Understanding The Process of Taoistic-Informed Mindfulness from a Meadian Perspective.
Enno Von Fircks
Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science September 2024 DOI: 10.1007/s12124-023-09805-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Autoethnography I/me Personality Taoism |
| Key points | Argues that mindfulness should be understood through a Taoist framework of life's polarity and wu wei rather than as a positivistic variable, and contends, via autoethnography and Mead's social psychology, that meditation lets a person experience a new "I" that responds differently to social demands (the "Me"), producing a new personality that integrates life's polar sides wholistically. |
Abstract
In the recent years, mindfulness-based research has experienced a boom. Yet, the majority of those studies treat mindfulness in a positivistic way, thus solely as a variable. Within such a lens of inquiry, we ignore the theoretical and historical underpinnings of mindfulness that are still important, nowadays. For that purpose, I instance a theoretical and historical framework of mindfulness grounded within Taoism - relying on the notion of the polarity of life and wu wei (the principle of not-forcing) and try to bridge that focus with Mead's Social Psychology. By means of an autoethnography, I show that mindfulness-based activities such as meditation unfold the power of an individual to experience and own a new I which then acts in a new fashion upon the demands of the (social) environment (Me). In this process, a new personality is born that integrates wholistically the polar sides of life within himself/herself.
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 8
- Mindfulness, Phenomenology, and Psychological Science Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science April 22, 2024
- Doping Existential Despair: Mindful of the Exotic Lure. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science September 1, 2024
- Meditation and Self-transcendence: A Human Need? Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science September 1, 2024
- Mindfulness, Buddhist Modernity and Cultural Psychology. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science June 6, 2024
- Palliative care providers' experiences of mindfulness and resilience: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice July 21, 2025
and 3 more in the library
Cites 4
- Understanding the power of mindfulness from a cultural-psychological perspective Culture & Psychology September 7, 2023
- The Role of Trait Mindfulness in the Association between Loneliness and Psychological Distress Mindfulness August 1, 2023
- Mindfulness in Persons with Mild Dementia and Their Caregivers: Exploring Trait Rumination as a Clinical Outcome Measure Mindfulness August 1, 2023
- The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology April 1, 2010