As a subgroup of the environmental movement “Extinction Rebellion,” “Extinction Rebellion Buddhists” are a unique religious community in the United Kingdom. While at first glance the group might seem to align with broader trends occurring in the religious landscape, where Buddhists are increasingly involving themselves in political issues, they in fact encapsulate a distinct phenomenon in...
ReflectionsI come to the study of consciousness and the self through my training as a Buddhist monk and scholar, who has learned about the mind and the self from Tibetan teachers, the meditations they taught, and the voluminous lit er a ture of this tradition.It was a welcome surprise to realize that the insights that I gained through my studies and practice could be of use in the scientific...
Abstract Objectives This systematic review sought to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) that explicitly or implicitly integrate Buddhist wisdom principles, such as impermanence, interconnectedness, and/or non-attachment, for enhancing psychological well-being, pain management, and quality of life among cancer patients. Method Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a...
This study explores the dynamics of engaged spiritualities within contemporary Buddhist communities in Italy. By employing an ethnographic approach, the research examines how physical space fosters spiritual experiences, facilitates social interactions, and serves as a site for personal and collective transformation. The study integrates insights from religious studies, anthropology, and...
BACKGROUND: This study investigated pāramīs-based inner strengths and mental health outcomes among elderly Thai Buddhist meditators, with a particular focus on the combined effects of strict ethical adherence to the Five Precepts (abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants) and varying level of death contemplation practice because this combination is a hallmark...
December 5, 2025Seyedeh Robabeh Riazi, Fatemeh Golshani, Anita Baghdasarians et al.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Zen meditation techniques on psychological well-being and pain in elderly residents. Methods and Materials: The study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments and included both experimental and control groups. A total of 42 elderly residents (20 men and 22 women, aged 65-85) from Kahrizak...
In Buddhism, Meditation and Free Will: A Theory of Mental Freedom, Rick Repetti explains how the dynamics of Buddhist meditation can result in a kind of metacognition and metavolitional control that exceeds what is required for free will and defeats the most powerful forms of free will skepticism. This article argues that although the Buddhist path requires and enhances the kind of mental and...
I first attempt a taxonomy of meditation in traditional Indian Buddhism. Based on the main psychological or somatic function at which the meditative effort is directed, the following classes can be distinguished: (1) emotion‐centered meditation (coinciding with the traditional samatha approach); (2) consciousness‐centered meditation (with two subclasses: consciousness reduction/elimination and...
Buddhism has captured the imagination of many in the modern (Western) world. Recently, scientists have seemed eager to discover whether claims about Buddhist meditation can be verified experimentally. Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence that mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow practitioners to achieve different levels of...
Certain philosophers and scientists have noticed that there are data that do not seem to fit with the traditional view known as the Mind/Brain Identity theory (MBI). This has inspired a new theory about the mind known as the Hypothesis of Extended Cognition (HEC). Now there is a growing controversy over whether these data actually require extending the mind out beyond the brain. Such arguments,...