Modern mindfulness-based programs often adopt an individualistic, self-help perspective that may undermine their effectiveness for treating depression, which is partly caused by isolation. Buddhist mindfulness emphasizes interdependent origination (緣起) and community (the sangha as one of the three jewels), defining salvation as the liberation of all beings from suffering. This thesis argues that mindfulness practices framed as a personal, goal-oriented project risk isolating practitioners, especially those already secluded in a private world of self-improvement. A Buddhist interpretation that highlights interdependence and community is therefore desirable for addressing depression.
Scientific and traditional Buddhist models of the mind can be reconciled by examining their underlying assumptions about the self. Two models are compared: the Theater-of-the-Mind, which places a central self at the heart of experience, and the Ten Ox Herding Pictures, which uses a conventional self but ultimately affirms impermanence and no-self. A practical pedagogical reconciliation is possible through provisional acceptance of a reified self in Buddhist teaching, as illustrated by a recently developed Buddhist-based meditation program. This approach may reduce tensions between secular and religious views of meditation by clarifying the models of mind each practice implies.