Category: mindtraining

How Psychology Misunderstood Mindfulness and What We Do Now

Part 2: Evolution, not Revolution

This is part 2; part 1 can be found here.

Part 1 describes the processes through which mindfulness has been converted from a religious to a scientifically validated practice. On this page, I outline the implications of treating religious and scientific knowledge as congruent. This ‘congruence’ is an ‘imaginary’, an illusion created where scientific communities abandon rational thinking in favour of other motivations. Once the imagined form of mindfulness is created, it can be absorbed into psychology. The evidence suggests that the psychological sciences may need to reevaluate their underlying theoretical frameworks and reconsider how non-scientific knowledge is treated, particularly concepts and techniques originating in religious traditions.

If science and religion, in general, have incompatible theoretical frameworks, how was Buddhist mindfulness ‘transformed’ into a Western medicalised practice? The reality is that a few scientists and clinicians simply claimed that religious meditation and psychology were complementary. They provided no evidence or scientific explanation to support this position. They also appeared to lack the knowledge and experience necessary to make reliable generalisations about religious thought and practice. By focusing on meditation methods, not the underlying cognitive processes, psychologists could not evaluate the innate value of the traditional approaches for health benefits. In this way, psychology appropriated and relocated meditation techniques they never understood.

Western psychologists avoided meaningful, rational investigation of traditional meditation, preferring to ‘imagine ‘ what the techniques were from Western dualistic perspectives.

Why is this important? Science can measure the physiological effects of meditation, such as how it affects heart rate and blood pressure. However, because of the uncertainty regarding the boundaries between belief and science, early meditation and mindfulness experiments rarely progressed beyond a preliminary stage. Further, some psychologists overreached themselves by claiming they understood the essence of Buddhist meditation. These errors were compounded because the wider scientific community accepted unevidenced claims about the congruence between belief and science. These problems mean that much of the £5bn invested in researching meditation and mindfulness added little meaningful scientific value. Secondly, the actual curative potential of traditional meditation has been ignored. Primarily because researchers focused on meditation methods rather than the underlying mental processes engaged with by traditional meditators.

Before 2000, many scientists believed that they ‘instinctively’ understood traditional meditation without needing any meaningful training or research. Perhaps being part of elite academic institutions allowed them to feel they had the right or ability to subordinate religious thought and practice to dualistic scientific understanding. In relocating mindfulness, they stripped it of its most important cognitive components. Still today, many Western forms of meditation lack mental processes such as compassion, intention, and other concepts central to traditional meditations. Even where scientists attempted to ‘evolve’ mindfulness into a more compassionate or focused practice, the meditation nearly always remained dualistic and, therefore, distant from its original form.

Compassion for oneself and others is central to most Buddhist practices.

The fate of Western mindfulness, to have become a stripped-down dualistic version of a traditional practice, is not unusual. We have seen such approaches in relocating acupuncture, yoga and other traditional healing technologies. A subtle but observable pattern is documented in the History of Science of scientists reconfiguring nondual knowledge to sit within dualistic frameworks. As with mindfulness, this approach can lead to the original technique being misunderstood, mistranslated or distorted.

The problems evidenced in the ‘mindfulness revolution’ have complex causes, not least of which are decades of low-quality and often unreplicated research. However, the failure of scientists to recognise the presence of nondual thought and practice is also a significant concern. As a case study, mindfulness reveals a profound limitation in the psychological sciences and our understanding of the human mind. We experience life through a number of different mental states, including dual and nondual awareness. Science tends to privilege duality, which is adequate for most scientific disciplines but fails to fully explain human consciousness and experience. Duality became the default theoretical model for descriptions of human mental states, the ‘lingua franca’ of the psychological sciences. As such, non-dual concepts and practices are abstract to most psychologists and often considered superstitious or childlike. This worldview relies on evaluating nondual phenomena with dualistic instruments.

The presumption that dualistic approaches deliver ‘truth’ while nondual insights are irrelevant or inferior is possibly a continuation of the colonial mindset. Western ways of knowing are frequently assumed to be the ‘gold standard’ against which non-scientific thought and practice can be measured. There is little evidence that scientists thought Buddhist meditation methods were worth studying in their own right. Analysis indicates that the psychological sciences reduced Buddhist meditation to the terms they understood and could measure. In this way, the opportunity for scientists to identify different forms of consciousness, mental processes and health treatments in meditation was lost.

I’m sure many meditation scientists acted in good faith, but their inability to realise they were encountering different rather than inferior knowledge systems has been a costly mistake. This limitation was only possible because of a phenomenon called incommensurability. Incommensurability is the belief that one’s perspective of the world is an objective reality. The scientists first encountering Buddhist meditation may have been entirely unaware of nonduality. Presuming that their dualistic outsider view of Eastern religious practices was complete and informed. This is not simply an issue rooted in cultural misunderstandings; incommensurability likely limits encounters between science and Western spiritual practices. For example, the value of early esoteric Christian teachings was judged against the dualistic values of science and evaluated accordingly. Today, dualistic science is held to be the dominant knowledge system, and many alternative ways of understanding and experiencing the world have been subordinated without any systematic study or rational evaluation. There are almost no signs that the scientific community are aware of the potential value of non-scientific knowledge being lost.

