Digital Humanities Social Science and Cultural Preservation • July 11, 2026 • Yasunari Miyagi, Yoko Tateishi, Moe Yorozu et al.
An AI system theory integrates the Buddhist vijñapti-mātratā philosophy with the free energy principle. The free energy principle holds that self-organized systems minimize informational free energy through active inference to reduce prediction error, explaining cognition and brain function. Vijñapti-mātratā describes consciousness as a multilayered structure of manifestation and information storage, which aligns with AI systems that compute and store information. Combining these frameworks could yield AI that not only processes knowledge but also generates actions with human-like emotional expressions.
Voprosy filosofii • July 10, 2026 • Pavel G. Nosachev
The article reviews the theoretical foundations of New Religious Movements (NRMs), New Age studies, and Western Esotericism, highlighting that their advancement is hindered by contradictions in defining each field. In NRM studies, the category of "newness" has lost descriptive precision; New Age phenomena suffer from uncertain boundaries and a lack of unified interpretive principles; and Western Esotericism encompasses mutually exclusive definitions. As a productive alternative, the author proposes Charles Taylor's concept of secularization from *A Secular Age* (2007), which frames secularization not as religious decline but as a shift in belief conditions within the "immanent frame." Taylor's model helps overcome fragmentation by situating new religious phenomena within the broader transformation of Western spiritual life.
Frontiers in Psychology • July 7, 2026 • Sonu Sharma, Pradeep Kumar, Vishva Chaudhary et al.
This conceptual paper compares Indian philosophical traditions—Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti—with contemporary psychology, which typically aims to build a cohesive self for wellbeing. These traditions critique the idea of a fixed self-identity. The paper relates these comparisons to contemplative neuroscience, focusing on the default mode network, self-referential processing, and meditation-related changes in self-experience. It proposes a spectrum model: self-referential processing as an ordinary mode, meta-awareness as a trainable capacity, and non-self experience as a transformed outcome. The framework suggests wellbeing may involve flexible regulation of self-identification rather than simple self-enhancement. Implications for research, clinical practice, and cultural interpretation are discussed.
International Journal of Global Mental Health Innovation Policy Action Culture & Transformation • July 2, 2026 • Dawa Dolma, Tenzin Yangdon
Contemplating impermanence, a core Buddhist concept, helps Tibetan Buddhist monastics develop a positive attitude toward death. Nine Geshe-degree monks were interviewed, and four themes emerged: acceptance of death, purposeful living through impermanence, spiritual readiness for death, and emotional resilience through impermanence. Regular reflection on impermanence was reported to eliminate fear and foster acceptance of mortality, serving as both a spiritual principle and a psychological tool for coping with loss, reducing attachment, and building emotional resilience.
Journal of Global Catholicism • July 1, 2026 • S Mark Heim
Engaging with Buddhist meditative practices of emptiness can deepen a Christian understanding of what it means to be a creature. Three forms of Buddhist introspection are examined: analytical awareness of consciousness as empty of essences, real-time application of antidotes to reified projections, and nondual awareness of emptiness without a subject (nirvanic realization). The first form reveals a shared recognition that neither creatures (in Christianity) nor selves (in Buddhism) have essential being. The second shows a convergence between the Christian sinful creature and the Buddhist falsely projected self, offering practical therapeutic emptiness. The third suggests a resonance between Buddhist nondual emptiness and Christian apophatic or kenotic openness to divine indwelling, though not fully explored.
British Journal for the History of Philosophy • June 30, 2026 • Jan Westerhoff
The Cārvākas, an ancient Indian school of philosophy, defended an early form of materialism. Their views are contrasted with other philosophical traditions of the time, particularly those that posited non-material substances or a soul. The text examines the Cārvāka arguments and their place in the broader intellectual landscape of ancient India.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) • June 30, 2026 • Mircea Magureanu
Vajrayana Buddhist deity yoga transformation is modeled using concepts from signal modulation, control systems, and field emanation theory. The mind's triadic baseline (Sem, Lo, Thugs) and the materialization of form from the ordinary physical body (Lus) to the enlightened dimension (Sku/Nirmanakaya) are analyzed. Nine dramatic moods (Gar-gyi Ro-dgu) act as frequency modulations over the blind carrier kinetic energy of consciousness (Sem), rendering the false egoic self-construct (Dak) dormant. The Lineage Blessing during ritual (Puja) down-links absolute, self-arising reality (Rang) through Samaya, replacing the disciple's conditioned egoic apparatus and projecting an illusory body (Tulpa) as an automated cybernetic feedback loop for spiritual protection.
