Contemplative Practices Research Articles

Neurophenomenological Investigation of Mindfulness Meditation “Cessation” Experiences Using EEG Network Analysis in an Intensively Sampled Adept Meditator

Mindfulness meditation is a contemplative practice that is informed by Buddhism. It has been proven effective for improving mental and physical health in clinical and non-clinical contexts. To date, mainstream dialogue and scientific research on mindfulness has focused primarily on short-term mindfulness training and applications of mindfulness for reducing stress. Understanding advanced mindfulness practice has important implications for mental health and general wellbeing. According to Theravada Buddhist meditation, a “cessation” event is a dramatic experience of profound clarity and equanimity that involves a complete discontinuation in experience, and is evidence of mastery of mindfulness meditation. Thirty-seven cessation events were captured in a single intensively sampled advanced meditator (over 6,000 h of retreat mindfulness meditation training) while recording electroencephalography (EEG) in 29 sessions between November 12, 2019 and March 11, 2020. Functional connectivity and network integration were assessed from 40 s prior to cessations to 40 s after cessations. From 21 s prior to cessations there was a linear decrease in large-scale functional interactions at the whole-brain level in the alpha band. In the 40 s following cessations these interactions linearly returned to prior levels. No modulation of network integration was observed. The decrease in whole-brain functional connectivity was underlain by frontal to left temporal and to more posterior decreases in connectivity, while the increase was underlain by wide-spread increases in connectivity. These results provide neuroscientific evidence of large-scale modulation of brain activity related to cessation events that provides a foundation for future studies of advanced meditation.

Exploring Contextual Factors in Vagal Tank Theory

High baseline Heart rate variability (HRV) is a putative measure of resilience which predicts adaptive HRV changes during (Reactivity) and after (Recovery) a stressor according to Vagal Tank Theory. However, we do not understand how the availability of resources prior to a stressor impacts this relationship. Using an ecological framework, we tested VTT hypotheses while examining receptivity to social presence and contemplative practices as a moderator to Reactivity and Recovery during a subsequent stressor. Using ECG, we modeled HRV as the root-mean square of successive R-R intervals (RMSSD) across four conditions: baseline, post contemplative practice, directly before a CO2 breathing tasking, while breathing CO2, and after CO2. Reactivity and Recovery were defined as the usual subtraction for phasic HRV literature, while Receptivity was modeled as post contemplative practice HRV minus baseline. Our multiple regression analyses showed that higher baseline predicted greater reactivity, positively interacting with the female gender and the partner condition (F(9,83)=2.00, p=0.04). Higher baseline predicted lower recovery HRV with no significant interactions (F(9,85)=2.66, R2=0.22, p=0.009), potentially due to the benefit in the HRV level at the reference level (after contemplative practice). Higher receptivity predicted higher recovery, with women showing the strongest relationship (F(4,88)=16.3, R2=0.43, p<0.001). Our results suggest that both baseline and receptivity to resources may impact resilience to stress, and that future research should account for gendered effects. Cornell University. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Is Self-Centered a Refutation of the Ego-Quieting Hypothesis in Contemplative Practices?

Abstract: The self-centrality principle holds that contemplative practices activate self-salience, encouraging moral self-enhancement, rather than the expected effect of acceptance hypothesized by the ego-quieting principle ( Gebauer et al., 2018 ). However, meditation may favor ego-quieting by inhibiting the disposition to judge and/or react to defend more equanimously a self that feels threatened ( Brown et al., 2007 ). In this study, we propose that meditation helps to reduce behaviors based on self-interest by limiting the defensive sense of the ego when the self is salient. We carry out three experimental studies to test this proposal. The first one tests the effect of meditation on a salient self with a proximal threat to their physical survival ( N = 400). The second study tests the effect of meditation in the case of distal defensiveness in a salient self whose physical survival is threatened ( N = 200). The third study evaluates the effect of proximal defensiveness when the integrity of the self-concept of the salient self is threatened ( N = 200). Our results provide evidence that practicing meditation quiets the ego, or tends to do so, when attention is focused on a self-threatened by a context based on a thought.

