September 30, 2026
Paul Condon, Lawrence W. Barsalou
preprint
Conceptual development is a fundamental feature of contemplative practice but has received little attention in contemplative science. In Buddhism, for example, the eightfold path begins with right view, which includes comprehension of interdependence, suffering, and so on. In Tibetan traditions, foundational practices introduce conceptual frames, including aphorisms and visualizations, that...
Frontiers in Psychology
September 11, 2020
Paul Condon, John Makransky
Meditation programs continue to proliferate in the modern world, with increasing participation from scientists and many others who seek to improve physical, mental, relational, and social flourishing. In developing such programs, the meditation practices have been adapted to meet the needs of modern cultures. However, through that adaptation, important contextual factors of traditional...
Current Opinion in Psychology
August 2019
Paul Condon
Contemplative science experienced tremendous growth in the past five years in part through new attention to the social processes and prosocial outcomes associated with meditation. Despite this growth, questions persist about the mechanisms and contexts through which meditation increases or fails to increase prosocial behavior. In this article, I draw on Buddhist traditions and empirical efforts...
Routledge eBooks
April 28, 2017
Paul Condon
46 citations
This chapter reviews the scientific research investigating the impact of mindfulness and related meditation techniques on compassion and prosocial behaviour. Of greatest interest, the neural effects of compassion training predicted increased altruistic behaviour in an economic transaction. Many studies have examined the impact of mindfulness, loving-kindness, or compassion training on...
PLoS One
February 17, 2015
Daniel Lim, Paul Condon, David Desteno
297 citations
Emerging evidence suggests that meditation engenders prosocial behaviors meant to benefit others. However, the robustness, underlying mechanisms, and potential scalability of such effects remain open to question. The current experiment employed an ecologically valid situation that exposed participants to a person in visible pain. Following three-week, mobile-app based training courses in...
2014
Paul Condon
3 citations
Meditation practices have grown in popularity throughout Western culture over the past thirty years, in part due to an increasing number of scientific studies documenting many personal benefits resulting from meditation. Studies have shown, for example, that meditation improves cognitive capacities, mental health outcomes, and increases gray matter in the brain. Yet little empirical research...
Paul Condon, John Makransky
Meditation programs continue to proliferate in the modern world, with increasing participation from scientists and many others who seek to improve physical, mental, relational, and social flourishing. In developing such programs, the meditation practices have been adapted to meet the needs of modern cultures. However, through that adaptation, important contextual factors of traditional cultures...