Comparing Hindu And Buddhist Practices Of Meditation And Mindfulness

The Western world has embraced the ancient, Eastern practices of meditation and mindfulness. For centuries, different methods and practices have been invented to evoke mindfulness in people. Our busy ways of life have culturally adopted these concepts. Since then, much research has been done to further investigate the mysticism and psychology behind the concept of mindfulness. Such research includes: exploring various definitions of mindfulness, various origins and practices, but also how these practices influence the participants. In this paper, I aim to elaborate on how Hindu and Buddhist forms of meditation differ, how each type of meditation will impact neurological systems differently, and how both practices have become integral to research on in Positive Psychology, a field exploring human well-being.

However, in each religion, meditation is practiced differently. Considering the massive interest in exploring these approaches psychologically, a lot of research has been done to disambiguate how meditative practices differ, and how these different meditation practices will leave different lasting impressions on one’s cognitive functioning. Each meditative practice is conducive to attuning different skillsets. Through the study of neuroplasticity, science observes that the practice of skills required for a profession, appears to induce lasting changes within neural structure. Our actions influence our brains, manifesting themselves in the wiring or rewiring or our neural networks. Untangling the nuances of these meditation practices and correlating them with skill sets are essential to being able to treat those with behavioral and emotional issues, and is therefore very important to the realm of positive