Buddhist friendship, meditational practice and a painted mountainscape

ABSTRACT This reception study argues that a fourteenth-century handscroll illustrating the Yandang mountains (Yandangshan 雁蕩山) in Zhejiang Province was used by fifteenth-and sixteenth-century viewers as an aid in their meditation practice to achieve relief from the ailments of old age. They engaged in one set of contemplative practices as the scroll was unrolled and another set as it was rerolled. As they unrolled the scroll, viewers achieved a somaesthetic viewing experience by considering the topographical identity, religious history, and numinosity of the site, while the aesthetic perfection of the scroll itself invited them to engage in a superior form of mind travel. As viewers rerolled the scroll, they participated in the meditational practices of walking and seated meditation associated with the legendary Chan Buddhist founder of the site, Nakula. The circumstances of the colophonists suggest they sought a realm devoted to healing, which the scroll manifested for them when they combined their knowledge of the curative history of the mountain range with the painted imagery of the scroll. Analysis of this scroll and its colophons allow us to reconstitute a rare episode in the larger tradition of belief in the restorative powers of mind journeys through painted landscapes.

Towards An Integrated Understanding of Art, Spirituality, and Well-Being

This paper explores how art and spirituality are connected and examines how art-based pedagogy, including art appreciation and art making, can facilitate not only developing emotional skills, but also cultivating spirituality and spiritual wisdom in management education. It further proposes that art appreciation is a virtuous activity, as it can facilitate the learning of spiritual values in a more personally meaningful way. By presenting an integrated model of art appreciation and sharing pedagogical examples of art appreciation, I propose that art appreciation can provide a more intuitive and immediate approach for developing spiritual values such as empathy and interpersonal care in management education. The primary purpose of this paper is therefore to explore the pedagogical potential of contemplative art-based practices in cultivating not only the students' emotional skills, but also their understanding of spirituality, thereby contributing to a heightened sense of their personal empowerment and overall well-being.

Journaling as Contemplative Practice for Sport Management Education

Journaling assignments are generative practices for the sport management classroom because they can help students process course content through self-reflection and relate their acquired knowledge to their experiences and worldviews. This essay presents journaling as an example of contemplative pedagogy, an educational technique that supports the development of skills in mindful self-awareness, as well as the translation of course content to practical knowledge through calm and creative expression. The essay outlines the practical implementation of contemplative journaling in undergraduate courses and contends that it is a useful pedagogical tool for the sport management classroom, particularly in helping students engage with topics concerning social justice and inequalities in the industry.

Validation of the Awareness Atlas-a new measure of the manifestation of consciousness.

Consciousness has intrigued philosophers and scholars for millennia and has been the topic of considerable scientific investigation in recent decades. Despite its importance, there is no unifying definition of the term, nor are there widely accepted measures of consciousness. Indeed, it is likely that consciousness-by its very nature-eludes measurement. It is, however, possible to measure how consciousness manifests as a lived experience. Yet here, too, holistic measures are lacking. This investigation describes the development and validation of the Awareness Atlas, a measure of the manifestation of consciousness. The scale was informed by heart-based contemplative practices and the resulting lived experience with a focus on the impacts of manifestation of consciousness on daily life. Four hundred forty-nine individuals from the USA, Canada, India, and Europe participated in psychometric testing of the scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used for validation, demonstrating excellent validity in measuring manifestation of consciousness. The final model fit exceeded all required thresholds, indicating an excellent fitted model with a single dimensionality to measure the manifestation of consciousness comprised of four subscales: Relationship to Others; Listening to the Heart; Connection with Higher Self; and Acceptance and Letting Go. Number of years meditating and practicing Heartfulness meditation were positively related to the total and subscale scores. Test-retest reliability was excellent for the total scale, and good to excellent for the four subscales. Findings demonstrate that the Awareness Atlas is a well-constructed tool that will be useful in examining changes in manifestation of consciousness with various experiences (e.g., meditation, life-altering conditions).

Training-related improvements in mental well-being through reduction in negative interpretation bias: A randomized trial of online socio-emotional dyadic and mindfulness interventions

BackgroundEffects of online contemplative practices, especially partner-based practices, on psychological well-being remain mixed, with sparse understanding of potential affective-cognitive mechanisms. The study aimed to assess the efficacy of two online contemplative interventions in improving depression, anxiety, emotion regulation (ER), and resilience, and to evaluate the mechanistic role of negative attention and interpretation biases. MethodsEmploying a randomized controlled design (n = 285), we compared the efficacy of 10-week online mindfulness-based and partner-based socio-emotional dyadic interventions, both supported by weekly coaching sessions. Mental health aspects were assessed using validated self-report measures and negative biases using the mouse-contingent Scrambled Sentences Task. ResultsBoth interventions, compared to waitlist control, led to reductions in depression and ER difficulties, while trait anxiety decreased only after mindfulness training. Increases in multidimensional resilience were observed only after socio-emotional training and in stress recovery only after mindfulness-based training, both compared to waitlist control. Socio-emotional training led to significant reductions in negative interpretation bias and this mediated reductions in depression and trait anxiety. Neither training led to reductions in state anxiety or negative attention bias. LimitationsThe subclinical nature and overrepresentation of females in the sample limits generalizability. ConclusionsFindings indicate that online mindfulness-based and socio-emotional partner-based interventions, supported by online coaching sessions, can reduce depression and ER difficulties. Though mindfulness practice reduced trait anxiety and enhanced stress recovery, socio-emotional training increased multidimensional resilience. Socio-emotional training reduced negative interpretation bias, which emerged as an intervention-specific mechanism. These findings highlight the potential benefits of online contemplative intervention approaches for psychological well-being.

