149
“ D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? ”  – 
M I N D F U L  S O C I A L  A C T I O N 
I N  T H E  L I G H T  O F  T H E  D E -
C O N T E X T U A L I Z A T I O N 
O F  S O C I A L L Y  E N G A G E D 
B U D D H I S M
A n j a  Z a l t a
Defining the Problem
The central theme of the paper deals with the idea of “dual awak-
ening”, which is based on the Buddhist mindfulness appropriated by 
socially engaged Buddhism as a method to recognize and implement a 
“wholesome” paradigm on both the social and individual level. I will 
be interested to know what the concept of “dual awakening” means in 
the Southeast Asian context presented by socially engaged Buddhism, 
and how it is transferred into the Western modernist paradigm.1 The 
premise of the research is to ascertain whether and how this transfer 
(to a large extent) ignored the “dual awakening”, individual as well as 
collective, and whether the central emphasis is shifted from the social 
action to personal “attention”, which means building and/or correct-
ing one’s own personality. The research question derives from the para-
digm of new religious changes that characterized Western societies in 
the final decades of the 20th century2, as well as from studies by Tullio 
1  The terms West-East are used to indicate differences based on episteme and geopolitics.
2  For more se: Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement, The Celebration of the Self and the Sacral-
ization of Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1996).
https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2022.353 Poligrafi, no. 105/106, vol. 27, 2022, pp. 149–163
P O l I g r A F I
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giraldi and Thomas Joiner3. The latter, in his book Mindlessness, The 
Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism,4 describes the 
methods and market niche of modern psychotherapeutic practices and 
meditation workshops, which confirm giraldi’s initial thesis that it is 
important to “clearly examine the phenomenon of mindfulness because 
of the enormous number of books, studies and articles published on 
the subject – not only in scientific journals, but also in non-specialist 
publications and media …”.5 According to his investigation, a search 
of the key word ‘mindfulness’ in the PubMed database of the US Na-
tional library of Medicine National Institutes of Health shows “there 
were almost no scientific journal articles on the subject before the year 
2000.” The number of articles dealing with the topic of ‘mindfulness’” 
then began to rise rapidly: 100 in 2008, 500 in 2013 and 900 in 2017. 
In 2015 alone, however, the number of articles dealing with the con-
cept of ‘mindfulness’ grew to 30,000 articles in the general press. The 
niche that opened up in the religious and health market brought in 
approximately 1.2 billion US dollars in 2016 alone.6 We are aware that 
mindfulness is a difficult construct to define, yet it can be described 
as a form of participant-observation that is characterized by moment-
to-moment awareness of perceptible mental states and processes that 
includes continuous, immediate awareness of physical sensations, per-
ceptions, affective states, thoughts and imagery.7 The problem of the 
practice of mindfulness, in which interest has increased considerably in 
recent decades and which has moved from a type of Buddhist medita-
tion to completely new secular forms and applications, primarily as 
a psychotherapeutic method and a means of improving well-being, is 
3  Tullio giraldi, Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Buddhist Meditation (Cham: Palgrave Mac-
millan, 2019) and Thomas Joiner, Mindlessness, The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of 
Narcissism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
4  Joiner, Mindlessness.
5  giraldi, Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Buddhist Meditation, 3.
6  Ibid., 3–4.
7  Mindfulness focuses on number of qualities that include (a) a deliberate intention to pay 
attention to momentary experience, (b) a marked distinction from normal, everyday modes of 
consciousness, (c) a clear focus on aspects of active investigation of moment-to-moment experi-
ence, (d) continuity of a precise, dispassionate, non-evaluative moment-to-moment awareness 
of immediate experience, and (e) an attitude to openness, acceptance, kindness, curiosity and 
patience. 
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already pointed out in the thematic issue of Poligrafi from 2015.8 In 
the process of massive popularization and secularization, mindfulness 
has been decontextualized, re-contextualized, and often reinterpreted 
in radically new ways, which raises a series of questions, such as why 
this ancient Buddhist meditation is spreading so rapidly today, and how 
different conceptions and definitions affect its applications and goals, as 
well as the practice process itself and the scientific research related to it. 
