Online series with Jackie McInley, February 28th, 2026

In this dialogue session the group explored the nature of meditation, the self, and states such as depression, loneliness, and inner conflict. These experiences, though deeply personal, revealed themselves as shared movements of the human mind.

Is meditation a method, or is it the simple act of observing what is? The group questioned whether analysis and explanation prevent a direct encounter with experience, as the mind continually returns to what is known rather than staying with the living moment.

Depression and loneliness were described as forms of self-concern, moments of inward isolation. Yet, when these states were expressed and deeply listened to, something shifted. Is there, in such attention, a dissolution of separation?

A key inquiry centered on the “self.” Is it an actual entity, or a mental construction, a model built from memory and thought? This model provides a sense of identity, yet it is limited, resistant to change, and rooted in the known, which creates fear of the unknown.

If the self sustains conflict, can it be observed without judgment or escape? Not analyzed, but directly perceived. And in meeting these states without resistance, is there the possibility of something entirely new emerging?

• Anastasia Shtamina