>
>
>
> Can meditation make you a more compassionate person?
> April 1st, 2013 in Psychology & Psychiatry=20
>
>
> Scientists have mostly focused on the benefits of meditation for the brain =
> and the body, but a recent study by Northeastern University's David DeSteno=
> , published in Psychological Science, takes a look at what impacts meditati=
> on has on interpersonal harmony and compassion.
>
> Several religious traditions have suggested that meditation does just that,=
> but there has been no scientific proof-until now.
>
> In this study, a team of researchers from Northeastern University and Harva=
> rd University examined the effects meditation would have on compassion and =
> virtuous behavior, and the results were fascinating.
>
> The study
>
> This study-funded by the Mind and Life Institute-invited participants to co=
> mplete eight-week trainings in two types of meditation. After the sessions,=
> they were put to the test.
>
> Sitting in a staged waiting room with three chairs were two actors. With on=
> e empty chair left, the participant sat down and waited to be called. Anoth=
> er actor using crutches and appearing to be in great physical pain, would t=
> hen enter the room. As she did, the actors in the chair would ignore her by=
> fiddling with their phones or opening a book.
>
> The question DeSteno and Paul Condon - a graduate student in DeSteno's lab =
> who led the study - and their team wanted to answer was whether the subject=
> s who took part in the meditation classes would be more likely to come to t=
> he aid of the person in pain, even in the face of everyone else ignoring he=
> r. "We know meditation improves a person's own physical and psychological w=
> ellbeing," said Condon. "We wanted to know whether it actually increases co=
> mpassionate behavior."
>
> Meditation works
>
> Among the non-meditating participants, only about 15 percent of people acte=
> d to help. But among the participants who were in the meditation sessions "=
> we were able to boost that up to 50 percent," said DeSteno. This result was=
> true for both meditation groups thereby showing the effect to be consisten=
> t across different forms of meditation. "The truly surprising aspect of thi=
> s finding is that meditation made people willing to act virtuous - to help =
> another who was suffering - even in the face of a norm not to do so," DeSte=
> no said, "The fact that the other actors were ignoring the pain creates as =
> 'bystander-effect' that normally tends to reduce helping. People often wond=
> er 'Why should I help someone if no one else is?'"
>
> These results appear to prove what the Buddhist theologians have long belie=
> ved-that meditation is supposed to lead you to experience more compassion a=
> nd love for all sentient beings. But even for non-Buddhists, the findings o=
> ffer scientific proof for meditation techniques to alter the calculus of th=
> e moral mind.
>
> Provided by Northeastern University
>
>
> "Can meditation make you a more compassionate person?." April 1st, 2013. ht=
> tp://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-meditation-compassionate-person.html
>
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