Methodology, Meditation, and Mindfulness

Abstract

Understanding the nondualistic nature of mindfulness is a complex and challenging task particularly when most clinical psychology draws from Western methodologies and methods. In this article, we argue that the integration of philosophical hermeneutics with Eastern philosophy and practices may provide a methodology and methods to research mindfulness practice. Mindfulness hermeneutics brings together the nondualistically aligned Western philosophies of Heidegger and Gadamer and selected Eastern philosophies and practices in an effort to bridge the gap between these differing worldviews. Based on the following: (1) fusion of horizons, (2) being in a hermeneutic circle, (3) understanding as intrinsic to awareness, and (4) the ongoing practice of meditation, a mindfulness hermeneutic approach was used to illuminate deeper understandings of mindfulness practice in ways that are congruent with its underpinning philosophies.