Buddhist meditation in Britain: 1853 and 1945

Discussions about Buddhist meditation in the West usually focus on the post-1960s period and explain the popularity of meditation in a context of modernistic discourses. In this article the author suggests that meditation was in fact available in Britain much earlier than is usually assumed, in a period which was without doubt ‘modern,' yet which did not quickly produce mass acceptance of meditative practices in its host culture. While the migration of meditation was influenced by modernist discourses, these were sometimes contradictory to each other and hindered acceptance. The author examines how the term meditation itself has evolved, who first brought it to Britain and why, as well as the political and social forces that shaped its trajectory of acceptance and rejection in the first half of the 20th century.     

正念对亲密关系的影响

亲密关系中的正念, 是指个体有意识地关注可能影响关系的感觉或想法。由于其有助于提高关系满意度并缓解关系冲突, 因而逐渐在理论和应用上受到关注。二元互动过程理论有助于在二元框架下理解正念影响亲密关系的过程和结果, 研究者通常采用测量法、实验诱导法和正念干预探究正念对亲密关系的影响。鉴于正念干预对亲密关系具有防护和补救功能,因此被应用于相对幸福、面临挑战和陷入危机等不同关系状态。未来的研究可根据关系的阶段特征和可能的反向作用建构理论; 根据亲密关系的二元互动和阶段特点, 从多维、动态发展的视角界定概念, 通过互评法和观察编码法进行测量; 采用更严谨的设计明确干预效果; 并且关注潜在的消极影响。     

The relationship between mindfulness and self-promoting illusions

It was hypothesized that people who are mindful will exhibit less self-enhancing illusions than those who are less mindful, based on the nature of mindfulness and Zen Buddhist philosophy. Self-enhancing illusions were measured using the Self Attributes Questionnaire, and mindfulness was measured using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale among a sample of 151 students. Contrary to predictions, results revealed a positive correlation between mindfulness and self-enhancing illusions. Possible reasons for this seeming contradiction are discussed.     

冥想对注意能力的影响

所有冥想方法都要对注意进行管理, 注意是冥想的核心机制。近期研究发现, 冥想显著提高了持续性注意、执行注意和选择性注意分配等多种注意能力。认知神经科学研究发现, 冥想使注意资源分配更有效; 长期冥想者表现出更高的失匹配负波波幅和更低的β波幅; 冥想增强了中央执行网络有关脑区的功能联结, 提高了突出网络有关脑区的活动; 注意聚焦冥想降低了默认网络有关脑区的活动。另外, 作为一种提高注意能力的方法, 冥想不仅适用于注意缺陷多动障碍患者和已康复的抑郁症患者等有注意相关障碍的临床群体, 也适用于儿童和老年人等多种年龄阶段的健康群体。未来应通过追踪研究探讨冥想的长期效果; 探索冥想中注意与情绪的交互作用; 根据群体特征设计出更有针对性的冥想。     

冥想的安全性

大量研究表明冥想有助于身心健康的维持与幸福感的提升,但与此同时,飞速发展的研究与实践却严重忽略了对其安全性的考察。目前,我们对冥想各群体(临床人群、修行人、正念冥想指导者、普通练习者及大学生等)不良反应的表现、影响因素及发生与转化机制等都知之甚少,目前国内该领域的研究尚属空白,这是迫切需要研究者和实践者重视和严肃对待的伦理问题。国外研究表明,总体而言,冥想不良反应率为8.3%,表现在认知、感知觉、情感、躯体化、意志、自我意识与社会功能等7方面内容的不适或改变,严重的甚至出现自杀意念与行为;冥想不良反应的影响因素包括练习者、练习、关系及健康行为等4方面的内容。中国文化下本土化研究的开展以及冥想指导者胜任力等问题是未来研究的重要方向,分解设计、纵向设计与个人中心取向是重要的研究方法。     

Mindfulness meditation is associated with decreases in partner negative affect in daily life

To date, very little research has examined the extrapersonal effects of mindfulness meditation practice. In this study, we investigated whether individual meditation practice exerted an influence on friends or romantic partners. Thirty-five dyads completed an 8-week single-subject protocol using an A-B-A-B design to compare non-meditation phases with meditation phases. One member of each pair was randomly assigned to meditate daily for 15 min during the B-phases of the study; the other dyad member did not meditate in either the A or B phases. Daily diaries for each participant assessed negative affect, positive affect, and facets of mindfulness. For participants in the intermittent meditation condition, meditation was associated with decreased negative affect, increased positive affect, and higher scores on the mindfulness facets of observing, describing, and nonreactivity to inner experience. Results further demonstrated that the negative affect of non-meditating partners decreased during the weeks that their partner meditated and was lower on days that their partner meditated. We did not find similar results for positive affect or mindfulness at the group level. Exploratory analyses suggested that the extrapersonal effects of meditation days on a partner's negative affect might be stronger in romantic couples. This study indicates that 15 min of daily meditation in novice meditators can decrease the negative affect of relationship partners.     

