The iceberg behavioural model
From the age of eight, I’ve suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. My OCD has fluctuated over the years depending on my circumstances and stress levels. As an adult, I was desperate for a cure. The epilepsy I’d had since I was thirteen had also worsened.
I met an unorthodox general practitioner who helped me regain my health. First, he listened to my explanation of my current situation and the problems I had with epilepsy and OCD. Then he asked me to sit upright in my chair and listen to the clock ticking. This was all I was allowed to do.
I was incredulous, but did as he said. Immediately, my mind began to quieten. The sound of the second hand on the clock stopped the consistent dialogue in my mind. I suddenly became aware of what was happening within my body – I could feel twitches of energy in unpredictable and random parts of myself. It was like lightning in a thunderstorm, sporadic electric bolts lighting up the sky.
When I finished the session, my mind was quiet and I felt heavy. And I had no obsessive-compulsive thoughts!
I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d just been introduced to a Vipassana meditation technique. ‘Vipassana’ means ‘to see things as they really are’. It’s one of India’s most ancient meditation techniques, and has been taught for more than 2,500 years as a universal remedy for illness.
Now, how is this connected to the Dream? Well, what was my Original Dream Intention? It was to positively change people’s realities. Would it be irresponsible of me to influence people from a questionable perspective? Yes. If I want to positively change people’s realities, I need to understand myself.
Take a look at the diagram below, an illustration of the iceberg behavioural model.This model is a well-known tool for understanding why people do what they do.
The iceberg behavioural model
As you know, we only see a small fraction of an actual iceberg, as most of it’s under the water. The same is true for human behaviour: the outside world only sees the final result of a complex inner process before it materialises into behaviour. Have you judged another person because their behaviour didn’t reach your own expectations? I think we are all guilty of this. But what are you really seeing?
Let me give you an example of how this works:
1.Needs: I need shelter to survive.
2.Beliefs: I need shelter to survive, but I’ll survive more comfortably with a well-constructed house.
3.Thoughts: In order to build a good house, I need money; therefore, I need to be educated, so I can get a well-paying job.
4.Feelings: I’ll feel more comfortable and happier with a well-paid job and a house that I love.
5.Behaviour: I’ll enrol into university so I have a greater chance of getting a well-paid job.
Much of our behaviour is based on the needs at the bottom of the iceberg – and often we’re not conscious of the reasons behind our actions. Vipassana meditation techniques help you understand these reasons and can also directly influence your thoughts and feelings. This investment in observing your senses will help you to understand the purpose of the Dream and the truth of your Original Dream Intention.
Your motivation is very important, but like the Original Dream Intention, you must let it develop for your Dream to materialise. In the same way, you might plant seeds in the soil so new flowers will grow, but you don’t sit next to the pot and wait for the flowers to appear.
These four exercises to practice will help you explore your own motivations.
PREPARATION
I’ve suggested durations for each exercise, but really, timing yourself is unnecessary. Just concentrate as long as you can. Be honest with yourself and try to be disciplined.
All four of these exercises should be done in a seated posture. Find a comfortable place to sit on the ground, at home or somewhere quiet. Try to avoid lying down or sitting in a chair if you can. If sitting directly on the ground or floor is too uncomfortable, use a pillow or cushion.
The following diagram shows the three traditional sitting postures and hand positions. It’s also acceptable to kneel while sitting on your heels.
EXERCISE 6: MINDFULNESS
Once you’re seated, perform each step in this cycle for five minutes.
Step 1: Begin to observe the sounds around you – the cars going past your house or the birds singing. Just listen, don’t react.
Step 2: Now, bring your attention to how your body is touching the ground and how the different parts of your body are touching each other. Focus on the details. The longer you spend on each body part, the more effective the meditation.
Step 3: Next, go inside your body and, with your breath, send loving energy to each part of your body. Observe the changes.
Step 4: Repeat step 2.
Step 5: Repeat step 1.
Remember, don’t react to your observations. Vipassana is all about not reacting – your aim is to become a neutral observer. If you begin to identify with what’s happening in your body, the exercise becomes redundant.
EXERCISE 7: OBSERVING YOUR BREATH
Each step in this exercise should be done for ten minutes.
Step 1: Once you’re seated, observe the transference of your breath from your nostrils to your top lip.
Step 2: Now focus on your right nostril only, and how the transference of breath touches your top lip.
Step 3: Now focus on your left nostril, and how the transference of breath touches your top lip.
Step 4: Repeat step 1.
The breath is the mind’s salvation.
EXERCISE 8: VISUALISING YOUR CORPSE
Now, please don’t feel weird about this exercise. The objective of it is to recognise that your body is not eternal and is constantly changing.
Step 1: Sit in the same position as before, and visualise your body as dead. See it laying on its back and observe the decaying process. Begin with the head and slowly observe each part of your body right down to the feet.
