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冥想正迅速成为一种提升心智的时尚工具。越来越多的科学证据表明，冥想可以增强创造力、记忆力和标准化智力测试的得分，人们对其实际益处的兴趣也日益浓厚。许多“正念”训练项目，例如谷歌工程师陈一鸣（Chade-Meng Tan）开发的课程，以及面向商业和科技领袖的“智慧2.0”（Wisdom 2.0）等会议，都承诺为与会者提供如何利用冥想来提升个人表现、领导力和生产力的见解。
这一切固然很好，但仔细想想，追求这些益处（当然值得称赞）与冥想最初的目的之间存在一些脱节。在考试中获得竞争优势或提升商业创造力并非佛陀和其他早期冥想导师最为关注的。正如佛陀所说：“我只教一件事：那就是苦难以及苦难的终结。”对佛陀而言，如同对许多现代精神领袖而言，冥想的目标就是如此简单。冥想所带来的对心灵的高度控制，旨在帮助修行者以一种全新的、更慈悲的方式看待世界，从而摆脱那些通常将人与人分隔开来的二元对立（我们/他们，自我/他人）。
但冥想真的像宣传的那样有效吗？它最初的预期效果——减轻痛苦——是否能通过经验证明？
为了验证这个问题，我的实验室（由心理学家保罗·康登领导）与神经科学家盖尔·德斯博德斯和佛教喇嘛威拉·米勒合作开展了一项实验，相关论文即将发表在《心理科学》杂志上。我们招募了39名来自波士顿地区的志愿者，他们愿意参加为期八周的冥想课程（此前从未参加过此类课程）。随后，我们随机抽取了其中20人参加每周一次的冥想课程，课程要求他们在家使用引导录音进行练习。其余19人则被告知他们已被列入未来课程的候补名单。
经过八周的指导后，我们邀请参与者来到实验室进行一项实验，该实验旨在检验他们的记忆力、注意力以及相关的认知能力。但正如您可能预料到的，我们真正感兴趣的是，那些进行过冥想的人在面对苦难时是否会表现出更强的同情心。为了找到答案，我们设计了一个情境，在参与者意识到实验开始之前测试他们的行为。
当一位参与者进入我们实验室的等候区时，他（或她）发现有三把椅子，其中两把已被占用。他自然而然地坐到了剩下的那把椅子上。在他等待期间，第四个人走了进来，她拄着拐杖，脚上穿着护具，显然是骨折了。她痛苦地叹了口气，不舒服地靠在墙上。房间里的另外两个人——和那位拄拐杖的女士一样，他们其实也是我们的工作人员——对这位女士视而不见，这让参与者陷入了一个道德困境：他会出于同情心让出椅子给她，还是自私地对她的困境置之不理？
结果令人震惊。虽然只有16%的非冥想者让出了座位——这的确令人沮丧——但在冥想者中，这一比例上升到了50%。这一增长令人印象深刻，不仅因为它仅仅发生在八周的冥想之后，更因为它是在一个已知会抑制体贴行为的情境下实现的：目睹他人对处于困境中的人视而不见——心理学家称之为旁观者效应——会降低任何个人伸出援手的可能性。尽管如此，冥想仍然使这种同情心的反应提高了三倍。
虽然我们尚不清楚冥想为何会产生这种效果，但以下两种解释似乎比较合理。第一种解释基于冥想已被证实能够增强注意力，这反过来可能会增加我们注意到他人痛苦的几率（而不是沉浸在自己的思绪中）。不过，我更倾向于另一种解释，它源于冥想的另一个方面：它能够培养一种万物互联的观念。我和心理学家皮尔卡洛·瓦尔德索洛（Piercarlo Valdesolo）发现，两个人之间任何形式的联系，哪怕是像双手同步轻拍这样细微的动作，都能让他们在彼此痛苦时产生更多的同情心。因此，冥想者同情心的增强或许直接源于冥想能够消除人为的社会差异——种族、宗教、意识形态等等——这些差异正是我们彼此隔阂的根源。
支持这一观点的是，神经科学家 Helen Weng、Richard Davidson 及其同事最近的研究结果证实，即使是相对较短的冥想技巧训练也能改变大脑中与对他人的痛苦感同身受相关的区域的神经功能——这些区域的反应性也受到一个人与他人之间联系程度的调节。
所以，请振作起来。下次冥想时，要知道你不仅是在让自己受益，也是在帮助你的邻居、社区成员以及素未谋面的陌生人，因为这会增加你在他们遭遇痛苦时感同身受的几率，并促使你采取行动减轻他们的痛苦。
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I totally agree with Miki, the study did not establish the base, the level of compassion the subject had prior to taking the meditation class/practice.
Only a true idiot would not have the attention to notice the disabled person in need of respite. The elephant in the room is that the attitude of disregard from the two people sitting in the other chairs will influence the test subject more than anything else. I think this falls back onto a question of social structure vs individual agency. I also think the compassionate action was the result of the test subject having gained experience in the conscious dimension of individual agency attributable to the meditation practice.
It blows my mind that anyone would let a person on crutches stand. I guess I'm blowing my own horn here, but I'd leave the room and find them a chair and bring it back if there wasn't a chair in the room.
What remains problematic is that these gains in empathy occur inter-personally and not necessarily, as the author suggests to facilitate trans-historical or wider societal understanding of "the struggle". Emancipation remains a local good. Meditation seems to me (as one who practices) a deeply apolitical act.
I prefer the attention enhancement hypothesis, combined with the fact that meditators - even at a beginners' stage - are more at ease within themselves; giving up their seats would not be much of a 'sacrifice' for them. The connection theory is more doubtful. For some people meditation can be a very narcissistic exercise, not necessarily promoting emphaty.
As a long term practitioner of mindfulness meditation, I was interested to read this article. What the study leaves out however, is the level of compassion the subjects had prior to practicing meditation. This study leaves this important aspect out and is not as reliable as it could be had this been ascertained.
Thank you for this article.
There can also be direct effects on your environment. Some time ago I became a regular meditator. The area I was living in tended to be quite noisy when I first moved there. After 2-3 years of my meditation practice I noticed that the area was now much more quiet. Was it really due to my regular practice of meditation? I will probably never know for sure, but I like to think so.
When I moved away from there I let my practice lapse until a year or so ago. My emotional strength, health and inner peace have all deteriorated since then. I am slowly finding my way back, mostly through guided recordings, including hypnosis ones.
Thank you for sharing this meaningful research.