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Chapter 8
The potential of contemplative science
The fast growing interest in meditation, both in the secular and traditional contexts, raises many wider questions about the potential and implications of long-term meditation practice for our well-being and understanding of meaning and purpose in life. As we have discussed throughout the book, self-regulation and existential well-being can be considered the core pillars of our overall well-being. From the perspective of a long-term trajectory of meditation training, the initial stages mostly develop self-regulatory skills through mindfulness and meta-awareness practices whereas the more advanced meditation practices of existential insight particularly enhance existential well-being. Contemplations developing motivational/intentional foundations for meditation practice, meditations on compassion, loving kindness and other wholesome qualities, and visualization-based practices are relevant throughout the path and contribute to development of both self-regulation and existential insight.
Whilst each chapter focused on a different type of meditation practice, each of these were discussed in terms of an overarching framework for research on meditation which explains the impact of meditation on the mind and brain in terms of the metacognitive self-regulatory capacity (MSRC) of the mind and modes of existential awareness (MEA) (Dorjee, 2016). The MSRC consists of systems and processes enabling attention control and meta-awareness of contents and processes of the mind together with emotion regulation and conceptual processing. Hence, the MSRC supports reflective meta-awareness of our behaviour and mental processes and also our ability to adaptively modulate these. The MEA build on the refined self-regulatory abilities which stabilize the mind and refine our metacognitive awareness. Specifically, the MEA refer to our phenomenological (experiential or felt) sense of self and reality. From a long-term practice perspective, initial stages of meditation training particularly aim to improve the processes of the MSRC, which then enable shifts towards more advanced MEA as the meditation training progresses further. The existential drive, as the need for understanding of existential meaning and purpose in life, can be considered the primary motivational force of the mind, which is adaptively expressed through engagement in practices leading to realization of the more advanced MEA.
The explanatory potential of the MSRC, MEA and the existential drive in building up a theory of how meditation impacts on the mind suggests that they could become central to meditation research as a scientific discipline. The term ‘contemplative science’ is now increasingly more often used to describe this emerging field of research, which has been so far mostly understood as a study of particular meditation practices. However, such conceptualization seems limiting in many regards (see Dorjee, 2016) including terminological confusions about definitions of meditation practices (e.g., mindfulness; see Williams and Kabat-Zinn, 2011) and a lack of emphasis on unique aspects of meditation research such as the role of meditation training in the development of existential well-being. If we highlight these unique features of contemplative science in its definition, the potential of this discipline in broadly contributing to our understanding of the human mind, brain and well-being will be much more visible. Following this approach, one possible way of defining contemplative science is as an interdisciplinary study of the MSRC of the mind and associated MEA which are both modified by the motivational/intentional and contextual (secular or non-secular, lay or ordained etc.) factors of meditation practice (Dorjee, 2016).
Defining contemplative science in terms of the MSRC and the MEA together with motivational/intentional and contextual factors has implications for further research and application of this framework in psychology, psychotherapy, neuroscience, education, healthcare and society more broadly. This chapter explores these implications with a particular focus on the development of long-term meditation practice as a means for adaptive expression of the existential drive supporting human potential for well-being across the life-span. The existential aspect of human well-being has been particularly neglected across the board in the Western society, which might be one of the core contributing factors to the current mental health crisis in the West. The main argument of this chapter suggests that contemplative science can play a central role in a paradigm shift in relevant scientific disciplines and our society towards a long-term sustainable view of human well-being. Long-term meditation training has a pivotal role to play in this shift not only because it can enhance our self-regulatory skills, but perhaps even more importantly because it develops our sense of existential connection and purpose and thus enables realization of our existential drive.
Contemplative psychology
Psychological research on meditation has so far almost exclusively focused on the effects meditation practices have on different attention functions and emotion processing. Studies have, for example, found improvements in orienting attention (e.g., Jha, Krompinger and Baime, 2007) and sustained attention (e.g., Jensen et al., 2012) after the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programme. Other research reported improvements in affect after loving kindness training (Hutcherson, Seppala and Gross, 2008). However, research on changes in conceptual processing with meditation and motivational/intentional factors of meditation is scarce. Similarly, studies investigating shifts in MEA are mostly limited to the state of decentring from mental processes and contents (the ability to observe them as fleeting rather than solid facts, Fresco et al., 2007) (e.g., Hoge et al., 2015). This means that the current understanding of psychological processes underlying meditation is mostly restricted to the a
ttentional and emotion regulation aspects of MSRC.
