In the West people come to meditation groups (sanghas) for reasons not always obvious to the individual.
In the modern world there are myriad causes and contributions to suffering (dukkha), seemingly only augmented by contemporary social media and the general sense of acceleration of time.

As the traumas of everyday life accumulate, one must also consider existential concerns, abounding uncertainty, imperilled agency, and a troubling loss of authenticity. Not surprisingly there is widespread psychopathology, even afflicting children.

There is thus a major challenge, particularly for new practitioners, to achieve resolution of the accumulated lifetime psycho-baggage, to facilitate ever deeper states of samatha (tranquility) and Vipassana, to allow experiences of “the everyday sublime” (as described by Stephen Batchelor), and to achieve meaningful freedom and wisdom.

In this reflection Jonathan will review the notion that attention to developmental and psychological matters is critically important, but deeply interconnected to the “spiritual” process.

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