Abstract
To develop a fine-grained phenomenological analysis of "pure awareness" experiences in meditators. An online survey in five language versions (German, English, French, Spanish, Italian) collected data from January to March 2020. A total of 92 questionnaire items on a visual analogue scale were submitted to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Out of 3627 submitted responses, 1403 were usable. Participants had a median age of 52 years (range: 17-88) and were evenly split between men and women (48.5% vs 50.0%). The majority of meditators practiced regularly (77.3%), were free of diagnosed mental disorders (92.4%) and did not regularly use any psychoactive substances (84.0%). Vipassana (43.9%) followed by Zen (34.9%) were the most frequently practiced meditation techniques. German (63.4%) and English (31.4%) were by far the most frequent questionnaire languages. A solution with 12 factors explaining 44% of the total variance was deemed optimal under joint conceptual and statistical considerations. The factors were named "Time, Effort and Desire," "Peace, Bliss and Silence," "Self-Knowledge, Autonomous Cognizance and Insight," "Wakeful Presence," "Pure Awareness in Dream and Sleep," "Luminosity," "Thoughts and Feelings," "Emptiness and Non-egoic Self-awareness," "Sensory Perception in Body and Space," "Touching World and Self," "Mental Agency," and "Witness Consciousness." This factor structure fit the data moderately well. We have previously posited a phenomenological prototype for the experience of "pure awareness" as it occurs in the context of meditation practice. Here we offer a tentative 12-factor model to describe its phenomenal character in a fine-grained way. The current findings are in line with an earlier study extracting semantic constraints for a working definition of minimal phenomenal experience.
Highlights
The concept of “pure consciousness” or “pure awareness” has a long tradition in the literature on contemplative practices
We have previously posited a phenomenological prototype for the experience of “pure awareness” as it occurs in the context of meditation practice
Contemplative practice has mostly taken place against the background of religious belief systems like Buddhism or Hinduism, with meditators trying to achieve a soteriological goal like “liberation” or “enlightenment.” the phenomenological taxonomies of such states have been shaped by metaphysical belief systems and an ancient, traditional cultural context
Summary
The concept of “pure consciousness” or “pure awareness” has a long tradition in the literature on contemplative practices. It refers to the meditator’s subjective experience of consciousness as such, wherein he or she is non-conceptually aware of being aware. Contemplative practice has mostly taken place against the background of religious belief systems like Buddhism or Hinduism, with meditators trying to achieve a soteriological goal like “liberation” or “enlightenment.” the phenomenological taxonomies of such states have been shaped by metaphysical belief systems and an ancient, traditional cultural context. Scientific research in the past century has occasionally taken an interest in states of “pure awareness,” but mostly from a descriptive angle and using qualitative methods ([1, 2]; for a review see [3]). Quantitative, including psychometric, approaches have been lacking, with regard to the phenomenology of such experiences [3,4,5,6]
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