increasing severity in a situation where the normal rules did not apply and where the disturbing changes were quickly normalized. Although there has been research since the 1960s that has revealed various loopholes in the original experiment, evidence from historical and contemporary incidents ranging from the Holocaust to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to the more visible racial riots in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in the summer of 2020 as well as the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol Hill to overturn the results of the presidential elections lend testimony to the unsettling unpredictability of human conduct under altered circumstances. The purpose of this article is to provide alternative ways to strengthen our resilience against intersubjective disruptors through developing an acceptance and appreciation of uncertainty and contradiction and knowing how and when to exercise one's moral agency in response to that.

It might help to lend some clarity, even if briefly, to indicate how the term uncertainty is presented here and if and whether it overlaps with the idea of ambiguity. There are definite overlaps, but for the purpose of this paper, ambiguity refers to the possibility for multiple interpretations caused by and/or producing insufficient information whereas uncertainty refers to an existential state of uncomfortable doubt based on probabilistic items on different sides. In the world of business, the acronym VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) has come to describe constantly evolving conditions where uncertainty and ambiguity, even if qualitatively different, are part of the same constellation.

The prime concern of this paper lies in how such uncertain conditions adversely affect intersubjective spaces. To that end, I offer an ethical and philosophical pathway from Buddhist literature that offers scope for growth through the acceptance and appreciation of the ubiquity of contradiction. It goes deeper than just saying that a certain way of being is desirable; we may all agree that it is but could still struggle with understanding why it is so or how we can come to understand it better and thus be able to put it into practice. It is important to emphasize here that although the key teachings from the Buddhist sutras that I refer to in the paper are grounded in the seminal philosophy of sunyata and non-attachment, the intention of the paper is not to convince readers to adopt that over a different worldview. Instead, it mainly calls for reverse engineering into the mind, conditioned to fear and defend, asserting that once this fear is transcended or at least accepted, it finds it easier to facilitate an open attentional awareness of the essential dichotomies that hold the world together.

In the article, I present the integrative aspect of compromise by means of glimpses into three paradoxes through a Buddhist lens connecting each to a relevant theme in our current context. These are (1) emptiness and form in relation to identity, (2) detachment and compassion in relation to charity, and (3) thought and awareness in relation to autonomy. Some of these pairs could seem less oppositional than others, and my intention is not to show that they are so but instead their complementariness and why that matters. By understanding how these co-exist and how we might be able to tilt the axis for better balance, we will likely be able to support better relationships with our own selves and others, to find strength in our vulnerability and grounding unity in our continually branching diversity.

The paper is divided into two main sections. The first introduces the idea of paradox and provides a brief overview of the problem in relation to it that I seek to address within the current sociocultural climate. Such a climate is marked by constant uncertainty and the concomitant relational struggles aggravating in a more globally mixed, materially driven, and mobile world characterized by the dissolution of erstwhile social boundaries, the rise of the global market economy, and the collapse of some sort of grand narrative which might have kept things relatively together in the pre-globalized world. The second section offers insights through select meaning-making tools from Buddhist contemplative practice in order to get around this problem.

2. The Foundational Presence of Paradox

As humans, we have evolved to identify and value certainty, predictability, and order by virtue of the discriminatory power of the senses and the evolutionary schematic scaffolding of memory. It allows us to plan ahead, weigh in priorities, and be safe. Whether in school, at work, or at home, there is value in having and following a plan. And yet, as much as we wish to have it, we often find ourselves experiencing what John Lennon once said about life always happen(ing) while we are busy making other plans. While there are areas in life where certainty in the form of accuracy is an undisputed necessity, especially where it concerns immediate safety and determines the lines between life and death such as in the coordination of traffic lights or in the braking systems of automotive technologies or the exact dosage of anesthetic to be administered, these are mostly value-neutral zones where clarity and certainty are preconditions for biological survival. What is required for our social and affective survival, however, is not as straightforward though and is spun around an array of convergences and divergences.

Two of the most pivotal events in our lives-birth and death can never quite be predicted, let alone with accuracy. So why is it that we expect certainty for the most part during our time in between and get distressed by the lack of it? Contradiction is abundant and gives to life its beauty and mystery-the birth of a baby meant to bring happiness begins with tears and pain both for the mother and child. Some may argue that those are tears of joy, but neither of the immediate participants is likely to second that in those excruciating moments. They might agree with the adage of 'no pain, no gain', though-another important paradox at play. The forest fires that raze the land also nourish and enhance the fertility of the soil, the charred ashes renewing life anew. The prototypical fragile balance between time, money, and energy-of young people with time and energy but insufficient finances at hand, middle-aged people with energy and money but little time to spare, and the elderly with money and time aplenty but often running low on energy reserves-holds quintessentially true in the modern industrialized world. Contradictions and paradoxes are everywhere; they permeate our lives, and the sooner we make peace with them, the easier it becomes to make sense of them.

In exploring an integral aspect of the Buddhist philosophical tradition, the article also sheds light on a common strand in contemporary western wisdom literature, which is that of the recognition of uncertainty through compromise. Sternberg's ( 1998) balance theory that posits the art of becoming wise through consideration and integration of conflicting intra-, inter-, and extrapersonal interests guided by ethical values and situational sensitivity is in line with Igor Grossmann's ( 2017) wisdom framework that lists compromise and recognition of uncertainty and change as integral to wisdom practice. What does it mean to compromise though? What does it look like to integrate those conflicts, especially when the conflict concerns us in first person? Is it possible to practice the art of temporarily only witnessing it rather than diving straight into perceptual and volitional participation as we usually tend to do through typical modes of understanding and constituting reality? Finally, does this delayed participation aid in fuller understanding in the long run?

I will explore these questions by connecting the ideas of paradox and integration with the Buddhist insights into the Bodhisattva path, traversing on which one can realize the Bodhisattva mind in practice. This path is, in fact, built on paradoxes, offering moments of promise around what it is (with 'it' being almost anything) in synchrony with what it is not, thereby stretching our apperceptive abilities. In the Diamond Sutra, Ting Fu-Pao cites Vasubandhu's Bodhicitta Utpadana Shastra, saying:

In order to cultivate good karma and seek enlightenment, bodhisattvas do not renounce the phenomenal world. And in order to cultivate compassion for all beings, they do not stand in the noumenal world. In order to realize the marvelous wisdom of all buddhas, they do not renounce samsara. And in order to liberate countless beings and save them from further rebirth, they do not stand in nirvana. Such persons are bodhisattvas who thus embark on the bodhisattva path. But if bodhisattvas should stand in neither the phenomenal nor the noumenal, in neither samsara nor nirvana, where should they stand?

(Red Pine The Diamond Sutra, pp. 67-68)

2.1. Outlining the Problem in the Current Context

We are living in uncertain times where the panic caused by the pandemic has spiraled us onto unprecedented times. As fear becomes an easy currency, we also witness noticeable cracks in intersubjective spaces, as evident in the 2020 racial riots in the United States or the more recent attacks on the Asian community in the highly diverse and plural settings of Vancouver, where overt instances of racializing the virus were unimaginable yet true. It did not take much to realize that the pandemic was merely a catalyst and not the cause, and that the undercurrents of racial tensions were not out of nowhere. Current events are usually only partial visible aspects of insufficiently manifested reality in a cyclic chain of oft-forgotten causes and effects of dysfunctional interpenetrations in our everyday civic lives. In a 2017 Vancouver Sun news report ( Todd 2017), the city of Vancouver was called 'the most Asian city outside of Asia' citing forty-three percent of Metro Vancouver residents as having Asian heritage. Yet, as the pandemic unfolded in 2020, so did the hate crimes against Asians, particularly the elderly, with a Bloomberg 2021 report now calling it the Anti-Asian hate crime capital of North America ( Pearson 2021). This is a clear indicator that an apparently well-regulated society is no guarantee of mutual harmony, and that grace and moral virtue remain expensive entities. The news report did call COVID-19 the trigger, but it provided a deeper albeit brief glimpse into the real problem-that it was not just about the virus and its alleged origin in Wuhan but a sense of growing alienation 'building up over decades' which, if I consider myself an insider at this point, having lived in Vancouver for close to a decade, would consider it more to do with the affordability crises in relation to foreign investments in the real-estate sector.

The specific cause of the problem, although pertinent, is not the immediate concern of the paper; instead, it is the deeper underlying causes of the generalized otherness, divisiveness, and dehumanization that are. Such fervent fissures, whether it be over mask mandates or climate change or refugee crises, are on the rise the world over, dividing people along racial, political, and ideological lines, and fueling populist politics that aggravate rather than alleviate. Identity salience based on egoic differentiation without sufficient moral will or skill can be problematic. Although the surface-level manifestation may appear ideational, ideological, or policy-based, multiple research studies from the psychology and cognitive science literature imply that a lot of it is, in fact, pre-cognitive in nature and linked to more fundamental belonging needs. The lack of these can produce and promote a sense of 'principled dislike' of the other ( Iyengar et al. 2012). Van Bavel's and Pereira's ( 2018) research on partisan brains also points at the competing demands of accuracy goals and identity goals and the distorting power of the latter over attitude formation and belief perseverance when they are not fulfilled. This would require a two-pronged approach: (i) to build a greater acceptance of uncertainty and ambivalence stemming from divergent perspectives, and (ii) to work on moderating and reimagining identity goals such that they do not interfere with the former. The second takes work, serious work, and an overhaul of the ego-based identity mechanics prevalent in the world as we know it. However, when the two aspects work well together, they hold much potential for insulating us against the need to draw binaries, profess loyalties, and seek constant validation as a buffer to counter a range of existential insecurities.

The reasons for seeking identity salience and the quick dislocation of stability and epistemic equilibrium are closely related and may be divided into two parts, the greater part lying in the embedding of bounded egoic identities in a materialist worldview and the other in the growing expression of plurality, which in essence is a gift but cannot go far within the economized paradigms and conventional egoic bandwidth it functions within. The capitalized market economy keeps us in a state of both hyperstimulation and slumber, ensnared in matter and material concerns that do little to facilitate the right conditions for us to value the dimensions of ours that matter but are not matter. The meritocratic and technocratic praxis is at its core a profit-driven model of market economy with a monetary value attached to everything and everyone (read net worth) where people are primarily units and instruments of production. Such a worldview profusely contributes to a sense of perennial lack, distraction, and dissatisfaction, and with debt becoming an instrument of political control, we remain too busy paying bills and procuring material promotions to help us pay yet more bills. We also remain too busy to realize how such maladaptation works to deepen inequity, insecurity, and otherness. When problems are perceived, we are given to an externalized approach of trying to fix them from the outside but seldom through internal inquiry and revision. Heesoon Bai ( 2012) quotes Joanna Macy ( 2000) in one of her papers saying 'Action is not something you do. It's something you are' (p. 313). Thus, it greatly helps to figure out who we are, why we act the way we do, and ways in which we may be better versions of ourselves when our perceptual and conditioned frameworks do not allow us to live freely and have us in the grip of their automaticity. Intersubjective strife cannot be solved by just polishing dialogue. The real work must start inside.

The growing plurality of cultures in a globalized world comes with benefits and risks. Interesting forms of hybridization appear leading to increased social awareness and behavior regulation, where positionalities, intersectionalities, and issues of equity get better highlighted, but many also feel the pressures of forced cohabitation when their salient identities sense discomfort. When conditions turn more unsettling, this plurality can quickly turn into perceived threat and trigger reflexive defensive mechanisms to protect the identities at risk. This is not a new problem because aversive forms of tribalism predate the modern human, but our growing complexities in modernized, fast-paced societies, and the collapse of stabler grand narratives as a result of that, do much to make it more felt. Increased plurality amidst a global capitalistic culture brings with itself multiple ways of being and belonging, diverse rationalities, as well as numerous conflicting and unstable narratives that when combined with threatened egotism spell trouble.

Adding fuel to the fire is the plurality and decentralization of information and communications where large swaths of misinformation and disinformation float around with disarming ease, allowing people to find like-minded believers in faraway corners of the world, lending a strange twist to social-identity mechanisms that can satisfy and sabotage in equal measure. Glück ( 2019) in an insightful article on wisdom, populism, and polarization describes our propensity to engage in a range of confirmation biases which are self-soothing behaviors seeking confirming evidence that aligns with our own views and rejects those that do not. In describing our tendencies toward such biases, she explains how we naturally tend to want to avert complexity and prefer simple answers promising simple solutions even if the situation could not suffice with those and how these tendencies escalate when threat is sensed. The role that social media serves to play in this is also crisply pointed out:

Clearly, this shows that our situatedness in a diverse setting is no guarantee for inclusion and acceptance. Rather, it can backfire when our neurotic selves in moments of heightened anxiety kick into survival mode and rely on simple low-resolution narratives and heuristics that temporarily comfort and justify rather than clarify. This was always there but remained geographically restricted in the past. With new modes of knowledge-transmission and information-dissemination and new ways to seek like-minded believers seeking validation rather than the truth, this is a new force with contend with.

