Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy: Accelerating Healing and Transformation

Two teams, one led by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, and another by Sarah Lazar at Harvard, were responsible for moving their field from its long marginal status to center stage in the new neuroscience. Lutz and Davidson’s 2004 study showing that Tibetan monks can self-generate high frequency gamma synchrony at will, and Lazar’s 2

The third foundation attunes one to the nature of mind itself, opening the lens of awareness to include awareness itself, while maintaining unbiased objectivity.

The evidence that mindfulness works largely by empowering the prefrontal cortex to enhance self-awareness and neocortical integration is consistent with current thinking about insight-oriented and cognitive psychotherapy (Siegel, 2010a). Recent evidence that compassion meditation works by empowering the limbic cortex to enhance self-regulation of s

all methods of meditation and psychotherapy work by deepening relaxation and heightening attention—

The fact that mindfulness increases affect tolerance and emotional sensitivity is supported by many studies, such as one that showed significant reduction in anxiety and panic maintained over three years as a result of an MBI (Miller et al., 1995).

Here one observes mental states as they emerge, for example noticing whether one is overstimulated or focused, afflicted or free. One learns to observe the states and qualities of awareness without being compelled by them on the one hand, or needing to suppress them on the other.

The Buddha referred to this skill of disengaging from reactivity as “removing the second arrow.” Some measure of pain and stress is unavoidable in the life cycle (the first arrow), yet our reactivity towards “life as it is” creates a layer of self-imposed suffering that only compounds ordinary challenges.

control; it is represented by the Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia, the schools encountered by the West through the Tibetan refugee community that fled to India in 1959 (Loizzo, 2012).

Wisdom training applies a realistic worldview of reality and wholesome intentions to clarify and counteract distorted or erroneous misperceptions—particularly the self-reifying habit (atmagraha) at the root of all mental afflictions. Meditation training involves joyous effort, accurate mindfulness, and precise concentration that stabilize and refin

Wisdom, meditation, and ethical training each work synergistically (rather than linearly) to support one another. Harmonious lifestyle reduces fluctuations of mind and facilitates deepening insight, while insight into the nature of reality fosters tranquility and enables a responsible, caring engagement with life. Like the three-pronged cycle of se