Publication details
Where am I? Does meditation practice produce body misperception?
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | One of the key themes in Buddhism is the experience of alternated states of consciousness. Sensations of disappearing body parts, out of body experiences, and near-death experiences have been reported during Buddhist meditation. From the Buddhist point of view, these "special" states are solely the result of mental cultivation by meditation techniques. From a perspective found frequently by Buddhist participants these "special" states are solely the result of mental cultivation by meditation techniques. However, similar experiences have also been reported from everyday life in certain biologically predisposed individuals. For example, the loss of the sense of one's own body in sleep paralysis (sleep-off set phase) and the disappearance of body parts in a hypnagogic state (sleep-on set phase). This suggests that such distortions in body perception are not just due to cultural practices. However, can cultural practices such as meditation predispose us to experience these states? |
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