We are in urgent need of cultivating spiritual awareness and intellectual humility now more than ever. This is irrespective of the religious or philosophical affiliation as long as they do not become instruments of wielding political control as has often been the unfortunate case through human history. All religious faiths can offer unique ways to awaken consciousness transcending the salient egoic level. As I mention repeatedly throughout this article, egoic salience is not a problem because it serves as a functional tool for survival in the world that we inhabit. It is the unconscious overemphasis on it that skews our development in transpersonal realms, preventing us from realizing our real potential as truly conscious beings that are more than just physiologically conscious. The insights from Buddhist contemplative practice that I offer in the next section could serve as a way to wean us off the need to attach ourselves to this bounded salience. It can also hopefully bring to light the illusory appeal of control and certainty. These call for a reimagination of reality and a deeper appreciation of its inherent contradictions.

2.2. The Antidote from Buddhist Contemplative Practice

In the following sections, I draw upon teachings from the Diamond Sutra, translated from Sanskrit and Chinese by Red Pine, as well as the Heart Sutra translated by Andre Doshim Halaw, both of which are part of the Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom collection of sutras. The word prajna in Sanskrit refers to 'wisdom', paramita to 'perfection', and the mention of the word 'diamond' in the title of the first implies how this sutra, like a diamond, is intended to cut through delusions, stay strong in the face of resistance, and illuminate core realities around the realization of the ontological voidness or sunyata. The central aim of most of these teachings is geared toward loosening those roots, and the key expressions are almost always paradoxical along the lines of showing what something is by showing what it is not. This can get confusing to a strictly modular mind, but it is important that we allow ourselves the chance to purposefully engage in the exercise of uncertainty, the acknowledgment of the partiality of our knowledge and understanding, and of the insufficiency of conceptual frameworks. The translator's preface begins this way:

This leaves us thinking about what not to think about or how to engage in the surprisingly arduous task of thoughtless thought. Red Pine calls Buddha's approach a 'homeopathic' one where thought is applied to let go of thoughts. This can throw the cerebral, conceptual mind off guard as it tries to get busy with wanting to organize and categorize information into mental buckets. People trained in academic and discursive practices are more likely to avoid heuristics and hasty conclusions, but they too are conditioned to put too much emphasis on verbalized arguments which sometimes dull other faculties. It is, thus, best to proceed with measured thought and remain mindful of its limits and possibilities. What helps at this stage is a conscious suspension of these organizing tools accompanied by a conscious invocation of a beginner's mindset that receives, attends to, and participates not just with rational logicism but also with humility and openheartedness.

Factually speaking, the timeline of the sutra is not clear; according to Chih-yi, the founder of the Tiantai school of Buddhism of China, it was sometime around 400 B.C., with the early teachings being orally transmitted, and then later through verse and prose between the centuries 200 B.C. and 300 A.D. when they were likely compiled into encyclopedias by Dharmagupta and subsequently expanded and condensed from eight thousand lines as believed by Western Buddhist scholar Edward Conze. The setting is of the Buddha in the ancient Indian city of Shravasti, the capital of the then Kaushala kingdom, where he presides over an assembly of over 1200 monks among which is the venerable Subhuti, one of his senior disciples on the bodhisattva path who, as the primary interlocutor, is asking a number of questions about how we can all become buddhas. Buddha's responses to his questions comprise the Diamond Sutra. There are thirty-two sutras in all, presented as questions and responses and the questions they further elicit.

The Heart Sutra is the shortest, most condensed of the sutras that Britannica ( 2016) calls 'a highly influential distillation of the essence of Prajnaparamita' and, like its counterpart, talks about the nature of reality grounded in sunyata. Here, Avalokisteshwara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, is seen addressing Shariputra about this reality through a series of paradoxes.

3. The Core Offerings and Key Contradictions

To begin with, I outline the fundamental idea around which the two sutras are developed, which is that of ontological voidness or sunyata. As indicated in the previous section, to explicate this idea is hard because a lot of it is beyond the reach of words and discursive communication, and I will tread this territory with caution because here I attempt to apply some of these insights to a world rooted in constructs, abstractions, and built upon supposedly stable, independent identities which sunyata seeks to dissolve. My intention is not to sell or impose the idea of sunyata or no-self but rather to elaborate on how I see it, to build upon the interpretations of Red Pine and Andre Halaw, and to decipher its applicability and potential in plural, multicultural settings. Such settings could work in both ways; there may be more scope in terms of openness to alternate worldviews but at the same time more hindrances to recognizing ontological unities due to multiple construals of reality and meaning making. The greatest motivator is for this awareness to aid in the realization of the value of uncertainty, movement, and interpenetration and the impact this might have on loosening our grip on a supposed stable and bounded self. When these arbitrary boundaries start to dissolve, they could resemble bubbles popping and becoming one with the air. Among many, I broadly outline three paradoxes and relate them each to a certain construct that holds meaning for us in our everyday contexts with the intention of expanding how we usually understand these and reimagining how we might reconstruct realities based on such an exercise. It is not likely to be a quick or easy experience and would depend on both our openness and readiness to figure out how they fit into our current schemas rooted in a form- and perception-based psyche.

3.1. Emptiness and Form in Relation to Identity

Avalokiteshwara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, in deep meditation of Prajnaparamita, responds to the monk Shariputra on releasing suffering through the realization of the emptiness of the five skandhas (form, sensation, perception, volition, and cognition).

Form does not differ from emptiness,

Emptiness does not differ from form.

That which is form is emptiness,

That which is emptiness, form.

The same is true of feelings,

Perceptions, impulses, consciousness.

In both sutras, there remains a steady focus on emptiness, but this is not emptiness the way we know it in our common language. Firstly, this emptiness is more of a verb signifying 'emptying-out' of accumulation that impedes attention by blocking space. Secondly, this emptiness is a means to demonstrate how everything that we see as having a form is actually dependent on a host of other conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to be what it is, thus rendering its inherent completeness and independence questionable. The core Buddhist process of pratitya-samutpada or dependent origination explains that well. The Buddha explained it as:

When there is this, that is.

With the arising of this, that arises.

When this is not, neither is that.

With the cessation of this, that ceases.

This process may be understood on two temporal levels, the first one spanning a number of lifetimes through life, death, and rebirth being determined by the many links in a cyclic chain of conditioning, how these lead to suffering, and ways in which we may bring about its cessation. The second one governs this in a moment-to-moment way where one feeling, sensation, or happening arises because of another and gives rise to yet another. We have little control over the first but relatively more over the second. Thus, if we practice becoming conscious of how we are spinning the wheel at each point, it brings us closer to realizing how we can spin it better. Everyday events, too, have their interdependencies, especially in the intersubjective domain where our becoming and mattering in the phenomenal world effects and is affected by fellow subjects and their circumstances, volitions, and actions.

The above may be explained through a simple example. A man whips up a special meal for his wife. She is pleased, and he feels accomplished. He is a good cook and a caring husband. However, even for that simple act of preparing a meal, various conditions needed to have been met: the local store had to have the produce available, the truckers had to be punctual with collecting them from the distributers and transporting them to the store, the farmer who grew that produce possibly hundreds of miles away had to ensure the soil was well tended to and the harvest picked on time. The farmer alone could have gotten nowhere had there been a drought or a flood that year, and so on. On the cook's side, he needed to be in good enough shape to be able to get the groceries on time, have had enough time to spare for the planning, preparing, and cooking, in addition to being in a positive frame of mind which again depends upon his relationships at home and at work among others. In addition, the availability of a kitchen, gas connection, the right wok, and cooking equipment also matter. These factors often go unnoticed in the modern world where material amenities abound; yet they are worthy of consideration to see how the parts intertwine to make a gestalt of the whole. There are more factors that went into this example than mentioned, with the most important one being the man's intentions and the current dynamics of the couple, but my motive here is to show how even insignificant day-to-day affairs need so many variables to fall in place and work in tandem. Thus, to claim complete ownership or doership of the meal, in this case, is tricky. Closely linked to this interplay is the form of the man or the woman or their relationship or the meal. By form, I am not referring to their physical forms, although those too are certainly not immune to change. Form here refers to the projection or representation of themselves and others they hold on to in their minds, the life and flow of which precludes fixedness and solidity. In fact, the Buddha is not attached to the appearance of Buddhahood, and what it means is an attempt to break through this created self which by virtue of being in a constant state of flux and interdependency belies concreteness.

With that being said, we cannot, for the most part, refer to a shapeshifting mobile formlessness when it comes to questions of action and enaction by responsible agents in the phenomenal world. Thus, the need for a concrete projection that serves a purpose but one that requires mindfulness to avoid attachment to it is a required contemplative exercise. The Buddha too has various forms; an arhat when experiencing freedom from passion and rebirth, a sugata for having gone beyond the mundane world, a tathagata when he comes back to teach others, and a fully enlightened one when he attained complete awareness. Even as a tathagata who has come back, he is a mix of both form and formlessness. Etymologically, tatha refers to suchness and gata to appearance thus combining formless essence with formful appearance where we do not need to go for either/or choices but instead opt for the 'and' that completes the equation. In our everyday lives, this amalgamation of form and essence is often misconstrued in limiting ways, often committing the foundational error of attaching to what we think is a stable representation and in the process othering stable monochromatic representations of the other. In this study of form and emptiness, the body is not negated. The embodied self is not the problem; it is the disembodied mind restrained by its conceptual memory and attachments that is.

To better understand the restraints, I begin by investigating what I think is the greatest restraining factor, which is located at the busy intersections of egoic functioning and perceived uncertainty playing out within our social identity mechanisms. I begin with the assumption that our egoic selves are erected upon identities we consider desirable and conducive to our emotional and belonging needs. The social aspect is imperative because our sense of self is often derived from our membership in groups, and although that is not in itself a problem, extreme or imbalanced pursuits of this, which can happen quite easily and unconsciously, can lead to problems associated with identity fusion with the desired group and low-resolution reduction and oversimplification of the assumed other. This happens because we hold on to a stable representation of who we think we are and how that makes us better than who we think we are not. Social identity theories from the 1970s and 1980s shed light on this, such as the realistic group conflict theory (Campbell 1965, as cited in Insko et al. 1992) and the social identity perspective (Tajfel 1978; Tajfel and Turner 1979; Turner et al. 1987 as cited in Insko et al. 1992). The first explains inter-group conflict, out-group rejection, prejudice, and ethnocentrism in connection with competition over valued outcomes or finite resources such as territory, jobs, power, material, and economic benefits. In contrast, the second emphasizes the role of relativistic social comparison as the root cause of these issues with the onus being on maximizing inter-group difference rather than on in-group profit as a means to maintain and strengthen their sense of self-worth through differentiation. Therefore, as a rather simplistic example, if the greed for winning money and competing with others to gain that valued outcome forms the basis of the realistic group conflict theory, it is instead the need to not just win money but more money than the other group that drives groups according to the social identity theory.

In the paper by Insko et al. ( 1992) that investigated inter-group discontinuity from these two theoretical standpoints that are stated above, the researchers conducted two experiments to test the likelihood of these two phenomena and found that sequence was important, wherein participants were less likely to give into relativistic comparison at first because of concerns over its confrontational nature and appropriateness, but that its incidence increased in the second round possibly after being primed for competition. In our consumerist material frameworks, we are naturally primed for that, with deeply embedded attachments to material signifiers in addition to the unconscious primal ones.

Strong identity anchors are not a palpable problem while the ingroup favoritism happens at the cost of outgroup indifference, although apathy itself can be dangerously deceptive because not only is it non-inclusive but also because it can be fragile and quickly deteriorate toward hostility through stereotyping and low-resolution judgment of the other when environmental conditions are not right. In a paper on inter-group schadenfreude by Cikara ( 2015) of the Department of Psychology at Harvard, she found that the phenomenon of schadenfreude, which involves the act of deriving pleasure from others' pain, is frequently experienced by people who identify strongly with a social group. These people are not pathological misanthropes and may in fact be quite averse to causing harm to others but a strong identification with a group and the pleasure at the misfortune of members of the outgroup may be explained by a form of reinforcement learning via the ventral striatum through a consistent pairing of subjective pleasure with out-group distress. This might also explain the sequence of increased likelihood of confrontational behavior involving competition and relative comparison through repeated exposure and priming over time as observed by Insko et al. ( 1992) in their two-stage experiment. This priming fundamentally stems from the dualistic paradigm where what is not subject becomes object. The capitalistic climate of consumerist materialism concerns itself chiefly with what can be used and produced to procure profits, most of which things possess a physical or virtual form, often at the cost of dismissing the formless as nothingness. This extends to identities where subject-object divides sharpen and strong attachment to forms associated with the subject correspondingly affect perceptions of those forms that are not subjects and so objects.

