Western science and medicine has been increasingly interested in Buddhist meditation for decades. In the latter part of the 20th century, studies into the relationship between meditation and stress relief became popular. Padma de Silva, psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, then extended this relationship in her article “Buddhism and Behaviour Modification,” published in 1984.

The essay shows the key aspects of Buddhism that parallel modern tenets of psychology. For example, Buddhism places an emphasis on action. While the Buddha did highlight the importance of knowing one’s mind in order to control it, the canon also stresses controlling action and speech as a means towards enlightenment with practices such as meditation. Modern behavioral psychology is consistent with this thought that “deed is the father of thought.”

Furthermore, many behavior change techniques used today in therapy are found in early Buddhism. This includes rules of conduct and their empirical basis. The Buddha gave advice on how to behave by giving reasoned arguments instead of dogmatic rules. The Buddha is a characteristic model for teaching by example. He often performs the desired action, such as caring for the sick, then follows by lecturing his devotees on the importance of tending to sick colleagues. This parallels the current importance placed on social learning. Fear reduction is also acknowledged in traditional Tibetan works. One story outlines reducing fear by replacing the anxiety with a positive response or reward. This method is known in psychology today as reciprocal inhibition because it inhibits the negative response with a positive feeling in its place. Several methods of behavior change are present in Traditional Buddhism and contemporary psychological approaches, and this has piqued interest in the scientific community with regard to integrating the techniques.

Since this article has been published, many studies have begun to research the implications of Silva’s connection. Several studies and essays connect Buddhist philosophy, particularly meditation practices, to modern health issues and physical conditions such as OCD, perception rivalry, and addiction. These examples are but a few that make a correlation between Buddhist meditation and observable behavior change.