Mindfulness and Religiosity: Four Propositions to Advance a More Integrative Pedagogical Approach

AbstractIn this commentary article, we critically discuss the need for greater understanding of intercultural and interreligious competence when teaching and applying the practice of mindfulness and contemplative meditation. We start by considering the predominant religious and belief systems that exist worldwide, how each system utilises meditation, and how this meditative practice can be linked to the experience of mindfulness. We then consider how mindfulness can be discussed when taught, through the cultivation of intercultural and interreligious competence. To create a clearer direction in the teaching of mindfulness within the context of interreligious competence, we present four propositions or considerations. We have also put forward a model that suggests mindfulness is a means to achieving greater understanding of self and, thus, more than a clinical tool for ameliorating observable malaise. Moreover, we assert that mindfulness and contemplative meditation practices lie on a continuum that provides the opportunity for self-realisation and optimal states of wellbeing. Our aim is to extend previous discussions on intercultural and interreligious competence as this relates to the practice of meditation. In addition, we continue the philosophical and pedagogical debate to enable teachers and students to optimise the full potential of meditation. In doing so, we create an expansive dialogue to enable teachers and students to engage in a richer and more accepting learning landscape.

Religion and Entrepreneurial Exits: Divine Attributions and Eternal Time-frames

This conceptual study, drawing upon the literature on causal attributions and time perspectives, explores how religion may influence entrepreneurs' decisions to exit ventures. Religious beliefs and principles will likely shift entrepreneurs' (a) causal attributions of success and failure from internal or external loci to a third locus of causality, i. e., the divine, and (b) temporal depths from weeks, months, or years to eternity. Such shifts may, in turn, influence entrepreneurial exits through the nonmarket logic of religion, with contemplative practices acting as the underlying mechanism. Using the context of Jainism, a minority religion – originating in India – characterized by self-employed adherents and a seeming paradox between austerity and ostentation, this study develops propositions that relate religion to business exits.

From Meditation to Techno-Mindfulness: On the Medicalization of Contemplative Practices and Future Prospects

This article explores the historical transformation of mindfulness, through a process of transculturation and commodification, into a biopolitical tool and analyzes possible future scenarios in which this tool will acquire even greater biopolitical strength through the integration of technological devices and artificial intelligence applications, particularly focusing on the growing divide between mindfulness-based therapies and traditional meditation. While both methodologies share the common objective of providing health and psychophysical benefits, they differ fundamentally in their theoretical frameworks, with mindfulness being egolatric and performance oriented while traditional meditation emphasizes transcending psychophysical identity. The development of mindfulness has been influenced by the sociocultural context of neoliberal and capitalist societies, resulting in a model that fosters self-regulation and emphasizes social control. The article also examines the potential biopolitical risks arising from the integration of AI-powered tools into mindfulness-based therapies. The increasing use of digital devices and applications for monitoring physical and mental health may contribute to a society characterized by constant self-surveillance and self-monitoring, reinforcing biopolitical control of the body. Consequently, this raises critical questions regarding the limits of surveillance and the potential exploitation of vulnerabilities through the incorporation of AI-powered tools.

Tattva, vrata, caryā: On the Relationship of View and Practice in the First Chapter of Padmavajra’s Guhyasiddhi

