Meditative introspection promotes the First-person's science of consciousness via intuitive pathways: A hypothesis based on traditional Buddhist and contemporary Monist frameworks
J. S. Reddy, Alfredo Pereira, Edilene De Souza Leite, Sisir Roy
August 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.100774 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that objective meditation research largely neglects subjective experience, and proposes defining meditation via introspection while hypothesizing that introspective meta-awareness associated with non-conceptual meditation may lead to conceptual understanding of natural phenomena through intuition. |
Abstract
Abstract What forms the basis for validating any knowledge? Should it be always verified based on the objective and analytical methods that we adapt according to our progressive advancements in science or is there any other way of conceiving knowledge? This is the context where modern sophistication should embrace an ancient perspective. Recently, there have been great advancements in the science of consciousness and meditation. Meditation received much attention as a practice for wellbeing and as a tool for cognitive enhancement. Even though, hundreds of objective studies have been conducted on different practices of meditation across different traditions, there is one essential element missing in almost all of these studies: the discussion of the subjective experience of meditation. Embracing the traditional insights on meditation, we study this element by defining meditation based on the concept of introspection. In addition, we hypothesize that introspective meta-awareness associated with the non-conceptual experience of meditation may result in the conceptual understanding of natural phenomena via pathways of intuition. The proposed advancement bears implications for the ontological and epistemological basis of experiential knowledge, as well as, for developing introspection and meditation-based interventions for self and consciousness disorders.
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 3
- Reducing and deducing the structures of consciousness through meditation. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
- Breaking through the doors of perception, consciousness, and existence: to what extent does psychedelic phenomenology ontologically depend on external factors? Journal of Psychedelic Studies March 21, 2024
- 조화의 발견: 불교와 과학적 사유의 융합을 탐색하다 The Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture June 1, 2025
Cites 15
- Review of the Neural Oscillations Underlying Meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience March 26, 2018
- Neural correlates of nondual awareness in meditation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2014
- Toward a unifying taxonomy and definition for meditation Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Phenomenological Fingerprints of Four Meditations: Differential State Changes in Affect, Mind-Wandering, Meta-Cognition, and Interoception Before and After Daily Practice Across 9 Months of Training Mindfulness August 18, 2016
- Issues and Perspectives in Meditation Research: In Search for a Definition Frontiers in Psychology 2013
and 10 more in the library