I have been teaching classes as a volunteer in prison for about 20 years. What a lucky thing for me. The current class is on anger management. Last night a person shared about getting so angry two weeks ago that he was forgetting things and was obsessed by the thoughts. Another man told him that he understood what he was feeling because 30 years ago something happened to him and to this day laying in his bunk at night he still gets worked up into a state of possession by rage.

In the class I was looking at the men during a period of silence and going within. Some of the men were falling asleep, some looked uneasy at being silent, but the majority of the men could sit in peaceful silence. One of the guys shared afterwards that he had been meditating for about a year since coming to the class. He mentioned the positive results such as not being pushed around like he previously was by his thoughts. This is a man that sat in solitude for 5 years on death row. I tell the class that when our attention is imprisoned by thoughts that we are in a prison more confining than the maximum security prison where the class is held. I see students in my college classes stressed, easily angered and not present and I tell the prison class that many of them are freer than the average college student.
(see http://www.wimp.com/refreshmind/ on the power of meditation)

Piaget studied human development and came up with 4 stages that people go through. The third stage is concrete operational stage. Seen from the concrete stage a prison is a place of cells that are locked at night, surrounded by barbed wire, electrified fences that can electrocute a person, eating mystery meat that comes in containers marked ‘NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION’ and guards that tell them when to get up, when to eat, and when they can go out of the dorm. Piaget’s final stage is formal operational which features abstract thinking. The following from http://www.mind-development.eu/stages-development.html discusses formal operations:

**
The fourth stage, that takes place from age 12 (given sufficient IQ, education and stimuli) to adulthood, is Formal Operations. This is a more objective way of perceiving the world with the ability to focus simultaneously on several aspects of a problem - this is 'decentration.' Even adults, before they obtain the full abilities of formal operations - or if (as is common) they do not develop that far - continue with a centrated, single-minded point of view, intolerant of alternatives. Adult centration is the rule rather than the exception. The centrated person has tunnel vision when it comes to the world of ideas; the decentrated person is open to considering new ideas from all directions.
Typically, a person of average intelligence (which is only 100 by definition) would remain below the sub-stage 1 of Formal Operations, predominantly using Concrete Operations. A higher level of mental maturity would only be manifest in emotionally neutral situations or in a domain specific manner, perhaps in the context of work requiring concentrated problem solving. When "off duty" or when under emotional pressure most people would tend to regress to the level of Concrete Operational thought, and under severe pressure to the Pre-Logical thinking of Stage 2.
Only about 17% of the population, those with an IQ above 110, uses Formal Operations on an everyday basis. And only about 5% of the population reaches the final stage of Formal Operations, true formal thought, and probably about 2% continue to develop at the Postformal Level. Of them, about 0.1% go on to complete this process. This is mainly because a person needs to be in an educational or otherwise stimulating environment, until he or she is about thirty. Most university students leave university after gaining a first degree at between the ages of twenty-two to twenty-four, so the process of Postformal development all but ceases, unless they continue to work in an intellectually stimulating environment.
**

I see a lot of misunderstanding in discussions here as coming from concrete vs. abstract points of view. Jung said, “One man’s medicine is another man’s poison.”

Going home from the prison class I stopped at Wal-Mart. The temperature last night was going down to 10 degrees F. Several people came into Wal-Mart for propane gas bottle exchange. Wal-Mart was sold out. My heart went out to these individuals. We heat with wood and solar and have about a 4 year supply of wood on the wall of our barn that also serves as a wall to shield from rain blowing in. We use propane for cooking and have a tank that will provide about 7 years of use. The poverty resulting in lack of resources to stay warm in the cold is a metaphor for a poverty of being prepared to stay warm in freezing life situations. So often life has rubbed my nose into my own poverty. What can be more important in this life than becoming wealthy and sharing the wealth?

When I was a Mormon, I heard several times that meditation was a bad practice, and to not attempt it. The reasoning was that it would leave your mind so open that Satan would have the ability to come into your mind, and you wouldn't be able to prevent it.

I think about that now, and it sounds so incredibly paranoid. I know so many mormons who would benefit by learning to quiet their mind. The mormon solution to that is to read your scriptures. I fail to see how reading about war and annihilation of the planet would calm any mind.

Not only Mormons (although I can not remember being told this) but Christians (specifically the Bible answer man) deplored meditation because it opens one up to Satan. I wrote a blistery email to the answer man but he, for some reason, never returned it with his thoughts!

My experience of course is just the opposite, meditation opened me up to God and truth and a whole lot more!!!! I also do some self hypnosis, which is almost the same as meditation, and consider that very useful also.

If you are interested in either you can get a lot of good ones on the internet for FREE versus paying a hypnotist/psychologist for hypnotherapy at $40+ per hour!!!

Spiritist, I know a person that recently stumbled onto using self talk by himself and I would like some links to look at myself and to share with my friend.

I have been pausing whenever I think about it to ask my highest self what principle would enrich my life now. A word like freedom, love, compassion, joy, surrender, patience, or silence pops into my mind and it modifies the quality of my awareness.

What an insightful post. Thanks, ab.

I taught GED classes at a local jail for a few years. It was both maddeningly frustrating and extremely satisfying.

What struck me the most were the comments I got from so many inmates, in the form of, "Nobody ever treated me like I could learn or improve myself before," as a way of thanking me. It really showed me how much a huge part of our population is simply lacking a human connection encouraging them to set goals and work towards them, and showing them how they can do that.

Every now and then, I give my urban students "the talk." If I tell other teachers that I gave "the talk," those teachers know exactly what I said, because they give the very same talk. It is a talk about how education is important and can change your life. I give specific examples of students who have done just that. I give specific examples of the benefits that students can expect. I tell them that decisions that they make *right now* may very well impact the rest of their lives. I explain about the value of making an effort, even if they can't see the immediate results of that effort.

