Mindfulness Meditation: An Integration

269 Pages·2009·0.7 MB·English

by  Miles Neale

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION:
AN INTEGRATION OF PERSPECTIVES FROM
BUDDHISM, SCIENCE AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
California Institute of Integral Studies

by
Miles I. Neale

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Psychology

San Francisco, California
2006
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

I certify that I have read Mindfulness Meditation: An Integration of
Perspectives from Buddhism, Science and Clinical Psychology by Miles I.
Neale, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a
dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Doctor of Clinical Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology at the
California Institute of Integral Studies.

______________________________________

Denise Scatena, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Committee Chair

______________________________________

David Lukoff, Ph.D.
External Reviewer
© 2006 Miles I. Neale
Miles Ian Neale
Denise Scatena, Ph.D., Committee Chair
California Institute of Integral Studies, 2006

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION: AN INTEGRATION OF PERSPECTIVES
FROM BUDDHISM, SCIENCE AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
ABSTRACT

Mindfulness meditation is a two-and-a-half millennia-old Buddhist
spiritual practice that focuses on the development of introspective
consciousness. The present research provides a comprehensive, multi-
perspective overview and synthesis of the applications and effects of
mindfulness meditation. The need for the current study is significant
given that recently in the West mindfulness meditation has increasingly
been a subject for empirical investigation, as well as a clinical intervention
for a wide variety of medical illnesses and psychiatric disorders. The
objective of the current study was thus to integrate the traditional
Buddhist aspects of mindfulness with findings from contemporary
empirical research.
In conducting this integration, the theory, application, and effects
of mindfulness meditation as described in early Buddhist psychology was
reviewed. A comprehensive literature review of the past 50 years of
health-related studies was then undertaken to determine the
physiological, neurological, and psychological effects of mindfulness
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meditation, as well as its efficacy as a treatment protocol in a clinical
context.
The specific areas of focus for the literature review included
meditation, concentration, mindfulness meditation, mindfulness-based
stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT),
dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), attentional control, insight meditation,
Buddhist meditation, vipassana, and mind/body medicine. Publications
of theoretical nature, single case studies, clinical trials, meta-analyses,
existing reviews of the literature and scholarly books in the areas of focus
were included.
In this review significant neuro-biological and clinical evidence to
suggest that mindfulness meditation is an effective treatment for a wide
range of medical and mental health issues was found and discussed,
including points of convergence and mutual relevance between these
current Western applications and traditional Buddhist perspectives.
It was concluded that there is a need for a greater number of full-
scale clinical trials regarding the effects of mindfulness meditation in the
clinical context, with an emphasis on more rigorous methodological
standards. In addition, it was concluded that Buddhist theory and
applications of mindfulness meditation have yet to be sufficiently
analyzed and synthesized into Western applications in health-related
contexts.

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DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my mentor,
Dr. Joseph J. Loizzo
An ideal introject who rouses my optimal potential.
Whose belief in me internalized as a seed of self-confidence.
Who guided me into the lineage of the jewel tree refuge.
All credit belongs to you, all blame I drive into one!
May the adversity I endured during graduate training,
Purify my past negativity.
And may the merit accrued,
Be dedicated to the liberation of all sentient beings.
Welcome blade-wheel you have again come full circle!

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AKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was influenced and inspired by several people, whom I
would like to acknowledge. I would first like to thank my committee
chairperson, Dr. Densie Scatena for her patience and guidance through
this challenging dissertation process, and for respecting and fostering my
unconventional learning style and interests. Thanks also to my external
review member, Dr. David Lukoff, for his thoughtful critique and
suggestions that assisted in improving my work, and for his professional
contributions to the emergence of spiritual diagnoses and treatments in
mainstream psychology.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to several Buddhist
teachers who blessed me with their wisdom and compassion, including
my guru, the late Achariya Godwin Samararatne, with whom I took
refuge under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya at age 21. Godwin’s simplicity
and delight in teaching loving-kindness and mindfulness provided a
propitious entryway into the unbroken legacy of the Buddha and have
remained a continuous inspiration throughout this project and my life.
My gratitude extends also to my teachers at Tibet House, New York,
including Dr. Robert Thurman for his sharp intellect, animated charisma
and refined craft in conveying the magnificent jewel of Tibetan Buddhism
and Dr. Mark Epstein for his elegant and lucid presentations of the
interface between Buddhist meditation and psychotherapy.
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Finally, I am grateful to my parents, Ian and Michele Neale, and my
brother Julian for their unconditional acceptance and financial support, as
well as to my dear friends Nasli Batliwala, Michael Sheehy, Kemal Arsan,
Brooke Radder, Dan Hirshberg and Emily Wolf, for their companionship
along this sojourn. None of this would be possible or even worthwhile
without them. In our interactions I have glimpsed the dawning of
interconnectivity. Continue all to fearlessly fallow the blue light into the
life between.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract…………………………………………………………………iv
Dedication………………………………………………………………vii
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………...viii
Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………..………1
Defining Mindfulness Meditation………………………………………2
Significance of the Study………………………………………...6
Purpose of the Study…………………………………………….7
Chapter 2: Approach and Method……………………………………..9
Integrative Literature Review Method………………………….9
Data Gathering Procedures……………………………………...12
Key Words and Search Terms…………………………….……..13
Buddhist Texts……………………………………………………14
Organization of the Study..……….…..………………………....15
Chapter 3: Mindfulness Meditation in Early Buddhist Psychology……19
Origins of the Buddha and His Teachings……………………....19
History of the Buddha……………………………………20
Teachings of the Buddha…………………………………23
The Three Vehicles.………………………………..23
The Four-Noble Truths Framework……………....24
First Noble Truth…………………………..25
Second Noble Truth………………………..26
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Third Noble Truth………………………….27
Forth Noble Truth………………………...28
Freedom From Suffering…………………………29
Selflessness………………………………...29
Overcoming the defilements……………..31
The Three Higher Trainings …………………….33
Ethical conduct (Sila)……………………...33
Attentional control (Samadhi)…………....33
Wisdom (Prajna)…………………………..34
Buddhist Meditation Techniques and Topographies…………...34
Concentration Meditation ……………………………….36
The Three Realms of Experience ………………...37
The first realm……………………………...38
The second realm…………………………..38
The third realm…………………………….39
The Path of Concentration………………………..39
Mindfulness Meditation ………………………………….41
Buddhist Instructions and Texts on Mindfulness…42
The Path of Insight ………………………………..46
Insight Stages 1 and 2……………………..47
Insight Stage 3……………………………..48
Insight Stage 4……………………………..49
Insight Stage 5……………………………..49
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