Worlding the Self: The Ecological Constitution of the Pattern Theory of Selflessness

Rajan, Sahana V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9680-6559 (2026) Worlding the Self: The Ecological Constitution of the Pattern Theory of Selflessness. Mindfulness. Springer Verlag . ISSN 1868-8527 Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-026-02980-x

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Abstract

This paper developed the ecological dimension of the pattern theory of selflessness (PTSL), reconceptualizing its six transformations (T1–T6) as organism-environment enactments. Method: Drawing on ecological psychology and enactivism, it argues that ecological processes are constitutive rather than merely causal contributors to self-pattern transformation: affordances, affective scaffoldings, and social ecologies are not contextual backdrops but co-creators of each transformation. The argument proceeds through conceptual analysis, integrating a relational account of affordances and the distinction between the landscape and the field of relevant affordances with the PTSL’s six-transformation model, and drawing on canonical Buddhist sources and ethnographic research on Thai, Burmese, and secular practice contexts. Results: Each transformation is shown to involve a distinct mode of ecological participation: ethical consolidation (T1) restructures what solicits the practitioner; concentration (T2) requires the material engineering of specific ecologies of attention; mindful awareness (T3) demands generalization across diverse contexts; self-deconstruction (T4) depends on withdrawing the ecological scaffolding that sustains ordinary self-boundaries; flexibility (T5) entails reconstituting organism-environment coupling across qualitatively different conditions; and self-liberation (T6) involves an irreversible reorientation of that coupling rather than transcendence of ecology. Conclusions: Taking the organism-environment system as the unit of analysis specifies testable empirical signatures, including cross-contextual assessment and neurophenomenological investigation of retreat-to-daily-life transitions, that would distinguish the constitutive hypothesis from causal alternatives.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Affordances | Buddhist meditation | Ecological psychology | Enactivism | Organism-environment system | Pattern theory of selflessness
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Psychology > General Psychology
Divisions: Jindal Global Business School
Depositing User: Mr. Syed Anas Ali
Date Deposited: 22 Sep 2026 04:46
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2026 07:29
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-026-02980-x
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/12635

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