This is about how the Western psychological concept of attachment is related to meditation, as conceptualised by the Pointing Out the Great Way method of teaching (now no longer under this name).
The following diagram provides a high level overview of what is explained in the post:
At my very first meditation retreat, to my surprise, Daniel P Brown gave a lecture on psychological attachment theory. I was already familiar with it. But it was new to almost everyone at the retreat.
I later found out that
Dan Brown was an expert in Western attachment theory (in addition to his 40 years of meditation training). For a short time, he was involved in what is now the Attachment Project which provides some basics.
His meditation method integrated methods he had used in his "attachment healing" approach called the "Ideal Parents Figure Protocol".
The connection between attachment and meditation is carried on as a tradition with some or all of his co-teachers (I know of John Churchill, Susan Mickel, and George Haas).
I recently received a snippet of a talk by John Churchill on meditation and attachment. John was Dan Brown's co-teacher for many years, and like Dan Brown, has training in psychology, hypnosis, etc.
This snippet provides a thorough insight into the connections between attachment and meditation underlying the POGW approach.
The Buddhist definition of attachment
It is necessary to explain the important difference between the Buddhist term "attachment" and the psychological definition from Western developmental theory.
Broadly speaking, in Buddhism, attachment is the tendency of the mind to cling to certain experiences, certain states, and to avoid others. This attachment leads to suffering: after all, no beautiful state is permanent. Not even life! And success and happiness only create clinging to the desire to prolong happiness.
This is not the definition of attachment in Western developmental psychology.
The psychological definition of attachment
Attachment is the cornerstone of our psychological development. It's the process by which infants bond with their caregivers, laying the foundation for future relationships and self-esteem. When this attachment is secure, it provides a stable foundation for emotional growth. Insecure attachment, however, can lead to persistent feelings of doubt, difficulty regulating emotions, and a fragile sense of self.
This may be a good place to pick up some fundamentals. Or you use AI.
Meditation as Self-Attachment
John points out that mindfulness meditation activates the same neural circuitry associated with attachment. When one sits in meditation, focusing on bodily sensations and observing responses without judgment, we are essentially giving ourselves the attentive care that ideally should have been given to us in childhood. As Churchill put it, "You are basically mothering yourself."
This concept is illustrated in one of the POGW teacher´s guided meditation:
"Remembering that the ocean of awareness is a loving ocean, not separate from the field of care. And so we're being with all aspects of our experience, with this loving, wise awareness, which you could say in a sense, holds what arises within it."
Here, the teacher is guiding the students to bring a nurturing, attentive relationship to their own experience – a form of self-attachment that can help heal past wounds.
Visualization Practices and Attachment
John Churchil emphasizes the power of visualization practices, which are common in Tibetan Buddhist traditions, for example in the A Khrid system. These practices, such as deity yoga or guru yoga, serve a similar function to attachment-based therapy. By visualizing an ideal parental figure or a compassionate deity (a "guru"), or a group of those, students can activate and strengthen their attachment systems.
The POGW teachers used different terms for the meditation equivalents of ideal parents. The original formulated used the traditional term "retinue". Another teacher, more abstract, uses the term "field of care". Both terms refer to a group of people to which the student has trust, and with who they have positive experience.
The purpose is in both cases to create a sense of safety and attunement, providing a secure base from which to explore one's inner landscape.
This is an example from John Churchill.
Call forth the retinue. So feeling the retinue as a living presence surrounding you. Looking upon you with encouragement. Never any judgment.
We also see this approach very explicitly in action in this meditation guidance by another POGW teacher.
"Now we'll begin with the field of care which you can evoke.... You can remember a caring moment when you were with someone who appreciated you just as you were, cared for you, enjoyed your presence and you felt loved or cared for unconditionally."
The Paradox of Attachment in Meditation
John Churchill highlights the following double role of attachment: attachment is important both at the beginning of self-development and at the advanced stages of meditation practice. While secure attachment helps build a stable sense of self when one is young, it's also essential for eventually transcending that self.
"If you and I feel and if we all feel deeply safe and held, then it's easy to relax our minds."
This relaxation is key to recognizing what Buddhists call our "true nature" (rigpa in Tibetan meditation) - the fundamental awareness that's always present beneath our thoughts and emotions.
Practical Applications
Understanding this connection between attachment and meditation allows meditation teachers with psychological / therapeutical backgroun to tailor practices to individual needs.
For instance, in a traditional lvein, they might recommend deity or guru practices to students who show signs of insecure attachment, without necessarily explaining the psychological theory behind it. Or, in a more modern approach like realised by George Haas, they might start from attachment rather than from meditation.
On a micro-scale, this approach is evident in this instruction, which also draws heavily in standard hypnotherapeutic formulations.
And if there's a part of the mind that isn't sure about settling, feels afraid or doubtful, just allowing that part to be present in its own way, to find its own way to settle in its own time, with no part left out.
By acknowledging and accepting all parts of experience, including doubts and fears, one creates a more secure "attachment" to oneself and one´s practice.
Addition: Dan Brown´s view of attachment
Dan Brown, in his teaching, never suggested that the meditator should get rid of attachments (of whatever sort).
I don't like the term non-attachment. I think it's a misunderstanding of what happens in Buddhism. I think that one, through the first level of the turning of the wheel, the Theravadin practice has learned a kind of non-reactive awareness. But in Mahayana, the second turning of the wheel, in the essence traditions, the third turning of the wheel, there's no encouragement of the practice of non-attachment.
In fact, we use, in the essence traditions, we use the stuff of everyday reality, and relative reality is the vehicle for awakening. So, to put yourself in the midst of samsara, and to open up your awakening, it deepens much better in the midst of samsara than in some quiet state. So there's no notion of this, of non-attachment here. (Dan Brown, in his 2013 Terry Patton interview)
Conclusion
It may be interesting for meditation teachers to familiarise themselves with the basics of attachment theory.
Resources
The Attachment Project: Learn Attachment Theory from Experts. (2023, August 20). Attachment Project. https://www.attachmentproject.com/
Brown, D. P., & Patten, T. (2013, January 1). The Sun Beyond the Clouds of Self | A new republic of the heart. A New Republic of the Heart. https://newrepublicoftheheart.org/bas/brown-05-13b
Gebel, T. (2024g, July 9). Daniel P Brown´s teaching approach: integrating Buddhism, Therapy, Performance Coaching. Till Gebel. https://www.till-gebel.com/post/daniel-brown-buddhism-therapy-performance-coaching-for-meditation/
Haas, G. (n.d.-b). The Ideal Parent Figure Protocol. Attachment and Meditation Podcast. https://poddtoppen.se/podcast/1125066071/meditation-x-attachment-with-george-haas/the-ideal-parent-figure-ipf-protocol/
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