Meditation as Sickness, Meditation as Medicine

Most psychological and clinical research in the United States on “adverse meditation effects” has studied “meditators-in-distress” of European descent who utilize modern(ist) meditation forms. This paper, written from my dual perspective as both religious studies scholar and psychotherapist, offers a counterpoint, drawing on ethnographic interviews with Nepali psychiatrist Pawan Sharma and his treatment of “meditation-related psychosis.” Practicing in what he calls a “meditation culture,” Sharma argues that contemporary clinicians should better account for religio-cultural difference. For example, he doesn’t pathologize Nepalese temple-goers who experience “transient possession” because such episodes are socially normative. But Sharma is also resolutely biomedically-minded asserting that, ultimately, it’s “all about the neurochemicals.” He believes a “core psychopathology” remains consistent among “meditators-in-distress” throughout history across cultures. Nonetheless, Sharma is also open to healing resources typically categorized as “religious.” I conclude by considering Sharma’s vision “that clinicians and religious scholars should work together” to care for meditators-in-distress.

Cheung Seng Kan is a contemporary Chinese American healer in the New York City area. He is a node of transnational religious healing using acupuncture, qigong, reiki, Buddhist chants, and more. In 2012, he became the center of an immigrant healing community consisting of over three dozen relatives, friends, students, and patients. In contemporary Chinese culture, zouhuorumo or “leaving the path and demons entering,” describes deviation from proper self-cultivation or spiritual practices. It applies to martial arts, qigong, Buddhist and Daoist contexts. I interviewed Cheung on what he has learned and what he teaches to his community regarding zouhuorumo, especially qigong deviation and zen sickness. He elaborates on the various types of deviation, along with their causes and ways to avoid them. I argue that to understand his explanations, we should consider how he interweaves Confucian (filial piety), Buddhist (dukkha), Daoist (effortless action wuwei), and popular Chinese religious (astrology) principles.