Progress Report
Integration of Asian humanities and brain informatics to enhance peace and compassion of the mind3. Social Implementation
Progress until FY2022
1. Outline of the project
We have made progress in researching Buddhist literature and have established the outline for meditation training to be implemented in a smartphone application. Furthermore, we have been advancing the development of the app. We have listened and aggregated opinions from within and outside the project. Additionally, we have worked on the development of an intervention course that serves as a prototype for the meditation training program.
2. Outcome so far
Theme 1:
- (1) Establishment of the outline for meditation training
- We have been extracting and organizing descriptions related to meditation from Buddhist literature and have revealed the historical changes of meditation techniques. In the early stages of Buddhist meditation, the practice of "paying attention and fully comprehension" (samatha) was trained. Over time, this practice came to be classified into three categories: samatha meditation, which calms the mind's activities; vipassana meditation, which involves observing all actions including the mind's activities; and the four divine abodes meditations including loving-kindness. We have also included the preparatory practices, known as preparation exercises." Based on these findings, we have established the outline for meditation training course to be implemented in the smartphone application (Fig 1).
- (2) Classification of personality types
- To contribute to the classification of personality types, referencing the Buddhist scripture called the "Visuddhimagga", we have classified the basic patterns and derived patterns of human personality types as seen from the perspective of kleshas. Additionally, we have organized preparatory meditations that are used to them (Fig 2).
Theme 2:
- (1) Creation of specification for the app
- We have been creating the specification for the app to be used in a large-scale intervention experiment. To create the app that meets some requirements we have conducted interviews and collected feedback and ideas regarding the app from both within and outside the project. Based on the collected ideas, we have created flowcharts and compiled detailed specifications. Additionally, we have designed interface concepts reflecting the collected ideas to share the vision of the app within the project (Fig 3).
- (2) Creation of a prototype for meditation training content
- We have started creating a prototype for the meditation training course to be implemented in the app. Before working on the implementation of Buddhist scriptures based meditations, we plan to complete to develop an intervention program based on the mindfulness-based intervention. By creating this at an early stage as a prototype, we aim to optimize the development of app and future meditation training course. We have developed a script for instructional content and created a provisional narrations based on it.
3. Future plans
We will work on creating meditation instruction narrations based on the research on Buddhist literature. Further, we will advance the development of the app and prepare for an early start to the large-scale intervention study.
(MINOWA Ken-ryou: Univ. of Tokyo
KAWASHIMA Issaku: ATR)