In addition, most of previous research examined immediate (after a short meditation session) or short-term (up to several weeks) effects of meditation. Any follow-up investigations, ranging from a few months, and in rare cases a couple of years, focused on whether the initial gains in reductions of illness symptoms, or enhancements in well-being, were sustained later on. They were not examining whether with long-term practice the MSRC further improved or whether participants experienced shifts towards more advanced MEA. Accordingly, our understanding of the long-term trajectory of psychological changes resulting from continuous meditation practice is minimal. This is the case not only for experimental research, but also for theory of long-term meditation practice.
For the next phase of psychological research on meditation it seems necessary to address these shortcomings, starting with development of scientific theories of MEA, intentional/motivation factors and their progression with long-term meditation. Such theoretical research will hopefully lead to development of psychological measures which will enable assessment of MEA and intentional/motivational aspects of meditation practice. This work will also need to pay closer attention to the context of meditation training, particularly whether it is secular or traditional, with further subdivisions within each type. This is because the context of meditation practice modulates the intentional/motivational factors, the progression and types of meditation training and guidance a practitioner receives during long-term meditation training. All these aspects of meditation training will in turn modulate the resulting changes in MSRC and MEA.
Finally, further advancement of psychological research on meditation will require stronger reliance on introspective research methods which are unique to the field of contemplative science and enable measurement of changes in phenomenological experience in both formal and informal meditation practice. This is because, unlike other psychological approaches, meditation training particularly targets the development of meta-awareness of mental contents and processes which builds a basis of all meditation practices. This necessitates the assessment of meta-awareness skills as well as phenomenological (first-person) experience in meditation research, most importantly shifts in MEA, which are enabled by enhanced meta-awareness. In addition, these introspective abilities as well as phenomenological shifts need to be captured both within formal meditation sessions and during meditation ‘on the go’, with the latter providing particularly powerful understanding of the impact of meditation training in everyday life. Experiential sampling methods prompting meditators to record their experience at random points during the day are now more often used to capture changes in meditation within and outside of formal meditation practice. Refinement of these methods and other new approaches will further enhance our understanding of such effects.
Contemplative psychotherapy
Application of meditation practices as possible therapeutic techniques has been the primary area of fast growth within applied contemplative science over the last three decades. The most broadly implemented and investigated meditation-based programmes include the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and a range of programmes developing compassion and loving kindness such as compassion-focused therapy (CFT). This trend is perhaps not surprising given that in the traditional contemplative context meditation practices are applied as tools enhancing mental stability and supporting existential insight to enable the practitioner to manifest increasing levels of existential well-being. However, the current secular therapeutic applications of meditation almost exclusively focus on self-regulation, not the existential well-being. For example, there is strong evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based approaches in reduction of symptoms of anxiety (Hofman et al., 2010) and depression (Kuyken et al., 2015). In contrast, very few studies investigated the impact of secular meditation training on existential well-being as the sense of meaning and purpose in life (e.g., Labelle et al., 2015); and aside from research on decentring, our understanding of the impact of secular meditation training on the MEA is absent.
The lack of focus on existential well-being in current therapeutic applications of meditation is perhaps the result of the need to demonstrate that these programmes have clear symptom-reducing effects and thus have a solid place in mainstream healthcare. However, this is based on the prevailing, and limited, view of health which only focuses on adaptive self-regulation and leaves existential well-being out of the picture. Yet, existential well-being itself has been highlighted as a major determinant of health and well-being. Indeed, there is mounting evidence suggesting that higher existential well-being is likely to reduce the risk of depression (Maselko, Gilman and Buka, 2009) and improve coping with life-changing diagnoses (Edmondson et al., 2008). Accordingly, there have also been repeated calls to include spiritual care supporting existential well-being as a basic aspect of healthcare across the board (Davidson, 2008; Mueller, Plevak and Rummans, 2001). Such recommendations seem closest and particularly pertinent to psychotherapeutic applications of meditation.
