stillness of the mind

Dzogchen scholars refer to this “stillness of the mind” as one aspect of the natural state. It is interesting to learn that long-term meditators do in fact show psychophysiog- ical evidence of reduced thoughts (reduced DMN activity) during meditation, just as the Dzogchen tradition asserts that thoughts do diminish with increasing experience of the natural state. This leads to the examination of the question of whether the practice of hypnosis or self-hypnosis could also be utilized toward transcending the illusion of self. A related question might be stated as “Are Dzogchen and mindfulness meditation forms of hypnosis anyway?” Meditation and hypnosis certainly do share many similarities (Holroyd, 2003; Spiegel et al., 2010) besides the empathic nature of their phenomenol- ogy and their shared embodiment in terms of neurophysiology, previously examined involving the DMN and the AC. However, there are many differences surrounding the communities, histories, and traditions that have respectively produced these techniques of meditation and hypnosis. It is probably best to describe meditation as a hypnotic-like experience (Krippner, 2005) and leave this question open for now. Someday it may be possible to integrate hypnotic techniques with the teachings of Dzogchen, since the two traditions are very similar in terms of their phenomenology and their ideas about the nature of self. Until that day, it is best satisfy this question through practicing each tra- dition separately and authentically on its own terms while gaining personal insights into the nature of self-transcendence (Wangyal, 2005).

Summary and Implications for the Future

The main point of this article has been to review the evidence backing the EIT of hyp- nosis and its implications for an embodied understanding of the self. The EIT defines hypnosis as an experience of enhanced empathy in which a hypnotic subject utilizes

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