This article aims to analyze the ideas of health and illness in ancient Buddhism, making use of the theoretical tools of medical anthropology and historical–philological inquiry. As a contribution to the conceptual history of medicine in Buddhism, I intend to focus the present investigation on the ascetic problem of the “end of the world” as a means of achieving complete healing. The asceticism of early Buddhism reconciles the goal of transcendence with that of healing, carrying out a complex reflection on awareness and presence.

This article investigates the challenge of personal crisis during deep meditation, as observed in an ethnographic inquiry into mindfulness and traditional contemplative practices. The study distinguishes between the “crisis of presence” in contemporary mindfulness practices, and the dissolution of the subject-object distinction in traditional Buddhist meditation. By analyzing Ernesto De Martino’s concepts of crisis and presence, the article highlights the significance of understanding this phenomenon in meditation rather than perceiving it negatively. The research explores the contemporary evolution of mindfulness and its detachment from original Buddhist contemplative practices, leading to an approach criticized for reinforcing neoliberal and capitalist modes of cognition. In contrast, traditional Buddhist meditation aims for the state of samādhi, where boundaries between self and the world dissolve, signifying a serene “end of the world”. The study underscores the need for mindfulness researchers to explore this aspect of meditation to derive immense benefits from comprehensive contemplative practice.

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