The Experience of Mindfulness and its Nondual Nature in Active Practitioners
Abstract
Mindfulness-based interventions have become well-established in the literature as an effective treatment for various health issues. Its application in psychology is predominantly informed by dualism; however, according to its Eastern traditions, a true understanding of mindfulness is developed via nondualistic ontological experiences that emerge in a mindfulness state. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of mindfulness and its nondual nature as it is experienced in the world. Hermeneutical phenomenology, informed by an interpretivist lens, was employed. A sample of 13 mindfulness practitioners were individually interviewed. The experience of mindfulness and its nondual nature was considered through themes relating to informal and formal practice; agency; ineffability; self-transcendence; and nature. The findings of this study provide new and important information regarding mindfulness and its nondual nature and can help answer the broader socio-psychological question of what it means to be an authentic, integrated, and realized human being.