People who attended a 30-day Lam Rim meditation retreat and had exposure to both traditional Buddhism and Western mindfulness described differences between the two approaches. They found the Western definition of mindfulness unclear compared to specific Buddhist understandings. Western applications focused narrowly on health and productivity, while traditional Buddhism offered a broader life philosophy. Participants identified Buddhist concepts—impermanence, mind science, the Four Noble Truths, emptiness, dependent arising, and compassion—as potentially helpful for enriching Western mindfulness-based interventions. Some concepts, like compassion, already have secular frameworks, but further integration of deeper Buddhist perspectives could promote holistic mental health within a non-religious framework.
A scoping review of 16 studies found that Western psychology has made limited use of the Buddhist mental factor framework, which classifies moment-to-moment mental states and their antidotes. Although mindfulness and compassion have been widely adopted, the broader framework remains underexplored. The reviewed studies fell into three categories: conceptual and theoretical analyses (10), therapeutic applications (2), and computational or AI modeling (4). None applied the full framework in a Western psychology context, but findings suggested compatibility with AI systems. Tibetan Buddhist perspectives were underrepresented. The authors conclude that future research could develop a secularized understanding of mental factors and test clinical applications.