慈心禅在心理学视角下的应用

随着正念在西方心理学界的流行,慈心禅作为另一种颇具应用潜力的传统佛教禅修方式,正受到越来越多心理学家的关注。系统的慈心禅训练可以培养积极情绪、缓解消极的情绪反应,而即时的慈心禅练习也可以作为一种情绪调节策略。慈心禅可有效提升自我同情,培养对他人的共情能力和积极态度,此外还可辅助某些疾病的治疗。除进一步深入已有方向,未来研究可更多借鉴佛教视角提出新课题,如对慈心进行有效测量,探索慈心禅所诱发情绪的特殊性质,干预愤怒、嫉妒等负性情绪并探索慈心禅的应用方式与条件等。     

Interpersonal relationships and irrationality as predictors of life satisfaction

This study examined the association among interpersonal relationships, irrational beliefs, and life satisfaction. Twenty-eight psychotherapy clients and 207 college undergraduates completed measures of interpersonal relations (Outcome Questionnaire; Lambert et al., 1996 Lambert, MJ, Burlingame, GM, Umphress, V, Hansen, NB, Vermeersch, DAClouse, GC. 1996. The reliability and validity of the Outcome Questionnaire. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 3: 249–258. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), irrationality (Rational Behavior Inventory; Shorkey & Whiteman, 1977 Shorkey, CT and Whiteman, VL. 1977. Development of the Rational Behavior Inventory: Initial validity and reliability. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 37: 527–534. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and life satisfaction (The Satisfaction with Life Scale; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985 Diener, E, Emmons, R, Larsen, R and Griffin, S. 1985. The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49: 71–75. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results indicated that interpersonal relations predicted life satisfaction, whereas global irrationality was indirectly related to life satisfaction. Specifically, interpersonal relations mediated the association between global irrationality and life satisfaction. Clinicians aiming to foster life satisfaction in their patients are encouraged to carefully assess their social functioning and utilize relationship-enhancing treatments. Targeting irrational thinking may also be necessary to set the stage for and support such interventions.     

The Gap Between: Being and Knowing in Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis

The author discusses various relationships derived from the image of gap, precipice, and abyss with specific emphasis on interacting dynamics between being and knowing as explicated in the Zen Buddhist teachings of Hui-neng and in the psychoanalytic writings of Wilfred Bion. While of significant value to psychoanalysis, it is argued that symbolic meanings can occlude the actuality of the analysand's or of the spiritual seeker's affective experiencing, particularly concerning the human tendency to concretize experiential states engendered through meditation and/or the psychoanalytic encounter. The author draws from Matte-Blanco's explication of symmetrical and asymmetrical perceptual modalities to discuss the fluid nature of spiritual experiencing, paradoxical coexistence of ultimate and relative realities and reciprocal dynamics and identities between states of experiencing that might otherwise appear opposed. The primacy of experiencing for both disciplines, particularly concerning the experiencing subject's momentary state of consciousness, forms a central theme for both Zen and psychoanalysis. Brief clinical vignettes support and illuminate the author's points.     

Learning from experience: Bion's concept of reverie and Buddhist meditation: A comparative study

The author argues for a common denominator between Bion's view and the Buddhist view of mental development. In both thought systems, mental growth is synonymous to learning from experience. The author closely examines Bion's concept of attention and compares it to mindfulness, a major factor in Buddhist meditation. In both doctrines, attention must be isolated from other mental processes in order to attain learning from experience. The author compares reverie to the state of mind of equanimity. She argues that enhancement of the ability of reverie, or improving the inner container such that it can hold any content while unmoved by desire, is the purpose of Buddhist practice. Both view the mind as capable of transcending its own restrictions and 'the capacity to know anything' as attainable through disciplined practice.     