The humanistic psychological and psychotherapeutic tradition has long recognized existential well-being as a main contributor to health and well-being and this tradition has an established connection to approaches which target existential well-being as a part of therapy. This is best exemplified by the existential psychotherapy work of Viktor Frankl (1985). The current interest in meditation-based approaches provides an opportunity to build on this long-standing focus on existential aspects of well-being in therapy and expand it further within the context of contemplative psychotherapy. The postulation of the existential drive as the primary motivational force of the mind is particularly pertinent in this regard. As we have discussed in the first chapter, maladaptive expression of the existential drive can lead to psychopathology manifesting as anxiety disorders, depression, addictions etc. This means that supporting clients in finding adaptive ways of expressing their existential drive is one of the main tasks of psychotherapy. Meditation-based practices, particularly those targeting the development of existential insight (including meditations on compassion and loving kindness and visualization-based meditations), can play a central role in new therapeutic approaches supporting the development of existential well-being.
Further interest and broader implementation of meditation-based techniques in the secular context may also necessitate greater focus on existential well-being. Glimpses of existential insight may arise as a result of shorter meditation training even in the secular context. However, no research studies have so far investigated the frequency of such experiences and their impact on the well-being of participants in the secular meditation-based courses. Importantly, secular meditation training currently does not provide guidance on how to support practitioners in dealing with such experiences and in guiding them towards deepening their existential insight beyond the experience of decentring. This is perhaps one of the consequences of outrooting meditation techniques from their traditional systems which support the whole path of contemplative existential exploration.
The need to address questions about supporting participants of secular meditation courses in developing existential well-being is becoming more pertinent with the increasing numbers of participants trained and taking on long-term practice. In addition, if meditation-based programmes are not to become only methods for a quick temporary fix of certain pathological symptoms, development and support of long-term meditation practice will need to be a central focus of the teaching and implementation of such programmes. In long-term meditation training practitioners are much more likely to work with self-inquiry which will target their existential insight. This again highlights the importance of secular meditation-based approaches embracing the whole path of meditation training.
There seem to be two main routes which secular meditation approaches may take as they expand the scope of secular meditation training. The first one involves the ambitious project of building up a secular
version of the whole contemplative path. Such approach might be attractive for reasons of religion-neutral possibilities of implementation and resulting in broad reach. However, whether development of such an approach is viable in principle is questionable. One of the core aspects of traditional contemplative approaches supporting their effectiveness is the time-tested lineage of practitioners who accomplished the highest levels of insight. For example, a meditator taking on training in an authentic Buddhist tradition builds on the experience of previous practitioners, and is guided by current teachers who have accomplished the highest levels of existential insight. Given that secular approaches have not targeted development of higher levels of existential insight so far, these aspects of teaching are absent from the training of teachers in these methods and there isn’t a lineage of practitioners accomplished in higher levels of existential insight to build on. Based on the precedent from traditional contemplative systems, development of such a lineage would take a very long time if it is at all possible in a secular context. There are also other reasons which make a secular approach to the whole path of existential exploration unlikely, including the currently unmet need for a firm grounding in deep ethical principles and motivational/intentional qualities of meditation.
The second approach to expanding the scope of secular meditation-based approaches to support practitioners in development of their existential well-being involves close collaboration between secular and traditional meditation-based training. One result of such collaboration can be better understanding of the progression of MEA from the perspective of long-term meditation practice in the secular context, informed by traditional approaches where the MEA are clearly described. This knowledge can in turn support teachers of secular meditation-based approaches in recognizing cases where attendees of their courses may need further support in developing existential balance. This support may for some involve working with therapists specializing in existential therapy; for others it may require further guidance by experienced meditation teachers. In some cases initial existential exploration can be facilitated in the secular context, provided that more experienced secular meditation teachers train further in skills which enable them to experientially understand levels of existential insight beyond the initial levels of decentring.
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