My brief analysis will follow the following scheme: first, I will in-
troduce socially engaged Buddhism and highlight some of its central 
concepts, and later move the context of the Western New Age paradigm 
by reviewing selected research on meditation of/and mindfulness. I will 
then critically evaluate these findings and place them in the context 
of socially engaged Buddhism and the imperative of action combined 
with mindfulness.
An Introduction to Socially Engaged Buddhism
The term socially engaged Buddhism was coined by Thích Nhất 
Hạnh (1926–2022), a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, who was marked 
by Vietnamese resistance to the French as well as the Vietnam War, 
and who has become known for his pioneer work promoting engaged 
Buddhism and social action. In 1966, he founded the Tiep Hien order 
(The Order of Interbeing) with the aim to promote active engagement 
and application of Buddhism in modern life.9 Thích Nhất Hạnh in-
troduced certain ideas and principles of socially engaged Buddhism, 
among others a sense of oneness, non-dualism, interdependence, in-
terconnectedness, the understanding of co-responsibility and empathy 
for all beings, but at the same time the imperative of action combined 
with mindfulness. 
According to his activity and understanding, Buddhism is (and has 
always been) socially engaged, because it addresses and attempts to over-
8  Anja Zalta and Tamara Ditrich, ur., “Čuječnost: tradicija in sodobni pristopi,” Poligrafi 20, 
77/78 (2015). 
9  For details see: Patricia Hunt-Perry and lynFine, “All Buddhism is Engaged: Thich Nhat 
Hanh and the Order of Interbeing,” in Engaged Buddhism in the West, ed. Cristopher S. Queen 
(Boston: Wisdom Publication, 2012), 35–66.
P O l I g r A F I
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come human suffering. A counter-argument could be that Buddhism is 
about escaping samsara and not trying to fix it. Socially engaged Bud-
dhists, however, emphasis that samsara should not be understood as a 
problem with the world as such, but with our individual engagement 
with it and co-creation of social reality based on our individual greed, 
delusion, hatred, mental habits, possession and attachments to identity. 
Engaged Buddhism adopts the language of modern social and po-
litical theory: of human rights, egalitarianism, individual freedoms and 
democracy, as well as techniques of nonviolent resistance and peace-
ful protest rooted in the modern era10. There is also a global discourse 
about ecological issues, which adapts concepts of interdependence and 
compassion for all sentient beings. Whether these developments are 
simply hybridized forms of Buddhism that have elements of Western 
modernity could be a topic of a much longer discussion, yet we should 
not overlook the “mindful” nonviolent, ethical, social and political ac-
tivism of these movements, which are oriented towards relieving suffer-
ing on a personal level as well as on a wide systematic scale. According 
to socially engaged Buddhists, in order to achieve this, “dual awaken-
ing”, social and individual transformation is necessary. A number of 
socially engaged Buddhist groups (such as Fo guang Shan and Soka 
gakkai, and socially engaged Buddhists such as A.T. Ariyaratne in Sri 
lanka, Sulak Sivaraksa in Thailand, and Western Buddhists, such as 
robert Aitken, Ken Jones and Joanna Macy) support the view that 
social and individual transformation cannot be separate. This position 
is also the central thesis of our writing.
10  For more see: Sallie B. King, “Socially Engaged Buddhism,” in Buddhism in the Modern 
World, ed. David l. McMahan, (New York: routledge, 2012); D. l. McMahan, Buddhism in 
the Modern World (london and New York: routledge, 2012), 172; Ken Jones, The New Social 
Face of Buddhism (Wisdom Publication, Boston, 2003); Christopher S. Queen, “Introduction: 
A New Buddhism,” v Engaged Buddhism in the West, ed. Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. 
