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Integrating Adult Developmental and Metacognitive Theory with Indo-Tibetan Contemplative Essence Psychology

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Integrating Adult Developmental and Metacognitive Theory with Indo-Tibetan Contemplative Essence Psychology Integrating Adult Developmental and Metacognitive Theory with Indo-Tibetan Contemplative Essence Psychology John Churchill1 and Tom Murray2 Abstract. In a world that (according to the World Health Organization) has approximately 450 million people suffering from some form of mental disease, there is a deep need to re- envision mental health care. Indo-Tibetan contemplative psychology is a practice-based evidence lineage tradition of between two-and-a half to nine millennia dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the full flowering of human potential. Whilst mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly popular and effective in the reduction of mental suffering in contemporary culture and psychotherapy, the full contemplative psychology, of which mindfulness is but a foundational skill, is still relatively unknown. Therefore, there is an increasing need to understand and translate the theoretical foundations of such a psychology into a language that psychologists and educated laypersons can understand. In addition, we can explore how modern science can deepen the wisdom and adoption of such traditions. Using the theoretical perspectives of adult developmental psychology and metacognition, this project reveals the psychology of the Indo-Tibetan tradition as a sophisticated developmental psychology that, when practiced, facilitates a fundamental transformation in identity, or the basis of psychological operations, from which an individual experiences the world. Such a developmental process has the potential to eradicate the fundamental suffering caused from cognitive fusion with the basic structures of experience (body, self, thought, emotion, time, dualistic perception, and the attentional- intentional system), allowing for a transition to a fundamentally open boundless experience of identity, within which arises the experience of interconnectedness and the ensuing altruistic motivation to benefit the social good. Among contemporary adult developmental theories we believe that the STAGES model is most compatible with the principles of Indo- Tibetan Contemplative Essence Psychology. We use the STAGES model to show how eastern and western methods can inter-inform each other. This study is one brick in building the bridge between East and West, a bridge that honors the psychology of the East as being a rigorous, technical, and socially relevant psychological framework that, yet, can still evolve. Keywords: Adult ego developmental, contemplative psychology, Indo-Tibetan Mahamudra and rDzogchen, STAGES, states and stages. 1 Dr. John Churchill has been a scholar-practitioner of contemplative psychology for 30 years. John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He is the principle developer of a contemporary fourth-turning contemplative practice path, Planetary Dharma, that integrates psychodynamic healing, adult development and Buddhist contemplative realization within a holonomic planetary perspective. Samadhi Integral. [email protected] 2 Tom Murray runs Open Way Solutions LLC, which merges technology with integral developmental theory, and is also a Senior Research Fellow at the UMass School of Computer Science. He is an Associate Editor at Integral Review and has published articles on developmental theory and integral theory as they relate to wisdom skills, education, deliberative skills, contemplative dialog, leadership, ethics, knowledge building communities, epistemology, and post-metaphysics. See www.tommurray.us. [email protected] INTEGRAL REVIEW April 2020 Vol. 16, No. 1 Churchill and Murray: Integrating Adult Developmental and Metacognitive Theory 226 Table of Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................................... 228 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 229 2. Background .............................................................................................................................. 231 2.1 Motivations ........................................................................................................................ 231 2.2 Theories of Adult Development and Metacognition ......................................................... 234 Metacognition ................................................................................................................... 234 Metacognition and Meditation .......................................................................................... 236 Developmental Psychology .............................................................................................. 237 The STAGES model ......................................................................................................... 240 2.3 Buddhist Essence Psychology: mahamudra and rdzogchen .............................................. 244 Mahamudra ....................................................................................................................... 244 rDzogchen ......................................................................................................................... 245 Awakening etc. ................................................................................................................. 246 3. Integrating Contemplative Essence Psychology and Adult Development ............................... 249 3.1 Contemplative vs. developmental psychology: Historical and methodological comparisons 250 East vs. West: Phenomenology vs. Structuralism and Theory vs. Application ................ 250 East vs. West: Methodological Considerations ................................................................ 251 East and West: Early Convergences ................................................................................. 252 Mahamudra and Brain Research ....................................................................................... 253 Clinical Implications ......................................................................................................... 254 3.2 Underlying Mechanisms in Contemplative and Developmental Growth .......................... 255 State, Stage, and View ...................................................................................................... 256 Unlearning, Disembedding, and Liberation ...................................................................... 257 Mind vs. Event Perspective (figure and ground in contemplative practice) ..................... 262 Summary: Repeating Patterns ........................................................................................... 265 3.3 Levels of Developmental and Contemplative Growth ...................................................... 266 Tiers: Gross, Subtle, and Causal ....................................................................................... 266 Concrete and Subtle Tiers – practices and capacities ....................................................... 267 Metaware and Unitive Tiers – practices and capacities .................................................... 272 Revisiting States vs. Stages: Necessary but Not Sufficient .............................................. 277 4. Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 282 References .................................................................................................................................... 283 Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 298 Appendix 1: Developmental Stage Descriptions ..................................................................... 298 Appendix 2: Metacognition ..................................................................................................... 305 Fundamentals of Metacognition ....................................................................................... 305 INTEGRAL REVIEW April 2020 Vol. 16, No. 1 Churchill and Murray: Integrating Adult Developmental and Metacognitive Theory 227 Metacognition and Psychotherapy .................................................................................... 309 Metacognition and Meditation .......................................................................................... 311 Appendix 3: Three Phases of Buddhist Contemplative Psychology ....................................... 315 The First Turning of the Teaching: The Lesser Vehicle ................................................... 315 The Second Turning of the Teaching: The Great Vehicle ................................................ 319 The Third Turning of the Teaching: The Buddha Nature Vehicle ................................... 320 Appendix 4: Buddhist Essence Psychology: mahamudra and rdzogchen ............................... 322 History of Mahamudra ...................................................................................................... 322 View: The Path of Development in Mahamudra .............................................................. 323 sGam po pa’s Four-Yoga Model ....................................................................................... 325 rDzogchen ......................................................................................................................... 328 INTEGRAL REVIEW April 2020 Vol. 16, No.
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