Integrative Exegesis of the Pāli Canon: Phenomenological Psychology, Methods of Mental Training, and Interdisciplinary Reception

This integrative review article systematically reads the Pali Canon through contemporary psychology and cognitive science, comparing the Abhidhamma's combinatorial mind-model, the Noble Eightfold Path's training methods, and the four Jhana stages with empirical findings from clinical psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness research. It proposes a structured convergence-type differentiation to classify the evidential status of each parallel, distinguishing empirical, structural, conceptual, and negative mappings. The analysis emphasizes that modern evidence for clinical or cognitive constructs does not validate Pali constructs under their own conceptual and soteriological frame. The paper is an advanced draft preprint that has undergone internal review but not formal journal peer review.

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Abstract

The paper is Article 2 of the Pali-Psycho series. It extends the empirical comparison axis of Article 1 into a broader systematic-exegetical framework: Abhidhamma taxonomy, Satipatthana and Anapanasati practice architecture, Jhana phenomenology, dependent origination, sociology of the Sangha, theology, literary reception, and modern cognitive-scientific comparison points. The central result is a guarded convergence framework. The paper distinguishes empirical, structural, conceptual, and negative mappings, and emphasizes that modern evidence for a clinical or cognitive construct does not validate the Pali construct under its own conceptual and soteriological frame. The 2026-06-01 design pass added an explicit convergence-type interpretation ledger to keep this boundary visible. (i) External preprint inputs: The article builds on Pali-canonical and Theravada sources, standard translations, Buddhist psychology scholarship, clinical mindfulness literature, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, sociology, theology, and literary reception. (ii) Structural component: The paper reconstructs Abhidhamma and meditative taxonomies as a structured practice and interpretation architecture. (iii) Diagnostic / comparative evidence: The convergence table and interpretation ledger separate evidence for modern correlates from claims about Pali-canonical constructs. (iv) Open bridge: The journal-stage update should decide whether the convergence ledger moves earlier into the methodology and should integrate the current no-self/DPDR, advanced-meditation, and construct-validity literature. This is an advanced draft preprint. It has undergone internal review, source and citation checks, data/structure design review, German style review, bilingual build checks, PDF preflight, and policy checks, but it has not undergone formal journal peer review. Major revisions are possible before journal submission. Abstract (English) This integrative review article presents a systematic reading of the Pali Canon through the lens of contemporary psychology and cognitive science. The Abhidhamma's combinatorial mind-model, the training methods of the Noble Eightfold Path, and the progressive phenomenological framework of the four Jhana stages are compared with empirical findings from clinical psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness research. The analysis proposes a structured convergence-type differentiation to classify the evidential status of each parallel and integrates critical replication evidence and construct-validity limits. Zusammenfassung (Deutsch) Dieser integrative Übersichtsartikel rekonstruiert den Pali-Kanon als System phänomenologischer Psychologie, psychotechnischer Methoden und interdisziplinärer Rezeption. Die Analyse unterscheidet empirische, strukturelle, konzeptuelle und negative Zuordnungen und hält ausdrücklich fest, dass moderne Evidenz für klinische oder kognitive Korrelate keine direkte Validierung des Pali-Konstrukts in seinem eigenen Begriffsrahmen bedeutet. Changes in Version 1.2 (July 2026) German-language maintenance release following the July 2026 style pass for Article 2 of the Pali-Psycho series. German wording: Four minor German-language wording and grammar issues were corrected, including a grammatical error, an awkward cognitive-science phrase, a method-term rendering, and a redundant sentence opening. English file: The English text remains unchanged apart from the visible v1.2 title-page version marker. PDF rebuild: The English PDF was rebuilt for the v1.2 marker, the German PDF was rebuilt after the style pass, and the combined PDF was regenerated from the EN plus DE PDFs. Verification: Hard LaTeX-log scan and PDF text extraction remained green; the German text layer was checked for real umlauts and the corrected target phrases. Claim status: No scientific claim upgrade, source change, or new theoretical result is made; the convergence-type guardrail and advanced-draft status remain unchanged. DE/EN: English and German PDFs are published synchronously; combined PDF generated from EN plus DE. Changes in Version 1.1 (July 2026) Maintenance release following the July 2026 AI-disclosure hygiene pass and source-check refresh for Article 2 of the Pali-Psycho series. AI disclosure: The English and German disclosure sections were neutralized to remove model-role lists and any wording that could imply AI authorship, co-authorship, acknowledgement, truth authority, or independent validation. Source metadata: The active BibTeX titles for Fincham et al. 2023, Goldberg et al. 2022, and Valk et al. 2017 were aligned with Crossref/PubMed metadata; DOI, author, journal, year, and page fields did not require correction. Source-check evidence: All 34 active DOI-bearing bibliography items resolved through Crossref; 30 of them also returned PubMed/NCBI matches where applicable. PDF rebuild: English, German, and combined PDFs were rebuilt as the v8 local paper set and passed hard LaTeX log, bibliography readback, PDF text, and German umlaut checks. Claim status: No scientific claim upgrade is made; the convergence-type guardrail and advanced-draft status remain unchanged. DE/EN: English and German PDFs are published synchronously; combined PDF generated from EN plus DE. Changes in Version 1.0 (June 2026) Initial Zenodo release of Article 2 in the Pali-Psycho series. Initial release: English, German, and combined PDFs are published synchronously. Review status: 7-phase review completed and P0 fixes applied before publication. Source and citation checks: EN/GER citation sets were synchronized and DOI-bearing sources checked in May 2026. Design and claim guardrails: The 2026-06-01 design pass added a convergence-type interpretation ledger separating data basis, licensed claim, and claim boundary. Cross-reference update: The 2026-06-06 build updates the former companion-paper wording so Art.2 points to Article 1 as an existing companion paper rather than a forthcoming one. DE/EN: English and German PDFs published synchronously; combined PDF generated from EN plus DE.