King (Boston: Wisdom Publication, 2000); S. Christopher Queen, and Sallie B. King, ed., 
Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia (New York: State University of New 
York Press, 1996); see also Nandasena ratnapala, Buddhist Sociology (Sri lanka: Vishva lekha 
Publ., 2005); geoffrey Ostergaard and Melville Currell, The Gentle Anarchists: A Study of the 
Leaders of the Sarvodaya Movement for Non-Violent Revolution in India (Oxford: Clarendon 
Press, 1971).
" D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? "
153
Wholesome Self, Wholesome Society – The concept of                    
“dual awakening”
To analyze the initial thesis, it is necessary to highlight some central 
Buddhist concepts.
One of the key Buddhist concepts is the doctrine of dependent co-
arising (paticcasamupada), the understanding that everything is a part 
of a limitless web of interconnections and that everything undergoes a 
continual process of transformation and relatedness. Since the trans-
formation has to start with the individual, the Buddhist approach first 
focuses on the intra-psychic change with several ethical virtues that can 
assist Buddhist transformation processes. They include metta (friendli-
ness), panna (wisdom) and upaya (appropriate means). To these sanga-
ha vatthuni, grounds of kindness, the social application of the Buddhist 
ethical ideals can be added, such as the four principles of group be-
haviour, which comprise generosity (dana), kindly speech (peyyavajja), 
useful work (atthacariya) and equality (samanatta).11
These concepts translated into practice were first presented to me 
by the socially engaged Buddhism movement Sarvodaya in 2011 in Sri 
lanka. Sarvodaya offers new ethical models for peaceful coexistence 
and new economic and political paradigms for social well-being. It aro-
se in Sri lanka in 1958 as one the manifestations of Buddhist revival 
that began in the late 19th century and continued into the 20th century 
(in the post-colonial period). Sarvodaya had started as what its founder 
Ariyaratne called “an educational experiment”: forty high-school stu-
dents and twelve teachers from Nalanda College, a Buddhist secondary 
school in Sri lanka’s capital, Colombo, went to live and work for two 
weeks in Kanatoluwa, a low-caste village. The work camp that they for-
med was called a shramadana (“gift of labour”); while working in a low-
-caste village, students experienced a different aspect of their culture, 
and at the same time, barriers between the upper and lower castes were 
11  For more see: Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism, Teachings, History and Prac-
tices (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990); A. T. Ariyaratne, Buddhist Economics in 
Practice (UK: Sarvodaya Support group UK, 1999); Detlef Katowsky, Sarvodaya, The Other 
Development (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1980).
P O l I g r A F I
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broken down.12 As signified by its name Sarvodaya or “the awakening 
of all” or “uplift of all” supports the idea of “dual awakening”, an awa-
kening of both the individual and society at the same time. These two 
forms of awakenings are integrally related as a dual process in which the 
liberation of the individual depends upon the liberation of society and 
vice versa. Ariyaratne presents the idea of  implementing the Buddhist 
Four Noble Truths in a secular context.13 While interpreting these ideas 
socially, concrete forms of suffering from daily experiences and directly 
from the environment become the focus of awakening. let’s look at an 
example:
The first truth, dukkha, suffering or unsatisfactoriness, is according 
to him translated as “there is a decadent village”. Villagers are encoura-
ged to detect problems in their environment, such as egoism, possessi-
on, competition, harsh speech, destructive activity and inequality. 
The second truth, samudaya, the cause of suffering, signifies that 
decadent conditions in the village have one or more causes, such as 
poverty, destructive engagement, disease, oppression, disunity, stagna-
tion or ignorance. The third truth, nirodha, cessation, indicates that 
suffering can cease with the use of pleasant speech, constructive enga-
gement, equality egolessness sharing, co-operation, love, etc. The way 
out of suffering lies in the fourth truth, marga, which means solving the 
problem by means of educational, cultural, spiritual, health-oriented 
actions.14
In his Collected Works, Ariyaratne presents the whole concept be-
hind Sarvodaya activities: 
12  After this first achievement, Sarvodaya started appealing people to give whatever they 
can, their labour, their lands, their skills, their wealth, etc. with the intention to alleviate the 
suffering of the poorest and the powerless people living in rural and urban communities (from 
constructing wells to provide drinking water to tanks and canals to provide water for the culti-
vation of lands for producing food, shelter for people who have no houses to live in, building 
roads, community centres, schools and such other community facilities in education and health 
care, even establishing their own banks, etc.). 
