Research on Meditation in Military:A Discussion of Pros/Cons

...In 2012, Mind and Life hosted a panel discussion at the International Symposium for Contemplative Studies titled “The Ethics of Teaching Contemplative Practices to the Armed Forces.” The panel discussed whether such practices could (or should) be introduced to individuals or institutions directly involved in violent activities. It’s a nuanced ethical quandary, which is often reduced to two perspectives: The first believes that everyone ultimately benefits from such practices, regardless of context, while the other maintains that the practices are tools prone to misuse outside of a nonviolent, prosocial framework.

In other words, if you believe that these practices grant everybody equanimity and insight into the nature of universal suffering, then you might support bringing contemplation to soldiers. If, on the other hand, you believe contemplative practices can enhance attention and emotional resilience in support of questionable goals, you may find its practice in war zones to be deeply flawed....

...Given that “soldiers who screened positive for mental health problems after returning home were up to three times more likely to report having engaged in unethical behavior while deployed,” it remains an open, and interesting, question as to whether soldiers would benefit from having more contemplative resources to make an already morally ambiguous situation a little less so.