Enhanced happiness and stress alleviation upon insight meditation retreat: mindfulness,a part of traditional Buddhist meditation

This research aims to examine how traditional insight meditation in Thailand is trained and to investigate the impact of this practice on happiness and perceived stress. The fuller meaning of mindfulness and how to interweave mindfulness in daily practice is discussed. The intervention was a seven-day traditional insight meditation retreat in Thailand. The final sample included 656 participants, n?=?330 and 326 in experimental group and control group, respectively. Validated versions of happiness and perceived stress scales for Thai people were used. The magnitude of happiness and stress changes following the intervention, determined by effect sizes were used as a benchmark for interpreting the health status change between baseline and post-test. The effect sizes for happiness and perceived stress were .379 and ?.428 in the meditation group, which is much greater, compared to the effect sizes of ?.045 and ?.003, respectively, in the control group.     

Mindfulness and Acceptance in the Treatment of Disordered Eating

Mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches to the treatment of clinical problems are accruing substantial empirical support. This article examines the application of these approaches to disordered eating. Theoretical bases for the importance of mindfulness and acceptance in the treatment of eating problems are reviewed, and interventions for eating problems that incorporate mindfulness and acceptance skills are briefly described. Empirical data are presented from a pilot study of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy adapted for treatment of binge eating.     

Relational frame theory,acceptance and commitment therapy,and a functional analytic definition of mindfulness

The present article interprets mindfulness from the point of view of the effects of language and cognition on human action. Relational Frame Theory is described to show how human suffering is created by entanglement with the cognitive networks made possible by language. Mindfulness can be understood as a collection of related processes that function to undermine the dominance of verbal networks, especially involving temporal and evaluative relations. These processes include acceptance, defusion, contact with the present moment, and the transcendent sense of self. Each of these components of mindfulness are targeted in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and there is some evidence that they underlie the therapeutic changes induced by this approach. The relation between the present approach to mindfulness and other approaches is discussed.     

Leisure in romantic relationships: An avenue for differentiation of self

Bowen Family Systems Theory predicts that the ability to balance emotional intimacy with one’s partner with one's own sense of autonomy, called differentiation of self, results in stronger relationships. We tested whether this balance manifests in how individuals manage their time spent with and without their partner. Analyses utilized differentiation of self, leisure time balance with and without one's partner, and couple leisure satisfaction to predict dyadic adjustment. Although leisure time balance did not mediate the relationship between differentiation of self and relationship functioning, couple leisure satisfaction was found to partially mediate this relationship. The moderating effect of differentiation was also examined, which demonstrated that differentiation of self buffered the relationship between low couple leisure time satisfaction and relationship adjustment.     

Intensive mindfulness training-related changes in cognitive and emotional experience

This study examined the role of intensive mindfulness training on changes in day-to-day experiential processing, psychological symptoms, resilience, and well-being in two groups of community adults (N = 69). Using both quasi-experimental and longitudinal methods, the study found that intensive training, operationalized as 10–12 hours of formal mindfulness practice per day for 1 month, was significantly related to increases in training-specific experiential processing capacities, namely trait mindfulness and decentering (reperceiving), in comparison to pre–post-training wait-list controls. In both training groups combined, mindfulness, decentering, and acceptance increased over the pre-training to 1-month follow-up period. Intensive mindfulness training was also related to declines in anxiety and enhanced both subjective well-being and self-compassion from pre-training to follow-up in the two training groups. Finally, increases in trait mindfulness and acceptance were related to improvements in psychological symptoms, well-being, and resilience. Future directions for this novel area of mindfulness research are discussed.     

正念对亲社会行为的影响

正念在促进亲社会行为上的表现逐渐受到关注,越来越多的研究者针对正念对亲社会行为的影响展开探索。已有的理论研究认为正念可以通过提高注意力、身体意识、去具体化能力、积极情感体验、情绪调节能力和减少自我感来促进亲社会行为; 实证研究结果表明,特质正念能够正向预测亲社会行为,正念干预通过提高共情能力、同情体验、情绪调节能力以及去自动化认知来促进亲社会行为。未来研究需要在完善系统的正念—亲社会行为理论框架基础上,进一步挖掘正念对亲社会行为的不同影响及其机制,关注潜在的消极影响,同时发展生态效度更高的研究方法或指标来考量正念与亲社会行为之间的关系,提升正念干预对亲社会行为影响的长期有效性与普适性。