I just want to know if anyone here is a practitioner with neurodivergent traits or diagnosis.
a. please tell me a bit about your relationship to autism and how your relation to practice has been
b. how and why did you first desire to practice? why do you now practice?
Hi Wil,
Over the years, a number of folks describing themselves to be “on the spectrum” have been involved in AYP.
The thing is, anyone who can think and have an intention can practice deep meditation with good results. More importantly, it is about maintaining the intention (bhakti - desire) to keep coming back to the meditation seat, because long term daily practice is the key to best permanent results. Folks on the spectrum may have an advantage in that, as focus and stick-to-it-ness go with the territory, don’t they?
Whether anyone will chime in here remains to be seen, but I did want to let you know that I have had contact with meditators over the years, describing themselves as being autistic, who have been very intent in their meditation practice and having good results. So the answer to your question is, yes, there are autistic practitioners out there.
If you do forum searches on “autism,” “autistic,” etc, you will find discussions on this that have occurred in the past.
All the best!
The guru is in you.