Frontiers in Psychology • June 30, 2026 • Yiwen Zhang
Jung's theory of individuation reaches a structural limit that Vijnanvada (Yogacara) Buddhist philosophy can identify and continue. Prior comparative scholarship that mapped Jungian archetypes onto Buddhist categories conceals a more fundamental asymmetry between the two traditions. Both traditions posit a subliminal mind (collective unconscious or alaya-vijnana) in response to the insufficiency of surface consciousness. Jung's integrative methodology misreads the structural self-grasping of manas as content available for integration. The Jungian Self archetype reproduces at a more sophisticated level the same atma-graha structure that manas enacts in lived experience. Vijnanvada's doctrine of 'turning consciousness into wisdom' articulates a transformation of cognitive mode that Jung's framework approaches but does not formulate. Individuation functions as precondition for the subtler work of transforming the structural orientation of cognition itself.
Religions • June 29, 2026 • Kwanghyun Han, Sejin Chang
Self-understanding is not a reflective outcome but a conditionally constituted process grounded in the Buddhist principle of dependent origination. Traditional meditation operates as a structure of conditional disclosure, where practitioners observe the dynamic interplay of experiential conditions. In contrast, AI-mediated meditation systems pre-configure these conditions through algorithmic classification, procedural guidance, and interface design, shaping self-understanding through technologically mediated interpretations. The key distinction lies in the visibility and configurational control of conditions. This theoretical framework shows how digital environments may reshape contemplative agency and the conditions under which self-understanding is formed.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) • June 21, 2026 • Lukas Geiger
This article systematically compares the psychological framework of the Pali Canon with four Christian contemplative traditions: the Desert Fathers, Rhineland Mysticism, Carmelite Mysticism, and Ignatian Spirituality. Using a convergence-type schema that distinguishes structural-phenomenological, conceptual, and no-parallel relations, it finds robust parallels in contemplative attention regulation, affect regulation, developmental staging, and practice architecture. The strongest convergence is in attention regulation, where both traditions identify a critical leverage point at the transition from a mental event's initial appearance to its elaboration. However, the comparison does not claim doctrinal identity, historical derivation, or direct empirical validation across traditions. Irreducible differences in ontology, soteriology, and causal architecture are documented alongside the parallels, supporting a moderate convergence position.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) • March 21, 2020 • Haiteng Jiang, Bin He, Xiaoli Guo et al. • 40 citations
Meditation alters how the brain represents signals from the heart, particularly within the default mode network (DMN), and reorganizes large-scale brain networks. In a large group of long-term Tibetan Buddhist monks, meditation produced distinct, transient changes in the brain's response to heartbeats in the DMN and reconfigurations of EEG gamma and theta band networks. Theta-band connectivity between temporal and frontal regions decreased with more meditation experience, and gamma oscillations became directionally coupled to theta oscillations during meditation. These findings suggest that changes in the neural representation of cardiac activity and large-scale network integration underlie meditation's effects, implying that meditation induces both immediate and lasting plasticity in brain organization.
Frontiers in psychology • January 1, 2020 • Harald Walach • 55 citations
Ontology and epistemology are interdependent. The current materialist ontology in science, paired with an empiricist epistemology focused only on outer sense experience, is insufficient to explain consciousness or anomalous cognitions. Historically, medieval science included both inner (first-person) and outer (third-person) experience. The author proposes a complementarist dual aspect model where consciousness and matter are coprimary, not derivative. This entails a broader epistemology: contemplative practice can explore consciousness to understand the deep structure of the world, complementing outward-directed science. Such a contemplative science may aid theoretical intuition and ethics.
