Mindfulness: the feeling of being tuned-in, and related phenomena : phenomenological reflections of a Buddhist practitioner
Erol Čopelj
Warwick Research Archive Portal September 15, 2026 DOI: 10.82444/warw.33824944 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that cultivating mindfulness is the practice of tuning out of the 'transcendental horizon' and tuning into the 'open horizon', and that mindfulness is the feeling of being tuned in to the open horizon. The author contends this 'tuning-in-tuning-out' differs from the phenomenological epoché, and proposes phenomenological descriptions of mindful attention, concentration (samādhi), and insight (vipassanā). |
Abstract
This work develops a phenomenological account of mindfulness, and related phenomena. It is divided into two main parts. The aim of part one is to articulate a pre-phenomenological sketch of mindfulness (and related phenomena) by (1) drawing on passages from some of the classic works of Western literature and everyday life, (2) through an interpretation of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and (3) by the means of a critical analysis of the contemporary attempts to account for these phenomena. Part two adds further detail to the sketch by entering a dialogue with the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. A key distinctions made here is between the transcendental horizon (which is filled in by our possibilities) and the open horizon (which is filled in by thingly possibilities). This difference allows cultivating mindfulness to be defined as the practice of tuning-out of the transcendental horizon and tuning-in to the open horizon. Mindfulness—the potential fruit of tuning-in-tuning-out—is defined as the feeling of being tuned-in to the open horizon (or to thingly possibilities).A key findings of this research is that tuning-in-tuning-out is a difference practice than the phenomenological epoché; whereas the latter discloses the transcendental horizon, the former discloses the open horizon—on which the transcendental horizon (and the practice of the epoché) is dependent. These findings open up the possibility of a phenomenological description of certain phenomena that are closely related to mindfulness (and with which mindfulness may be confused). Some of these phenomena are: Mindful attention, which is defined as the function of foregrounding a sub-horizon within the open horizon and the pushing of the other sub-horizons into the background. Concentration (samādhi): the narrowing down of the open horizon to one of its sub-horizons. Insight (vipassanā): the activity of isolating a sub-horizon, discerning its thingly possibilities, zooming out, isolating a second sub-horizon and discerning its thingly possibilities, and then contrasting the two in such a way that their difference becomes vividly present.
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 |