Allow your imagination to discover different decaying stages. See each part of the body changing colour, the skin peeling away, and so on.
Duration: Five minutes
Step 2: After visualising your entire body decaying, come to a place in your mind where your body has almost completely retreated back to the earth, then watch it disappear. What do you see now?
Duration: Five minutes
Step 3: Return to your senses and observe the sounds around you.
Duration: Five minutes
Step 4: Observe how your body is touching the ground and how different parts of your body are touching each other.
Duration: Five minutes
Your body is a wonderful instrument of experience and detection, but unlike the Dream, it isn’t eternal.
EXERCISE 9: VISUALISING THE EXPANSION
Each of the first eight steps in this exercise should be done for three minutes.
Step 1: Visualise yourself meditating.
Step 2: Visualise yourself and your partner or a close friend meditating together.
Step 3: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend and your family meditating together. Where are you? What is happening to the world around you?
Step 4: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend, your family and all the people in your suburb or town meditating together.
Step 5: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend, your family, the people in your suburb or town and the people in your entire city meditating together. Where are you? What’s happening to the world around you?
Step 6: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend, your family, the people in your suburb, the people in your entire city and all the people in your entire state meditating together.
Step 7: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend, your family, the people in your suburb, the people in your entire city, the people in your entire state and all the people in your country meditating together. Where are you? What’s happening to the world around you?
Step 8: Visualise yourself, your partner or a close friend, your family, the people in your suburb, your entire city, your entire state, and the whole country, and all the people in the world meditating together. Where are you? What is happening to the world around you?
You can see where this technique is going. You can keep expanding until you have encompassed the entire universe or universes.
Step 9: Return to your senses and observe the sounds around you for five minutes.
Step 10: For five minutes, observe how your body is touching the ground and how different parts of your body are touching each other.
I want to highlight two points here:
1.Your mind will try to do anything but meditate. It will have you cleaning the car or jumping onto YouTube; whatever it can find. It will viciously procrastinate! That’s normal.
2.Don’t be disheartened if you can’t concentrate. The capacity to concentrate is like a muscle, and you’ll build stamina and endurance over time. Be honest with yourself and how long you can concentrate, and begin with short durations (as I’ve recommended) that you lengthen over time.
Vipassana will change your life, if you give it time. It will shine light on the different levels of the iceberg.
It’s also been proven that Vipassana can improve other aspects of your life and health, as it contributes to a more formidable immune system and better mental health.
We live in a world of quick fixes! When we have a headache, we take a headache tablet, if our muscles ache, we rub cream to soothe the pain, but do we really resolve the problem? I have met with neurological doctors for many years because of my OCD and epilepsy. Unfortunately, the doctors do not have the capacity to resolve my problems. Their medicine is too limited to explore my thoughts and mind. They can only offer me band-aid solutions. Drugs! But with Vipassana you can directly influence your thoughts and feelings. This investment in concentrating and observing your senses will give you much needed respite from your increasingly demanding work life. Vipassana doesn’t only give you fantastic work-life balance, but it can also unveil the many mysteries in your mind and body.
I know it isn’t easy, but try and make these exercises a habit – the rewards are beyond your imagination. An optimum routine would involve meditating for two to three hours a week.
1.The aim in Vipassana is to be a neutral observer – to not react.
2.Remember that the breath is the mind’s salvation.
3.Your body isn’t eternal.
4.It’s normal for your mind to try to avoid meditating.
5.Your capacity to concentrate can be built over time, so don’t be disheartened.
6.Vipassana can boost your immunity and mental health, as well as helping you to understand the hidden levels of your personal ‘icebergs’.
Vipassana is the doorway to understand the limitations and potential of the most complex organism on earth – the human mind! It can unveil the many mysteries of life, give you wisdom, heal and protect you from illness.
Are you ready to increase your awareness, overcome suffering, and understand the statement: ‘living in the now’?
Step 1: Get hold of a comfortable meditation beanbag cushion. Choose what best suits you. Preferably, the beanbag cushion should be firm – 10-15 cm in height, so your legs can touch the ground comfortably. Meditating without a beanbag is ideal, but for beginners, the beanbag is essential.
Step 2: Please allocate thirty minutes in time in your schedule just for you. Find a quiet corner in your house or apartment where you can’t be disturbed.
Step 3: For your first sitting, begin with exercise 6. Then slowly rotate each exercise through your other sittings. I personally begin every sitting with exercise 6, then I move through the other exercises.
Special note: This is your experience. Use your intuition to find what exercises work for you. Be honest with yourself, and always try to push your concentration a little bit further in each sitting. Please do not be disheartened if you cannot meditate on particular days, or if you cannot concentrate for a long time. Your brain needs time to strengthen its resilience from the effects of its own thoughts. Be patient, and observe your awareness after each sitting.