SELF-REALIZATION AS THE BASIS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY: A LOOK AT TWO EASTERN-BASED PRACTICES, TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION AND ALPHA BRAIN WAVE BIOFEEDBACK
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal 1974 DOI: 10.2224/sbp.1974.2.2.191 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Transcendental Meditation alpha brain wave biofeedback training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that all psychotherapy ultimately aims at maximizing human happiness through self-realization, and that Transcendental Meditation and alpha brain wave biofeedback training—the latter originating from EEG monitoring of Zen and Yoga practitioners—are Eastern-derived techniques through which people train themselves to produce subjectively pleasant states of mind. |
Abstract
The “name of the game” for all types of psychotherapy is ultimately the maximization of human happiness. All psychotherapy then becomes concerned with such notions as self-realization, self-actualization, human fulfilment, etc., although a given system may not use such terminology.This paper looks at some Eastern contributions to the promotion of self-realization—in particular a technique in the Hindu Yoga meditative tradition, Transcendental Meditation (TM) which is beginning to attract substantial scientific attention. In addition the paper also looks at some of the rather arresting research in alpha brain wave biofeedback training, originating from EEG monitoring of Zen and Yoga practitioners. People are training themselves to produce states of mind found subjectively to be pleasant.