Conceptualizing the Efficacy of Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka
Buddhist Studies Review February 1, 2007 Michael S. Drummond
E.T. Gendlin's philosophy and Focusing psychotherapy, which emphasize bodily feelings in cognition, share key similarities with S.N. Goenka's Vipassana meditation teachings, rooted in the Pali Nikayas. Both approaches hold that correctly understanding affective bodily feelings can dissolve destructive emotional tendencies. This article uses these parallels to begin conceptualizing, from a Western academic perspective, how Goenka's Vipassana meditation may work to dissolve harmful emotional habits, by comparing how Gendlin and Goenka understand the operative factors in personality change.