Cultivating emptiness (śūnyatā), a wisdom-based Buddhist-derived practice, appears to reconnect advanced meditators to what they consider the innermost nature of mind and phenomena. In a study of 25 advanced Buddhist meditators, emptiness meditation produced significantly greater improvements in non-attachment to self and environment, mystical experiences, compassion, positive affect, and negative affect compared to a mindfulness meditation control. No significant relationship was found between duration of emptiness meditation and any outcome. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants combined concentrative and investigative techniques to induce emptiness, elicited spiritually meaningful insights, and retained volitional control over the meditation.
A French version of the Ontological Addiction Scale (OAS) was validated in 492 French adults with emotional or mood disorders. The scale measures ontological addiction, a dysfunctional self-concept where individuals see themselves as separate from their surroundings. The French OAS showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.89) and strong test-retest reliability, with a single-factor structure matching the original English version. A 12-item version also had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.81). Construct validity was supported by medium to large correlations with self-esteem, shame, perfectionism, and mindfulness. The French OAS is a robust tool for assessing ontological addiction in research and clinical practice.
Contemplative psychology is defined as the psychological study of contemplative processes and practices including meditation, mindfulness, yoga, introspection, reflection, metacognition, self-regulation, self-awareness, and self-consciousness. The discipline shares borders with other psychological and nonpsychological fields but is distinguished by its underlying assumptions, areas of empirical focus, conceptual nuances, and challenges. The field has been somewhat disparate in investigating its core techniques and principles, creating a need for greater intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary awareness. This article adopts a whole-discipline perspective to explicate contemplative psychology's history, breadth, key assumptions, challenges, and future directions.