Tales of depersonalization are not unheard of amongst the students of bad teachers. In the words of Neil Gaiman, “…Sturgeon’s Law… approximates to ‘90 percent of everything is crap.’” This also applies to teachers. As they spread their confusion (like Mary Mallon did with Typhoid) they cause their students to misunderstand mindfulness and meditation.
When mindfulness (vulnerable, passive, visceral, and spontaneous) is replaced with concentration (rigid and controlling) perceptions can feel flat, one dimensional, and distant. When mindfulness is deemphasized for meditation and then emptiness is not practiced in a yogic manner but rather pseudo-intellectually or as an object of rigid faith we can, like Alice, fall down the rabbit hole of questioning the realness of both the external and the internal.
Experiences of depersonalization are a red flag that we ignore at our peril. Heed their warning and find teachers and techniques that are more beneficial that you too could meditate like a Jedi.
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