This is part two of a six-part series. The Introduction is here.

How to Make Sucessful New Year’s Resolutions

Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail? A Scientific Perspective

Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail? A Scientific Perspective

As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, hundreds of millions worldwide enthusiastically embrace New Year’s resolutions. These promises are often made with the sincere intention to enhance well-being, happiness, and success. Although research shows that nearly 83% of resolutions can be challenging, there’s good news: adopting an informed and systematic approach can significantly empower you to take charge of your life and achieve your goals. Resolutions are a fantastic opportunity for personal growth, and incorporating meditation and mind training can wonderfully elevate the quality of your life. Let’s explore the main reasons why New Year’s resolutions might stumble and how nondual meditation and mindtraining can make a huge difference in your transformation.

Lack of Perseverance and Continuity

The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions are centered around the exciting beginnings or positive endings of activities and behaviors. In neuropsychology, we often refer to this as the ‘all or nothing’ mindset. While this approach sets high expectations for goals, embracing incremental improvements can be transformative, where each partial success is a step forward. In reality, reducing the amount of alcohol or junk food we consume is a significant victory worth celebrating. By building on this progress and viewing it as a triumph rather than a setback, we open ourselves up to the possibility of achieving our goals with confidence and enthusiasm.

The Psychology of Habits

At the heart of the issue is the psychology of habits. Habits are deeply ingrained behaviours that are hardwired into our brains through repeated actions and reinforced by the reward system. According to Dr. Wendy Wood, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, about 40% of the actions people perform each day are habitual. Other research suggests that the mechanisms supporting ‘free will’ are complex and cannot be mediated by simplistic gaol-setting. Changing these deeply embedded habits requires significant effort and consistency, which is challenging for many. As such, supporting resolutions with habit-changing techniques like mind training and meditation will dramatically increase your chances of success.

Unrealistic Expectations

One of the primary reasons resolutions fail is that people set unrealistic goals, often unrelated to their actual abilities and motivation. Put simply most humans don’t learn enough from previous mistakes and continue to underestimate the challenge of change. Resolutions are best supported with a considered objective approach, maintained by ongoing commitment. New Year’s promises often lack specificity and attainability, making them overwhelming. For instance, resolving to “lose weight” without a concrete plan or achievable milestones can quickly lead to frustration and abandonment. Research shows that setting SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can significantly increase the likelihood of success.

Lack of Immediate Gratification (The Dopamine Problem)

Meditation and mindtraining can train humans in patience and perseverance. Humans are wired to seek immediate gratification, a concept deeply rooted in our evolutionary past and neurobiology. New Year’s resolutions often involve long-term goals, such as losing weight or saving money, which do not provide immediate rewards. This lack of instant gratification can demotivate individuals, causing them to revert to their old habits that offer quicker satisfaction. The brain’s reward system, which releases dopamine when we achieve something pleasurable, plays a crucial role here. Immediate rewards trigger this system effectively, whereas distant goals do not. Unless you understand that impulsive wishes can be mediated by mental training, goals and objectives are always at risk.

Willpower and Cognitive Load

Although an oversimplification, neuropsychologists claim willpower is like a muscle that can be exhausted. Some studies have shown that the more we use our willpower, the more it depletes, making it harder to maintain self-control over time. This concept, known as ego depletion, may mean that after a long day of resisting temptations, individuals are more likely to give in. Additionally, the cognitive load of modern life—with constant demands on our attention and decision-making—further drains our mental resources, leaving little energy for new habits. Nondual forms of meditation typically lead to a reduction in the mechanisms that exhaust mental capacity and the concept of ‘temptation’.

Environmental and Social Factors

Meditation and mindtraining are good methods for regulating our inner and outer worlds, aligning our aspirations with our lived conditions. Our environment and social circles greatly influence our behaviour. If someone resolves to quit smoking but is constantly surrounded by friends who smoke, their chances of success decrease significantly. Similarly, environments that do not support new habits—such as a household full of unhealthy snacks for someone trying to eat healthier—can sabotage resolutions.

Lack of a Concrete Plan

At its heart, traditional forms of meditation allow a systematic approach to mind and matter, aligning goals with behaviour. Many people make resolutions without a clear plan for achieving them. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that individuals who made explicit plans for their resolutions were 10 times more likely to succeed than those who did not. Planning involves breaking down goals into actionable steps, anticipating obstacles, and developing strategies to overcome them. Without such a plan, resolutions often remain vague aspirations.

Conclusion

The failure of New Year’s resolutions is a multifaceted issue rooted in the complexities of human psychology, behaviour, and the environment. By understanding these scientific explanations, individuals can better prepare to set realistic goals, create actionable plans, and foster supportive environments, increasing their chances of success. Remember, change is a gradual process, and persistence is key. Celebrate small victories along the way, and don’t be too hard on yourself if setbacks occur. After all, each day is an opportunity for a fresh start. Nondual meditation and mindtraining methods are among the most powerful tools we have to help shape behaviour and reach meaningful goals.