This paper does not imply that identity pursuits are innately problematic because personal and social identities precede transcendental states. They also serve beneficial purposes for our evolutionary coalitional dispositions, giving us our place in the world and a platform from where to engage intersubjectively. When balanced and unthreatened, they can serve as optimal functional tools to help us thrive in civic society. In the absence of or renunciation of such identities in the phenomenal world, the pursuit of thoughtless superordinate identification without the right intentions can lead to states of accepting injustice and inequity, as well as to unhelpful assimilation or worse still, to malpractices from unhealthy identity fusion such as in the case of victims of abuse who continue to want to stay with their perpetrators. Thus, training for the cultivation of stable, healthy identities is not without merit. The problem occurs when we become too overidentified with it, when we become our identity and our identity becomes integral to us. Linguistically, it still implies that it is something that we have but is not 'us'. It is something that we acquire. We do not become that. This is the witness-mindset that can be very beneficial. This is an important distinction in the form-emptiness dialogue. The intention here is to draw attention to some of the easy slippages that arise from excessive or unhealthy investment in identity when that is fragile and bounded. Firstly, the dualism it entails in its process of differentiation where the self and the other get distanced is a tricky place to be in. This is a natural process, but in the egoic desire-driven realm, what is not identified as subject automatically becomes object. When this distancing happens on a collective level, the instances of externalizing dysfunctional intersubjectivity aggravate, which get further heightened in times of uncertainty. The assumed stability of this social identity is equally problematic because it assumes an autonomy that it does not possess. Environments that nurture the separated ego also engage in a compensatory mechanism of fusing it with those within its limited social category. Excess differentiation and fusion in identity dynamics can often lead to a recipe for intersubjective disaster, as evident in the history of human civilization through its many genocides and hate crimes. These are not merely psychological or ideational problems. These are existential ones, and no one is immune to these. Sadly, we grow up delving little into these important matters as our school-systems remain restricted to form-based curricula where the terms 'change' and 'progress' often refer to form-based aspects of technocratic glamour.

The Buddhist approach seeks to untighten the stronghold of identity, the dependence on form, the need for strong differentiation, and the resultant identification with exclusive groups and affiliations such that we may expand opportunities for opening up to larger, cosmic identities or, in the process, to no identities at all. The idea of sunyata or no self may actually be understood as no attachment to a form-based self. If we come to understand that what we are desperately clinging on to is not as stable or immutable as we think it to be, that it lacks a core essence and co-emerges with other factors, then we become more willing to gradually release it. When we can let it go, we empty up space to accommodate more, to accommodate who we previously dismissed as the other, to accommodate the possibility of what it is like to not have to protect a definite or limited I- or we-entity and the freedom that that offers.

3.2. Detachment and Compassion in Relation to Charity

A fundamental principle underlying all Buddhist epistemologies, in particular the Mahayana school, is compassion or karuna that constitutes one of the four sublime states along with metta (loving-kindness), mudita (empathetic joy), and upekkha (equanimity). Unlike in conventional western scholarship where wisdom is considered a more intellectual exercise and compassion a sentimental one, Buddhist philosophy considers wisdom and compassion to be mutually constitutive and inseparable. In the Essence of Heart Sutra, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama says:

compassion is an aspiration, a state of mind, wanting others to be free from suffering. It's not passive-it's not empathy alone-but rather an empathetic altruism that actively strives to free others from suffering. Genuine compassion must have both wisdom and lovingkindness. That is to say, one must understand the nature of the suffering from which we wish to free others (this is wisdom), and one must experience deep intimacy and empathy with other sentient beings (this is loving-kindness).

This requires active empathy with the strong willingness to ease the suffering of others, irrespective of the relationship with the sufferer, by blurring the lines between subject and object, the individual me and the individual you. There is a clear dearth of this in our social milieus, not just in our busy fast-paced worlds but through millennia, given the wars we have waged and the bloodletting we have all partaken in. This closely ties in with the identity premise discussed in the previous section, where strong identity fusion with a closed group results in a passive-aggressive stance of being passive to repressive group ideologies and aggressive toward the perceived other that appears to threaten the group's wellbeing. According to the Indian sage, Sadhguru ( 2019), if we are willing to die for somebody or something, we are automatically willing to kill for them too. This is what unchecked identity attachment does to us. Through it all, we are left devoid of compassion and entrenched in one-sided sentimental loyalty that sustains itself on the binaries and echo chambers of us and them.

In order to understand the workings of karuna or compassion, it is helpful to understand the intentions of the bodhisattva. Subhuti in the Diamond Sutra is a bodhisattva nearing Buddhahood. In his interpretation of this Sutra, Osho offers an impressive insight into what it means to be one:

Osho's language can be emphatic and passionate, sometimes inciting strong reactions. However, here, I share this quote in order to show what compassion looks like and what it entails. We do not need to be at a 99 percent, but with the right intention and right mindfulness, the path to alleviating suffering gets easier and more tangible.

Another variable to consider along with compassion is upekkha or equanimity which is a 'liberating quality that allows us to keep our hearts open and balanced, quiet and steady, in the midst of all (these) changes' ( Liebenson 1999). That brings us to a kind of moral quandary-can we feel active empathy without any sort of attachment or affective disruption that propels us to intervene and take corrective action? The research on critical literacy and critical affect studies calls for us to enter into a state of affective equivalence ( Anwaruddin 2016) inviting us to stand in the shoes of others. Can we participate in affective equivalence without experiencing the phenomenological effect of that affect? Additionally, how can we enter into this state of equivalence without the affective dimension given that our ability to do so is also determined by our frames of recognition and recognizability ( Butler 2010) that are heavily skewed by our identity mechanics, when our sympathies are leaning toward the ones that we identify with and likewise, compensated by the lack of it, for those that apparently threaten the former? This is a double-layered situation: one, to feel someone's suffering like one's own but with dispassion and, two, to continue to do so when our ability to feel it is determined by regulatory mechanisms of proximity and recognizability. I argue that the first may hold the key to the second because the latter stems from a passion-oriented preference that decides who to and not to empathize with. When egoic-identity-generated passions are absent, empathy extends to all, and it is the combination of non-attachment and compassion that can allow us to fulfill the first, activating upekkha (equanimity) through ego-decentering while also enabling us to 'think through' things, mobilizing mindful affect without the overwhelming and destructive powers of negative emotions. This is an exercise in the experiential being dimension of the Bodhisattva path, not a destination where one needs to reach, because the latter assumes some sort of attachment to that place, which the Buddha cautioned against. In Chapter 3 of the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha tells Subhuti that he must vow to free all beings without being attached to the perception of a being, and in order for which wisdom becomes a necessity because 'intelligence differentiates, wisdom does not.' (p. 83).

Equanimity plays a pivotal role in detachment. Detachment itself needs to be understood more fully as should its linguistic connotations and cultural bearings in relation to that. Dictionary definitions of 'detachment' range from 'not showing emotional involvement or interest' to 'not connected structurally' and offer synonyms such as 'apart', 'indifference', and 'objectivity'. Some of these definitions are limiting and do not quite reflect what the Buddha and his bodhisattvas practice(d). In fact, most other eastern wisdom traditions offer a similar and shared understanding of detachment, which roughly translates to freedom from the captivity of identity- and preference-based form. In the Vedanta tradition of India, this is succinctly explained via the love-attachment axis and how in our egoic contexts we frequently use the two interchangeably. Swamy Parthasarathy in the Vedanta Treatise (XVII edition) puts it curtly:

Such love expands our capacity to relinquish egoic desire and attachment through valuing our interconnections and shared, mutual responsibilities. Karuna and upekkha work together to widen inclusiveness without the egoic need for differentiation guided by calm centering through ego-decentering. Yet, the very same process of extending inclusiveness calls for altruistic individuation from the binding nature of ingroup exclusivity, allowing us to change the structure of our schema by questioning the forces that conditioned it into what it is to the point that the conditioning agents turned invisible. It is an agentic intention to do away with attachment that comes with the promise of superficial personal gains in order to enable compassion and equanimity to encompass otherness in ways such that larger ontological unities and interdependencies turn more visible.

In connection to the issues of attachment and compassion, it might be relevant to talk about charity and how it plays out in the phenomenal world. As humans with developed limbic systems, we have mastered the art of giving, in order to help, to relieve, as well as to please and impress. However, more often than not, charity and charitable deeds typically reinforce dualistic divides between giver and receiver, benefactors and beneficiaries, the privileged and the disadvantaged, where we give to the other but not without conditions or expectations, typically making them indebted economically and emotionally. Paulo Freire ( 2000) was instrumental in pointing out the difference between false charity and true generosity in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed where the former, although providing aid, sustains and deepens the dependency of the oppressed on the oppressor rather than liberating the latter. In Buddhist philosophy, this tantamounts to holding on to forms and projections of oppressor and oppressed and breeds narcissism and attachment to the perception of the giver, thus defeating the purpose of the charitable deed or of any possible genuine karuna from which it arose. The Diamond Sutra warns against charity with attachment to the ideas of all-practitioner, beneficiary, as well as practice-saying that 'by not dwelling on anything, bodhisattvas do not see the self that gives, nor do they see the other that receives, nor do they see anything given' (p. 88). This is what ensues when compassion, detachment, and charity come together: to give freely, without bounded-identity-based motives, to employ embodied form as a tool of enaction, not differentiation, to engage simultaneously in action and renunciation, with the deep intention to ease suffering and magnify joy unhindered by self-serving attachments. For such a condition to flourish, it would require a massive overhaul of the first paradox of emptiness and form. Once we are able to go past deep subject-object divides and cater to others as fellow subjects not attached to specific forms in the sociocultural order, we will find ourselves in a better position to exercise greater compassion and equanimity. Likewise, if we are able to move past the need to secure a stable and cohesive ego-identity, and reconcile with the idea that our constant evolution in the dance of existential bearings renders that highly improbable in the first place, we can love freely in a no-strings-attached fashion with this not implying a lack of responsibility but in fact extended responsibility for larger communities encompassing human others and more than human entities in postanthropocentric dimensions.

3.3. Thought and Awareness in Relation to Autonomy

This marks another important spectrum and, depending on where we are situated on it, also decides or at least contributes to intersubjective harmony or the lack of it. This, however, requires a clearer explication in the Buddhist context to show how so because in our everyday consciousness, thought is often considered a value-neutral construct, with thoughtfulness being a virtue and the lack of it a problem. In Buddhist philosophy, thoughts manifest as the mind obstructed by the world and the constant urge to escape from the world that it begets, thus calling for a 'homeopathic approach' of thought to end all thoughts and resting in awareness. The underlying assumption here is grounded in the proliferating nature of thoughts enabled by the skandhas of impressions and perceptions and how unchecked thoughts are directly responsible for strengthening the schema of ignorance. Such ignorance holds a direct link with strong belief perseverance, attitude polarization, and intersubjective negation. Contemporary literature in Psychology and the Social Sciences focuses on the need for deliberative dialogue and debiasing techniques. While helpful, going a few layers deeper into where biases are originally formed and becoming internally motivated to find ways to manage that might prove more helpful. First, I briefly go over the skandhas and their role in identity formation. Then, I introduce the concept of neti-neti to help manage the mechanics of the skandhas. When that is made possible, thought recedes and awareness expands, closing in the dualistic split between knower and known, perceiver and perceived, although ironically it can do so by facilitating a helpful split between an inner observation of the outer manifestation. Progress is made on the bodhisattva path. Deeper autonomy is gained through freedom from persistent thought and its spiraling effects. Greater intersubjective wholeness ensues as a natural by-product.

The skandhas (or aggregates) comprise the building blocks of experience. In the Mahaprajnaparamita Shastra, all beings are created by a combination of the five skandhas of form (rupa), sensation/feeling (vedana), perception (samjna), volition (samskara), and cognizance (vijnana). These are vital to the discussion on thought and awareness because of the intricate connections they bear with the mind, thought, and resultant responses and actions. Many aspects of skandhas overlap each other. Form (rupa) refers to external objects or matter, material available to the senses as well as material that blocks what is behind or inside them when viewed from certain angles. Sensation (vedana) is the feelings produced by the interaction of the six senses with the world, guiding likes, dislikes, pleasure, and pain-thus also conditioning beings toward craving and avoidance. Perception (samjna) guides recognition based on sensations responding to stimuli. It is the filing and filtering system that works via recognition, association, and memory giving things their labels and value judgments. When we experience something, we tend to unconsciously identify and sort it based on prior perceptions founded on sense evaluations. For instance, we know that a bag is a bag because of our prior experience with bags as containers or receptacles that can hold things. Such quick associations are helpful and save us time through cognitive filtering that gets hardwired into memory. On a relational level, however, a pause could be beneficial, but we are usually surprisingly quick to make judgments sometimes based on our own past experiences but more often, without enough direct experience and only based on secondary data from perceptions of ingroup members, anchored to the collective evaluation of groups that help us affirm our identity. This allows easy categorization and saves cognitive effort but results in unhelpful stereotypes and problematic volitional actions (karma) that constitute the next skandha of samskara which governs mental habits, ideas, thoughts, biases, as well as the decisions and actions that are then put to effect based on those. Cognizance (vijnana) combines the knowing of sense organs and the resultant objects they create, such as ear and sound, eyes and sight, mind and thought. The last one is significant because it marks the difference between what really happens and how we experience it. Usually, we are a result of the massive storehouses of schemas that often interfere with direct experience but are seldom aware of that. The components of the skandhas are often so overlapping and enmeshed that they provide a steady semblance of stability and continuity. They create concepts, conditions, mental frameworks for sifting and filtering, categorizing, and differentiating, as well as the subsequent actions that constitute karma which then sustain this cyclic chain of cause and effect. Because each builds upon the other, conditioning happens on all levels, most of which remain beneath the threshold of conscious awareness, and almost always generates further conditions and dependencies true to the law of pratitya-samutpada that keeps the wheel spinning. The continual conditioning and dependency lead to dukkha or suffering, with thought and memory being the primary tools of operation through which it receives, responds, and enacts.

