Vipassanā meditation as the investigation of mental action
Michal Barnea-Astrog
May 8, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429472718-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Vipassana meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that Vipassana meditation is a direct experiential investigation of mind and matter that breaks experience into functions including consciousness, perception, sensation, reaction, and body. Proposes that it reveals two intersections: between sensation and the mind's reactive tendencies, and between past conditioning and future becoming in each moment of consciousness. |
Abstract
Vipassana is the in-depth and unmediated investigation of the mind-and-matter phenomenon. Rather than an investigation in the intellectual sense of the word, however, this is a direct experiential investigation in which certain aspects of the mind are trained to objectively examine themselves as well as other, interacting, aspects of the so-called self. The analytical aspect breaks the mind-and-matter phenomenon down into the various functions operating it: consciousness, perception, sensation, reaction, and matter (the physical or corporeal element, the body). Vipassana meditation aims to elucidate and reveals the following two intersections: the one between sensation and the mind&s;s tendentious reaction to it, and the one in which the present moment of consciousness is informed by past conditionings, on the one hand, and informs the becoming of future moments, on the other. Each moment of consciousness, and, therefore, each mental action, is a juncture between the past that feeds it and the future that it, in turn, feeds.
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 |