A Process of Development for Peaceful Well-Being of Meditation Practitioners through Buddhist Peaceful Means: A Case Study of Buddhamahametta Foundation, Chiang Rak Noi, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya

This dissertation has three objectives, namely: - (1) to study the circumstances and analyze the problems of meditation practitioners at the Buddhamahametta Foundation, (2) to study the development of peaceful well-being based on the principles of Buddhist peaceful means, and (3) to provide a recommendation on the process to develop peaceful well-being in meditation practitioners at the Buddhamahametta foundation by applying the principles of Buddhist peaceful means. A mixed methodology was applied to this research and classified into 3 phases which were 1) Qualitative Research Design by conducting in-depth interview with key informant executives before developing the model to promote peaceful well-being, 2) Quantitative Research Design by applying Electroencephalography (EEG) and questionnaire 3) Qualitative Research Design by conducting in-depth interview with key informants after they attended each mindfulness-based course over a period of 7 months. The data were collected from 10 Key Informants who served as an executive position at private sector.

The research results were found that

1.         From the in-depth interview, the problems faced by key-informant executives were stress, can’t let go of thoughts, loss temper, seeking an acceptance, uncontrollable external factors, controlling the words, and weight gain.

2.         Literature reviews show that the four foundations of mindfulness create peaceful well-being.  Thus, EEG brainwave, a questionnaire, and in-depth EEG brainwave analysis to measure stress level using the Alpha to Beta ratio.  In this study, EEG was utilized to collect brain signals for 8 times over the period of 8 months. The result showed that the Alpha/Beta ratio was negatively correlated with stress.  As a result, it means that the EEG can be applied to measure psychological well-being. Apart from that, questionnaire with a uniform seven-point Likert scale has been filled by KI executives for 7 times over the period of 8 months. The result showed that questionnaire can measure peaceful well-beings in all aspects such as physical, psychological, behavior, and intellectual. As demonstrated by the results of these two research tools, it is truly confirmed that mindfulness program can develop the peaceful well-being.

3.         The in-depth interview was conducted after key informant executives attended every mindfulness-based course. The courses were organized 3 times. Based on the result of the 3 interviews, it showed that key informant executives are happier for example they become healthier, can let go of thing easier and be more careful with their speech so it will not hurt anyone. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, they can live happily, can let go things, be more mindful and not lose temper easily. Moreover, their relationships with family and employees are better too.

             Therefore, for the process to develop peaceful well-being of executive meditation practitioners, it is suitable to arrange a one-day mindfulness course since it matches with limited available time of executives. The course should comprise of mindfulness activities that can be applied in their daily life and provide a support for continuing practice including the handout of guided mindfulness practice, VDO Clips about mindfulness practice, Dhamma Online Channel, and Mobile Application to continue mindfulness-based practice easily.