By now, it has probably become clearer as to why thoughts, especially patterns of thought, are problematic. Thought occupies vital real estate. In the right measure, it serves various purposes such as keeping us safe and alive from an evolutionary perspective or helping us sift through abundant and often distracting data without which we are plunged into a cognitive deluge. However, in the vast and complex subjective and intersubjective landscapes, it can also obstruct understanding and prevent fair discretion due to the mental shortcuts involving hasty judgment and labeling. At a very basic level, it comes in the way of simple communication, of which listening is a key aspect. Osho explains it candidly in his interpretation of Chapter 3 of The Diamond Sutra:

Thus, good listening would require us to realize the limitations posed by the skandhas and their relentless colonization over the mind. Realizing is the first step to unlearning it. It would be strange, even impossible to escape thought, but it is well within our reach to avoid being consumed by it. An effective way around it is to develop the dual ability to observe thought at work alongside the consciousness that traces it. Anne Buchardi ( 2007) of the University of Copenhagen as part of an intended cross-cultural dialogue talks about the maps of consciousness in the Abhidharma texts and the practice of rang rig or self-reflexive awareness through auto-noetic cognition ( Buchardi 2007) that posits an inwardly focused awareness of an outwardly focused mental state to make sense of it in a non-conceptual direct way with the greater goal of freeing the mind from harmful or destructive identification. As part of the vital toolkit for observing consciousness, Buchardi ( 2007) talks about training the layers of consciousness that would conduct this neutral observation. She also admits that there may be dissenting voices objecting to what could seem like splitting the self, but it may also be understood as the real self-freeing itself from the imposed and constructed self, loosening oneself from the stickiness of continual conditioning which constitutes the practice of neti-neti.

Awareness training through consciousness mapping is not just a singularly Buddhist perspective. Advaita Vedanta also offers a framework of the self that classifies the vasanas of the body, mind, and intellect. Here, the Vedanta approach could also help us understand the undivided nondual consciousness freed from the skandhas. The intellect manifests itself through what Vedanta dharma refers to as gross (thinker) and subtle (contemplator), with gross referring to thoughts whose functions lie within the periphery of the terrestrial plane to understand the world of matter. The subtle intellect moves from the terrestrial to the transcendental, the formless unified reality beyond the transitory, evolving, and artificially bounded forms of reality separated by physical barriers and material equipment. What Buddhism refers to as sunyata is in fact strikingly similar to the Vedanta notion of atman, the formless all-encompassing all-connected consciousness unobstructed by bounded thoughts and experienced through non-conceptual awareness. The no-self of Buddhism and the self-realization of Vedanta sanatana dharma are in fact quite similar, notwithstanding the polarity of superficial surface-level terms; no self/all self may well mean quite the same if understood in totality. Parthasarathy ( 2015) explains this in his chapter on the human composition:

The Atman is said to be a homogenous mass of pure consciousness. The same in all beings. Immaculate, Unconditioned. Yet it appears conditioned by material equipment. Functioning through the body, mind, and intellect, it becomes the conditioned consciousness, the human being. Nevertheless, the immaculate Atman is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. Like the sun above whose rays are all-powerful, all-pervading. The sun above is singular. Untainted, unconditioned. But its reflections are manifold in the numerous reflecting media. It appears tainted, conditioned by the properties of the media. The sun seen through a blue mirror appears blue. Through the broken mirror, broken. Similarly, the supreme Self appears so by the limitations of the equipment through which it functions. And becomes the limited, restricted human being... When a spiritual seeker rises above his body, mind, and intellect and their objects of consciousness, transcends the limitation of perception and action, emotion and thought, the conditioning ceases. The individuality is no more. He merges with the pure, absolute consciousness. It is akin to the phenomenon of reflection and sunlight. When the reflecting medium is removed the reflecting image disappears. What remains is the all-pervading sunlight.

The conditioning of consciousness is also explained along the same lines through the Buddhist skandhas thus explaining the Bodhisattva's attempt to free oneself and others from these. As easy as it is for us humans to get rooted in the rupa skandha (body, matter) and project it on to what we egoically desire, it is equally easy to get sucked into the successive skandhas of sensation, perception, volition, and cognizance as they seamlessly roll into one and sustain and deepen the unhelpful cycle of conditioning. The metaphor of the sun being reflected through all material media in Parthasarathy's exposition helps us detect the pure unconditioned consciousness underlying these tools of conditioning that become one with the outcomes of it. Buddhism only makes the extra effort to reiterate the fact that non-attachment to these extends to non-attachment to the intended outcome of this process, which is to not identify even with formless transcendental consciousness lest it leads to spiritual narcissism or judgment of those that are not ready for it yet.

Although the term 'consciousness mapping' may not explicitly be part of the Buddhist dharma or doctrine, it is a common experiential practice for awareness training to put mind over matter and balance out thought overload and awareness deficit. It can be a powerful pedagogy of encounter to examine the layers of consciousness and skandhas that build up bounded egoic identities, allowing us to unlearn and decenter these through gradual and committed practice, minimizing limiting thoughts and, in the process, freeing up space for expanding awareness. This, however, starts with thought, and although it is not guaranteed that there is indeed a thought to end all thoughts or any right way to go about it, it is important to get a grip on our thoughts, not necessarily to negate them but to acknowledge that we are more than our thoughts through the mindful cultivation of awareness. When thought and awareness work in fair synchrony, they enable autonomy from the entrapments of conditioning forces for seeing through these and for realizing the fundamental substratum of realities underlying material and social constructions. A question that may arise here is whether awareness training through consciousness mapping is the same as metacognition and if not, then how they are different. Both processes require us to observe our thinking, but metacognition carries a pedagogical aim of intentionally thinking about how we think and learn. Awareness training is autonomy enhancing through providing respite from the constant burden of skandha-supported thinking and may be experienced through certain types of meditation, the consistent practice of which can render those on the Bodhisattva path to be able to remain in constant meditative states despite acting in the phenomenal world. For those that are not on the path yet, awareness of this mapping technique through self-reflexive experiences can still help navigate around the usual inescapability of thought by being a way to direct thought to uncover the processual work of perception in the making and unmaking of the self and of its mattering and unmattering in the world.

4. Discussion

The purpose of this paper was to offer some Buddhist meaning-making tools to make peace with our gnawing uncertainties and to help us see how these aggravate perceptions of otherness. Although the former can often lead to the intensification of the latter, they usually go hand in hand and feed into each other. Taken together, the resultant perception of threat disrupts the assumption of familiarity, sense of control, and general epistemic equilibrium. It is not a new problem by any means and has been part of our human fabric for centuries. This article presents an alternative way of viewing the world, especially with matters pertaining to perceptions of threat and control, where the limitations on it posed by our current contexts also ironically point at why we need it now more so than ever.

Although Buddhist wisdom philosophy is quite unequivocal in its emphasis on non-attachment through sunyata, this paper does not espouse that as an end goal to indicate any sort of hierarchy pertaining to developmental paths. It is in the exploration of the ebb and flow of contending forces that it lends itself to understanding some deeper truths with grace, poise, and secular accessibility. Through outlining the paradoxes of emptiness and form, detachment and compassion, and thought and awareness, the paper tries to demonstrate that these polarities are perhaps not so and certainly not mutually exclusive. Each part is required to complete the other. Each serves a purpose in the equation, and success lies in developing skills to tread the fine line, developing the component that is lacking while minimizing the one that is overidentified with or overinvested in, such as, for example, our social identities or material immersion. Because we humans have become overidentified with these, the balance or equilibrium of the middle ground has been lost. The concept of sunyata, which on cursory reading, is often misinterpreted as a meaningless void is instead a way to recalibrate the scales to restore balance. A good interpretation of sunyata is that this recalibration takes place through the 'regular emptying of fixed notions, power struggles, judgmental attitudes, and other ego preoccupations that mark the phenomenal plane of human existence' ( Bai 2012). The experience of sunyata, as in meditation, gains us an insight into the non-reified and impermanent nature of all things (Orr, personal communication). Being on the bodhisattva path requires that we become aware of this and try to aid ourselves and others in reclaiming this balance by navigating our existential needs with transcendental resources, seeing value in both realms of the phenomenal and noumenal.

In considering how the understanding and appreciation of the paradoxes could facilitate intersubjective homeostasis in the face of a growing climate of cultural crises compounded by social, economic, and environmental instability, it would help to sum up a core idea from each of the three sections and explicitly draw out its key offering in this context. They are as follows:

(1)

In the emptiness-form axis, we tend to overidentify with form, especially bounded physical and social forms without acknowledging their ephemerality or their dependence on other forms and conditions. Fixation on social-identity forms bears a direct correlation with ingroup loyalty and outgroup antagonism. Identity as such is not a problem per se; on the contrary, it is essential to our being in the world, but it is our misplaced attachment and overidentification with it that augurs distress. In troubled times, this grasp tightens further and in unhealthy ways. Thus, a vital step here would require us to try to (i) periodically engage in purposeful exercises of emptying the constructed self through awareness training around the workings of the skandhas and the related practice of neti-neti and (ii) acknowledging our inherent emptiness as a gift. When we are no longer the bounded I- or we-entity, we are more readily available to identifying with larger superordinate identities but in appropriate ways. This might be problematic in socially inequitable conditions involving racism or homophobia where courageous identification with a social group is a pre-requisite to seeking justice. Qualitative nuances of form-based salience and emptying are thus important. Also, this works best as a collective enterprise, but we do not live in an ideal world. Integrating this contemplative practice in Education offers major developmental promise as a society for its consciousness to flourish.

(2)

The detachment-compassion paradox is most well-suited to developing equanimity and detachment as antidotes to selfish preferential attachment and increase our bandwidth of compassion and active empathy to extend it to those who are now not limited in our perception by their bounded socio-cultural identities. They can now become equally deserving of our attentional care as we become better able to see them as composite, multifaceted people rather than flat, homogenous stereotypes.

(3)

The third pair of thought and awareness is typically clearly skewed in favor of the former and making sense of the overlapping skandhas can offer a helpful pause where awareness training can gain traction by superseding destructive cycles of thought. In the Diamond Sutra, it is said that the presence of thought and the absence of awareness makes for a world of mortals, the absence of thought and the presence of awareness for the world of sages, and the presence of thought and the presence of awareness a world of worthies (p. 124). The last bit is most relevant to our condition and a state that is accessible enough to be striven for. With the purposeful reduction of the overemphasis on thoughts pertaining to bounded identities and attachments, awareness grows and makes it much easier to work on active empathy and intersubjective inclusion.

These call for larger systemic changes and are naturally hindered by our current modes of constituting reality that are quite distant from what has been suggested here. Change is hard but it is not really a choice in a world beset by increasing challenges. The first step of the puzzle is to acknowledge malfunctions and maladjustments in the subjective and intersubjective realm as being mutually constitutive and then to work on ways to mitigate these. Contemplative practices from Buddhist traditions offer a viable alternative that can lead us on a more harmonious path to discovering our shared storehouses of cosmic wealth that come from reconciling with the beauty and power of paradox as a basal self-sustaining reality facilitating the flourishing of plural communions that co-opt their superficial differences into the celebration of deeper unities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Embracing the Paradox: A Bodhisattva Path

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This article addresses the significance of paradox as a steady presence in our lives. Contradictions and ambiguities often lead to aversive states of anxious uncertainty where straightforward answers are often unavailable yet sought after to alleviate existential insecurities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some people are apparently totally cool with living in an absurd world. Presumably, these folks don't experience existence as futile or see enthusiasm as foolish.

However, not all of us are so lucky or plucky, and so we're left mustering up reasons to be and do even as we sense it's all pointless. We can't go on. We must go on. We're already here.

The reluctant have to make meaning up. We do things even when most of what humans do seems pretty pointless and stupid given how many of us there are, how briefly we live, and how hard it is to make a difference on this crowded planet.

Still, we are not doomed to perpetual gloom. We can still get a lot done. We can even have fun, despite our underlying sense of dread, boredom, and anxiety-perhaps because of it.

Forged in the fires of futility

Existential philosophers have already worked out some answers for you, so don't despair. Or despair, that's fine, too.

But don't let your fundamental gloominess be a reason to do nothing. For the great victory of the reluctant is that we do despite knowing better-knowing our contributions will not change the course of humanity. That's how Friedrich Nietzsche's übermensch would approach the world: without the reliance on anyone else to confirm their existence. It turns meaninglessness into a sort of freedom that allows one to affirm life despite its absurdity.

Think about it. Really, it's no big deal to try to be a decent human who does no harm and maybe even helps, is generous of spirit and labors diligently, if you think there's a god, country, or boss who will reward you now or in the afterlife.

But if you manage to live life based on certain values because you've examined them and found them preferable under the circumstances to other less laudable or more destructive approaches, that's no joke. Then you have forged meaning in the fires of futility and you have overcome, which is something. Or at least it's more than nothing.