The religious worldview of the mantranaya (esoteric Mahāyāna or Vajrayāna) can arguably be seen as rooted in the perspective that reality (tattva) is to be self-experienced (svasamvedya) through contemplative practices, serving as both their means (upāya) and expression (caryā). The tantric path-model of Padmavajra’s Guhyasiddhi, an exegetical text in the Guhyasamāja tradition, supposedly enables individuals to rapidly realize reality, a state also referred to as mahāmudrā or other, within a single lifetime. This path-model describes a transformation leading to the revelation of ultimate realization leaving behind conventional means. These two levels correspond to two stages, the stage of arising (utpattikrama), serving as the foundation for the stage of the arisen (utpannakrama). While the first stage is like a supporting framework giving rise to the correct view, in the second stage, the practitioner cultivates the view that has arisen. The practices of the latter stage eventually become inseparable from the view itself, meaning they are practical expressions of the view exemplified in doctrines like unmattavrata and other forms of observances integral to the mahāmudrā doctrine. Thus, contemplative practices and the established worldview mutually inform each other in a reciprocal relationship. Simultaneously, this system of practice and view continues to influence and shape religious practices and rituals as they are transmitted, e.g., through teacher–disciple lineages (guruparaṃparā). In this paper, I will explore this relationship through the critical edition and annotated translation of Guhyasiddhi’s first chapter by Padmavajra (ca. late 8th and early 9th century), in which a clear exposition of the relationship in question is presented. My analysis of it, thus connecting the work to more general Buddhist concepts, follows a two-level framework, that is, the well-known two-fold system of conventional/implicit (a) and definitive/explicit (b), which can be seen as equivalent to utpatti- (a) and utpannakrama (b). The efficiency of promoted practices accords with the practitioner’s correct assessment of tattva which, following Padmavajra, is the basis for engagement in tantric practices per se. The first part provides the analysis, given in 1.1–1.5, of Padmavajra‘s system and is based on the second part, the annotated translation (2.1) and critical edition (2.2) of Padma-vajra’s Guhyasiddhi chapter one.

Two Dimensions of a Bodhisattva

This paper presents two dimensions of a bodhisattva, the ideal of Maha- ya- na Buddhism. One dimension involves contemplative practices that disclose a pure nature that is always already present; this reality is unveiled after the obscurations that cloud it are removed. I refer to this as a “top-down” approach because it is based on qualities of awakening that are already there, yet lie beyond an ordinary being’s comprehension. The second dimension, which I refer to as a “bottom-up” approach, involves directed training and discipline. Unlike the top-down approach, this is not about “going with the flow” or simply letting the innate qualities of mind express themselves. In contrast, the bottom-up approach is better described as “breaking the cycle” of suffering. That is to say, this orientation toward a bodhisattva’s practice involves restraint and discipline to train the mind by turning it away from habitual, destructive patterns to shape it into spontaneous and skillful responses and expressions. This paper will discuss both of these orientations and will show how they are complementary aspects of a bodhisattva’s practice.

Room for Breathing: Mindfulness, Currere, and Contemplative Practices in Teacher Education

Room for Breathing: Mindfulness, Currere, and Contemplative Practices in Teacher Education

Making kin in the forest: explorations of ecological literacy through contemplative practices in a Swedish folk high school

This study is about the use of contemplative practices in forest fieldwork and how such practices could support the growth of ecological literacy. Ecological literacy is explored by employing Donna Haraway’s notions of becoming-with and companion species. The study is based on fieldwork with a group of adult learners attending a folk high school in Sweden. The participants are followed as they encounter and are becoming-with species of the forest. The empirical material consists of video- and audio-recordings. The results provide a narrative of forest encounters, environmental concerns and dreams about the simple harmonic life. The forest fieldwork thus provides a site for elaborating a more inclusive ethics and teaching strategies where nonhuman-human relational aspects become center to ecological literacy. The results suggest that folk high school environmental education could be used as a source of inspiration in disrupting the practices of compulsory science education.

UNDERSTANDING STUDENT PREFERENCES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF AI TOOLS IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENTS

Heartfulness Meditation and Relaxation on the effects of contemplative practices on cognitive function, well- being, and neurophysiology, it reduces stress and improves the Quality of Life. Keywords: Heartfulness Meditation, Relaxation, Quality of Life

Testing Reflexive Practitioner Dialogues: Capacities for Socio-technical Integration in Meditation Research

To put frameworks of Responsible Innovation and Responsible Research and Innovation (R(R)I) into practice, engagement methods have been developed to study and enhance technoscientific experts’ capacities to reflexively address value considerations in their work. These methods commonly rely on engagement between technoscientific experts and social scholars, which makes them vulnerable to structural barriers to interdisciplinary collaboration. To circumvent these barriers, we adapt Socio-Technical Integration Research (STIR) for broader use within technoscientific communities. We call this adaptation: reflexive practitioner dialogues. While the primary aim of this article is to introduce and explain the methodological adaptation, we also analyze results from a pilot study with participants who are involved in research on contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation. The analysis is guided by research questions that sought to assess whether and under what conditions the practitioner dialogues support reflexive and practical engagement with value considerations in participants’ work. The results indicate that reflexive practitioner dialogues can stimulate reflexive awareness of value conflicts and help re-direct decision-making responsively. We characterize the conditions facilitating such responsiveness as “value exnovators,” highlighting the oft-unacknowledged interpersonal relational practices that support collaborative engagement with value considerations. We suggest that “exnovation”—exposing the strengths of given practices for their improvement—can support R(R)I practices by directing analytical attention to their micro-level carriers.

