Larrivee Denis, Echarte Luis
Neiswanger Bioethics Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
, 1032 W. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA.
J Relig Health. 2018 Jun;57(3):960-978. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0475-0.
Numerous studies show that personal spirituality developed through prayer positively influences mental health. Phenomenological and neuroscientific studies of mindfulness, an Eastern meditative prayer form, reveal significant health benefits now yielding important insights useful for guiding treatment of psychological disorders. By contrast, and despite its practice for millennia, Christian meditation is largely unrepresented in studies of clinical efficacy. Resemblances between mindfulness and disciplinary acts in Christian meditation taken from the ancient Greek practice of askesis suggest that Christian meditation will prove similarly beneficial; furthermore, psychological and neuroscientific studies suggest that its retention of a dialogical and transcendent praxis will additionally benefit social and existential psychotherapy. This paper thus argues that study of contemplative meditation for its therapeutic potential is warranted.
众多研究表明，通过祈祷发展起来的个人灵性对心理健康有积极影响。正念是一种东方冥想祈祷形式，对其进行的现象学和神经科学研究揭示了显著的健康益处，目前已产生了有助于指导心理障碍治疗的重要见解。相比之下，尽管基督教冥想已践行了数千年，但在临床疗效研究中却基本未被涉及。正念与源自古希腊“askesis”修行方式的基督教冥想中的修行行为之间的相似性表明，基督教冥想也将被证明具有类似的益处；此外，心理学和神经科学研究表明，其对话性和超越性的实践方式还将有益于社会和存在主义心理治疗。因此，本文认为有必要对冥想的治疗潜力进行研究。