In the 20th century, Jean Paul Sartre argued that " existence precedes essence " and that finding out who we really are is a purpose even if there is no ultimate reason for us to be here. That we exist may be meaningless in and of itself, but there is meaning in the process of uncovering our essence under all the social and cultural detritus that clutters life.

We are each born into a set of facts, accidents of circumstance, that describe and shape our reality-class, race, gender, religion, et cetera. But beyond the boundaries and definitions set by our families and societies lies possibility.

Work

So, how do you do that, find some truth, especially if you don't really believe in much of anything? Well, not believing is your freedom. Because you're not hung up on the rightness of any one way of acting, you can find meaning in just being, in doing whatever it is that you choose to do despite the inevitability that you will die and life will go on and every other living thing will die too, including, someday the universe.

The trick to living a full life despite fundamental reluctance is to just pick something, anything, and do it. You don't have to think it's the most awesome thing. You don't have to want to do it forever. You don't even really have to want to do it at all.

In fact, it's probably better if you don't imagine your actions are particularly special or important in the grand scheme because then you'll be as egotistical, delusional, and weird as all those other people who are driven by big missions, leading a "purpose-filled life." And also, you're likely to revert to your fundamental sense of meaninglessness at times and get depressed by your previous glee.

Focus on tasks at hand, and take each day and the chores and duties before you as opportunities to forget the big picture. Throw yourself into work, whether it's a dull office job, a customer-service gig that constantly reminds you people are annoying, tiring manual labor, teaching, or whatever.

In doing, there is liberation. During moments of focus on even very mundane endeavors, you are free and have purpose. This purpose may be small. But it's also huge. You are a hero of the mundane, like rolling a boulder up a hill every day over and over again. It's boring, glorious, and rebellious. By endeavoring to keep on keeping on, you become a giant, a survivor.

"The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor," Albert Camus began in his famous 1942 essay on the Greek myth. Yet he concludes: "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Continuing in the face of futility is a revolt, and that's meaningful. Consciousness of life's smallness and persistence transforms Sisyphus from apparent doomed fool to the philosophical hero of Camus.

Build for yourself a principle that's the opposite of "ignorance is bliss." Consciousness is a hell that holds the potential for joy because everything resembles its opposite. Within the struggle, we gain a purpose, and feel sometimes something like happiness. It's not natural. It's hard-won. And therein lies the beauty.

Dating

Most people like to pretend there is a reason to life: "Before encountering the absurd, the everyday man lives with aims, a concern for the future or for justification," writes Camus in "The Myth of Sisyphus." "He weighs his chances, he counts on 'someday,' his retirement or the labor of his sons. He still thinks that something in his life can be directed."

But pah, that is all quite ridiculous: The world does not act in accordance to our goals, and, Camus argues, there's no higher power that establishes meaning in our actions. "[M]an stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world," writes Camus.

There is no more human need than to feel loved. Yet the silence of the world is most deafening when it comes to love. We pursue partnerships and companionships with people who are indifferent to us and ignore those who want us most. We roll the rock up the hill, meet, anguish, fight, break up, and are smashed by the rolling boulder on the way down. Like Sisyphus, those who seek love must return to the beginning and continue on again, perpetually engaging in a struggle and knowing that all their best intentions and calculations are futile against the whims and unpredictability of romance.

What is more Sisyphean than downloading a dating app, uploading a photo, and then perpetually swiping through face after face, engaging in an utterly mundane task over and over, in the hope of one day, perhaps, finding a connection and meaning.

Then there are the dates themselves: A charade of bad-faith inauthenticity, where you ask the same questions and hear the same boring answers, on seemingly never-ending repeat. And even if it does end, if you meet someone and delete all the apps, the repetitive searching of online dating only emphasizes the futility of all romantic quests. Without the constant stream of matches and meetings, it's easier to pretend that there's a reason and clear purpose to dating. But engaging in the dating rituals at a quicker pace, and on repeat, highlights the absurdity of relationships: You meet someone, date, break up, or stay together, and at the end, of course, you die.

If you are lucky enough to fall in love, of course, the intense moments of authenticity that accompany the experience are worthy of celebrating, even to the cynical existentialist. And if not, then for Camus at least, the absurd journey itself is worthwhile, as long as you are conscious of its absurdity. Like Sisyphus, we must acknowledge the meaningless of our quests even while embarking on them.

Hosting

For existentialists, there's nothing worse than inauthenticity. And there's no greater example of inauthenticity than playing host. Now, you might think you want to play host. But what if that desire reflects an unquestioning need to fit in with the rest of society, rather than a true individual want? As a host, you have no choice but to grapple with the customs and requirements, the charade thrust upon the role-"may I take your coat?", "would you like a drink?"-and so, if you want to be authentic, you must be truly, deeply sure that you are not merely enacting a shallow performance.

The disastrous state of superficial hosting is detailed in Sartre's classic existentialist text, Being and Nothingness. Sartre describes a waiter as a prime example of acting in bad faith in order to be a "good" host: The waiter has perfect manners, he compliments diners' menu choices, and he takes on the slightly haughty air that's customary of so many French waiters. But! This waiter does not truly desire to act so waiter-ly, proclaims Sartre. Instead, he is merely acting out the role he believes is expected of him. ( This comic is also a neat depiction of Sartre's view, and ups the existential absurdity by pointing out just how weird it is for Sartre to pick on a waiter.)

Maybe you want to have some friends over... But must you really serve them food and wine? If you get tired or bored of the chatter, would it not be more authentic to take a little nap in the middle of the party? Or kick them out? Existentialism demands that we ask ourselves repeatedly: Why am I acting this way? What do I truly want to do? It's only in the perpetual asking of these questions that you can arrive at a glimmer of authenticity and, perhaps, meaning.

Anyway, if all your questions lead you to the conclusion that you really do want to invite people over, take their coats, and serve them delicious food and wine, then by all means do so. Just be aware that, behind this charade of domesticity, lurks the forever-potential horror of bad-faith inauthenticity.

Exercise

You need not question whether it's good to exercise. That it's better for your health to be active than to sit around and do nothing has been scientifically proven by now. All you have to do is muster the will to get off the couch and take a walk or run or go to the gym.

In fact, when you feel like you are facing a long string of meaningless days in an ultimately useless life, making up some absurd fitness goal is a perfect way to generate strength. First, you actually get physically stronger. And second, you focus on the short term, just breathing, or getting through your jog, all the while understanding it as a philosophical endeavor. As "the existential bodybuilder" and writer Michael Brouder explains in an essay on Medium:

[I]f you can allow yourself to be led by [Samuel] Beckett, or coached by Camus, in full acceptance of the futility of any mission that tries to slow time's roll (and if you can stop worrying about what you look like in your shorts), you can learn to let the revolt become the reward. That's not meant to be a pretty way of saying channel your existential rage into blasted quads. It's a way of rejecting the self-defeating, goal-focused, failure-phobic, before-and-after, obsessive-compulsive demands that "fitness" forces us to address in favor of an approach centered on starting at the bottom of a hill and finding failure, every day.

The key to being a fit existentialist is accepting that you cannot win. There is no winning. There is only decay and deterioration and loss. Still, you don't give in because you're stubborn. And if you're lucky, you may find some other people who share your gloomy worldview to have a drink with after the gym.

Go on

An existentialist approach to life may not fill you with unceasing joy. But if you already have the vague sense that falsity abounds, it can provide comfort in knowing that all those absurd, ridiculous moments, all the charades and playacting that permeate life have been acknowledged.

2018 has been a year of doom and despair for much of the world, with Brexit battles in Europe, an authoritarian president in Brazil, and an unpredictable president with dictatorial tendencies in the United States. Existentialism doesn't solve these myriad problems, or pretend that they aren't so bad. They are terrible, and the world is filled with gloom and the search for potential meaning can seem hopeless. But keep on questioning, doubting, and wrestling with angst and despair. It's not a soothing response to the horrors of the world, but it is real.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The existentialist's reluctant guide to life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Life sucks and then you die but even the cynics among us can find joy in the struggle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article is inspired by a single question: What happens in the brain when we love? The object of our love can be anyone and anything. Anything that I could conceive in my mind and perceive through

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Philosophical Analysis of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Visual by Vednt Mathur The American-Chinese action sci-fi movie, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once can be best described and understood to be what it literally claims in the title. Its reception among audiences and critics has been amazing. 'The Daniels', Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, are its co-creators, and it is their second movie.

# data[].attributes.headline
Everything Everywhere All At Once and Absurdism.

# data[].attributes.subject
Everything Everywhere All At Once and Absurdism.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WE'RE MORE THAN A SPECULATIVE DESIGN STUDIOWE'RE A COLLECTIVE OF PLANNERS, DESIGNERS, CREATIVE TECHNOLOGISTS, FUTURISTS AND STORYTELLERS.

WE'RE IMAGINING NEW FUTURES, INSPIRING OURSELVES FROM SUB-CULTURES, AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTATIONS, DESIGN CRITICAL PROJECTS AND SCIENCE FICTION.

WE MATERIALIZE THEM THROUGH STUDIES, FICTIONS, INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCES.

WE WANT TO SHOW YOU THAT OTHER FUTURES ARE POSSIBLE.

WE WNAT TO SHOW YOU THAT FUTURE CAN BE COOL.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Imprudence investigates possible futures imagining products, services, objects, places and experiences of tomorrow.

# data[].attributes.body
This is the absurdist and artistic use of the following:

1. Online purchasing of equipment (studio)

2. Personal computers, smart phones, lighting equipment (recording)

3. Personal video / audio editing tech (editing)

4. Social platforms (group distribution)

5. Streaming services (mass destruction)

6. Block chain (commercial transactions)

A final example is artwork being sold as NFTs. This is Dada artwork in its most modern incarnation. I would call it Neo Dadaism except that Neo-Dada was invented in the 1960s.

I think a new Dadaism is forming in the world today as a backlash to the new digital revolutions that have been happening and the new platforms that make expression easier than ever.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dada: a movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic valuesMerriam Webster Key dates: 1916-1924Key regions: Switzerland, Paris, New YorkKeyw…

# data[].attributes.headline
The Illusion of Living forever/not dying.

# data[].attributes.subject
The Illusion of Living forever/not dying.

# data[].attributes.body
The point is that there needs to be some sense of urgency to make action meaningful.

We must be slapped in the face with death to pull ourselves out of distraction and see what’s important.

Reducing the limit to a million years, there hardly seems any urgency to make wise choices in what we decide to do with our time.

If there is too big a gap between the old and the new, there is a tendency to become accustomed to the old and not create the new. We become comfortable with the status quo and stop imagining that the world could be anything other than it is and has been. Were it not for those folks we label "geniuses" who seem to look ahead, we would be forever stuck in the past.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Key points

Immortality is not coherent.

Finitude in life forces action.

Meaning comes from limit.

Of course, some are taken from this world too soon. Queen's Freddy Mercury, who penned the song from which our title is taken, was one such, departing at 45 (which my daughter says is actually old, but I, being 45, say otherwise). We might wish to live longer. But forever? What tedium. What opportunity for stagnation.

The ancients knew well that death is the birth of the new, just as birth is a death of the old. Nature knows it, too, with death occupying a central position in its workings. We seem to have forgotten this fundamental lesson. If there is too big a gap between the old and the new, there is a tendency to become accustomed to the old and not create the new. We become comfortable with the status quo and stop imagining that the world could be anything other than it is and has been. Were it not for those folks we label "geniuses" who seem to look ahead, we would be forever stuck in the past.

Talk of Immortality

Yet, these days, we are peppered with talk of extending life, even to the point of immortality. The friends of the singularity-in which there is such an explosion of artificial intelligence that there emerges the real option of "uploading brains" to have them simulated in abstract information, which is potentially eternal and capable of infinitely many reanimations-are pushing hard for this future.

Now, I admit it: I'd like more life, as I would expect would most young and sprightly 45-year-olds (yes, young and sprightly!). But immortality? Hmmmm. That is very different. Even 10,000 years sounds rather excessive. I imagine I could handle 1,000 years, but, beyond that, existence may begin to grate.

Besides, we must consider if it even makes sense to speak in terms of the immortality of a person, or even of extremely long lives. If memory doesn't fail to hold earlier stages at some point, it would still be difficult to speak of a single individual spanning these lengths, as opposed to a number of stages that have the quality of different people. We would change interests radically, I'm sure. And maybe alter our preferred appearances. At some point, we might even be forced to simulate death to let our old selves die and allow for new things to emerge and surprise us. For all we know, this is exactly the nature of our world, and God plays this very game.

Perhaps life is just about the right length, however short it might be even when at its apparent human limits, for a reason? We can sense the reason by imagining how our lives change as we push that limit out further and further toward infinity. At full-blown immortality, it's hard to speak of life at all. Reducing the limit to a million years, there hardly seems any urgency to make wise choices in what we decide to do with our time. Maybe you choose some career path early on and decide it's not for you. No matter-just switch: plenty of time. I expect this same feature would be true for 100,000 years.

