From the very beginning, the format and content of the beginner’s courses in Acem were different from those of the Mahesh Yogi movement. Among other things, the leaders in Acem felt that the Mahesh Yogi movement stimulated an attitude that was counterproductive to personal growth.
An article with the title “Meditation neurosis” (Meditasjonsnevrose) appeared in no. 6, 1970 of AMS-informasjon, an Acem (then called AMS) publication that was directed as much toward meditators in Mahesh Yogi’s movement as toward meditators in Acem. The article had a humoristic tone and was written by a “not unknown psychologist,” but the content was a serious attack on attitudes within the SRM, Mahesh Yogi’s organization. The author not mentioned by name was Are Holen. The article described the development in some meditators of an inflated ego and unrealistic self-image, self-centeredness, and passivity toward the challenges of life, etc. Mahesh Yogi and the SRM were not explicitly mentioned, as Acem and the SRM still had a degree of cooperation.
The article underlined the emphasis in Acem on activity as important to meditators. An article in Dyade no. 3, 1971, entitled “The philosophy of engagement” (Engasjementets filosofi) dealt with this perspective (translated from Norwegian):
“Meditation is an important source of growth, but what emerges has to be worked through and processed—not by meditation, but by ourselves, through activity. Meditation expands our consciousness, but the resources that are released in this manner cannot be realized through deepening alone. If we are not willing to or capable of using them in activity, action, and experience in the external world, where our daily lives take place, we stagnate.”
When Are Holen again became leader of Acem at the beginning of 1973, much effort was put into the development of the psychology of meditation in order to describe the meditative process in ways that are easily recognizable for meditators and to be able to help people meditate more effectively. The focus was on how to practice the technique rather than states of mind. The understanding of the process was based on psychological experiences rather than spirituality or philosophy. This was pioneering work; for the first time, it was described in detail how to practice the technique under changing inner condititions.
A first complete manual for instructors of beginner’s courses was produced in 1974. A completely revised M1 study circle (originally from 1973) was produced in the spring of 1976. This was described as a “revolution in the understanding of meditation.” The term flåmh, which was an abbreviation for the Norwegian “free, easy, open mental attitude” ( fri, ledig, åpen mental holdning ), was among several new concepts first introduced in a preliminary version in November 1975. It described the mental attitude with which to repeat the meditation sound. From now on, this became a very central part of the understanding of how meditation can reduce tension and contribute to personal development.
Also, the concepts “active concentration” and “spontaneous concentration” (many years later called “spontaneous absorption”) were introduced. Active concentration refers to the type of concentration we frequently employ in daily life, when we deliberately use effort to focus on a certain object, task, or topic and to keep distracting thoughts out of the mind. On the other hand, spontaneous concentration is what can frequently be experienced both in meditation and in daily life, when some thought, emotion, or image captures the entire attention of the mind and makes us forget to focus on the task at hand, such as repeating the meditation sound. The free mental attitude is different from both of these, but repeating the meditation sound with a free mental attitude will lead to spontaneous concentration as part of the meditative process.
The new M1 also drew important distinctions between the types of effects that meditation could bring about. Primary effects can be experienced during meditation and include the reduction of physical tension and the calm associated with mental openness. Secondary effects can be observed in daily life outside meditation after some time of regular practice. These effects include more energy, increased ability to concentrate on tasks and studies, positive health effects, improvement of social relations, etc. A tertiary level of effects was also mentioned, which was related to personal development by an expansion of the mind’s cognitive resources. These were connected to qualitative changes in the way the technique was practiced, and these changes could then be generalized to other aspects of one’s life, producing long-term effects. To describe some of the same distinctions, the expressions “direct effects” and “indirect effects” were also used.
A minor revision of the M1 study circle, published in September, underlined that the correct way of practicing the meditation technique was not understood once and for all, but would change over time, due to the influence of underlying tensions. The meditator’s practical understanding of the basic principles of how to perform the meditation technique would therefore have to be renewed over time.
In 1977, a new study circle, M2, was published. It explained “the stream of thoughts” for the first time. This is the spontaneous activity of the mind, not only thoughts in a limited sense, but also including emotions, feelings, images, body movements, and sensations. The “processing” or “working through of tensions” (spenningsbearbeidelse) was defined as the process that leads to change in the mental attitude toward perception, decisions, and unfinished experiences. The notions of HAR-spenninger (tensions that you HAVE) and ER-spenninger (tensions that you ARE) also came with M2. Working through tensions that you HAVE (of which you are conscious) implies improvement within the given limitations of your body and personality, and it primarily takes place in relation to the content of the spontaneous activity in meditation. Working through tensions that you ARE (of which you are unconscious) implies breaking with some of the given limitations of your life and behavior. This is obtained through changes in the attitude of the mind, i.e. by attaining a higher degree of the free mental attitude in meditation.
At the revision of the manual for instructors of beginner’s courses in September that year, the term utflytenhet (laxity; laxness) appeared. Laxness is not active or spontaneous concentration, nor is it a free mental attitude but rather an attitude in which one indulges in the thoughts, feelings, or images that come, without paying much attention to repeating the meditation sound.
An article in Acem-Nytt in 1979 introduced the term “metathoughts” to describe evaluative, and mostly negative, thoughts about one’s own practice of the meditation technique. In unconscious ways, these may influence the way the meditation sound is repeated and limit the degree of free mental attitude.
Another article in Acem-Nytt that year dealt with the concept of center and periphery of the mind, and how one can pay too little attention to the meditation sound even though it is supposed to be done without concentration and effort.