13  A. T. Ariyaratne, Collected Works, vol. IV. (Sri lanka: Vishva lekha Publ., 1999); A. T., 
Ariyaratne, Collected Works, vol. VII., (Sri lanka: Vishva lekha Publ., 1999); A. T. Ariyaratne, 
Collected Works, vol. VIII. (Sri lanka: Vishva lekha Publ., 2007)
14  Ariyaratne, Buddhist Economics.
" D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? "
155
“When a human being participates in any Sarvodaya activities, his or her 
primary objective should be to practice the four principles of Personality 
Awakening, which the Buddha taught. The first principle is loving-kindness 
(Metta) towards all beings. In the Discourse on loving Kindness (Karaniya 
Metta Sutra) the Buddha has taught the importance of respecting and preser-
ving all sentient beings. From one-celled living beings to the most evolved of 
living beings such as the human’s friendliness and respect must be extended. 
Therefore, anybody joining the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement should a 
person who accepts the principle not to destroy sentient beings, but to protect 
all life.”15
According to Ariyaratne, loving-kindness or metta is translated into 
compassionate action (karuna) by undertaking physical or mental acti-
vities to alleviate the suffering of all sentient beings (whether by digging 
wells or building schools or helping the sick or educating the children 
or improving the economic life of all people or teaching the Dham-
ma to improve their spiritual life). All these actions are expressions of 
compassion. As mentioned previously, meritorious deeds form a special 
mental state of altruistic joy (muditha), and over a period of time if/
when human actions are guided by these three principles of metta, ka-
runa and muditha, such a person can progressively develop a state of 
mind called equanimity (upekkha). 
The described Buddhist path constitutes the crucial link between the 
individual and society in Sarvodaya’s whole scheme of awakening and 
development. Transforming the consciousness of individuals and com-
munities toward compassion represents the starting point in Sarvodaya’s 
plan to transform society and an essential step toward building a just 
and peaceful coexistence.16 Social and environmental destruction de-
mands new ethics and ethic consciousness, a new paradigm which deals 
with the new challenges of postcolonial and post capitalistic societies. 
Sarvodaya’s approach to generate this critical mass of ethic consciou-
sness has focused on the peace meditations (among other things), star-
ting in 1983, when Sri lanka’s civil war erupted with a bomb blast that 
15  Ariyaratne Collected Works, Vol. VIII, 190–206.
16  The two terms that Sarvodaya has employed in its plans are gram swaraj – the liberation of 
the village through the creation of economic and social programmes at the grassroots level; and 
deshodaya – the national and political outcome liberation process.
P O l I g r A F I
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targeted army personnel who were travelling in a truck.17 In an intervi-
ew conducted with Bandula Senadeera, Sarvodaya’s international divisi-
on, “this incident prompted Sinhalese people to destroy the property of 
Tamil people in the southern parts of the country. Violence occurred in 
every part of the country and the security forces were unable to contain 
the further spread. At this point, Sarvodaya intervened to change the 
minds of people who were engaging in violence, starting by organizing 
large-scale peace walks with the participation of people from different 
ethnic groups.  The main peace walks originated from more vulnerable 
places in the country. While nationwide walks were taking place, there 
were also local level walks happening divisionally attended by eminent 
and ordinary people alike.”18
According to him, apart from these peace walks, all members of 
Sarvodaya individually practice meditation and a number of national-
-level peace meditation programmes have been held. For example, in 
Anuradhapura in 2006, there were approximately one million people 
attending this meditation programme, while in Colombo 2008, there 
were about three hundred thousand participants. According to Bandu-
la, all the political party leaders were on the meditation stage, including 
the ruling party presidents, the prime minister and opposition leaders.
