명상에 관한 연구 동향

A Review of the Researches on Meditation

The aim of this paper was to review researches on meditation carried out in the West since early sixties. Empirical researches on meditation have chiefly focused on two to pics : what are the psychological, physiological and chemical responses to meditation? And by what mechanism are the effects of meditation produced? Im this paper major reseach findings and methods were reviewed and discussed. In general, while much has been learned experimentally about meditation and its effects, this research field is still in an early stage of development. Many conclusions are tentative, and yet relatively little can be said about the relationships between the shifts in cons ciousness and perception which are the goals of meditation and the variables which readily lend themselves to Western empirical measures. The dream of a bridge between Eastern practice and Western research thus remains largely unattained, but also remains worth seeking.