Deep rest: An integrative model of how contemplative practices combat stress and enhance the body's restorative capacity.

Engaging in contemplative practice like meditation, yoga, and prayer, is beneficial for psychological and physical well-being. Recent research has identified several underlying psychological and biological pathways that explain these benefits. However, there is not yet consensus on the underlying overlapping physiological mechanisms of contemplative practice benefits. In this article, we integrate divergent scientific literatures on contemplative practice interventions, stress science, and mitochondrial biology, presenting a unified biopsychosocial model of how contemplative practices reduce stress and promote physical health. We argue that engaging in contemplative practice facilitates a restorative state termed "deep rest," largely through safety signaling, during which energetic resources are directed toward cellular optimization and away from energy-demanding stress states. Our model thus presents a framework for how contemplative practices enhance positive psychological and physiological functioning by optimizing cellular energy consumption. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Contemplative Studies, Martial Arts, and Solidarity: An Autobiographical Knowledge Cultural Sociology of Transformational Theory and Practice

In this reflection on my sociological practice and academic leadership across four decades, I discover abiding themes otherwise hidden by the keywords featured most prominently: solidarity, martial arts, and contemplative practices. Articulations across knowledge cultures and leadership responsibilities distinguished by place, emphasis, spirit, and (non-)violence move me to conclude with an embrace of love as a force across what might appear, on the surface, incommensurate expressions. However, they are but different manifestations of a deeper unity to be realised in transformation moved by address of the following question: solidarity with whom?

Exploring Hindu-Buddhist Philosophies: The Role of Quiet Ego and Non-Attachment in Fostering Resilience among Young Indians

Rooted in the profound philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism, this research endeavors to meticulously examine the intricate interrelationships among resilience, the concept of a quiet ego, and non-attachment. The primary objective of this inquiry is to systematically elucidate the contributions of a quiet ego and non-attachment to the psychological well-being and adaptability of the contemporary younger generation confronted with a myriad of complex challenges. The aim is to discern the underlying traits that underpin resilience within the contextual framework of these venerable philosophical traditions. Central to this investigation is the transcendence of the ‘ego’ or ‘Ahaṁkāra’ in Hindu philosophy, wherein the cultivation of a self-concept that is less self-centered and more psychologically flexible assumes paramount significance in navigating adversities. Concurrently, the Buddhist principle of ‘Non-Attachment’ and its Hindu counterpart, ‘Anasakti,’ advocate for relinquishing fixations, material possessions, and desired outcomes. Embracing a psychological stance characterized by acceptance, impermanence, and liberation from life’s tumultuous nature, these principles acquire particular relevance in the Indian context. The contemporary link between a quiet ego, non-attachment, and psychological distress underscores the detrimental impact of excessive self-focus on health, as elucidated by Tayal et al. (2020). To empirically test our proposition, we recruited 200 respondents (20-25 years) from urban regions of India. Utilizing the Quiet Ego scale (QES) (Wayment & Bauer, 2014), Non-attachment scale (NA-7) (Sahdra et al., 2010), and Resilience scale (RS-14) (Wagnild & Young, 1993), our statistical analyses unveiled a robust positive correlation between Quiet Ego (QE), Non-Attachment (NA), and resilience. Furthermore, our study delved into the predictive relationship between QE and NA on resilience, revealing a statistically significant model where both factors positively influenced resilience (p<0.001). This underscores the crucial role of a quiet ego and practicing non-attachment as effective predictors of coping with life stressors. In the broader context, our findings emphasize integrating these concepts into contemplative practices and interventions for a culturally relevant and holistic approach to resilience enhancement. By exploring beyond Western paradigms and integrating principles from Indian Darshanas, such as the ‘Quiet Ego’ and ‘Non-Attachment,’ our research offers a clear and cohesive pathway to a more nuanced understanding of human resilience, facilitating effective coping strategies in the face of life’s challenges. This narrative underscores the profound potential of these cultural elements in cultivating resilience, providing valuable insights for both research and practical applications.