Sarvodaya have district-wide meditation programmes covering every 
single district of the country. There are 24 districts and 24 meditation 
programmes spearheaded by the coordinators of the districts. 
In all, nearly three million people have participated in these medi-
tations. Why does meditation remain one of the key tools or methods 
of socially engaged Buddhists? A fundamental goal of meditative te-
chniques is to train the mind to disengage from usual modes of thin-
king, attention and reaction to the object of consciousness. research on 
meditation, mindfulness and neuroplasticity19 (in the following we will 
17  This blast claimed the lives of nine army personnel.
18  The interview with Bandula Senadeera was held a Moratuwa, the Sarvodaya headquarters 
in Sri lanka in August 2020 and updated online in October 2022. 
19  Neuroplasticity is understood as the brain’s capacity to change. Since the human brain 
is designed to be constantly scanning the environment and meaning is constructed on 
past experience, our response to our environment includes applying meaning well before 
experience reaches our consciousness. Once experience enter the consciousness, further 
response, interpretation and reaction occur. According to Kristeller, we have much of this 
" D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? "
157
mention only a few) clearly shows that specific kind(s) of mental train-
ing can influence how our brains operate. As a consequence, our emo-
tional and mental well-being can indeed be cultivated through mental 
discipline, which means through the development of awareness and the 
evolution (cultivation?) of consciousness.  
A Brief Evaluation of Selected research on (Mindfulness) Meditation 
in the West
Since the 1960s hundreds of empirical studies have been carried out 
on the range of effect of meditation. Buddhist meditative traditions 
emphasize that the extended goal of practice is development of empathy 
and compassion. However, an investigation into the research clarified 
for me that there has been surprisingly little systematic investigation of 
the impact of meditation on the traditional goals of practice: cultivati-
on of empathy or compassion. Only a very few studies have examined 
the impact of meditative practice on these central components of (so-
cially engaged) Buddhism. Mediation in the West or in the so-called 
global North is widely recognized as a tool to attain a variety of goals: 
physical relaxation; reduction of stress and anxiety, against depression, 
improvement in behavioural self-regulation, etc. One of the rare excep-
tions of the available research on the traditional effect of meditation 
dates from 1970. lesh explored the effect of four weeks of Zazen trai-
ning on 16 master’s-level student therapists. They were compared to a 
waiting-list comparison group and a group of students who expressed 
“self ”-centered and self-protective processes in common with lower organisms in order to 
survive, but we also share with them empathy, affiliation and social processing, which may 
be hardwired into virtually all mammals as a process necessary for caring for the young 
(Jean l. Kristeller and Thomas Johnson, “Cultivating loving-Kindness: A Two-Stage Model 
for the Effects of Meditation on Compassion, Altruism and Spirituality,” conference paper 
at Works of love: Scientific and religious Perspectives on Altruism, Villanova, Villanova 
University, June 3, 2003 http://www.metanexus.net/archive/conference2003/pdf/WOlPaper_
Kristeller_Jean.pdf ). Also, according to Eric Thompson, with neuroplasticity we can influence 
our brain function and development and go beyond our own neurophysiology, so the 
awakened conscious intention can open up to a transformational process (Eric Thompson, 
The Neuroscience of Meditation: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of How Meditation 
Impacts the Brain (Awake Technologies, llC, 2011), https://www.sergioangileri.it/PDFSA/
neuroscience_meditation.pdf ). 
P O l I g r A F I
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no interest in meditation. Empathy was measured by the accuracy of 
responses to assessing emotions expressed by a videotape client. Only 
the Zazen group showed increases in empathy.20 Within models of self-
-actualization, a shift from self-preoccupation to concern for others is 
considered a natural progression along stages of self-development. Yet 
questions still remain: how did this shift come about? How is it linked 
to the development of empathy?
In the following, we will look more closely at how the modern stu-
dies deal with the effects of meditation and what the central points and 
the consequences of meditation are.
