Chaos Theory and Seeing Life as a River

Note to readers: My fascination with chaos theory began almost 20 years ago and with quantum theory almost 50 years ago. I have found both these fields to resonate with and inform my Buddhist beliefs and practices. Neuroscience research, which the Dalai Lama both loves and supports, is also pointing out amazing connections to what the Buddha spoke about 2500 years ago. This is my first attempt to write about how chaos and quantum theories inform my mindfulness practice, so I am especially open to, even asking for feedback--what ideas made sense to you, what didn't make sense, corrections and edits, and what you would like to hear more about. You can write me at tombassarear@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for any feedback you offer.

Ashuelot River
For about a year I have been playing with a new metaphor for life: floating down a river that is has many whirlpools and vortices that bump into and interact with each other. In my meditative walks last year along the Ashuelot River near my house, I noticed many such whirlpools. One day I filmed a twig flowing upstream at the edge of the river; you can see the film below. As it moves upstream you can see whirlpools, constantly moving, constantly changing, sometimes bouncing off each other, sometimes a bigger one swallowing a smaller one.

Chaos theory (complex systems)
Since noticing the whirlpools, I have been reinvestigating the idea of chaos theory. Wikipedia states that "within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnectedness, constant feedback loops, repetition...and self-organization."

[Note: words and phrases in italics particular connect to mindfulness practices.]

In their second book on systems theory, Seven Life Lessons of Chaos, John Briggs and F. David Peat also find the metaphor of a river being useful. "Each part of a river acts as a perturbing effect on all the other parts. In turn, the effects of these perturbations are constantly being fed back into each other. The result is turbulence, a chaotic motion in which different regions are moving at differing speeds...A river demonstrates all the characteristics of chaos. Its behavior is highly complex, including random, unpredictable flows, eddies, and stable vortices."

They assert that chaos theory is "about letting go, accepting limits, and celebrating magic and mystery...The predicament of all life is uncertainty and contingency...Ancient and indigenous cultures handled their uncertainty through dialogues of ritual with the gods and unseen forces of nature. Western industrial society has taken a different route. We dream of eliminating uncertainty by conquering and controlling nature. The ideal of 'being in control' is so much a part of our behavior that it has become an obsession, even an addiction...Chaos theory demonstrates why such a dream is an illusion...The metaphor of chaos theory shows that beyond and between our attempts to control and define reality lies the rich, perhaps even infinite realm of subtlety and ambiguity where real life is lived. Chaos theory suggests that instead of resisting life's uncertainties, we should embrace them."

Three basic principles of systems theory
While there are many basic principles, these three resonate with and inform my mindfulness practices.

1. The whole system is interconnected.
This implies that each part affects the other, in both simple and complex ways. This was a central principle in Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. He coined the word 'interbeing' to emphasize how critical it is that we see how deeply we are connected not only to each other but to all life.

2. Simple and complex
Phenomena that appear to be extremely complex may have a simple origin, while surface similarities may conceal something very complex. Scientists have studied huge termite mounds in Africa to understand how they can maintain a constant inside temperature throughout the year. Similarly scientists have studied starling flocks which can "turn on a dime." In both cases, scientists found very simple rules which the animals follow in order for these amazingly complex phenomena to occur.

Applying this to my own life, my attention is generally not on how to change a situation I am grappling with, which often has so many contributing factors, but rather to pay attention to how I am responding to the situation. When I am stressed and I check with the body--it automatically relaxes; I don't need to try to relax. When I check with the heart-I remember qualities that are useful to focus on, e.g., generosity, gratitude, appreciation, kindness. When I check with the mind--it moves from a 'figuring out/problem solving mode' to focusing more on listening to what responses make the most sense in this moment.

3. All systems are self-organizing
This is defined as a process "in which the internal organization of a system...increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source." We are also complex systems and the principles of systems theory also guide our behavior, just as they guide the behaviors of other complex systems like forests. Beginning with Isaac Newton's metaphor of "a clockwork universe," Western scientists have used machines as metaphors for human behavior, but chaos theory suggests a forest might be a better metaphor. More and more scientists studying forests suggest seeing an entire forest as a single organism and talk about the forest as a "wood-wide web."

