A phenomenological second-person exploration of meditation

Abstract

This study was a phenomenological exploration of the experiences of Zen Buddhist meditators with at least 10 years of practice in meditation. Participants were prompted to initiate meditation and find their “usual meditative state” and then were interviewed directly afterwards about their experiences. The interview method was a second-person, intersubjective process based on the work of Petitmengin (2006). Results suggested that there may be an underlying structure to the process of initiating meditation that is consistent across individuals.