I *heart* Big Mind! Zen Master Genpo Roshi devised the Big Mind process as a bridge between East and West. It combines Zen Buddhist practice with Jungian archetypes to allow one to reach higher states of consciousness quickly. On Day Two of the Integral Without Borders Conference in Istanbul, we were treated to a full day of Big Mind facilitated by Genpo Roshi’s student and fellow Zen master Diane Hamilton. This was my favorite part of the conference.

The facilitator of Big Mind asks the group to call upon and speak as different voices they have within themselves. Here’s how:

Facilitator: I would like to speak to the voice of the Skeptic.

Group: (shifts position to reset the mind and body as the Skeptic)

Facilitator: To whom am I speaking?

Group: The Skeptic

Facilitator: And what is your job?

Group: To be skeptical.

From there the facilitator will ask a series of questions to illuminate that voice’s role in your life. In the case of the Skeptic, you might learn that this voice is useful in helping to protect you from false information, however it is always skeptical and never satisfied. This is an aspect of yourself that is never trusting, however it is not who you are at the core.

There are a number of videos on YouTube showing Genpo Roshi facilitate Big Mind. You can also follow the course at Integral Naked if you are a member.

Now for my personal experience using Big Mind.

We began with the voice of the Controller. As soon as Diane asked for that voice, I knew I was in for trouble. The Controller is a very strong and very problematic aspect of my personality. It was very easy for me to embody the Controller, but also very uncomfortable. My whole body tensed up, as the Controller I was not going to let Emily out of my clutches for a second. Later we did the voice of the Protector. This was much more comfortable for me as my Protector voice tends to deal with outside threats by being apathetic and detached, whereas my Controller is convinced that I am about to fly off the handle unless it keeps me bottled up tight. See the difference? Both are problematic, but the Protector’s tactics are much less uncomfortable.

Next we did the Skeptic. This was also easy for me and very comfortable. This voice used to be much stronger in my life, but it has calmed down over the last year or so. No problems here.

Then Diane asked us to go to the Wounded Self. Huh? I could not find the Wounded Self anywhere! I was trying to summon this voice, but nothing came out. The rest of the group easily found their Wounded Selves and seemed to get very sad in this voice. I was at a loss. This happened again when we were asked to find the Victim and Egocentric Compassion. See a pattern? I am generally unwillingly allow myself to feel that I am damaged or that I have been wronged. I usually think everything is my own fault or that I deserve it. No Wounded Self, no Victim, no Egocentric Compassion. If I can’t recognize my own Wounded Self, how can I recognize it in others? This makes it very difficult for me to feel compassion towards individuals’ suffering. Big Mind pointed all of this out to me.

We also did the Innocent Child, which I loved although some people could not get into, the Oppressor, Compassion, and Forgiveness. With some of the voices we explored different altitudes: egocentric, ethnocentric, worldcentric, and Kosmocentric. This was very interesting, let me take you through an example.

Egocentric Compassion: I can (presumably) feel my own suffering and see how I have been wronged by other people and life circumstances. I can extend love towards myself at this level.

Ethnocentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of my people, my family, my nation and any other group I identify with. I can extend love toward my people.

Worldcentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of all of humanity, this includes “oppressor” groups like Nazis.

Kosmocentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of all living things, of all non-living things, of stars, of ideas, of beings in other realities. I can love all of it. My compassion is infinite. This is also known as Big Heart.

Fun! Later we were in the middle of Forgiveness when the afternoon prayers began in Istanbul. The conference was held right next to the Hagia Sofia, so the prayer was extremely loud. Diane asked us to sit in Forgiveness and listen to the prayer. So there I am as Forgiveness, listening to this beautiful Muslim prayer and suddenly I slip into Ethnocentric Wounded Self and I have all these visions of 9/11 and the towers falling. It was totally bizarre. Then I felt this big Forgiveness for what happened on 9/11 and I started to cry. I didn’t even know that I cared that much about 9/11. It was crazy.

But let’s not forget Big Mind itself. When we got to the voice of Big Mind, we had already been working up the altitudes. Big Mind is a sort of non-dual state where you identify as everything, as the Kosmos, as infinity, or as the Tao if you prefer. It was pretty trippy, needless to say, especially for a non-meditator like me. Big Mind is being all and Big Heart is loving all. I had a much easier time with Big Mind, but everyone was different. Big Mind felt a little cold for some people.

That about wraps up Day Two and Big Mind. I highly recommended trying Big Mind for yourself. My descriptions pale in comparison to the actual experience.