I recall my delighted amazement in my high school chemistry class that the atom is over 99% empty space, that electrons spinning at phenomenal speeds create the illusion of solid matter, just like an airplane propellor is small compared the space it takes up. Taking this further, quantum physics is showing that it can be more useful to view ourselves as systems of energy rather that a mass of solid matter. Neuroscientists are showing us that at the microscopic level, thoughts and emotions are electrical currents and chemical reactions. Thus, it is more useful to view me as many interacting systems of energy. That is, my beliefs and biases, my personality, my various habits, legacy burdens and gifts from my parents are really systems in my brain/body that are constantly moving and changing, like whirlpools running into each other, sometimes bouncing off each other, sometimes merging...

Four concepts in systems theory that I find helpful.
1. Turbulence (in a river ) or messiness in a life
While turbulence is a natural part of any system, we have been conditioned to regard periods of turbulence as "something has gone wrong." Chaos theory and my meditation teachers suggest that there are lessons to be learned in periods of turbulence. I regard the dissolution of my first marriage, my time in the Peace Corps, and my recent aortic dissection as periods marked by extreme turbulence and also periods of important growth. Of course, almost every day has moments of small and big turbulence.

2. Bifurcation
Bifurcation is a fancy word for branching; think of the line from Robert Frost's poem: two [or more] roads diverged in a wood. Each bifurcation point requires a choice, and we make hundreds, sometimes thousands, of choices every day.

Chaos theory reminds us that systems are nonlinear which means that choices often have unintended consequences. Here is a nice example from a friend. If you throw a baseball, you have a sense of where it will land. If you make a small adjustment, you expect to see a small difference in where the baseball lands. In a complex system, you could make a small adjustment and the system could move in a totally different way, like the baseball landing a mile away.

During the early period of my dissection, when I felt the danger of dying much more than in the period before the dissection, there were times where I would oscillate between periods of fear and periods of love, often in the same day. From my old perspective, these periods of rapid oscillation were very unsettling: "what's wrong with me?" However, chaos theory suggests that these oscillations are not uncommon in complex systems.

3. Feedback: positive and negative
Feedback loops are a part of all life. A positive feedback loop is one in which one action makes another action more likely and back and forth. A negative feedback loop is one in which an action has a dampening effect on a situation. Both kinds of feedback loops can have positive or negative consequences.

Here is an example of a positive feedback loop with my wife. For several years I have been bringing coffee to her when she wakes up; I am a morning person and she is an night person. Recently when she was not feeling well for a few day, I began bringing breakfast in bed on a tray. When she felt better, she began doing things like cutting out the daily crossword in the newspaper for me or making a salad which I don't particularly like to do. In turn, I began doing things like vacuuming more often, which is hard for her to do. Before you knew it, we were looking for little ways to please each other. I laughed when I realized that we were in a positive feedback loop, each action reinforcing similar actions in the other.

4. Leverage
Leverage in a system is where you find a small behavior that can have a large effect. For example, as I my health improved from the dissection I decided that I had more energy to meditate and to focus more intentionally on being mindful throughout the day. I found that two small acts produced quite a large effect. I decided to carefully and slowly unfold my meditation shawl before meditating and then again after meditating, and I decided to say a simple grace which I learned from Thich Nhat Hanh before meals and before snacking.

Other people have found it quite helpful to have a meditation corner or meditation room and to have an altar which might have statues, pictures, candles, etc. Other people have found rituals helpful, for example, bowing before and after meditating, and my unfolding and folding the shawl...

Bringing this to a close.
I could and might write a long chapter about the implications of quantum theory, chaos theory, and neuroscience for mindfulness, but this post is long enough. My intention is to discuss these ideas more in the consequent blogs.

I will end with what feels more like a poem than a summary.

