"The genius of Tulku Urgyen was that he could point out the nature of mind with precision and matter-of-factness of teaching a person how to thread a needle and could get an ordinary meditator like me to recognize that consciousness is intrinsically free of self ... I came to Tulku Urgyen yearning for the experience of self-transcendence, and in a few minutes he showed me I had no self to transcend ... Tulku Urgyen simply handed me the ability to cut through the illusion of the self directly, even in ordinary states of consciousness.  This instruction was, without question, the most important thing I have ever been explicitly taught by another human being.  It has given me a way to escape the usual tides of psychological suffering - fear, anger, shame - in an instant. "

Sam Harris

Posts tagged with 'religion'

Recent research: six studies on mindfulness, values & meaning

27th May 2010

Here are half a dozen recent research studies on mindfulness, values & meaning - fuller details, links and abstracts for all studies are listed further down this page. Hofmann and colleagues' meta-analysis on "The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression" found encouraging effect sizes for mindfulness training and …

research aged depression anxiety child mindfulness meaning dementia memory act religion spirituality values

Recent research: six papers with broad social implications – inequality, health insurance, spanking, bullying, and religion

15th October 2009

Here are half a dozen recent research papers with broad social implications (all details & abstracts to these studies are given further down this blog posting). Kay and colleagues publish on "Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to see the way things …

research adolescent relationships socioeconomic child abuse religion nations prejudice parents gender family money power bullying intelligence

Recent research: spiritually modified CBT, happiness & freedom, healthy goal disengagement, and hoarding & OCD

21st August 2008

Hodge, D. R. (2008). "Constructing spiritually modified interventions: Cognitive therapy with diverse populations." International Social Work 51(2): 178-192. [Abstract/Full Text] Although cognitive therapy is widely used, little attention has been given to the value assumptions embedded in the self-statements that are at the heart of the change process. Constructing statements …

research happiness cbt autonomy goals approach ocd religion spirituality nations culture prejudice avoidance hoarding