AI Insight
This conceptual paper examines how Indian philosophical traditions like Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, and Krishnamurti's teachings challenge the Western psychological emphasis on building a strong, fixed self-identity for wellbeing. The authors propose a spectrum model of self-processing that includes ordinary self-referential thinking, trainable meta-awareness, and transformed non-self experiences, supported by contemplative neuroscience research on the default mode network and meditation-related brain changes. The framework suggests that wellbeing may depend more on flexible regulation of self-identification rather than simple self-enhancement.
Why it matters
This cross-cultural analysis bridges Eastern philosophical traditions and Western neuroscience, offering clinical practitioners and researchers alternative approaches to mental health that emphasize flexible self-processing over rigid self-construction. The framework has potential applications in meditation-based therapies and could inform more culturally diverse models of psychological wellbeing.
Understand the Science
While contemporary psychology focuses on developing a cohesive self for wellbeing, Indian philosophical traditions such as Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti provide a critique of the notion of a fixed self-identity. This conceptual paper compares them at a phenomenological and functional level and relates these comparisons to contemplative neuroscience, particularly the default mode network, self-referential processing, and meditation-related changes in self-experience. Furthermore, It proposes a spectrum model: self-referential processing as an ordinary mode, meta-awareness as a trainable capacity, and non-self experience as a transformed outcome. The framework suggests that wellbeing may involve flexible regulation of self-identification rather than simple self-enhancement. Finally, implications for research, clinical practice, and cultural interpretation are discussed.