Making Action Meaningful

The point is that there needs to be some sense of urgency to make action meaningful. Our choices, after all, build our past, and our past is what makes us. If those choices don't matter, then we remove a huge source of meaning. It is precisely the function of death, and a death not too distant, to narrow our focus (or, at least, ought to: there are many means in this modern world of ours to distract us) so that we forge who we are. We must be slapped in the face with death to pull ourselves out of distraction and see what's important.

In the coming weeks, I'll be presenting a series of brief posts dealing with matters of life and death, and meaning, including the further bounty of meaning that comes from our power to choose what we do in the world.

# data[].attributes.headline
A materialist world view and its implications. Our value as humans within this materialist world.

# data[].attributes.subject
A materialist world view and its implications. Our value as humans within this materialist world.

# data[].attributes.body
There is hermetic wisdom in the books of the dead: The world you experience is you (or a mirror of your internal states), or a consequence of your actions and thoughts.

You must learn how to observe your own mental states, rather than drowning in them, and realise that you are not these various mental states being presented to you and have a choice in how you react to them. This is why meditation is presented as part and parcel of surviving in the bardo since it provides exactly the mental control necessary to become lucid enough to detach from transient phenomena and remain poised.

"dying before dying"

It provided an underworld journey, an initiation, in which one battled with mythical beasts of one's own making. What you expect is what you get. What you fear is what you get.

One sees a world of individuals caught up in their projections, not realising that they are in some ways occupying their very own universe, and fighting against themselves.

One can wake up in a dream (become lucid), of course, and I would view that as the proper goal for humanity, rather than escaping to some non-dual nirvana.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Key points

The books of the dead, and in particular bardo states, have much to teach us.

The core idea is that many of our biggest challenges are thoughts that we create ourselves.

Ancient wisdom often involves coming to terms with one's projections.

I recently had the pleasure of reading The American Book of the Dead by E. J. Gold. It is a rather remarkable book. Like other so-called "books of the dead" (the Egyptian and Tibetan, for example), it is a kind of travel guide for the afterlife. It assumes, like those other books, that traveling to such a place (viewed as a middle-world between life and death, called a "bardo") is a dead certainty, if you'll pardon the pun. And, similarly, it claims to know something of the architecture of that afterlife, which can only occur by some pioneering souls remembering what they saw there and bringing the information back with them.

The motivation of these books is to make sure you are prepared ahead of time, so as not to become lost or overwhelmed by the experience, which will be completely unexpected for most-especially in our era of materialist atheism, which conditions folks to expect a complete cessation of their being. This is especially problematic since, according to such books, most will not even realise they have died because the experience presents as a simulacrum of their old world, albeit with dream-like qualities.

I urge all to read Gold's book, and the other books of the dead, whether one believes in the afterlife or not and whether one is now in such a "bardo world" or not (after all, we may be always in one of the afterlife realms). It is nonetheless useful if only for gaining an increase in one's levels of consciousness and lucidity. It forces one to consider the scenes one is faced with, especially the more grizzly ones, as potential projections (materialised thought forms or "tulpas" in the language of the Tibetan book). Particularly important is the idea that what you might be experiencing is not necessarily the universal experience of all. This opens up the potential that one might choose, by an act of the will or by mind control, to change the experience, perhaps through simple acts of acceptance and love.

Viewed in this way, we can take the bardo state as simply "business as usual," only with greater awareness of the transitions between states that are found to be always in process anyway, like a phase shifting between worlds in a multiverse. Shifting from a present moment to a subsequent one is a movement from a kind of life to the afterlife. Each shift contains the possibility of interpreting the next moment in infinitely many different ways; as potentially terrible, neutral, or blissful, and all in between.

The difficulty is that the ordinary world is seemingly built in such a way that the self could easily be ignorant that it's in the bardo. The world is seemingly a realm of distraction, a place of largely self-created misery and suffering. The ordinary world might as well be a bardo. It is a place characterised by Heraclitus' famous dictum that "change is the only constant." However, that is not quite right, and what is important to remember as this flux washes over us, with its "good" and "bad" elements, is that there is a continuing presence (often called "I AM-ness") that the flux moves relative to, and must do so so that such change be coherent (change requires a stable point against which it is defined). That is the stable core of what you are, and yet it is a kind of nothing: it exists nowhere and nowhen, since like other properties (happy, warm, fearful, wealthy, poor, etc.), these indexical "here" and "now" features also are in flux and make sense only relative to some such presence or awareness.

Mea Tulpa!

If this is a bardo, then we find that Beethoven and Bach are available to sample here. Great art and great people are here. Great vistas of nature and opportunities for experiencing nurture are here. This is a crucial point. There are elements, even in lower bardo realms, that serve to remind us of what we are and where we can head if we change our mental perspective. If one can "awaken" in the bardo (in this world) then one is essentially like Orpheus breaking into hell (interestingly, Orpheus was, in Greek, a bardos or poet, writing experiences as he saw fit). Like Orpheus, we can use our lucidity to illuminate others' experiences here and make their (and our own) time here more fruitful and joyous. We can turn hell realms into heavenly palaces. The alternative is bleak: This is the grave. We are corpses, in a constant state of decay, fighting entropy.

There is hermetic wisdom in the books of the dead: The world you experience is you (or a mirror of your internal states), or a consequence of your actions and thoughts. The way out of bardo is to recognise this. There is more than a dash of Gnosticism about this too, though in this case, the terrible captor imprisoning you is not an evil demiurge but your own mind, punishing itself for its karmic indiscretions. You must become your own teacher. You must learn how to observe your own mental states, rather than drowning in them, and realise that you are not these various mental states being presented to you and have a choice in how you react to them. This is why meditation is presented as part and parcel of surviving in the bardo since it provides exactly the mental control necessary to become lucid enough to detach from transient phenomena and remain poised.

The ancient Eleusinian Mysteries knew the power of bardo-like experiences, presenting an experience of "dying before dying" to reveal how much is in your mind and to learn to not be scared and lose control in difficult times. It provided an underworld journey, an initiation, in which one battled with mythical beasts of one's own making. What you expect is what you get. What you fear is what you get.

Why is this relevant in general? Because what goes for the bardo always goes in general: The majority of your fears are self-made. If you can manage to change your internal state, by making friends with your fears and treating them as teachers on the path to wisdom, then you will do fine. As the great stoic philosopher Epictetus pointed out, humans are not worried by real problems so much as by their own imagination about them; this is what amounts to, namely being troubled in the mind. By learning to face the demonic inhabitants of the bardo right now in this life as part of a meditative practice, and by learning to recognise your contributions to the world you experience by always allowing for the possibility that this is already a bardo, you can benefit not only here but also in any life beyond. Think of it as a Pascalian Wager: What do you have to lose if there is no such bardo beyond this life?

There is much wisdom in these older traditions that we seem to have forgotten. One sees a world of individuals caught up in their projections, not realising that they are in some ways occupying their very own universe, and fighting against themselves. The external divisions, into factions of good and evil, us and them, reflect an inner duality. To bring the world back into peace and harmony, the first step must always be to achieve balance in yourself because the two worlds (the inner and outer) are simply different ways of experiencing the same thing. However, the outer world of experience runs on duality and division to be an object fit for an experiencing mind. There is nothing wrong with this, and with duality and even illusion, so long as one puts it in its proper place as a kind of dream.

One can wake up in a dream (become lucid), of course, and I would view that as the proper goal for humanity, rather than escaping to some non-dual nirvana. It is in our power to make sure the collective dream does not become a nightmare by having as many of us as lucid as possible.

# data[].attributes.body
Even though the Beatles were primarily considered a musical group, they were political activists.

They used their music to talk about issues happening in the real world at the time, including the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.

They spoke their minds by writing songs like, Give Peace A Chance, Revolution, and All You Need Is Love.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Beatles are one of the most iconic pop-rock groups in history, and their popularity has endured through the decades. They’re essential to pop culture because they had a massive impact on popular music and

# data[].attributes.headline
Why were The Beatles so popular and how does that link to absurdism?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why were The Beatles so popular and how does that link to absurdism?

# data[].attributes.body
like many of the bands from the 1960s, The Beatles were part of a counter-cultural revolution, or so it seemed at the time; this was a time when the youth fought for liberation. They did this through self-expression, growing their hair and practising free love. This was in direct opposition to violence, hatred and war which found its tangible form in protest against the Vietnam war. The Beatles were associated with the hippie-counter culture due to their call for peace and love.

The secret to their success was their ability to walk the line between commerciality and artistic integrity. It seemed like they kept their own agenda and were not swayed too much by outside forces. They kept their finger on the pulse and led trends into the next.

They even wrote their own music, which seems absurd to call “innovative,” but was unheard of for bands before them. (https://vocal.media/beat/the-cultural-impact-of-the-beatles)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"They made such a great impact," David Bowie once remarked about The Beatles during an interview with MTV in 1995. "They gave the British the illusion that they meant something again, you know, and we love hearing that."

What was it about The Beatles that led them to create an ever-lasting legacy, forever changing music and culture? American writer, Adam Gopnick, suggests that it's because The Beatles mirror an era that we still long for.

By 1967, The Beatles had successfully captured the essence of the summer of love in what's now considered a groundbreaking record, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Before The Beatles took the world by storm, the idea of a British band, or any band for that matter - let alone one from a little old working-class place like Liverpool - seemed like a bizarre and foreign concept. Of course, there was Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Sherley Bassey and others - essentially, the dominant archetype was the solo performer.

The Fab Four would stay together for just about eight years but they succeeded in making some of the most successful music in history. Not only in the commercial realm did they outsell everyone else, but they also helped push popular music to another level. The only other artist who arguably had more if not just as much influence is Bob Dylan.

Consequently, the two inevitably played off each other, pushing one another to make better music. Bob Dylan showed Lennon, McCartney and Harrison how to write better songs, and The Beatles showed Bob Dylan how to incorporate rock 'n' roll into his folk repertoire.

Lennon and McCartney met on a fateful summer day in 1957, where Lennon was playing skiffle music with The Quarrymen. McCartney impressed Lennon during one of their set breaks by playing a rock 'n' roll standard and it wouldn't be long until Lennon recruited McCartney. Soon after, McCartney brought his classmate along, George Harrison, and it became clear that there was palpable chemistry among them.

After shuffling through various line-ups involving Lennon's friend's Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe, the group eventually recruited Ringo Starr as they were impressed by his resume of touring with other groups. Starr came equipped with the rings and the showmanship and a brilliant celebrity personality - his real name is Richard Starkey and his stage name represented the next level The Beatles were bound for.

The Beatles would go on to make their first appearance with Ringo Starr on August 22nd, 1962. The last time they were photographed together was on August 22nd, 1969. How on earth did they create such memorable music in such a small frame of time?

Below, we delve into some questions surrounding the mystique of the success of the Fab Four - the greatest rock 'n' roll band to have ever existed.

The Beatles managed to change the music industry forever. (Credit: Alamy)

Why are The Beatles so popular?

On a very fundamental level, it could be argued The Beatles were so popular simply because their songs sold well, especially their earlier material.

From a perspective of an art historian and critic, one could argue that The Beatles were the natural evolution of rock 'n' roll, a lineage that started with Elvis Presley. After Elvis, there were the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, The Marvelettes, The Everly Brothers, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

What is the one thing, besides their artistry, that these artists share in common? They are all American.

The musical and cultural landscape in Britain before The Beatles came around was pretty bleak, to say the least. The Beatles took what American artists were doing and created their own version of it. Dan Akroyd commented on this point, saying: "Up until then, there were jugglers and comedians like Jerry Lewis, and then, suddenly, The Beatles!"

"We were just trying to get better and develop," McCartney recalled. "That was the force behind the Beatles: We'd do one song, and it'd be a hit, and instead of doing another with the same formula, we'd say, 'OK, we've done that.' You listen to the Beatles' output and no two songs are alike."

From 1964 to 1970, the Fab Four had the top-selling US single one out of every six weeks. Their albums performed even better in the States.

Their best-selling single was 'She Loves You' in 1963 and in second and third place were, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', and 'Can't Buy Me Love', respectfully. An entire list of their number ones can be found here.

The moment that The Beatles truly found themselves ingrained in British society was when they were offered MBEs in 1965 by the British Monarch - a first-ever feat for a British pop act. This truly solidified The Beatles as a formidable cultural force.

The Beatles made a massive impact in a very short space of time. (Credit: Alamy)

How did The Beatles impact culture?

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right," Lennon famously remarked in the London paper, Evening Standard in 1966. The following remark would simultaneously 'crucify' Lennon, so to speak, and also immortalise Lennon as a cultural force.

He added: "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

To say the least, Lennon's remark was not taken lightly in the Bible belt in the Southern region of the United States. American radio stations subsequently banned The Beatles and mass gatherings took place where Beatles records and memorabilia were thrown into a smouldering pile.

The saying goes, bad publicity is better than no publicity. Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, comically but truthfully remarked, "Arthur, if they burn Beatles records, they've got to buy them first," speaking to Arthur Unger.

Lennon would later have to apologise, saying, "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have got away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better."

