What makes a meditation object? This essay explores early Pāli accounts of objects still used in modern practice, especially in Southern Buddhism. Their very variety reflects this tradition’s stress on a graduated path, where different stages and individuals require different teaching approaches, at different times. Usually, in practice, objects inducing “calm” and various states known as...
This paper discusses the kànhuà technique developed by the Chinese Línjì (Jpn.: Rinzai) master Dàhuì Zōnggǎo (1089-1163) that became a widespread form of meditation in East Asian Zen. Kànhuà meditation focuses on the keyword or “punch line” (Ch.: huàtóu, Jpn.: watō, Kor.: hwadu) of puzzling Chán “encounter dialogues” (or kōan stories) associated with past Chán (Zen) masters. Dàhuì insisted on a...
The first big wave of scientific research on meditation came in the 1970s and mainly focused on the physiology of relaxation. The second wave, which is still ongoing, has a stronger focus on modes of attention and their neural correlates. In both waves of meditation research, Anglo-American scientists have dominated the arena, but the kinds of meditation investigated have almost exclusively...
This essay distinguishes between directive meditation, which seeks to bring about inner transformation by means of outside-in processes, and non-directive meditation, which builds on inside-out processes. The two types differ in terms of their meditation object (thematic vs. technical), mental attitude (concentrative vs. non-concentrative), and the context surrounding the practice (suggestive...
This essay defines meditation as an “attention-based technique for inner transformation”. This generic definition establishes a common point of reference for the cross-cultural study of meditation, and it serves as a basis for discussing cross-cultural issues relating to the foci and modes of meditative attention, the attitudes toward the technical nature of meditation, and the relation between...
The central aim of Tantric practice in Tibetan Buddhism is enlightenment, but the same techniques are also used to attain good health and a long life. The image of the Tantric deity and the surrounding mandala enables the imaginative recreation of a universe in which body-mind and wider environment are connected. Along with mantra recitation, secret breathing techniques, sometimes sexualized...
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The Catholic educator has a distinctive evangelizing role within the Catholic school.Contemplative practice, through reflection and witness, has the potential to contribute to creating a faith internship community for students and adults in the school community.This article addresses the distinctive thinking processes contemplative educators use to lead efforts to provide students with lived...
Correspondence: chpmiller@ucdavis.edu University of California, Davis, USA Welcome to a special issue of the International Journal of Dharma Studies. Here readers will find five articles that approach contemplative practice from various philosophical, pedagogical, and scientific perspectives. The diverse contents presented here will likely interest a broad range of readers including scholars,...
ExploreOctober 24, 2016Janet C. McConville, Rachael McAleer, Andrew J. Hahne
Background: High levels of stress have been identified in medical students and increasingly in other health profession student population groups. As stress can affect psychological well-being and interfere with learning and clinical performance, there is a clear argument for universities to include health professional student well-being as an outcome in core curriculum. Mindfulness training is...
Objective:Adenomyosis is a common benign gynecological condition in pre- menopausal women, with symptoms such as menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea, greatly affecting women’s health and quality of life. The treatment options of adenomyosis are hysterectomy, anti-inflammatory, hormone medications and conservative surgeries. However, they might be either temporary symptom control, or side effects, or...
This chapter introduces the topics of meditation, creativity, how they are related to creative problem-solving skills, and updates recent research on these topics.
The present study examined the effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of university students. A total of 36 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a training mindful breathing condition (n = 12), a training cognitive reappraisal condition (contrast group, n = 12), and a non-training condition (control group, n = 12). Each of the participants...
Greenhouse gases from human activities are causing climate change, creating risks for people around the globe. Behaviors involving transportation, diet, energy use, and purchasing drive greenhouse gas emissions, but are also related to health and well-being, providing opportunity for co-benefits. Replacing shorter automobile trips with walking or cycling, or eating plants rather than animals,...
Cognitive ergonomics in the work place has become a serious concern with the need to keep people happy at work while maintaining high productivity. Hence, it is worth exploring how the outcomes of lifestyle-based mind development programs can bring about happiness in workplace while keeping productivity and quality of services high. The objective of the present work was to test a body-mind...
Clinically significant psychological distress in pregnancy is common, with epidemiological research suggesting that between 15 and 25 % of pregnant women experience elevated symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Untreated psychological distress in pregnancy is associated with poor obstetrical outcomes, changes in maternal physiology, elevated incidence of child physical and psychological...
Mindfulness-based interventions, rooted in old Buddhist practices, have been updated and adapted to the western context. In the present review, the most frequently used mindfulness interventions will be described as well as the psychological mechanisms activated by them. Afterwards, applied studies will be reviewed. First, clinical trials and meta-analytic studies focused on interventions for...
Caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often end up having their medical and psychological well-being compromised due to the stressful nature of caregiving, especially when those in their care engage in aggressive behavior. In this study, we provided caregivers with mindfulness-based training to enable them to better manage their psychological...
This study aims to examine if mindfulness is associated with pain catastrophizing, depression, disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain (CNP). We conducted a cross-sectional survey with cancer survivors experiencing CNP. Participants (n = 76) were men (24 %) and women (76 %) with an average age of 56.5 years (SD = 9.4)....
Background Mindfulness refers to a host of procedures that have been practiced for centuries, but only recently have begun to be applied to varied pain conditions, with the most recent being headache. Methods We reviewed research that incorporated components of mindfulness for treating pain, with a more in depth focus on headache disorders. We also examined literature that has closely studied...