It is more a matter of personal preferences and some take a bit from each to form their own beliefs. Evidential considerations from science, meditation, and skepticism the first book to bring together classical and contemporary perspectives on free will in buddhist thought, it is of interest to academics working on buddhist and western ethics, comparative philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, agency, and personal. Specific concerns include a potential weakening of the concept of right mindfulness. From the first physiological studies of meditation in the 1950s and 1960s 4 7 and the first clinical studies by benson et al. A comparative study on quantitative approach, system approach and contingency approach article pdf available may 2016 with 39,774 reads how we measure reads. Meditation follows a natural progression and deepening process in which effort and steady practice eventually develop into a spontaneous, natural and effortless state of meditation in life.
Six contemporary theoretical perspectives in psychology. Meditation is not an escape from reality, but a path of. Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state 22829. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Classic and contemporary perspectives 9780202362441. It is worth understanding each of the six contemporary perspectives in psychology. Posner 2 abstract research over the past two decades broadly supports the claim that mindfulness meditation practiced widely for the reduction of stress and promotion of health. Historically, meditation has been an essential element innearly all contemplative religious and spiritual traditions. It isnt about trying to achieve a particular state of mind.
The word of the living god is the prime object of meditation. Since 1981 i am now occupied and working with the classic taoist. Meditation, classic and contemporary perspectives book, 1984. Meditation does not involve ending the thought process. Contemporary perspectives on meditation the recent book, meditation and culture. From an academic rather than a popular vantage, the volume takes the claims and counterclaims about meditation to a deeper analytical level by including studies from clinical psychology. Presence is a mindful, clear recognition of what is happeninghere.
Kohr, 1977,there are certainly many different types of alteredstate experiences which may occur as a result of a specific meditation technique, as wen as across different techniques. Apr 21, 2016 traditional meditation, mindfulness and psychodynamic approach. It is a means of harmonising or resolving the apparent conflict between the spiritual and material aspects of living. She is especially interested in problems of knowledge transmission and authority validation, philosophy and texts, eastwest dialogue and exchanges, and indicinspired aspects of western esotericism. Second, her pairing of classic and contemporary viewpoints about deviance and social control not only connects important literatures of the past to todays student readers. At the heart of all classical systems of buddhist meditation is a particular discipline that has come to be known as mindfulness. This is the effortless meditation of zen and mahamudra. In recent years, research on neural correlates of meditation and its efficacy in clinical settings has seen a growing trend. Analyzes of all traditional frequency bandwidth data i. The early years of psychology were marked by the domination of a succession of different schools of thought. In helping me reach this goal, i wish to thank sam langberg and dr.
Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation chapter. Nov 08, 20 since the buddhist university of nalanda was dedicated to developing the most scientific approach to buddhist teaching and practice, and making it accessible to mainstream studentsbuddhist and nonbuddhist, lay and religiousthis living tradition represents a useful resource for contemporary meditation research. Its ubiquitousness is illustrated by this zen story. Types of spiritual exercises prayer has a form, a sound and a physical reality. Although there may be certain experiences common to meditation practice osis et al. This, in turn, is reflected in issues surrounding definition, study design, and outcomes. Biblical christian meditation mantra of the christian is 66 books long. Developed by ken wilber and based on the integral view of spirituality. The enormous strides in the field over the last three decades have been mainly driven by two synergistic lines. Specific concerns include a potential weakening of the concept of right mindfulness and, as a corollary, misunderstanding the.
For the first twothirds of the twentieth century, yoga and meditation were almost completely ignored by university researchers, despite the fact that these activities pose questions of obvious interest for numerous academic disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, physiology, religion, and anthropology. Buddhist modernism and the rhetoric of meditative experience. Classic and contemporary perspectives weighs in on this debate by presenting what continues to be the most complete collection of scholarly articles ever amassed on the subject of meditation. This rapid growth has raised two main concerns from the buddhist community. Mindfulness studies master of arts degree program of study. French, without whose help regarding fine points in the translation and without whose editorial acuteness this task might have proved too difficult. Traditional meditation, mindfulness and psychodynamic approach.
This chapter presents the views of the other hemisphere by describing and discussing the various theoretical approaches which have been taken by western psychologists studying meditation. Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. Phenomenologically, meditation is a practice that could be meant as mind focalization on objects, body feelings, emotions and thoughts. The ideas and meditative practices of early buddhism. Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation. Attention is a central component in descriptions of the mechanics of meditation and emphasis is placed upon the potential value of studying meditation from an informationprocessing. It is in dialog with scripture that old worldly wisdom ideas are dispelled and replaced with gods wisdom romans 12. Here, i highlight the often ignored but important aspect of definition in the existing scholarship on. While there are many popular books on meditation, few embrace the science as well as the art of meditation.