Like many of the bands from the 1960s, The Beatles were part of a counter-cultural revolution, or so it seemed at the time; this was a time when the youth fought for liberation. They did this through self-expression, growing their hair and practising free love. This was in direct opposition to violence, hatred and war which found its tangible form in protest against the Vietnam war. The Beatles were associated with the hippie-counter culture due to their call for peace and love.

Men began growing their hair out and openly experimenting with mind-altering drugs. Music festivals such as Woodstock in 1969 yielded peaceful gatherings of men, women and children, who celebrated nature in the nude.

The so-called climax of this movement is said to have been in 1967, what is now called the 'Summer of Love'. This phenomenon found its ultimate representation through The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Psychedelia was married with transcendental meditation through the Maharishi who the fab four studied underneath.

The secret to their success was their ability to walk the line between commerciality and artistic integrity. It seemed like they kept their own agenda and were not swayed too much by outside forces. They kept their finger on the pulse and led trends into the next.

The Beatlemania craze and the success that The Beatles achieved left plenty of managers and A&R people at the time hungry to follow in their footsteps and get a piece of the action. As a result, other British bands were modelled after The Beatles.

The Fab Four led the British Invasion of the States. Bands such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Kinks, The Monkees were all, more or less, modelled after The Beatles.

The Beatles' most notable rivals were the Rolling Stones who were managed by Andrew Loog Oldham in the early days. Oldham apprenticed with Brian Epstein for a time, so when he got a hold of the Stones, his idea was to create the 'bad-boy' version of the Liverpool lads.

The Beatles became the first major British export. (Credit: Alamy)

When did The Beatles become huge?

The day when things truly changed for the Fab Four was when they played The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964. Many consider this the most influential live concert in the history of rock 'n' roll. Any kid who was watching at the time went on to become a musician, successful or not.

Approximately 73 million people were tuned in. "A lot of fathers did turn it off, but a lot of mothers and children made them keep it on. All these kids are now grown-up, and telling us they remember it. It's like, 'Where were you when Kennedy was shot?'" McCartney once remarked.

He added, "I get people like Dan Aykroyd saying, 'Oh man, I remember that Sunday night; we didn't know what had hit us - just sitting there watching Ed Sullivan's show."

The list of other musicians who were indelibly influenced is a long one. Among them are the likes of Tom Petty who recalled saying: "I didn't know him, he didn't know me, and I thought to myself, 'This means something.' The Beatles came out and just flattened me. To hear them on the radio was amazing enough, but to finally see them play, it was electrifying."

The world changed forever once they did the show, and their influence will carry on to impact new generations of aspiring musicians.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why are The Beatles so popular? - Far Out Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why The Beatles are so popular? We explore the impact of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and George Harrison who changed music forever.

# data[].attributes.headline
Albert Camus and Indian Thought by Sharad Chandra.

# data[].attributes.subject
Albert Camus and Indian Thought by Sharad Chandra.

# data[].attributes.body
Socially engaged art is not an art move¬ment. Rather, these cultural practices indicatea new social order—ways of life that emphasize participation, challenge power, and span disci¬ plines ranging from urban planning and com¬ munity work to theater and the visual arts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ALIENATION AND WRONGDOINGS IN ALBERT CAMUS’ PHILOSOPHY AND RADIOHEAD’S “OK COMPUTER”

# data[].attributes.body
Absurdism is founded on the belief that we live in a chaotic, purposeless universe and human existence has no inherent meaning. Despite this, humans still try to find or create meaning. This paradox produces the absurd.

“The realisation that life is absurd cannot be an end in itself but only a beginning. It is not the discovery which is interesting but the consequences and rules for actions which can be drawn from it.” (Camus, quoted by Foley in Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt, 2014)

While absurdism was proposed by Camus in the 1940s, it was influenced by other philosophical and artistic movements including avant-garde art and the writings of Franz Kafka.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Defining absurdist philosophy

Absurdism is founded on the belief that we live in a chaotic, purposeless universe and human existence has no inherent meaning. Despite this, humans still try to find or create meaning. This paradox produces the absurd.

Colloquially, "absurd" means ridiculous, nonsensical, and illogical. While there is plenty of ridiculousness in plays, novels, and films engaging with the absurd, absurdism also probes fundamental philosophical questions about how to live our lives. Faced with no clear answers or purpose, absurdists do not freeze up; they push onward.

Albert Camus is considered the founder of absurdism. Camus sees absurdity arising from our paradoxical desire to find a unified explanation for the universe when constantly faced with the inaccessibility of that explanation. Camus proposes that we live with this tension, without resorting to despair or false systems of meaning. Criticizing Jean-Paul Sartre and other existentialists for "thinking that life is tragic because it is wretched," Camus argues,

The realisation that life is absurd cannot be an end in itself but only a beginning. It is not the discovery which is interesting but the consequences and rules for actions which can be drawn from it. (Camus, quoted by Foley in Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt, 2014)

John Foley

Camus's emphasis on continued living and joy in the face of absurdity distinguishes absurdism from nihilism. Nihilism also views the universe as inherently meaningless but rejects all morality and ethics, and perhaps even life itself. For Camus, one must live in the face of the absurd, and can even live ethically and happily.

The emergence of absurdist philosophy in the 1940s and the Theatre of the Absurd in the 1950s is no historical coincidence. As thinkers struggled to make sense of the atrocities of two world wars and the Holocaust, the looming threat of nuclear annihilation, and the expanding view of the universe through space exploration, absurdism's response - that everything does not make sense - seemed like a reasonable one. Literature of the Absurd and Theatre of the Absurd explore this incomprehensible world and question how we might make meaning - or at least laugh - when faced with absurdity.

Origins of the absurd: avant-garde art and Kafka

While absurdism was proposed by Camus in the 1940s, it was influenced by other philosophical and artistic movements including avant-garde art and the writings of Franz Kafka.

Avant-garde art: Ubu Roi, Dadaism, and surrealism

The aesthetics and approach of avant-garde art influenced absurdism. Avant-garde art challenges the conception and measurement of beauty and values. By questioning what is given meaning and importance in the art world, we might unsettle what is given meaning and importance in life itself.

Alfred Jarry's play is an important origin point for the Theatre of the Absurd and absurdism generally as later articulated by Camus, although it only played for a single performance in Paris in 1896 and a second in 1898. Parodying Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, physics, and dramatic conventions, Ubu Roi presented a dark and prophetic satire of an incomprehensible, carnage-filled world. Leonard Pronko writes,

With Ubu roi, Alfred Jarry may be said to have founded the avant-garde drama, for it is the first modern play reflecting the anarchy of the author's double revolt against the society in which he lived and the more or less set forms of the realistic and naturalistic drama [...]. (1962, [2023])

Leonard Cabell Pronko

While Jarry's play certainly looks toward the Theatre of the Absurd of the 1950s, "the anarchy in Ubu Roi is man-made and, presumably, can be corrected by man" (, Hinchliffe, 1969, [2017]). It "suggests very little of an ontological nature" or the meaningless universe explored by later absurdist plays (Pronko, 1962, [2023]).

Ubu Roi's challenge to artistic conventions foreshadowed two movements that developed in the early twentieth century and also influenced absurdism: Dadaism and surrealism. Both rejected artistic expectations and accepted aesthetics and depicted a chaotic, illogical world.

The nonsensical word "dada" captures the spirit of the movement named after it: influenced by nihilism and Friedrich Nietzche's philosophies, Dadaists sought to reveal the meaningless nature of the world through art. Famous Dadaist Marcel Duchamp created "readymades" by signing mass-produced or everyday objects and presenting them in galleries; for example, Duchamp's (1917) is a porcelain urinal displayed on its back, dated and signed with the pseudonym "R. Mutt." By using ordinary objects that he came across accidentally and did not create himself, Duchamp upset artistic hierarchies and the foundations of the art industry. Illustrating how meaning is not inherent but assigned by humans arbitrarily, Duchamp prefigures absurdist tendencies and aesthetics.

Emerging after World War I, surrealism built on Dada's "attack on the rhetoric of reason" and maintained an interest in "the centrality of chance, the questioning of received attitudes toward morality," and the depiction of an illogical world (Hopkins, A Companion to Dada and Surrealism, 2022). Exemplified by the strange paintings of Salvador Dalí, surrealist art, literature, and film renders familiar objects strange and eschews structure and order. Surrealism is distinguished from absurdism in its embrace of a dreamlike state: while surrealism blurs reality and dreams, conscious and unconscious states, absurdism tends to depict reality itself as nonsensical and ridiculous.

The literature of Franz Kafka

Camus first applied absurdism to literature by discussing Franz Kafka's work. Kafka's fiction employs grotesque, ridiculous, or parabolic situations to reveal the absurdity of industrialization, capitalism, and bureaucracy. As Jürgen Pelzer writes in his introduction to The Metamorphosis and Other Stories (2017),

[Kafka] showed the anonymity of [power's] mechanisms, its deep corruption, and its destructive nature and pervasive impact on all levels. He also showed the alienating and reifying effect of modern technology and work conditions.

Franz Kafka

For example, "The Metamorphosis" (1915) opens with Gregor Samsa waking to discover he is now a monstrous bug. Despite his transformation, Gregor is mostly concerned about his job, wondering if he can catch the next train or if he should call in sick:

That would be extremely embarrassing and suspicious, for Gregor had not been ill even once during his five years of service. The boss would certainly arrive with the health insurance doctor, would reproach his parents for having such a lazy son, and stifle all objections with a reference to the health insurance doctor, for whom there are only completely healthy people, after all, with an aversion to work. (2017)

Gregor's concerns reveal his preoccupation with work: "He was the boss's creature, spineless and stupid" (Kafka, 2017). Many critics interpret Samsa's transformation as an illustration of the alienation of workers under capitalism and the dehumanizing effects of modern work conditions. An absurdist reading would argue that we are all like Gregor, bugs worried about getting to work on time. We cling to routines, careers, and goals; we believe in making money, working hard, achieving financial stability. All the while, we ignore the truth of our situation, that our existences have no inherent meaning.

Absurdism vs. existentialism: connections and conflict

Historians and critics often connect absurdism with existentialism, another twentieth-century philosophical movement. Although Camus intended absurdism as a critique of existentialism, the two philosophies both ask how to face a meaningless world without giving into nihilism, and they share similar developmental trajectories.

The origins of absurdism and existentialism can be found in the nineteenth-century philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's existentialism co-existed with his Christian beliefs. For him, faith in God is absurd; the divine is incomprehensible through rational thought. Kierkegaard advocates for a "leap of faith," a necessary abandonment of logic and rationality to accept God's existence without proof. Kierkegaard locates the absurd in the paradox of the omnipotent God made human through Jesus. Kierkegaard writes,

The absurd is that the eternal truth has come into existence in time, that God has come into existence, has been born, has grown up, etc., has come into existence exactly as an individual human being, indistinguishable from any other human being [...]. ("Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments," The Essential Kierkegaard, 2013)

The Essential Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard's belief in an unknowable God, and distrust in human systems that claimed to speak for God, laid the foundations for existentialism. Atheistic existentialists, like Sartre, argue that there are no inherent moral systems, so we must choose what ethical living looks like for ourselves. Whether absurdity rises from the unknowability of God or the purposelessness of life, existentialists respond to this lack of clear meaning with action. As Jack Reynolds explains,

Without the guidance of universal rules of morality, human nature or a knowable God who has issued certain indisputable commandments [...], we must endow the world with meaning and it is only we who can do this. We must make this leap of faith: create the meaning in which we seek to live. (2014)

Understanding Existentialism
Jack Reynolds

This decision to create meaning in a meaningless world is what distinguishes existentialism from nihilism. Sartre and other existentialists sought to create meaning by asking how existentialism fit into a larger trajectory of history and attempting to reconcile existentialism with Marxism.

Camus criticizes both theistic and atheistic existentialism. Camus saw Kierkegaard's leap of faith as "philosophical suicide," an abandonment of intellectual rigor and retreat into religion to avoid facing absurdity (The Myth of Sisyphus, 2018). Atheistic existentialists also undermined their philosophy by trading belief in God for belief in history and attempting to fit existentialism into what Camus saw as false systems of meaning. As Foley writes,

[Camus] criticizes atheistic existentialists for what he considers to be a similar resort to divine mystery, this time in what he sees as a divinization of history [...]. Although Camus admits to understanding the attraction of the religious "solution" and, most especially, he appreciates the importance of history, he believes in neither "in their absolute sense". (2014)

Camus writes that all philosophies of existentialism "suggest escape" from the absurd and retreat into false ideologies, whether secular or religious:

Through an odd reasoning, starting out from the absurd over the ruins of reason, in a closed universe limited to the human, they deify what crushes them and find reason to hope in what impoverishes them. (2018)

To Camus, existentialists had seen the absurdity of life but turned away. Camus argued that recognition of the absurd "cannot be an end in itself but only a beginning" of a philosophy, which we explore more in the next section.

Despite Camus's critiques of existentialism, he is often associated with existentialism, and the connections between the philosophies are important to consider. See our guide "What is Existentialism?" for more.

Key absurdist texts: Camus's Sisyphus and L'Étranger

Now that we've examined the relationship between absurdism and existentialism, let's take a closer look at the works in which Camus articulates absurdism: his essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) and his novel (1942)..

