Tibetan Buddhist monastic debate: Psychological and neuroscientific analysis of a reasoning-based analytical meditation practice.
Marieke K. van Vugt, Amir Moye, Joshua Pollock, Bryce Johnson, Marcel O Bonn-Miller, Kalden Gyatso, Jampa Thakchoe, Lobsang Phuntsok, Ngawang Norbu, Lobsang Tenzin, Thabkhe Lodroe, Jampa Lobsang, Jampa Gyaltsen, Jampa Khechok, Thupten Gyaltsen, David M. Fresco
Progress in Brain Research 2019 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.018 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation Buddhism |
| Keywords | Emotion regulation Monastic debate |
| Key points | Proposes that Tibetan Buddhist monastic debate cultivates reasoning, attentional focus, working memory, emotion regulation, confidence, and social connectedness through cumulative practice. |
Abstract
Analytical meditation and monastic debate are contemplative practices engaged in by Tibetan Buddhist monastics that have up to now been largely unexplored in Western contemplative science. The highly physical form of contemplative debating plays an important role in the monastic curriculum. Based on discussions and recorded interviews Tibetan monastic teachers and senior students at Sera Jey Monastic University and preliminary experiments, we outline an initial theory that elucidates the psychological mechanisms underlying this practice. We then make predictions about the potential effects of this form of debating on cognition and emotion. On the basis of initial observations, we propose that successful debating requires skills that include reasoning and critical thinking, attentional focus, working memory, emotion regulation, confidence in your own reasoning skills, and social connectedness. It is therefore likely that the many cumulative hours of debate practice over 20+ years of monastic training helps to cultivate these very skills. Scientific research is needed to examine these hypotheses and determine the role that monastic debate may play in terms of both psychological wellbeing and educational achievement.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Inter-brain Synchronization in the Practice of Tibetan Monastic Debate Mindfulness February 21, 2020
- How Meditation Promotes Well‐Being: Applying a Dual‐System Theory Social and Personality Psychology Compass February 1, 2025
- Anticipating Stress: To Focus on the Body or Do a Self-Inquiry? The Effects of a Focused and Deconstructive Meditation Session on the Stress Response Mindfulness November 24, 2025
- Bearing Witness to the Anthropocene: A Contemplative Interbeing Framework for Planetary Health and Nursing Ethics Challenges June 25, 2026
- Collaborative dialogue between Buddhism and science: A contribution to expanding a science of consciousness. The Journal of Comparative Neurology December 1, 2020
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and 6 more in the library