Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether 8-week mindfulness meditation can induce insight into non-self. Non-self is representative insightful wisdom that can be obtained through mindfulness meditation and is considered a fundamental change in self-view which there is no permanent and independent self. Participants divided into three groups (mindfulness meditation, concentration meditation, and no treatment control). Participants took part in three surveys (pre, 4th week, and 8th week) over a period of 8 weeks. As a result, the interaction between the group and the measurement period tended to be significant in non-self-perspective(NSP), mindfulness, and zhongyong, whereas the interaction between the group and the measurement period was not significant in compassionate love, natural relatedness, and emotion regulation. In the mindfulness meditation group, the NSP and zhongyong did not show a significant increase at 4 weeks, but increased significantly at the 8th week. On the other hand, in the concentration meditation group, NSP and zhongyong increased significantly at 4 weeks, and the increase continued until the end of the 8-week program. In the no treatment control group, the difference according to the measurement period was not significant in NSP and zhongyong. Next, in the mindfulness meditation group, mindfulness increased significantly at 8th week, whereas mindfulness did not increase in the concentration meditation group and the no treatment control group. Further analysis demonstrated that NSP fully mediates the relationship between mindfulness meditation and zhongyong. These results suggest that mindfulness meditation can lead to insight into the impermanence and interdependence of the ‘I’ being. Finally, the limitations of this study were revealed and suggestions for follow-up studies were made.