Nothingness in Meditation: Making Sense of Emptiness and Cessation
Vismay Agrawal, Ruben Laukkonen
March 18, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/tygdf (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Emptiness Nothing Sense electronics Psychotherapist Psychoanalysis Epistemology Theology Electrical engineering |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that emptiness and cessation are distinct phenomena with different implications for alleviating suffering, and proposes an active inference framework to model cessation experiences. |
Abstract
Contemplative practices have been shown to elicit a range of experiences and insights often referred to as "nothingness". However, these encounters are frequently conflated and remain undifferentiated. Here we address this ambiguity and provide a nuanced understanding of two such events: 1) emptiness (lack of inherent existence in experience, i.e., no-thingness) and 2) cessation (“cut” or absence in the stream of consciousness, i.e., nothingness). We synthesize insights from Buddhist literature and empirical research, investigating the relationship between these “nothingness” phenomena, their transformative effects, and neural correlates. We also examine multiple pathways that may lead to cessation and consider potential cognitive models underlying these experiences using the active inference framework. Finally, we discuss the relationship between “nothingness” events and cessation of suffering, setting the stage for further development in this field. Our unique contributions involve juxtaposing various experiences of “void, oneness, non-dual awareness, pure consciousness” with insights into “emptiness and cessation”, and analyzing their potential implications for alleviating suffering.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 31
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources PLoS Biology May 4, 2007
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness Frontiers in Psychology September 4, 2018
- Finding the self by losing the self: Neural correlates of ego-dissolution under psilocybin Human Brain Mapping May 22, 2015
and 26 more in the library