Explore (New York, N.Y.) • January 1, 2019 • William Van Gordon, Edo Shonin, Thomas J Dunn et al. • 38 citations
Cultivating emptiness (śūnyatā), a wisdom-based Buddhist-derived practice, appears to reconnect advanced meditators to what they consider the innermost nature of mind and phenomena. In a study of 25 advanced Buddhist meditators, emptiness meditation produced significantly greater improvements in non-attachment to self and environment, mystical experiences, compassion, positive affect, and negative affect compared to a mindfulness meditation control. No significant relationship was found between duration of emptiness meditation and any outcome. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants combined concentrative and investigative techniques to induce emptiness, elicited spiritually meaningful insights, and retained volitional control over the meditation.
PLoS ONE • November 7, 2018 • Cassandra Vieten, Helané Wahbeh, B Rael Cahn et al. • 124 citations
A survey of 1120 meditators found that most report having had anomalous and extraordinary experiences during meditation, such as mystical, transpersonal, or difficult phenomena. While meditation research has largely focused on clinical effectiveness and neural correlates, these less-studied experiences may be crucial for psychological and spiritual development, act as mediators of meditation's benefits, or be important outcomes themselves. A task force of researchers and teachers developed recommendations to expand research into these areas, which represent largely uncharted scientific terrain suitable for rigorous investigation.
Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism • January 1, 2018 • Sanjay Kalra, Gagan Priya, Emmy Grewal et al. • 41 citations
Buddhism and medicine have been linked since Buddhism's earliest days, both aiming to alleviate human suffering. While this connection is acknowledged, little literature exists on how Buddhist philosophy can guide health-care practitioners professionally and personally. The sutras analogize the Buddha as a doctor, Dharma as treatment, and lay people as patients. Disease relates to mental, physical, spiritual, social, cultural, and environmental factors; medicine should not merely eradicate symptoms but address psychosocial causes. Holistic care harmonizes these elements, and Buddhist philosophy offers insight. Buddhist medical literature provides moral guidelines paralleling medical ethics—nonmaleficence, benevolence, justice, autonomy—and emphasizes loving-kindness, compassion, empathy, and equanimity as key physician attributes. Physician burnout is a neglected problem; mindfulness meditation can help practitioners cope and improve patient and self-care.
PLoS ONE • May 24, 2017 • Jared R. Lindahl, Nathan E. Fisher, David J. Cooper et al. • 468 citations
Meditation practices derived from Buddhism are widely used for health promotion, but their traditional sources also describe a broader range of effects. The Varieties of Contemplative Experience study used interviews with Western Buddhist practitioners and experts from Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan traditions, plus a follow-up survey, to investigate underreported meditation-related experiences, especially those that are challenging, distressing, or impairing. Thematic analysis produced a taxonomy of 59 experiences across 7 domains: cognitive, perceptual, affective, somatic, conative, sense of self, and social. Interpretations and responses varied greatly, with valence ranging from very positive to very negative and distress from minimal to severe. The study identified 26 influencing factors across 4 domains: practitioner-level, practice-level, relationships, and health behaviors.
Frontiers in Psychology • November 17, 2016 • D. Dorjee • 124 citations
The term 'contemplative' is used frequently in meditation research, but there is no consensus on its definition. This paper proposes an alternative approach: contemplative science as the interdisciplinary study of the metacognitive self-regulatory capacity (MSRC) of the mind and associated modes of existential awareness (MEA), modulated by motivational, intentional, and contextual factors. The MSRC enables introspective awareness and self-regulation for well-being. Changes in conceptual processing are hypothesized to mediate between MSRC, motivational factors, and shifts in MEA. This framework aims to reduce terminological confusion, include varied contemplative practices, and encourage development of a comprehensive theory that recognizes first- and second-person methods.