It is truly sad to see so many young students who are uninvested or only partially invested in school. Some students have huge attendance issues, missing weeks or even months of school. Some are chronically tardy and miss reading instruction every day. I think that the attitudes start at home. OTOH, I've seen many immigrant kids come to school with a good attitude and do quite well. Their parents are fully conscious of why they came to America and what they hope to gain here.

As teachers, we try our best, but there are limits to what we can do.

I'm guessing that my Mormon father's mental operation was concrete, by the way he threw me to the curb.

donbagley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm guessing that my Mormon father's mental
> operation was concrete, by the way he threw me to
> the curb.


I don't know you that well Don but from the things you've said

here from time to time about your Dad ... it makes me want to

kick his ass... which I couldn't do in real life but it just

pisses me off so badly when little children are treated so

badly and are not cherished my their parents, plus it seems

like you have turned out so well in spite of all the shit you

went through. Plus, you're funny as hell. ... Ok I just wanted

to say that.

I second saucie's reply, as well as the desire to kick the ass of your father.

I am at this moment working on a comprehensive telling of my life story at ages 14 and 15. My father's actions will be detailed with unflinching acuity. It is my desire that he be found out, as all moralizers should be. And that the man who beat me down be given his just deserets, so to speak.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2015 08:59PM by donbagley.

This why I like I like RfM. It's like the old TV show Cheers. I feel like I'm sitting between Cliff and Frasier.

I think freedom is in the mind. I was my own prisoner for many years.

The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest have a celebratory feast called Potlatch. The Canadian and US governments outlawed it for a long time under the theory that private property is sacrosanct. But for the natives, the coolest thing you could do is give away all your stuff.

Bradley, that reminds me of what I learned while in Hawaii. That the way the Hawaiians lost their land, was when the outsiders set up laws of land ownership, and they told the Hawaiians to get in there and sign documents to ‘claim their lands’. The Hawaiians thought this was a ridiculous idea … ‘Own the land? Everyone owns the land; and we share it. Why would we go sign some paper?’ Well, guess who lost all their land? I side with the Hawaiians, by the way, not the howlies. What a nasty trick that was.

Interesting side story, and a completely irrelevant one. I live right on the patch of land where one of the last outlawed ‘Sundance ceremonies’ was ever performed, at summer solstice, by the local native Americans. It had been outlawed, as it had everywhere else, but our locals had modified it, and still continued in spite of warnings to stop. One day the ‘new folk’ just got sick of their insistence on continuing the practice, so they came up here and shot a bunch of them during one of the last ever ceremonies conducted in North America, including women and children. Our local natives say that’s why this hill will always be a messed up place to live, and none of them will ever buy a home in this community. After living here for awhile, and observing how everyone who moves here goes berserk in one way or another, I can believe it.

My wife and I try to make peace with the land here, but our Indian friends say we are ‘loco-crazy’. They say we’ll never change the land here, it’s simply cursed, and every local Indian from around here knows it.

That’s my ghost story for tonight … whatever that had to do with anything. :/

Meditation …good, Mental stimulation …good. There, I said something about the OP. Great info ab, I enjoyed reading about it.

Yes, thank you ab. Intention can be a powerful tool and meditation is useful for calming anxiety, among other things. I recognized more value in Zen Buddhism than in my own former religion while I was still an active Mormon. I continue to find peace in Zen Buddhism and treasure my infrequent visits up to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

Torturednevermo, with regard to land gone bad because of terrible things that happened on it, I believe sometimes a redemption of sorts can take place. I lived for 5 years on a couple of acres up in Northern California. The place was simply infested with (for lack of a better phrase) negative energy when I first moved in. The place had a violent history and was devoid of birds. They seemed to completely avoid the property. It was weird not hearing any birdsong. I have a special interest in birds so I notice these type of things. I put both muscle and heart into rehabilitating the land and within a year, I observed a plethora of different species return! The seasonal pond on the property had no avian visitors during that first year. Every year after, I saw cranes, herons, ducks, and marsh birds use that pond.

Well, thank you for sharing the wealth, ab.

How sad that prison became the safest place of learning for those men. Learning cannot occur in a condition of fear, another theme common to this board.

I struggle for objectivity every day. Aware that my opportunities for personal development had been sadly lacking, and that there were those unimpeded by the "sensitivities" which plagued me, I felt starved of the "secret(s) of peace" - a way of moving through each day less bothered by events beyond my control.

I can confirm the regression when stressed. I don't consider myself as YET having "a barn wall full of wood" -a phrase I will now keep close - the realization that I ever more quickly meld black and white into gray, lends a sense of hope that, yes, the choice for freedom and wealth has become mine.

Myprofie,
Many people have a cognitive defense network used to deny frequent evidence of poverty. I try to embrace with patience and compassion the broken unintegrated modes of thinking and behaving. My reaction to your openness was a feeling that you are in a position to make some good changes in your life. I use Rumi’s Guest House poem:
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks
Negative thoughts and emotions come from past wounds when life events have overwhelmed us. This moves our identity from imprisoned in thoughts and emotions to being the stage upon which thoughts and emotions dance. The movement of awareness to the host level facilities a healing of the past.

Thank you again, ab.

Since I've woken, I've only ever tolerated the dark, never having considered it a possible partner, even though I partake of its certain gifts in a begrudging manner.

To be a willing host rather than its jailer - that will take some assimilation, but the idea feels like an opening door.

Stimulation can be hard to come by where I live, but a gift I don't begrudge is a hunger for knowledge, and finding treasures like this.

So, thank you.