Camus begins The Myth of Sisyphus with what he sees as the core question of philosophy: whether or not to kill oneself when faced with an absurd world. Camus argues that we must accept and live with absurdity: "we should keep the absurd alive rather than attempt to suppress it through philosophical suicide, or destroy it through physical suicide" (Foley, 2014). Camus writes,

Living an experience, a particular fate, is accepting it fully. [...] To abolish conscious revolt is to elude the problem. [...] Living is keeping the absurd alive. Keeping it alive is above all contemplating it. (2018)

Living with the absurd is core to Camus's ideas of ethical living and revolt.

Camus illustrates his ideas with the story of Sisyphus. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus received special punishment from the gods. He must spend his afterlife pushing a boulder up a hill; each time he reaches the summit, the rock rolls back down, and Sisyphus begins his task again. Camus argues that Sisyphus must be conscious of his tasks's futility, but we need not imagine him suffering. Instead, we "must imagine Sisyphus happy": "Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable" (Camus, 2018). Camus imagines Sisyphus returning to the hill's base to start again:

All Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols. (2018)

By picturing Sisyphus happy, Camus imagines how we might find joy without ignoring the meaninglessness of our existences.

While the The Myth of Sisyphus "attempts to resolve the problem of suicide," Camus explains, L'Étranger "attempts to resolve that of murder, in both cases without the aid of eternal values which, temporarily perhaps, are absent or distorted in contemporary Europe" (2018).

L'Étranger tells the story of Meursault, a French man living in Algeria, who kills an Arab man seemingly at random. In the face of his mother's death, a potential romance, and even his own murder trial, Mersault feels everything is meaningless. He eventually finds relief, even happiness, in "the gentle indifference of the world" (Camus, 1993). Camus captures Meursault's disconnection from the world around him as he realizes life is inexplicable and arbitrary.

In both The Myth of Sisyphus and L'Étranger, Camus proposes the possibilities of living joyfully while facing the absurd. In the next two sections, we will look at creative responses to encounters with the absurd, or the absurd onstage and in literature.

The Theatre of the Absurd (1950s-1970s)

In the 1950s, absurdism moved onstage - perhaps most famously with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The 1953 play featured two vagrants, Estragon and Vladimir, who are waiting for the mysterious Godot. Critics have used Estragon's own words to summarize the play: "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" (Beckett, 2011). In actuality, as Mark Taylor-Betty and Juliette Taylor-Betty point out, "things happen, but nothing changes"(Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, 2013). Godot features conversations without meaning, events without plot, the trappings of theatre without a motivating story. The characters speak in circles, without clear desires, making it difficult for the audience to become invested in them - and any investment is not rewarded.

Michael Bennet finds it unsurprising that Godot "confounded audiences, arguably, unlike any play that has come before or after it," but it was not the only culprit:

Audiences who were used to Aristotelian, Shakespearean, melodramatic, and realistic drama, a play with a clear beginning, middle, and end [...] had a right to be bewildered by a play like Godot. However, though Godot received the most press, it was not the only play of its kind. A new avant-garde theatre was taking shape. Though none of its practitioners claimed they were part of a movement, playwrights such as Beckett, Harold Pinter, Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, and Edward Albee befuddled audiences in a similar manner. (2011)

Michael Y. Bennett

Martin Esslin described this new theatre as "The Theatre of the Absurd" in a 1960 journal article, later expanded into a 1961 book. The Theatre of the Absurd describes plays performed largely between 1950 and 1970 that share at least some of the following features: illogical plots, wordplay and nonsensical language, circular structures, repetition, farcical comedy, trivial themes, seemingly random developments, and characters in whom it is difficult to become invested. These plays challenged theatrical conventions and confronted their audiences with incomprehensibility and ridiculousness - to comedic or tragic effect, often a mix of both.

Esslin writes, "instead of being in suspense as to what will happen next, the spectators are, in the Theatre of the Absurd, put into suspense as to what the play may mean " (1960). With no answer provided during the play, this "suspense continues even after the curtain has come down," making the Theatre of the Absurd, for Esslin, "the most demanding, the most intellectual theatre" (1960). Though often hilarious, overexaggerated, and even vulgar, the Theatre of the Absurd provokes its spectator "with a genuine intellectual problem, a philosophical paradox, which he will have to try to solve even if he knows that it is most probably insoluble" (Esslin, 1960).

Many famous twentieth-century playwrights engaged with the Theatre of the Absurd. Alongside Beckett, Ionesco stands as another giant, writing plays like The Bald Soprano (1950) - featuring characters who speak only in cliched and hackneyed language - and Rhinoceros (1959)- in which a town's residents steadily turn into rhinoceroses, often interpreted as a metaphor for fascism and Nazism. Other major playwrights in the Theater of the Absurd are Arthur Adamov, Jean Genet, and Harold Pinter, and other associated writers include Robert Pinget, N. F. Simpson, Edward Albee, Fernando Arrabal, and Gunter Grass. The Theatre of the Absurd has been largely considered a male-dominated tradition, but there are important female playwrights who engaged with absurdist ideas, such as María Irene Fornés, Caryl Churchill, Margaret Hollingsworth, and Liudmila Petrushevskaia.

Beyond describing the Theatre of the Absurd, Esslin argued for a purpose behind these plays. While they may be bewildering, Esslin argues that they are not complete nonsense:

Not only do all these plays make sense, though perhaps not obvious or conventional sense, they also give expression to some of the basic issues and problems of our age, in a uniquely efficient and meaningful manner, so that they meet the deepest needs and unexpressed yearnings of their audience. (1960)

The Theatre of the Absurd responds to an increasingly incomprehensible world. The mid-twentieth century saw a decline in religious faith, distrust in historical progress (in part due to the century's atrocities and rise in totalitarianism), the threat of weapons of mass destruction, and a perceived erosion of unifying value systems. Parroting Camus, Esslin argues that even ideologies like Marxism or psychoanalysis are to the Theatre of the Absurd "superficial rationalizations which try to hide the depth of man's predicament, his loneliness and anxiety" (1960). Esslin writes,

the absurd and fantastic goings-on of the Theatre of the Absurd will, in the end, be found to reveal the irrationality of the human condition and the illusion of what we thought was its apparent logical structure. (1960)

Beyond the stage: the literary absurd and absurdist fiction

Absurdism in literature has not led to as well-defined a category of "Literature of the Absurd" as the Theatre of the Absurd, but there is certainly a strong tradition of literary absurdity and absurdist fiction. Unlike the Theatre of the Absurd, which was concentrated in the 1950s through the 1970s, the literary absurd appears in an eclectic mix of works and stretches across time periods: its origins lie in the novels of François Rabelais and Jonathan Swift, and nineteenth-century writers like Lewis Carroll, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Joseph Conrad have been interpreted through this lens.

In Reading the Absurd (2013), Joanna Gavisprovides a rigorous account of the literary absurd, attempting to wrangle a definition, identification method, and reading approach for this nebulous and diverse concept. Kafka, Camus, and Beckett (who also wrote prose and poetry) are all important figures in this tradition. Gavis lists the following writers in addition to those already mentioned: John Barth, Joseph Heller, Daniil Kharms, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, John Kennedy Toole, Flann O'Brien, and Mikhail Bulgakov.

Non-dramatic literature has played an important role in absurdism's development; Camus himself wrote on Kafka's fiction and penned a novel to introduce his ideas. But Esslin argues that theatre is the best medium for exploring "the bewildering complexity of the human condition," because language alone is "far too straightforward an instrument":

Reality can only be conveyed by being acted out [...]. The human condition being what it is, with man small, helpless, insecure, and unable ever to fathom the world in all its hopelessness, death, and absurdity, the theatre has to confront him with the bitter truth that most human endeavor is irrational and senseless, that communication between human beings is well-nigh impossible, and that the world will forever remain an impenetrable mystery. (1960)

While describing the theatre's aptness for exploring the absurd, Esslin highlights the absurd's power:

the recognition of all these bitter truths will have a liberating effect: if we realize the basic absurdity of most of our objectives we are freed from being obsessed with them and this release expresses itself in laughter. (1960)

Closing thoughts

While absurdism named as such seems less popular today than it was in the twentieth century, absurdist ideas can still be found in our culture, from memes to movies.

Just one example is Everything Everywhere All at Once (Kwan and Scheinert, 2022), the most-awarded movie of all time according to IGN. The film follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a middle-aged Chinese immigrant, as she attempts to keep her business afloat and navigate tense relationships with her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), and daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu). While a moving story about an everyday family, the film is also an action-packed romp through the metaverse and an explosive exploration of existentialism, nihilism, and absurdism. The movie's meaningless, multiplicitous universe unfolds in a variety of absurd situations, such as a conversation between two rocks, a love story between two women with hotdogs for fingers, and a literal everything bagel that has been topped with everything in the universe.

Our world is no less comprehensible today than it was when Camus introduced his philosophy of absurdism. Plays, novels, and films exploring absurdist ideas can help us not only to laugh at the weirdness of our world but also to live up to Camus's instructions: keep the absurd alive and face our Sisyphean fates while smiling.

Further reading on Perlego

(1961, [2010]) by Joseph Heller

Ionesco: A Study of His Plays (1971, [2023]) by Richard Coe

Rethinking the Politics of Absurdity: Albert Camus, Postmodernity, and the Survival of Innocence (2013) by Matthew H. Bowker

The absurd in literature (2013) by Neil Cornwell

Affirming the Absurd in Harold Pinter (2013) by Jane Wong Yeang Chui

American Social Issues in Four Absurdist Plays by Edward Albee (2017) by Firas Al-Khateeb

The Psychoanalysis of the Absurd: Existentialism and Phenomenology in Contemporary Psychoanalysis (2020) by Mark Leffert

Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Ordinary (2023) by Raymond D. Boisvert

Bibliography

Beckett, S. (2011) Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. Grove Atlantic.

Bennett, M. Y. (2011) Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd: Camus, Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3480036/reassessing-the-theatre-of-the-absurd-camus-beckett-ionesco-genet-and-pinter-pdf

Camus, A. (1993) The Stranger. Translated by M. Ward. Vintage.

Camus, A. (2018) The Myth of Sisyphus. Translated by J. O'Brien. Vintage.

Esslin, M. (1960) "The Theatre of the Absurd," The Tulane Drama Review, 4(4), pp. 3-15. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1124873

Esslin, M. (2004) The Theatre of the Absurd. 3rd edn. Vintage.

Foley, J. (2014) Albert Camus: From the Absurd to Revolt. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1561347/albert-camus-from-the-absurd-to-revolt-pdf

Gavins, J. (2013) Reading the Absurd. Edinburgh University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1708928/reading-the-absurd-pdf

Hinchliffe, A. P. (2017) The Absurd. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1488944/the-absurd-pdf

Hopkins, D. (ed.) (2016) A Companion to Dada and Surrealism. Wiley. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/990835/a-companion-to-dada-and-surrealism-pdf

Howarth, S. (2000) Marcel Duchamp: Fountain. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573

Ionesco, E. (2015) The Bald Soprano and Other Plays. Grove Atlantic. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2448157/the-bald-soprano-other-plays-pdf

Ionesco, E. (2015) Rhinoceros and Other Plays. Grove Atlantic. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2448174/rhinoceros-and-other-plays-pdf

Jarry, A. (1997) Ubu. Translated by K. McLeish. Broadway Play Publishing.

Kafka, F. (2017) The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Translated by K. Pelzer. Barnes & Noble. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3717318/the-metamorphosis-and-other-stories-barnes-noble-collectible-editions-pdf

Kierkegaard, S. (2013) The Essential Kierkegaard. Princeton University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/735770/the-essential-kierkegaard-pdf

Pronko, L. (2023) Avant-Garde: The Experimental Theater in France. University of California Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3905142/avantgarde-the-experimental-theater-in-france-pdf

Pelzer, J. (2017) "Introduction," in Kafka, F. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Barnes & Noble. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3717318/the-metamorphosis-and-other-stories-barnes-noble-collectible-editions-pdf

Reynolds, J. (2014) Understanding Existentialism. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1560169/understanding-existentialism-pdf

Taylor-Batty, M. and Taylor-Batty, J. (2013) Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Continuum. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/806161/samuel-becketts-waiting-for-godot-pdf

Zee, M. (2023) "Everything Everywhere All at Once Passes Return of the King as Most-Awarded Movie Ever," IGN, 9 March. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-return-of-the-king-most-awarded-movie

Filmography

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Available on Showtime.

Paige Allen

MSt, Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies(University of Oxford)

Paige Elizabeth Allen has a Master's degree in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor's degree in English from Princeton University. Her research interests include monstrosity, the Gothic tradition, illness in literature and culture, and musical theatre. Her dissertation examined sentient haunted houses through the lenses of posthumanism and queer theory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Absurdism? | Definition, Examples & Analysis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Defining absurdist philosophy Absurdism is founded on the belief that we live in a chaotic, purposeless universe and human existence has no inherent meaning. Despite this, humans still try to find or create meaning. This paradox produces the absurd. Colloquially, "absurd" means ridiculous, nonsensical, and illogical.