Study on the effects of participating in the Chinese Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng’s Pilgrimage Meditation Program: Focusing on self-compassion, mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and quality of life
Seongryong Kim
Journal of Meditation based Psychological Counseling April 30, 2025 DOI: 10.12972/mpca.2025.33.1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants in a pilgrimage meditation program centered on Chinese holy sites |
| Intervention | pilgrimage meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Pilgrimage meditation was associated with statistically significant increases in self-compassion, spiritual well-being, and quality of life, but not in mindfulness. |
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the effects of pilgrimage meditation centered on the pilgrimage to the holy sites of Great Master Hui Neng of China on self-compassion, mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and quality of life. To this end, we conducted a pre- and post-survey to measure self-compassion, mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and quality of life among participants in a pilgrimage meditation program centered on Chinese holy sites, and performed a paired-samples t-test. The results of this study are as follows. First, the average scores of the post-survey on the sub-factors of self-compassion, including universal humanity, mindfulness, and the entire self-compassion scale, were statistically significantly higher than the average scores of the pre-survey, following participation in pilgrimage meditation. Second, there was no statistically significant mean difference between the pre- and post-survey in the subfactors of mindfulness and the overall scale according to participation in pilgrimage meditation. Third, the average of the post-survey on spiritual well-being was found to be statistically significantly higher than the average of the pre-survey following participation in pilgrimage meditation. Fourth, the average of the post-survey on quality of life following participation in pilgrimage meditation was found to be statistically significantly higher than the average of the pre-survey. The results of this study are expected to confirm the effects of pilgrimage meditation on individual psychology and provide basic information on psychological intervention using pilgrimage meditation.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |