Bare Attention Research Articles

Focusing on an object or reflexive self-awareness? Mindfulness, phenomenology and the Pāli suttas

ABSTRACT The concept of mindfulness within the contemporary mindfulness movement was the subject of a recent phenomenological critique. The present article confronts that critique in order to develop a phenomenologically viable interpretation of mindfulness that corresponds with how the word sati is used in the Pāli suttas. By clarifying the distinction between intentional objects and intentional acts, it can be shown that mindfulness was not originally conceived of as an exercise in focusing on a meditation object, but as reflexive self-awareness. Consequently, it is wrong to describe mindfulness as ‘bare attention’. Mindfulness was originally a philosophical enterprise, an attitude that can be cultivated only when one is attending to things while remaining aware of the broader context. Furthermore, an ordinary person (puthujjana) cannot cultivate what the Buddha called ‘right mindfulness’ (sammāsati). This is the province of the noble ones who have acquired the right view and are accomplished in virtue.

Specific Reduction in the Cortisol Awakening Response after Socio-Affective Mental Training

ObjectivesPsychosocial stress is an inherent part of modern lifestyle, and many suffer from chronic stress exposure and the subsequent development of stress-related diseases. In searching for efficient low-cost interventions to reduce stress, we investigated the effects of regular contemplative mental practice on diurnal cortisol activity as an indicator of the basal, everyday stress load.MethodData were collected in the context of the ReSource Project, an open-label efficacy trial comprising three distinct 3-month training modules targeting attention and interoception (Presence Module), socio-affective (Affect Module) or socio-cognitive abilities (Perspective Module) through dyadic exercises and secularized meditation practices. Diurnal cortisol activity was assayed at four time points: pre-training and after 3, 6, and 9 months. As outcome measures, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), cortisol slope over the course of the day, and total daily cortisol output were computed.ResultsAnalyses revealed a stable reduction in CAR specifically after the compassion- and care-based Affect Module, contrasted by a CAR increase following the attention- and interoception-based Presence training. Cortisol slope over the day and total daily cortisol output were unaffected by any of the mental trainings.ConclusionsThese findings emphasize the necessity for a more granular approach in the investigation of contemplative mental training effects. Not all types of training can be expected to equally beneficial for all types of hardship. Specifically, with regard to the CAR, which represents the anticipatory stress response to the upcoming day, compassion- and care-based qualities rather than bare attention or meta-cognitive skills seem to drive stress reduction.PreregistrationThis study is not preregistered.

Mindfulness and attention: Towards a phenomenology of mindfulness as the feeling of being tuned in

ABSTRACT There is a consensus in the contemporary literature that mindfulness is a kind of attention. From here the literature divides into two opposing camps:the ‘Quietists’ and the ‘Cognitivists’. For the Quietists mindfulness is ‘bare attention’: the kind of attention that remains when all higher-order mental activity is suspended. For the Cognitivists, by contrast, mindfulness is a kind of retentive attention that brings into play specific kinds of cognitive processes . Through a critical analysis of the contemporary literature this essay will try to establish that the common assumption is mistaken, and that mindfulness cannot be identified with any kind of attention. It will be argued that we get much closer to the true nature of mindfulness if we conceive of it as an example of what Matthew Ratcliffe has called ‘feeling of being’ . Mindfulness is the feeling of being tuned in to the intrinsic intelligibility of the things themselves.

All Is Burning: Buddhist Mindfulness as Radical Reflection

This paper consists of two parts. In the first part (Section 1, part of Section 2), I put forward a critique of what I refer to as the ‘received’ or ‘standard’ view of mindfulness in the Western cultural milieu. According to the received view, mindfulness is the acontextual ‘core’ of Buddhism whose determining characteristic is bare (present-oriented, non-judgmental) attention to the flow and content of experience. As noted by many researchers, this conception is in stark contrast to the traditional Buddhist understanding, where mindfulness is not only embedded in a broader context that provides it with a specific philosophico-existential orientation (normative aspect) but is also construed as a reflective activity (noetic aspect). In the second part (part of Sections 2–4), I argue that one of the main issues with the standard view is that it frames experience in terms of what Maurice Merleau-Ponty calls ‘objective thought’ (using objectivity, or ‘thinghood’, as an onto-epistemological standard of reality), which makes the two aspects of the traditional conception (normative and noetic) unintelligible. I then provide an alternative view based on the phenomenological work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty that attempts to integrate the two aspects into a broader conception of experience. By drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s notions of ‘phenomenal field’ and ‘radical reflection’, I argue that mindfulness needs to be understood as a reflective attitude that allows one to discern not only the content but also, and primarily, the context of each experience, and that this also includes seeing itself—the act of reflection—as an act that stems from, and returns back into, the pre-reflective current of existence.

Improvement of the standard characterization method on k33 mode piezoelectric specimens

Even though standard method to determine physical parameters of piezoelectric materials has been set up for several decades, bare attention has been made on loss determination method. Furthermore, several deficits have been recognized in the standard method for k33 mode. In this study, detailed discussion on deficits of IEEE Standard k33 is investigated and the method to resolve such deficits will be introduced. The standard k33 specimen suffers from small capacitance, which causes huge experimental error, intrinsic electrical energy leakage, specimen setup issue and inability to directly determine “intensive” elastic properties. In order to resolve these issues, partial electrode method was introduced, and curve fitting was demonstrated to determine physical parameters and losses.

Tracing the Satipaṭṭhāna in the Korean Ganhwa Seon Tradition: Its Periscope Visibility in the Mindful hwadu Sisimma, ‘Sati-Sisimma’

The Buddha is said to have awakened to the true nature of existence and attained final liberation from suffering through the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna. This practice begins by addressing sensations from the processes of body and mind, as characterized by ‘bare attention’ and ‘clear comprehension’ through non-judgmental observation, ultimately effecting a transformation into a unique religious experience. During its transmission to East Asian countries, particularly in the Chan tradition, the essence of Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta has become transformed, while maintaining the theme of intense concentration, perhaps in the form of ‘counter-illumination’—an extended equivalent of ‘bare attention’. Not much has been written on which aspects of the Indian contemplative tradition were passed on to the Chan/Seon schools. In the Korean Ganhwa Seon practice, however, there are some indications that the spirit of Satipaṭṭhāna, resonating as a role of sustained attention with mindfulness, has been partially manifested, having crystallized into the mindful hwadu called Sisimma, or ‘Sati-Sisimma’. To substantiate this, this paper investigates how the two seemingly different practices can be seen to link together in the Korean Seon tradition, and proposes pari passu meditative parallels, Satipaṭṭhāna and Sati-Sisimma, recommending for an ‘attentive’ mode and a ‘non-attentive’ mode respectively, in modern meditative practices.

Reflections on 48 Years of Mindfulness Practice

Although both theoretical articles and empirical studies on mindfulness have increased significantly over the past 20 years, there are still very few first-person accounts of a long-term (almost five decades) daily practice of meditation written by a clinical psychologist. In the humanistic tradition, where the most personal and subjective experience is often identified as an expression of the most universal, this essay follows the author’s practice of meditation from the earliest strivings of a troubled novice to the insights of a clinical psychologist familiar with the principles of change in more than one therapeutic approach. Specifically, this essay reviews the two stages of mindfulness practice, concentration and bare attention, and likens the latter (in its capacity to promote self-acceptance) to the principles of change in behavioral, humanistic, and psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy.

Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters).

Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of "bare attention"--a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.

Mindfulness and Mindlessness in Early Chan

Some scholars of Chinese Chan Buddhism maintain that the innovations associated with early (eighth-century) Chan were largely in the area of doctrine and mythology. In other words, early Chan meditation and ritual practices would have been indistinguishable from non-Chan forms until the emergence, in the Song, of distinctive new methods such as kanhua meditation. This article argues that at least some of the early Chan patriarchs did indeed experiment with a new method (or methods), and that this method foreshadowed, at least superficially, techniques developed in twentieth-century Burmese Theravāda that we now associate with the satipaṭṭhāna movement (i.e., “mindfulness,” understood as “bare attention”); similar innovations, possibly influenced by early Chan, can be found in Tibetan Dzogchen. There is evidence that in eighth-century China, as in twentieth-century Burma, these new techniques emerged in order to make Buddhist practice more accessible to the laity, who were not in a position to engage in more traditional forms of meditation. And in China, as in Burma, the innovations sparked controversy: opponents held that the cultivation of a non-judgmental, non-discursive meditative state was ethically dubious and at odds with orthodox Buddhist teachings.

Acute hypoxia activates store-operated Ca(2+) entry and increases intracellular Ca(2+) concentration in rat distal pulmonary venous smooth muscle cells.

Exposure to acute hypoxia causes vasoconstriction in both pulmonary arteries (PA) and pulmonary veins (PV). The mechanisms on the arterial side have been studied extensively. However, bare attention has been paid to the venous side. To investigate if acute hypoxia caused the increase of intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i), and Ca(2+) influx through store-operated calcium channels (SOCC) in pulmonary venous smooth muscle cells (PVSMCs). Fluorescent microscopy and fura-2 were used to measure effects of 4% O2 on [Ca(2+)]i and store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) in isolated rat distal PVSMCs. In PVSMCs perfused with Ca(2+)-free Krebs Ringer bicarbonate solution (KRBS) containing cyclopiazonic acid to deplete Ca(2+) stores in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and nifedipine to prevent Ca(2+) entry through L-type voltage-depended Ca(2+) channels (VDCC), hypoxia markedly enhanced both the increase in [Ca(2+)]i caused by restoration of extracellular [Ca(2+)] and the rate at which extracellular Mn(2+) quenched fura-2 fluorescence. Moreover, the increased [Ca(2+)]i in PVSMCs perfused with normal salt solution was completely blocked by SOCC antagonists SKF-96365 and NiCl2 at concentrations that SOCE >85% was inhibited but [Ca(2+)]i responses to 60 mM KCl were not altered. On the contrary, L-type VDCC antagonist nifedipine inhibited increase in [Ca(2+)]i to hypoxia by only 50% at concentrations that completely blocked responses to KCl. The increased [Ca(2+)]i caused by hypoxia was completely abolished by perfusion with Ca(2+)-free KRBS. These results suggest that acute hypoxia enhances SOCE via activating SOCCs, leading to increased [Ca(2+)]i in distal PVSMCs.

Product Placement: A Critical Review Based on Ethical Theories

The ethical dilemma in case of product promotion is not a new phenomenon. Advertisers are always controlled by the ethical rules and regulations of various countries, regions, social groups, and religions. Subsequently, product placement, which is a part of integrated marketing communications (IMC), has established its strength in the present time as a newly formulated promotional tool in the field of marketing. Corporate giants have adopted product placement as a part of their regular promotional activities. As marketers used non-advertising media for product placement, most of the marketing ethicists and religious analysts paid bare attention to product placement. But now, all social groups, ethicists, and religious thinkers have focused attention on product placement to analyze whether this way of product promotion is ethical, rational, as well as permitted by the beliefs of various religions. In this study, product placement is analyzed in light of existing ethical theories with a view to minimize ethical dilemma faced by the marketers.

‘Things said or done long ago are recalled and remembered’: The ethics of mindfulness in early Buddhism, psychotherapy and clinical psychology

I argue that current theoretical understandings of mindfulness as an attention regulation strategy for psychological stress reduction and enhanced adaptation to society may produce de-ethicised therapeutic applications. I show how understandings of mindfulness in early Buddhism, psychotherapy and clinical psychology have changed over time. Current understandings of mindfulness as a skill or technique of bringing non-judgmental awareness (or bare attention) to present moment experience are historically recent and differ from early Buddhist understandings in at least one crucial respect: definitions of mindfulness as attentional control or metacognitive awareness lack an emphasis on deep ethical reflection. As such, we need to re-ethicise our conceptual understanding of mindfulness by remembering early Buddhist texts, where mindfulness involves the cultivation of an ethically sensitive style of remembering, which has largely been lost in contemporary definitions.

Mindfulness to Enhance Athletic Performance: Theoretical Considerations and Possible Impact Mechanisms

Top athletes face various challenges in their career on and off the sports field. Sport psychologists teach techniques to help athletes to cope with these challenges. Over the last 30 years, the techniques used stem mainly from psychological skills training (PST), which is influenced mainly from cognitive-behavioral theories. Recently, interest in mindfulness-based interventions has increased in sport psychology. This article identifies the limits of PST and presents theoretical considerations how mindfulness-based interventions can amend PST. Further, it addresses in what form and by what mechanisms athletes could benefit. In reviewing current mindfulness literature, we conclude that it is important to distinguish between mindfulness practice and dispositional mindfulness. Mindfulness practice means the methods through which mindfulness is fostered, whereas dispositional mindfulness describes the tendency to be mindful in everyday life. In our conceptualization, we differ between three interwoven facets of mindfulness practice (intention, attention, and attitude), which are associated with six components of dispositional mindfulness. We consider that athletes with a higher degree in mindfulness practice and dispositional mindfulness will enhance the level of several required psychological skills through various impact mechanisms. Based on theoretical considerations, we suggest bare attention, experiential acceptance, values clarifications, self-regulation/negative emotion regulation, clarity about one’s internal life, exposure, flexibility, non-attachment, and rumination as possible impact mechanisms. A greater knowledge of the conceptualization of mindfulness and its impact on psychological skills could develop and improve the effectiveness of mindfulness based interventions in sports.

What does mindfulness really mean? A canonical perspective

The purpose of this paper is to determine the meaning and function of mindfulness meditation using as the source of inquiry the Pāli Canon, the oldest complete collection of Buddhist texts to survive intact. Mindfulness is the chief factor in the practice of satipa hāna, the best known system of Buddhist meditation. In descriptions of satipa hāna two terms constantly recur: mindfulness (sati) and clear comprehension (sampajañña). An understanding of these terms based on the canonical texts is important not only from a philological angle but because such understanding has major bearings on the actual practice of meditation. The word sati originally meant ‘memory,’ but the Buddha ascribed to this old term a new meaning determined by the aims of his teaching. This meaning, the author holds, might best be characterized as ‘lucid awareness.’ He questions the common explanation of mindfulness as ‘bare attention,’ pointing out problems that lurk behind both words in this expression. He also briefly discusses the role of clear comprehension (sampajañña) and shows that it serves as a bridge between the observational function of mindfulness and the development of insight. Finally, he takes up the question whether mindfulness can legitimately be extracted from its traditional context and employed for secular purposes. He maintains that such non-traditional applications of mindfulness are acceptable and even admirable on the ground that they help alleviate human suffering, but he also cautions against a reductionist understanding of mindfulness and urges that investigators respect the religious tradition in which it is rooted.

Kinds and Dimensions of Mindfulness: Why it is Important to Distinguish Them

The number of research studies on clinical aspects of mindfulness and neural correlates of meditation practices involving mindfulness is fast growing. But, what is understood as mindfulness and goals of the practice differ across traditions and studies. Clarity in conceptions and components of mindfulness is essential for interpretation of findings across studies and better understanding of the mechanisms involved. In this paper, I outline a working model for exploring mechanisms and effects of different types of mindfulness. The focus is on five dimensions of mindfulness: (1) intention and context of mindfulness practice, (2) bare attention, (3) attentional control, (4) wholesome emotions, and (5) ethical discernment. Meta-awareness and insight, as two additional factors associated with mindfulness, are also discussed. I explore the role these dimensions and factors play in the conception of mindfulness used in the mindfulness-based stress reduction program and in the traditional Buddhist context. Importantly, it is considered how the dimensions and factors of mindfulness may map onto distinct cognitive processes and neural substrates, and what the possible links between them are. This leads to a variety of research hypotheses and questions about mechanisms and effects of mindfulness. I suggest how refinement of the concept of mindfulness and sensitivity to differences across conceptions of mindfulness can lead to development of novel condition- and individual-specific treatment approaches based on meditation, and advance neuroscientific research on brain plasticity associated with well-being.

Toward a More Empathic Relationship in Pain Medicine

Specialists in pain medicine commonly experience psychological assaults on their self-esteem, especially from patients who seem unreasonably demanding, overly critical, or threatening. This article will discuss how these challenges can trigger a professional's self-protective and defensive coping mechanisms that, in turn, can provoke decidedly unempathic responses. Situations that compromise empathy, however, can be particularly worrisome in health delivery practices like pain medicine that are highly relational and that seek to use relationships therapeutically. The article will therefore conclude with two sets of strategies that might be useful in managing these uncomfortable situations more empathically. The first set will focus on certain pragmatics of empathy skill development. The second will discuss the Eastern notion of "bare attention" as an ideal form of empathic engagement that can also counteract an unhealthy degree of defensiveness when self-esteem is threatened.