The recent convergence of Asian and Western culture has generated interest in meditation as a practice and clinical intervention. The Burmese Mahasi style of vipassana meditation, in particular, has been a wellspring from which mindfulness-based treatment protocols have been derived. And while these clinical interventions have proven efficacious in treating a wide range of psychological …
Topic Archives:
The varieties of contemplative experience
Meditation practices and interventions, derived from contemplative religious traditions, have become increasingly popular in clinical, educational and scientific research contexts. Meditation is being applied to the treatment of a wide range of psychiatric conditions, from depression to psychosis, and implemented in schools, businesses and prisons to promote performance and wellbeing and decrease stress and anxiety. …
Continue reading “The varieties of contemplative experience”
The neural basis of enhanced introspective accuracy in long-term meditation practitioners
The accuracy of subjective reports, especially those involving introspection of one’s own internal processes, remains unclear. ‘Introspective accuracy’ (IA) can putatively be quantified by a variety of methods that combine introspective reports of subjective, mental phenomena with some objective (neural, physiological, or behavioral) measure of these same phenomena. A subject’s IA with respect to a …
A longitudinal training study to delineate the specific causal effects of open monitoring versus focused attention techniques on emotional regulation skills
Difficulties with emotion regulation could be a core mechanism of mood and anxiety disorders. Various meditation-based interventions are found to ameliorate a wide range of psychological problems however, it is crucial to understand how different types of meditation improve emotional abilities to develop structured treatment and preventative protocols for emotional disorders. Based on a commonly …
African Contemplative Practices for Healing the Past, for Transforming the Present and for Future Flourishing
There is an urgent need for a rigorous empirical qualitative description of African contemplative practices in terms of the current science and Buddhist frameworks, in order to bring the African academic community into the global research efforts to alleviate suffering and enhance human flourishing. The discussion over the 3-day retreat will center on defining contemplative …
Designing and implementing a contemplative practice-based program for ex-combatants in Colombia’s peacebuilding process
This think tank will develop a meditation-based curriculum for peacebuilding along with guidelines for its implementation as a component of Colombia’s ongoing peacebuilding process. We will draw on Mind & Life’s model to bring together scholars, scientists, and contemplatives across institutional and geographical boundaries for this immediate opportunity to promote individual and societal flourishing in …
Concepts and Nonconceptuality in Buddhist Philosophy
This workshop focuses on Buddhist philosophical accounts of concepts and nonconceptuality. Understanding these accounts is crucial for the proper investigation of Buddhist contemplative practices. Buddhist practitioners and contemplative scientists often claim that various meditation practices induce nonconceptual modes of experience. But without a precise understanding of concepts, it is impossible to know what it means …
Continue reading “Concepts and Nonconceptuality in Buddhist Philosophy”
Microphenomenology and Contemplative Experience: Exploring the Intra- and Intersubjective Dynamics of Language and Embodied Experience
We will host a two-day meeting of scholars from the humanities and sciences and contemplative practitioners to explore and develop the use of microphenomenology in the study, practice and application of contemplative practice. The meeting will bring together core members of the PhenoPilot project, with a small group of other scholars and practitioners in order …
Effects of open monitoring on visual search: Evidence from eye-tracking, electrophysiology, and phenomenology
Whereas many studies have explored the impact of meditative training on the ability to sustain a narrow attentional focus, few have investigated the impact of such training on the ability to expand the window of attention. The present study will investigate the influence of long-term open-monitoring (OM) practice on visual attention. In line with contemplative …
Neural and physiological correlates of Tibetan energy-channel meditation in highly trained practitioners
The goal of this grant is to investigate how advanced practitioners of gTum-mo (inner heat) meditation are able to tap into and manipulate the body’s homeostasis mechanisms―classically considered to be beyond voluntary control. In particular, we are interested in how this practice relates to the central and autonomic nervous systems. We propose to measure brain …
