Park, Sung-hyun, Sung, Seoung-Yun & Ven. Misan, “A Mixed-Methods Study of the Psychological Process of Loving-Kindness Meditation and its Effects on Heart-Smile Meditation Participants,” Korean Psychological Association Journal: Counseling and Psychotherapy, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2016. [Indexed/Abstracted in KCI]

For the past decade, vigorous research has been performed on “Loving-Kindness Meditation” and “mindfulness meditation,” two major practices of Buddhism. This study explores the psychological, social, and spiritual implications of Heart-Smile Meditation, which was developed based on the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. In “Research 1,” adult participants were divided into an experimental group of 16 participants and a control group of 20, and psychological tests were performed on them before and after the meditation program. Follow-up studies were also conducted. The experimental group showed significant improvements from the control group in terms of self-related variables (self-compassion, self-respect), social relationship variables (compassionate love, sense of social interconnection, forgiveness), and spirituality variables after Heart-Smile Meditation. In “Research 2,” focus group interviews were performed on a group of seven participants and their experiences were analyzed during the meditation program, as were changes in daily life afterward. As a result, 13 categories of effects were identified that covered the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social domains. In the physical domain, relaxation and reduced stress responses were observed; in the emotional domain, reduced anger and increased positive emotions; in the cognitive domain, increased awareness and empathy; and in the social domain, increased sense of interconnection with others and acceptance. These results were discussed and compared with research results into the loving-kindness meditation of Early Buddhism. In addition, our paper suggested how to use Heart-Smile Training as a psychotherapy program, and suggested further studies be done in terms of the healing mechanism of Heart-Smile Meditation and the duration of its therapeutic effects.

Keywords: compassion, loving-kindness, Heart-Smile Meditation, positive emotion, social connectedness, spirituality