Mental Discipline in the WW: A Comparison (long) (was:Snape the Zen Master...)

[heather the buzzard]

No: HPFGUIDX 130240

nrenka wrote:

>>But working *within the rules of JKR's world* I think Snape, though 
>>asking a lot of Harry, was not asking the impossible.
>>    
>>
>
>I don't think he was asking the impossible.  I think he was going 
>about it in a way that takes a lot longer for the student to master, 
>and is decidedly unhelpful.  No supplementary *exercises* with 
>feedback involved, just vague instructions.  No meditation, no 
>calming exercises, no puzzle solving, nothin'.  Just hit the kid and 
>expect him to respond.
>
>-Nora is admittedly biased, but does know at least a something about 
>clearing one's mind and how to teach it

Thanks Nora, I think you said better what I was trying to say previously 
about Snape not teaching well.  It's true -- there are exercises to 
clear one's mind, involving mantras or imagery, etc.  One could argue 
that the 'happy memory' to conjure a Patronus is simply an exercise 
designed to bring a focussed feleing of happiness, and it is the feeling of happiness
itself that permits the Patronus rather than the specific details of the memory.

Consequently, Occlumancy involves a focused feeling of calmness, or 
emptiness, rather than happiness.  If you were told "Feel happy" you'd 
have a hard time.  If you were told "Remember when you were happy and 
concentrate on that", you'd do better.  Similarly, "clear your mind of 
all emotion" is a rather meaningless direction.  "Focus your mind on a 
single number, or a word, or an image, let all other thoughts wash 
around it, just focus on that one thing".  It's still hard, but at least 
it is a tangible goal.

Of course, there is the issue of Harry's successful resistance of the 
Imperius curse -- which, it should be noted, Moody did not give any real 
'instructions' on how to do, just 'try to resist'.  This is something, 
though, for which the secret is not a feeling (like Happiness) or a 
state of being (like Calm and Emotionless), but more of a character 
trait -- Stubborness!  It is similar in that all of those qualities 
could be thought of as 'mental states', so Harry has shown some ability 
in controlling his mental states.  Arguably, perhaps Snape thought that 
because Harry was a 'natural' at resisting Imperius (Stubborness) that 
the same would be true for Occlumency.  Unfortunately, Stubborness is a 
totally different kind of concentration than Emptiness - you might say 
Stubborness requires tension, and Emptiness requires release.  One was 
easy for Harry, the other quite difficult.

I do think he'll master it in the next book, once he starts to calm 
down.  We can argue about WHY he was over-excited in OOTP, but the fact 
is, whatever the reason, whether justified or not, he WAS, and that's 
why he had a hard time.

heather the buzzard