A different version of this material willappear in shapiro, d. If you have ever taken a psychology course in school, you probably remember learning about these different schools which included structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism. This chapter describes meditation as an historical and crosscultural phenomenon, demonstrating its ubiquity in secular and religious domains. Contemporary mindfulness has grown through innumerable secular and clinical programs. How to meditate tara brach meditation, psychologist. Among the variety of techniques in buddhist meditation, the art of attention is the common thread underpinning all schools of buddhist meditation. Evans key concepts th e main objective of the meditative experience is to shift the focus of the mind away from the frenzied thoughts of everyday living, such as worries about work, family, fi nances, or simply the todo list of the day. Nov 27, 2019 major perspectives in modern psychology. Classical theory of concepts, the internet encyclopedia of. Nov 21, 2009 123 of god mediatation with all three perspectives.
Meditation training has been associated with a wide range of positive clinical and behavioral health outcomes and several researchers have identified key areas of the brain and other electrophysiological correlates of both novice. Pdf how might meditation promote wellness and healing from psychiatric illness. Apr 29, 2014 contemporary mindfulness has grown through innumerable secular and clinical programs. Rumi meditation, concentration and contemplation meditation, concentration and contemplation form a triad of inner developmental exercises. Psychology el2084 scope and sequence unit topic lesson lesson objectives brain research describe various methods used to study the brain discuss research findings concerning brain plasticity and its impact on cognitive functioning. Instructions for a simple and relatively permissive type of meditation are presented so that the reader with no previous experience of meditation can, to a limited extent, explore meditation in a practical way. Attention is a central component in descriptions of the mechanics of meditation and emphasis is placed upon the potential value of studying meditation from an informationprocessing orientation. Twothirds had previously practiced vipassana, and the remaining. Whenever theres a newspaper story about meditation, they trot out a piece of art that depicts a person in flowing clothes with a blissful smile that suggests theyve emptied out their brain and replaced it with cotton candy. Meditation is commonly described as a training of mental attention that awakens us beyond the conditioned mind and habitual thinking, and reveals the nature of reality. In the first week of december last year the barre center for buddhist studies held a fiveday residential course on buddhist psychology. Meditation in buddhism and hinduism classical and modern. The science of psychology is one where there are many approaches to solve, work with and explain what is happening with the mind. Types of spiritual exercises meditation, concentration.
This includes not only the eastern hinduv edic and buddhist traditions, upon which most of the meditation research has been carried out, but also judaism, christianity, and islam cf, goleman, 1988. An integrative perspective article pdf available in frontiers in psychology 7124. In this volume, shapiro and walsh fill this need by assembling a complete collection of scholarly articles meditation. Pdf traditional meditation, mindfulness and psychodynamic. The classical theory implies that every complex concept has a classical analysis, where a classical. Despite the growing interest in the neurobiological correlates of meditation, most research has omitted to take into account the underlying philosophical aspects of meditation and its wider implications. Frontiers issues and perspectives in meditation research. Many claim that meditation is effective in the treatment of many ailments associated with stress and high blood pressure, and in the management of pain.
Buddhist and western perspectives on the problem of free will the puzzle of whether free will is possible if, as buddhists believe, there is no agentself theravada views mahayana views evidential considerations from science, meditation, and skepticism the first book to bring together classical and contemporary perspectives on. We are delighted to introduce this special issue of contemporary buddhism, which is devoted exclusively to invited contributions from buddhist teachers and contemplative scholars, together with mindfulnessbased professionals on both contemporary buddhism, vol. In this guide, the process and the fruit of meditation practice is understood as natural presence. Meditation training has been associated with a wide range of positive clinical and behavioral health outcomes and several researchers have identified key areas of the brain and other electrophysiological correlates of both novice and longterm meditators. Moving beyond examining the effects of meditation practice, to take a potential. It is a meditation without any thing to meditate upon, the spontaneous and wondrous work of. Mahamudra in the tibetan tradition, zazen in zen buddhism and vipassana meditation in theravada. Electroencephalographic eeg recordings from 19 scalp recording sites were used to differentiate among two posited unique forms of mediation, concentration and mindfulness, and a normal relaxation control condition. It is these truths that are revolved in the mind, gazed at until understood and seen. The classical theory of concepts is one of the five primary theories of concepts, the other four being prototype or exemplar theories, atomistic theories, theorytheories, and neoclassical theories. Types of spiritual exercises meditation, concentration and. Here, i highlight the often ignored but important aspect of definition in the existing.
1334 37 738 426 421 163 1675 853 1382 979 762 93 1185 1278 1088 428 972 658 389 1655 1168 274 1260 355 1035 952 64 779 1069 210 1199 1614 978 851 1090 108 1193 566 988 343 282 119 724 655