The Sensory Basis of Self: Trauma- and Dissociation-Informed Work with the Early Buddhist Teachings

This online spiritual workshop offers a trauma- and dissociation-informed approach to the early Buddhist teachings, held over a single day on Zoom. It looks at how the most basic sense of self is built from the body's senses, and at what the early Buddhist path does, and does not, ask of people whose sense of self has been shaken by trauma. It is meant for Buddhist practitioners curious about trauma-informed meditation and for clinicians who want to understand Buddhist doctrine and practice.

What to Expect

The day begins from a plain observation: trauma and dissociation distort the very functions that ground a self, namely the five physical senses, proprioception, the vestibular sense and interoception. Reintegrating that sensory ground is what can make self and world habitable again, or habitable for the first time where an integrated self never had room to form.

From there the workshop turns to the early Buddhist teachings and their treatment of the six sense domains, with the mind counted as the sixth. Buddhism is often presented as a path of disenchantment and release, and presence in the moment is used in the early teachings as a step toward letting go of the present itself. The workshop takes those apparent faultlines seriously rather than smoothing them over.

Among the questions explored:

- How the early teachings begin with awareness of posture and ordinary activities as a preliminary practice for mindfulness as presence.
- What the simile of the two oxen shows: that what binds is neither the eye nor the forms but the yoke, the grasping that arises in dependence on both. The yoke is what is undone, not the seeing and not the living.
- How trauma and dissociation tighten that yoke, and why practitioners so often blame themselves for obstacles that belong to another order altogether.
- How we own and disown self and dukkha, and what the call for detachment and insight into not-self asks of us, and at what levels of discourse.
- Whether the Buddhist deconstruction of a unitary self actually speaks to the "parts" and self-states used in trauma therapy, or is a different matter.

The format combines presentations, guided practices, breaks and extended Q&A, with room for exchange in a safe and supportive space. The session runs from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern Time. Sessions are not recorded.

Before You Go

The program suits practitioners of all levels. Buddhist practitioners without in-depth knowledge of trauma- and dissociation-informed approaches will find a way in, as will clinicians without in-depth knowledge of Buddhist doctrine.

No preparation is expected. Enrolled participants receive a short list of suggested readings.

To support a personal and safe space, participants are asked to:

- Use their actual lived names as Zoom identifiers, with no nicknames or concealed identities.
- Keep cameras on during the session. Cameras are optional during guided meditation and not expected during breaks.
- Tell the teacher in advance, through BCBS staff, if health or other reasons make it impossible to keep the camera on.

The program is offered freely in the Buddhist tradition of dāna, and participants are invited to practice generosity with a donation. Donations are shared between the teacher and BCBS. There are no cancellation fees for donation-based programs. Because the workshop is on Zoom, start times can be checked against your own time zone with a converter before the day.