Phenomenology of traditional Buddhist meditation retreat: Subjective experiences and psychological correlates

Pages: 194-200
Sarika Khandelwal and Kavita Koradia (Department of Home Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan)

Literature on meditation suggests multi fold benefits on personality. Yet, very few researches explored meditation in
its traditional context utilising both empirical and anecdotal evidence to get insights about the way it impacts the
practitioners and their subjective experiences. The study aims to explore the impact of a Buddhist Mediation retreat
on Depression, Stress, Anxiety and Affect regulation of participants and their qualitative outcomes. One hundred
subjects were studied through convenience sampling who participated in a ten day meditational retreat for the first
time at Tushita Meditation Centre. Further, qualitative analysis was conducted on ten participants who exhibited
significant changes on their quantitative measures to understand their motivation, deeper perspectives and
experiences of the retreat. The retreat was found to be effective in reducing the severity of depression, anxiety and
stress symptoms significantly and also in regulation of emotions (all p >0.001). The qualitative analysis yielded
overarching themes – (a) Self development, Distress and imbalance regulation; (b) Self exploration, Insightful
values and Physical challenge; (c) internalizing Impermanence and attaining Equanimity. The findings revealed a
complex and dynamic set of interdependent outcomes and processes, which are reinforced by Buddhist teachings
and ethical practices. It also provides a detailed understanding on the impact of meditation retreat interventions
which can be of strategic research benefit for studying as a model system to understand the transforming effects and
in realizing the holistic effect of meditation training at an individual level. It also highlights the need to recontextualize
traditional philosophies into modern meditation practices.