Judith BeyerFrom a #Lacan |ian perspective, wanting to “live in the present” is structurally psychotic. A key concept of the self-help mindfulness industry is that of arguing for “presence”. Most famously advocated for by E. Tolle many years ago, but now allover Instagram and beyond…
To want to always be the present, to try to teach your mind not to “wander” and to focus on your own body, essentially mirrors what psychotics experience. In #psychosis, there exists no time and no beginning and no end to one’s own body. Under such condition, trauma is always present, too…
I practiced #vipassana many years to learn the meditation technique & philosophy & I lived in #Myanmar where it is still central to Buddhist sangha practice in the monasteries. But monks and nuns are 100% taken care of by lay people. They live outside everyday life and do not have to function in it…
But to force oneself to be “present” in the midsts of the everyday, denies trauma to become part of one’s history. This is what neurotics manage well: they have a capability for “hystorization” as #Lacan called it.To create a hystory of one’s own does more to one’s peace of mind than one might think