All life so mysteriously interconnected
I/we contain multitudes
Periods of order and turbulence
A forest, miraculous dance between order and chaos
Many roads diverge in a wood: proceed with caution and wonder
Down the rabbit hole: whee! oops!
Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows
Looking for leverage points in the system that is me

Commonalities among many disciplines

Over the many years of learning meditation and mindfulness, my practice has been informed by my experiences in other fields. I have seen so many parallels between what my teachers in these other areas were telling me and what my meditation teachers were telling me.

Tai Chi
I took weekly Tai Chi classes for 3 years. Even though it has been 3 years since I stopped going. I remember so vividly the initial instructions from my teacher: The first rule in Tai Chi is to relax!

Another key instruction was not to force the postures. This was challenging for me because I generally try very hard to do it right, to succeed. This was a problem with challenging moves, for example, doing a turn in slow motion so that my right foot landed 150 degrees from where it had been when I lifted it!

The teacher repeatedly said that it was fine if your foot only turned 90 degrees, that it would come in time. But my focus was still on getting as close to 150 degrees as possible. Not surprisingly, I slightly twisted my knee in one practice.

Time to develop patience. I practiced letting go of the desired outcome. I vividly remember the first time I landed the foot close to what the teacher was showing. Ah yes, rule number 1: relax!

Yoga
When taking yoga classes, I struggled with the Downward Dog posture, partly because my shoulders have always been weak. I kept trying and the teacher, who had been my student in a meditation course, encouraged me to relax. Her words are etched in my brain: don’t try to find the posture; let your body show you the posture! Then one day, my body and mind relaxed and I found the sweet spot. Suddenly it was not a painful or frustrating posture. I could actually hold it for awhile!

Drawing
After retiring, I took an Introduction to Drawing course at Keene State College. The teacher was a friend who had also been a student of mine in meditation. I saw many parallels between her instructions and the instructions of my meditation teachers.

Rule number 1 in drawing: draw what you see as opposed to what you think you see or what you think you are supposed to see.

Another rule: pay attention to your body and mind. When they are tired and tight, take a break. Stand back and get perspective.

Pilates
When I first started taking Pilates classes, the teacher would often say things that made no sense. For example, feel your pelvic floor. Yeah, right!

She would often emphasize having only the muscles directly involved be active. While doing leg circles, she said to let the hip muscles do the work, not the thigh and leg muscles. Puzzling at first, until I sensed the difference when the rest of my leg muscles were relaxed.

Then one day, I left class and got on my bike. As I rode, I noticed that only my leg muscles that were needed were active; the rest of my leg muscles, my arms and torso were still. I suddenly understood the beauty of dance. The dancers only moved the parts of the body that they wanted to; the rest of the body was still.

Other areas
I have noticed similar principles, either first-hand or vicariously, in other areas: music, athletics, appreciating the natural world while hiking or kayaking.

My daughter is an accomplished musician. After a performance, I asked her what she was thinking when she was soloing on the mandolin. She said that she wasn’t thinking, that she let the fingers go where they wanted. I recall a similar response from a famous running back in football who was asked what he was thinking when he was running. He laughed and said that if thought at those moments, he wouldn’t be much of a running back.

Both musicians and athletes talk about muscle memory and practice so that during the performance or game, they don’t do much thinking. Same too with meditation! This brought to mind a teaching, that I previously wrote about.

The Three Intelligences
My teacher’s point in his talk is that we are receiving information from our body, our mind, and our heart all the time. The goal is to have all three working together—aligned, attuned.

The problem is that the thinking mind is generally the loudest and the fastest!

What I learned:
• Thinking: I often tell this part of my being to do what it does best and then make space for me to benefit from what the body and heart are telling me.

• Body: I let my body relax and I am receptive to the information coming from my body, e.g., muscle tension, fatigue, aching, soreness. I then relax into these feelings.

• Heart: I invite my heart to be open, letting go, letting be, willing.

Over the years, I can sense when these three systems are attuned and aligned and when they are not. When they are not, back to the first rule of Tai Chi: relax!

I am so grateful to my teachers and fellow students for what I learned, even though it took me longer than I wanted and expected.