Frontiers in Psychology • July 4, 2016 • Yung-jong Eshiah • 84 citations
A new theoretical framework, the Nonself Theory (NT), proposes that minimizing or extinguishing the sense of self leads to egolessness and authentic happiness, contrasting with Western psychology's emphasis on strengthening the self. The theory uses the Mandala Model of Self (MMS), which describes the well-functioning self across cultures through four concepts: biology, ideal person, knowledge/wisdom, and action. While the ego pursues desire-driven pleasure to reinforce the self, the nonself approach follows a self-cultivation principle of giving up desires, displaying compassion, practicing meditation, and seeking Buddhist wisdom to overcome the illusion of self. The NT accounts for altruism, mindfulness, peak experiences, and moral conduct, and offers clinical applications and directions for future research.
Journal of Philosophy of Education • May 1, 2015 • Sharon Todd • 64 citations
An education committed to 'negative capability' and comfort with uncertainty can be informed by combining ideas from Levinas and Theravada Buddhism. The article first explores Buddhist concepts of impermanence, suffering, and non-self (anicca, dukkha, and anatta) and vipassana meditation's emphasis on openness to transient experience and self. It then connects these with Levinas's ethics of alterity. Together, they provide conditions for developing an ethical sensibility attuned to encounters with the world. The article reflects on how this sensibility can re-inform educational practices, which inherently involve change and uncertainty.
Frontiers in Psychology • January 1, 2014 • Jared R. Lindahl, Christopher T. Kaplan, Evan M. Winget et al. • 123 citations
Meditation can induce visual light experiences, such as discrete lightforms and patterned or diffuse lights, which are well documented in Buddhist texts but rarely reported in scientific literature. Reports from American Buddhist practitioners closely match these traditional accounts. The paper argues that meditative practices that reduce sensory and social stimulation and focus attention produce perceptual and cognitive effects similar to sensory deprivation. Since sensory deprivation is known to increase neuroplasticity, meditation may similarly enhance neuroplastic potential. The findings suggest that scientists, clinicians, and meditators should be aware of this broader range of experiences arising from contemplative practice.
Indian journal of psychiatry • January 1, 2013 • Tapas Kumar Aich • 49 citations
Buddha's Four Noble Truths describe life as suffering (Duhkha), its cause (Duhkha-samudaya), its cessation (Duhkha-nirodha), and the Eightfold Path (right views, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration) as the way to end suffering. Mid-20th-century collaborations between psychoanalysts and Buddhist scholars are seen as a meeting of two powerful forces in the Western mind. Buddhism and Western psychology overlap in theory and practice, with parallels to phenomenological, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, and existential psychology. Alan Watts noted Buddhism resembles psychotherapy more than Western philosophy or religion. The author considers Buddha a unique psychotherapist whose methods helped millions.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion • December 1, 2011 • Zhuo Chen, Qi Wen, Ralph W. Hood et al. • 54 citations
Among 139 Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monastics, the common facets of mysticism identified by Stace and measured by Hood's Mysticism Scale successfully described Buddhist experience, though modified by Buddhist doctrines. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that Stace's three-factor structure fit the data, but the hypothesized separation between introvertive and extrovertive unity converged in this Chinese Buddhist context. These results strongly support the idea that mystical experience has a common experiential core across religious traditions and that this core can be studied with mixed methods.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion • June 1, 2011 • 63 citations
A debate in mysticism asks whether a universal core experience exists across religions. This investigation combines Jamesian and social constructivist views, arguing that stable experiential facets combine differently across cultures to form local interpretations, which still share a family resemblance—a mystical common core. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from 240 Tibetan Buddhist adults show that a three-factor model fits better than a unidimensional model, indicating that pure experience can be distinguished from its context-specific interpretation.
Complementary health practice review • January 1, 2009 • Eric Garland, Susan Gaylord • 45 citations
Mindfulness, an ancient spiritual practice and behavioral technique that fosters non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, is gaining attention across academic and clinical fields. To guide future research, four priority areas are proposed: developing performance-based measures of mindfulness, scientifically evaluating Buddhist claims, exploring the neurophenomenology of mindfulness, and measuring mindfulness-induced changes in gene expression. Integrating traditional meditative wisdom with advanced empirical methods may advance contemplative science.