A review of the literature on mediation and self-actualization in the 
90s by Alexander identifies 46 studies that supported the value of medi-
tative practice for development of self-actualization.21 Without a doubt, 
this can be linked to the rise of new religious movements on the global 
scene, whose central goal is individual well-being and building one’s 
own identity.22
So-called mindfulness psychotherapy has become one of the predo-
minant representations of Buddhism in contemporary popular religio-
us culture in the West, yet the particular understanding of mindfulness 
is based on the interests of stress reduction techniques of contemporary 
Western consumers, not as a technique to attain ‘awakening’.
Mindfulness is being incorporated into a wide variety of therapies 
and interventions. Popular therapeutic approaches in the last two deca-
des include mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), dialectical 
behaviour therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy 
(ACT).
Some approaches use various forms of meditation as a method 
for cultivating mindfulness, while others, such as ACT and DBT, 
20  Terry V. lesh, “Zen Meditation and the Development of Empathy in Counselors,” in 
Meditations: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives, ed. D. H. Shapiro & r. Walsh (Hawthorne, 
NY: Aldine Publishing, 1984) 
21 Charles N. Alexander, Maxwell V. rainforth, and Paul gelderloos, “Transcendental Medi-
tation, Self-Actualization, and Psychological Health: A Conceptual Overview and Statistical 
Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 6, no. 5 (1991): 189–247
22  Wouter Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture; Esotericism in the Mirror of 
Secular Thought (New York: State University of New York Press, 1998), 42–61; Heelas, The New 
Age Movement.
" D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? "
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emphasize non-meditation experiential learning techniques. These 
interventions focus on therapeutic mindfulness or how mindfulness 
can be used as a key ingredient of therapeutic insight. Mindfulness-
-based therapy (MBT), such as mindfulness-based stress reduction 
(the most famous representative of which is undoubtedly Jon Ka-
bat-Zinn from the University of Massachusetts Medical Faculty) and 
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have become a very popular su-
bject in contemporary psychotherapy. The review suggests that MBT 
is a beneficial intervention to reduce negative psychological states, 
such as stress, anxiety and depression. Hofmann reviewed 39 studies 
encompassing 1,140 participants receiving MBT for a range of con-
ditions, including cancer, generalized anxiety disorder, depression and 
other psychiatric or medical conditions.23 A study by Carson explo-
red the effect of mindfulness meditation in combination with guided 
mediation on relationship enhancement in married couples. A total 
of 44 couples were randomly assigned to either a waiting-list control 
or to an intervention programme based on mindfulness meditation 
practice. The couples were in generally well adjusted relationships and 
had been married on average for 11 years. The programme consisted 
of eight two-hour sessions and one full day’s retreat. The practice pro-
gramme based on mindfulness meditation significantly improved the 
quality of connectedness, including relatedness to and acceptance of 
the partner.24 However, questions about the criteria for the accredi-
tation of using mindfulness in therapy remain for further discussion, 
with a particular emphasis on who is qualified to offer mindfulness 
therapy, since a major aim of mindfulness meditation, at least in the 
Buddhist context, is a phenomenological investigation and under-
standing of how the mind works. According to Buddhist philosophy, 
mindfulness is a precondition to attain wisdom (which is synonymo-
us with the understanding of the impermanence, unsustainability and 
co-dependence of all conditioned phenomena). With attained wis-
23  Stefan g. Hofmann, Paul grossman and Hinton D., “loving-Kindness and Compassion 
Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions,” Clinical Psychology Review 31, no. 7 
(November 2011): 1126–1132, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.003.
24  James W. Carson et. al., “Mindfulness-Based relationship Enhancement,” Behavior Ther-
apy 35, no. 3 (June 2004): 471–494, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(04)80028-5.
