Abstract Objectives Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) incorporate a broader range of contemplative techniques, including Buddhist-derived ethics- and wisdom-based practices. However, little is known about how non-Buddhist participants engage with these practices or whether differences in contemplative composition are reflected in participant experience. This study...
Abstract Objectives Nonattachment, defined as the capacity to relate to internal experiences, identities, and external circumstances without clinging, avoidance, or over-identification, has been associated with reduced psychological distress and enhanced well-being, yet its deliberate cultivation within trauma-focused interventions remains underexplored. This study evaluated Nonattachment for...
A cancer diagnosis often triggers profound psychological distress and existential uncertainty. While first-generation mindfulness-based interventions are widely utilised, research on second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs), such as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), remains limited in oncology. MAT integrates traditional contemplative practices, including compassion,...
BACKGROUND: A cancer diagnosis presents significant psychological challenges, often resulting in lasting distress and dis-ruption to daily life. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly recognized as vital components of supportive oncology care. Second-generation MBIs (SG-MBIs), such as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), integrate Buddhist wisdom principles such as...
Mindfulness-based interventions are gaining recognition as effective therapeutic tools for psychological distress in oncology. However, the widespread adoption of mindfulness in Western clinical contexts has raised ethical and philosophical concerns, particularly regarding the Westernisation and cultural appropriation of Buddhist wisdom. This paper examines the ethical implications of employing...
Abstract Objectives This systematic review sought to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) that explicitly or implicitly integrate Buddhist wisdom principles, such as impermanence, interconnectedness, and/or non-attachment, for enhancing psychological well-being, pain management, and quality of life among cancer patients. Method Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a...
Background: Nonattachment is an important component of Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs), including its application within post-traumatic stress (PTS) contexts. However, within trauma contexts, there is limited understanding of the role and effectiveness of MBIs that integrate nonattachment. Objective: This study aimed to identify and evaluate evidence regarding the effectiveness of MBIs...
Objectives: The majority of mindfulness research has focused on group-level effects, with limited attention to how engagement with specific meditation practices interacts with individual differences such as personality. This study examined whether Big Five traits moderated the effects of two mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on well-being and prosocial outcomes: one incorporating...
According to ontological addiction theory, the root cause of mental suffering is a dysfunctional conceptualisation of the self. Typically, an individual with such a flawed self-concept deems themselves to be intrinsically separate from their surroundings, with their beliefs, choices and behaviours structured in order to reinforce their sense of an independently existing self. The Ontological...
The concept of enlightenment has long intrigued scholars and contemplation practitioners alike, often associated with profound insights into the nature of self and reality. This chapter explores the notion of enlightenment through the lens of non-dualism, emphasizing the dissolution of the independent, single, permanent self and the emergence of self-transcendent experiences. Such experiences...
Abstract Objectives The study aimed to examine the impact of incorporating Buddhist ethics-based practices versus Buddhist ethics- and wisdom-based practices in an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on prosocial behaviour. Method Changes in behaviour were evaluated through the subcategories of monetary donation, prosocial attitudes, and volunteering engagement. Participants at a...
During the last four decades there has been a significant growth of interest in mindfulness-based practices and their potential to foster improvements in health, wellbeing and human functioning in a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations. With this growth has come a renewed interest in understanding the psychological processes involved as well as the neuropsychological mechanisms by...
AbstractSelf-transcendence and the associated decrease in ego-centeredness are understood to foster altruistic and positive behaviors that promote prosociality and pro-environmental actions. However, the lack of an agreed valid and reliable measure of self-transcendence has posed difficulties in examining this subject. The main aim of this study was to use the recently developed Ontological...
Abstract Objectives The objective of this evaluative systematic review was to analyse the impact of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) that incorporate Buddhist wisdom practices on prosocial behaviour, and provide insights into their underlying mechanism, potential benefits, and applications. Method A systematic literature search was conducted using three electronic databases up until 1...
Abstract Mindfulness is said to be a connecting thread between an ancient philosophy on the one hand and a contemporary psychological practice on the other. However, some contemporary mindfulness practices have arguably become so disconnected from their roots in Buddhist ethics and wisdom principles that the fundamental essence of the practice is no longer recognisable. It appears that when...
Abstract The editors to this volume posed a series of fascinating questions relating to how seeing compassion as a skill can help us understand its nature, cultivation and effects within secular contexts. This paper addresses these questions by comparing evolutionary with contemplative approaches to compassion. Recent scientific approaches have explored the evolved roots and biopsychosocial...
Death awareness, which is an integral part of Stoic philosophy, has received little attention in either therapeutic training or empirical psychological research. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating participants’ experiences of completing a Stoic death writing intervention. To understand newcomers’ experiences being in-daily-death-contemplation, in-depth, semi-structured...
Contemplative psychology is concerned with the psychological study of contemplative processes and practices, such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, introspection, reflection, metacognition, self-regulation, self-awareness, and self-consciousness. Although contemplative psychology borders with other psychological and nonpsychological disciplines, some of its underlying assumptions distinguish it...
Wisdom-based Buddhist-derived practices (BDPs) are concerned with transmuting suffering by cultivating insight into the ultimate nature of both the self and reality. Arguably the most important wisdom-based BDP is emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā) that implies that although phenomena are perceptible to the human mind, they do not intrinsically exist. Despite its significance in Buddhism, emptiness...
Research into the effects and mechanisms of mindfulness training draws predominantly on quantitative research. There is a lack of understanding about the subjective experiences of experienced mindfulness meditators, which may provide additional insights into the effects, processes and context of mindfulness training. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of a novel group of...
Between 10 and 20% of adolescents worldwide experience a mental health problem within a given 12-month period. Mental health problems impact on an adolescent’s potential to live a fulfilling and productive life and lead to challenges such as stigma, isolation and discrimination. To address this need, in recent years, there has been growing interest into broad-based school-integrated health...
Background: Ontological addiction theory (OAT) is a novel metaphysical model of psychopathology and posits that human beings are prone to forming implausible beliefs concerning the way they think they exist, and that these beliefs can become addictive leading to functional impairments and mental illness. The theoretical underpinnings of OAT derive from the Buddhist philosophical perspective...
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are life transformational events that are increasingly being subjected to empirical research. However, to date, no study has investigated the phenomenon of a meditation-induced near-death experience (MI-NDE) that is referred to in ancient Buddhist texts. Given that some advanced Buddhist meditators can induce NDEs at a pre-planned point in time, the MI-NDE may make...
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex psychosomatic pain condition. In addition to generalized pain and various cognitive difficulties, new FMS diagnostic criteria acknowledge fatigue and sleep problems as core aspects of this condition. Indeed, poor sleep quality has been found to be a significant predictor of pain, fatigue, and maladaptive social functioning in this patient group. While...
Amidst the burgeoning enthusiasm for mindfulness in the West, there is a concern that the largely secular 'de-contextualized' way in which it is being harnessed is denuding it of its potential to improve health and well-being. As such, efforts are underway to 're-contextualize' mindfulness, explicitly drawing on the wider framework of Buddhist ideas and practices in which it was initially...