View, meditation, action: A Tibetan framework to inform psychedelic-assisted therapy
Colin H. Simonds
Journal of Psychedelic Studies March 28, 2023 DOI: 10.1556/2054.2023.00255 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Psychedelic-assisted healing Psychedelic treatment Psychedelic medicine Psychedelic guidance Psychedelic integration Buddhist principles Tibetan buddhism Spiritual framework Consciousness exploration Altered states Non-ordinary experiences Meditative states Psychedelic states Expanded consciousness Therapeutic guidance Preparation Healing outcomes Directed approach Enhanced healing |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key points | Argues that applying the Tibetan Buddhist framework of view, meditation, action to psychedelic-assisted therapy—through more intensive preparatory sessions, repeated dosing, and a more directed experience—may increase therapeutic efficacy. |
Abstract
Abstract Whether occasioned through careful, consistent meditative practice or through quicker means like the ritual ingestion of psilocybin or ayahuasca, global contemplative practices have established effective systems of implementing, directing, and integrating the very kinds of non-ordinary experiences central to psychedelic use. However, contemplative traditions are largely absent from the present discourse on psychedelic therapy. This paper addresses this gap and offers a novel analysis of psychedelic-assisted therapy through the lens of the Tibetan Buddhist contemplative tradition. It first establishes a baseline for comparing the non-ordinary experience occasioned by Tibetan Buddhist meditation and the psychedelic experience by referencing the phenomenological literature of both. It then articulates the Tibetan contemplative framework of view, meditation, action (Tib. lta sgom spyod gsum ) as the way Tibetan Buddhism directs its non-ordinary meditative experience towards its desired ends and suggests how this framework may be applied to psychedelic-assisted therapy. Finally, this paper uses this Tibetan Buddhist lens of analysis to compare and assess two protocols for psychedelic-assisted therapy and to make recommendations for future clinical protocols. Given the phenomenological similarity of Tibetan Buddhist meditative experience and the psychedelic experience, this article suggests that a more intensive preparatory session where maladaptive conceptual narratives are worked through and beneficial ones are introduced, repeated dosing sessions, and a more directed psychedelic experience may increase the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy. It thus argues that the insights of the Tibetan framework of view, meditation, action can improve future protocols and allow for psychedelic-assisted therapy to be of even greater benefit.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. | 2024 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Learning to Let Go: A Cognitive-Behavioral Model of How Psychedelic Therapy Promotes Acceptance | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Awe: a putative mechanism underlying the effects of classic psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy | 2018 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ethical and legal issues in psychedelic harm reduction and integration therapy | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Towards psychedelic apprenticeship: Developing a gentle touch for the mediation and validation of psychedelic-induced insights and revelations. | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Can psychedelic use benefit meditation practice? Examining individual, psychedelic, and meditation-related factors. PLoS One February 12, 2025
- Tripping Toward the Real: Inducing Liminal Sensory Experiences through Psychoactive Substances in Buddhist Contemplative Practice Journal of the American Academy of Religion July 11, 2026
- Exploring the therapeutic convergence of meditation, psychedelics, and MDMA Journal of Psychedelic Studies April 17, 2025
- No Attainment, Nothing to Attain: A Buddhist Reflection on Psychedelics Journal of Contemplative Studies February 29, 2024
Cites 15
- Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Psychopharmacology December 1, 2011
- Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later Journal of Psychopharmacology May 30, 2008
- Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness Frontiers in Psychology September 4, 2018
and 10 more in the library