Meditation across cultures: a neuroanthropological approach
Time and Mind July 3, 2018 DOI: 10.1080/1751696x.2018.1505810 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Psychoanalysis Archaeology |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key points | Argues that meditation on culturally salient symbols is widespread across cultures and likely one of the earliest religious practices, and that all meditation systems are embedded in a cycle of meaning that evokes and interprets spiritual experiences. |
Abstract
While discussions of meditation by psychologists tend to focus upon various forms of East Asian yogic practice, other systems of meditation occur across cultures. Meditation is defined in neuropsychological terms that allow the phenomenon to be examined in ethnographic situations. Anthropologists have found that meditation on culturally salient symbols is widespread among the world’s spiritual rituals and is very likely one of the earliest religious practices that arose during the Paleolithic. All systems of meditation are shown to be embedded within a cycle of meaning which operates to evoke spiritual experiences, anticipates the experiences that arise because of ritually controlled volition, and provides culturally appropriate interpretations of these experiences. Using this description of cultural–phenomenological interaction, it is possible to discern those societies that have meditation cultures and those that do not. Such meditation systems as prayer, dream yoga, shamanic journeying, trance dancing, and visualization in aid of healing are examined.
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
Cited by 4
- The dawn of division: For an anthropological theory of consciousness through contemplative ethnography Anthropology of Consciousness January 12, 2025
- Perspectives on Meditation-based Preparation for Psychedelic Experiences: Insights from Practitioners with Combined Meditation and Psychedelic Experience Mindfulness August 15, 2026
- Defensive Freezing and the Evolutionary Origins of Meditation in Humans. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences March 1, 2026
- A neuroepistemology of mystical experience Transpersonal Psychology Review 2020
Cites 28
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis Consciousness and Cognition May 19, 2003
- The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience Choice Reviews Online June 1, 2000
- Cognitive-Affective Neural Plasticity following Active-Controlled Mindfulness Intervention Journal of Neuroscience October 31, 2012
- Increased frontal and paralimbic activation following ayahuasca, the pan-amazonian inebriant Psychopharmacology March 30, 2006
and 23 more in the library