Neuroscience and Psychology of Meditation in Everyday Life: Searching for the Essence of Mind

208 Pages·2017·1.44 MB·English

by  Dusana Dorjee

Neuroscience and
Psychology of Meditation
in Everyday Life
Neuroscience and Psychology of Meditation in Everyday Life addresses
essential and timely questions about the research and practice of medita-
tion as a path to realization of human potential for health and well-being.
Balancing practical content and scientific theory, the book discusses
long-term effects of six meditation practices: mindfulness, compassion,
visualization-based meditation techniques, dream yoga, insight-based
meditation and abiding in the existential ground of experience. Each
chapter provides advice on how to embed these techniques into everyday
activities, together with considerations about underlying changes in the
mind and brain based on latest research evidence.
This book is essential reading for professionals applying meditation-
based techniques in their work and researchers in the emerging field of
contemplative science. The book will also be of value to practitioners of
meditation seeking to further their practice and understand associated
changes in the mind and brain.
Dusana Dorjee , PhD, is a cognitive neuroscientist in the School of
Psychology at Bangor University. Her research investigates how medi-
tation, particularly mindfulness, impacts well-being and modifies the
mind and brain. Dusana is also a long-term meditation practitioner and
teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Dzogchen.

Neuroscience and
Psychology of Meditation
in Everyday Life
Searching for the Essence of Mind
Dusana Dorjee
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Dusana Dorjee
The right of Dusana Dorjee to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by her in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-69184-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-69185-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-46197-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgements x
List of abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 The new science of meditation 8
What is the science of meditation missing? 9
The mind’s capacity to self-regulate 11
Purpose, meaning and modes of existential awareness 14
Existential drive, health and well-being 18
Towards a long-term perspective of meditation 21
Summary 22
2 Long-term meditation practice 27
Neural plasticity, body physiology and meditation 27
The state and trait effects of meditation 31
The quantity and quality of meditation practice 36
Formal and informal meditation 41
Adverse effects of meditation 44
Developing a long-term perspective of meditation 46
Summary 47
3 Mindfulness 52
What is mindfulness? 52
How to develop mindfulness? 56
vi Contents
Neuroscience of mindfulness 63
Mindfulness, self-regulation and existential well-being 68
A day of mindfulness practice 70
Mindfulness from a long-term practice perspective 73
Summary 74
4 Compassion and related qualities 79
What is compassion? A Buddhist perspective 80
What is compassion? A Western scientific perspective 84
Developing compassion and related qualities in the Buddhist
context 88
Neuroscience of compassion and loving kindness 93
Compassion, self-regulation and existential well-being 97
A day of compassion practice 99
Compassion from a long-term practice perspective 102
Summary 102
5 Visualization in meditation practice 105
What is visualization-based meditation? 106
Developing visualization-based meditation practice in
the Buddhist context 111
Neuroscience of visualization-based meditation 113
Visualization-based meditation, self-regulation and
well-being 117
A day of visualization-based meditation 118
Visualization-based meditation from a long-term practice
perspective 120
Summary 121
6 Existential insight and dream yoga 123
What is existential insight? The Western approach 124
What is existential insight? The Buddhist approach 126
Developing existential insight in daytime and in dream yoga
practice 131
Neuroscience of existential insight and dream yoga
practices 133
Contents vii
Existential insight, self-regulation and existential
well-being 138
Twenty-four hours of meditation practice 141
Existential insight practice from a long-term perspective 143
Summary 144
7 The state of existential balance 147
What is the state of existential balance? 148
Developing the state of existential balance 152
Neuroscience of the state of existential balance 154
The state of existential balance, self-regulation and
existential well-being 157
The state of existential balance in everyday life 159
The state of existential balance from a long-term practice
perspective 160
Summary 161
8 The potential of contemplative science 164
Contemplative psychology 166
Contemplative psychotherapy 167
Contemplative neuroscience 171
Contemplative science in healthcare 173
Developmental contemplative science 175
Contemplative science and society 176
Challenges facing contemplative science 177
Conclusion 178
Summary 179
Glossary 183
Index 189
Preface
This book resulted from my exploration of long-term meditation practice
both as a meditator and as a scientist. In over 16 years of my medita-
tion practice I have experienced first-hand, and also witnessed in others’
meditation progression, many of the common challenges practitioners
encounter in the process of developing long-term meditation practice.
These seem to range from the beginner’s misconceptions about what
meditation is and about the overall trajectory of meditation training, to
‘fossilization’ of meditation practice in long-term practitioners who are
not able to progress beyond a particular stage. Yet, I have also encountered
advanced, highly accomplished practitioners who shared the challenges
they experienced in their long-term meditation training. A common topic
in their comments was that the challenges made them question funda-
mental assumptions about their existence, the purpose and meaning of
their life, and this process in turn catalyzed their meditation progress.
Alongside this experiential learning, as a meditation researcher I have
repeatedly observed over the last decade that despite the recent boom
in studies on meditation, most of them apply a short-term perspective
of meditation and neglect the role of meditation in the development of
purpose and meaning in life. I found this somewhat perplexing given
that in the traditional contexts meditation training is intended as a long-
term path and the primary goal of meditation is to enable practitioners
to explore deep questions about their existence. This observation sug-
gested to me that if meditation-based approaches are to become effective
tools in supporting health and well-being across the life-span, research
and applications targeting long-term effects of meditation and focus on
existential well-being will be of essential importance in the next phase
of development in this field.
T ogether, my explorations both at the personal practice and scientific
research levels pointed to the same implications about the potential of
Preface ix
long-term meditation practice in meeting a fundamental human need for
experiential understanding of meaning and purpose in life – existential
balance. This became the overarching theme of this book. It is my hope
that the book will be helpful to those teaching, researching, practicing or
developing long-term meditation training.