Contemporary Buddhism
May 1, 2011
Bhikkhu Bodhi
620 citations
Mindfulness meditation, as described in the Pāli Canon, is best understood as 'lucid awareness' rather than 'bare attention.' The term mindfulness (sati) originally meant 'memory,' but the Buddha gave it a new meaning central to his teaching. Clear comprehension (sampajañña) bridges mindfulness and the development of insight. The author argues that while secular applications of mindfulness are acceptable for alleviating suffering, they should not reduce the practice to a mere technique and must respect its Buddhist roots.
Contemporary Buddhism
May 1, 2011
Paul Grossman, Nicholas T. Van Dam
540 citations
The Buddhist concept of mindfulness, central to many Western psychological interventions, originates from a centuries-old systematic investigation of subjective experience. Current enthusiasm for mindfulness in Western science has led to many different definitions, measurements, and self-report questionnaires that treat it as a stable personality trait. This paper identifies persistent problems with these attempts and warns that they risk distorting, diluting, or reifying the original Buddhist ideas. To properly understand and measure mindfulness, psychologists and scientists may need to study Buddhist phenomenology more deeply and engage in long-term direct practice of insight meditation, a step that seems necessary before any valid characterization or quantification can occur.
Contemporary Buddhism
November 1, 2013
Beatrice Alba
19 citations
Participants at two metta meditation retreats reported significant increases in happiness and compassionate love, along with reductions in avoidance motivation, revenge motivation, and depression, anxiety, and stress scores. These changes were observed from the beginning of the retreat to two weeks after its conclusion.
Contemporary Buddhism
April 22, 2025
Nicholas K. Canby, Jared R. Lindahl, David J. Cooper et al.
1 citation
Meditation teachers can have both beneficial and detrimental impacts on practitioners facing meditation-related challenges. A mixed-methods study of 68 meditation practitioners and 33 experts from various Buddhist lineages found that beneficial relationships involved access to well-qualified teachers, appropriate guidance, and teachers with psychology or mental health training. Unhelpful factors included teacher unavailability, limited student tracking or disclosure, invalidating or victim-blaming responses, lack of perceived expertise, and mismatched interpersonal or cultural dynamics. The psychologization of Buddhist meditation in the West shapes student-teacher relationships and expectations, especially during challenges.