P O l I g r A F I
160
dom, empathy and compassion are the logical consequence. As alrea-
dy mentioned, the cultivation of empathy and compassion (metta) are 
fundamental aspects of Buddhism. The basic meditative practice for 
the cultivation of metta is so-called loving-kindness meditation. lo-
ving-kindness meditation (lKM) in Buddhism starts with engaging 
compassion towards the self, then the focus is shifted to others (to a 
benefactor, a good friend, a neutral person, to someone with whom 
we experience interpersonal difficulties, even an enemy, and finally to 
all beings in the world).25 lKM aims to develop an affective state of 
unconditional kindness to all beings, since it is closely linked to the 
Buddhist notion of interconnectedness, that all living beings are inextri-
cably connected. Together with loving-kindness (metta) and compas-
sion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita; i.e. joy in others’ joy) and 
equanimity (uppeka) constitute the four brahma-viharas, which are 
regarded as four noble states or qualities that can be cultivated. These 
four qualities form the foundation of the Buddhist ethical system and 
are necessary to achieve insights into the working of our own minds, 
as well as the world around us. Despite the existence of theoretical 
framework(s) regarding mindfulness as such, very little data exists on 
lKM as a clinical intervention method. gilbert and Procter26 deve-
loped a treatment method they called compassionate mind training. 
The treatment consists of a programme of 12 weekly two-hour indivi-
dual sessions. The therapy targets self-criticism and shame to enhance 
self-compassion by encouraging clients to be self-soothing when they 
are feeling anxiety, anger and disgust. The treatment incorporates te-
chniques of monitoring and cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical 
25  Beginning with extending compassion toward the self is considered essential for two rea-
sons; first, it engages a sense of inner awareness of those feelings or experiences most likely to 
block the expression of compassion, especially anger; secondly, it cultivates awareness of inner 
resources to deal with such feelings. The first is important because otherwise the self may spring 
back too quickly into a protective mode; the second is important because cultivating the experi-
ence of compassion toward the self provides a foundation for extending that sense of love out to 
others. For more, see also: Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness, The Revolutionary Art of Happiness 
(Boston & london: Shambala Classics, 2002).
26  Paul gilbert and Sue Procter, “Compassionate mind training for people with high shame 
and self-criticism: Overview and pilot study of a group therapy approach,” Clinical Psychology 
and Psychotherapy 13, no. 6 (2006): 353–379, https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.507. 
" D U A L  A W A K E N I N G ? "
161
behaviour therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Partici-
pants reported a significant improvement on self-report measures of 
anxiety, depression and self-criticism27. The limited empirical eviden-
ce from the intervention literature suggests that elements of lKM can 
be trained within a relatively short time. The study by Hutcherson 
and colleagues suggests that even seven-minute training in lKM can 
produce small or moderately strong improvements in positive feelings 
toward strangers and the self. The lKM training period in the other 
studies with non-clinical populations consisted of six 60-minute we-
ekly sessions. The lKM exercise itself was only 15–20 minutes in du-
ration, although the effects were also modest. In clinical studies, the 
lKM training consisted of eight weekly one-hour sessions to reduce 
chronic low back pain. A slightly modified programme of 12 wee-
kly two-hour sessions was employed for treating anxiety, anger, and 
mood problems. Therefore, lKM appears to have a positive effect on 
psychological functioning, even after a relatively short training time.28
Final remark
These research studies illustrate an association between mediation 
practice and attaining positive emotions and stress reductions on the 
one hand, and the cultivation of empathy, compassion and altruism 
on the other. However, the value placed on cultivating empathy and 
compassion was not made explicit as part of the goals of participation 
in the meditation process in the West, where it is mainly forgotten or 
(deliberately?) overlooked that these practices derive from the Budd-
hist tradition and that striving for personal well-being and/or wellness 
should not replace the ethical endeavour to (also) elevate compassion 
and empathy as a tool for mindful, ethical and compassionate social 
engagement.
27  Ibid.
28  Cendri A, Hutcherson, Emma Seppala and James J. gross, “loving-kindness meditation 
increases social connectedness,” Emotion 8, no. 5 (2008): 720–724, https://doi.org/10.1037/
a0013237; see also Salzberg, Lovingkindness.
P O l I g r A F I
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B i b l i o g r a p h y
Alexander, Charles N., Maxwell V. rainforth, and Paul gelderloos. “Tran-
scendental Meditation, Self-Actualization, and Psychological Health: A Con-
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