Mindfulness meditation is often presented, in Western psychology, as a traditional Buddhist practice. However, this is actually a practice derived from an amalgam of various currents of thought, diverging in many ways from the meditative practices of classical Buddhism and its very definition of mindfulness. Regarding the modern concept of mindfulness, the term remains decidedly ambiguous and less than rigorous from a Buddhist point of view, as well as from a cognitive and neuropsychological point of view. Furthermore, there is significant confusion with regard to the concepts of shamatha and vipassana, which are mistakenly interpreted as meditation techniques. Vipassana is purported to be a meditation technique based on open monitoring (OM) that is said to correspond to the cognitive process involved in mindfulness meditation. However, a phenomenological and logical analysis of the OM model shows that OM meditation sometimes corresponds unknowingly to focused-attention meditation, the very opposite of OM, and sometimes (and more likely) to mind-wandering or mental sinking, the inverse of concentration or meditation. Therefore, a more classical Buddhist meditative practice, such as training in tranquil abiding, would appear to be more coherent, logical, and functional than mindfulness meditation appears to be, especially for developing concentration.

This exploratory study aims to verify whether a meditation program, training in tranquil abiding (TTA), characterized by strict concentration training, is feasible and leads to a reduction of core symptoms, improvement of executive functions, and clinical improvement in young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Six female participants with ADHD, with no experience in meditation, completed a 9-week TTA program (object: the nature of the mind; 90 min weekly meetings; individual daily practices; a 1-day final retreat). Sociodemographic, personality, expectation, and satisfaction questionnaires, as well as logbooks and neuropsychological tools (CAARS, BRIEF-A, D2-R, CPT-3), have been used. Wilcoxon tests with the effects size (Cohen's d) and matched-pairs rank-biserial correlation coefficients (r prb ) were used to verify pre/post and post/postretreat changes. The clinical changes (Reliable Change Index-Jacobson & Truax, 1991) have also been calculated for each participant. As a treatment of core symptoms and a cognitive remediation program for young adults with ADHD, TTA seems feasible. TTA seems to provide a very marked (d > 1.20) reduction of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity symptoms and improvement of concentration, alertness, discrimination, emotional regulation, initiate, planning, and organization, as well as a distinct (d > 0.80) improvement of sustained attention, working memory, and inhibition. The clinical rate of improvement is high for inattention, global symptoms of ADHD, emotional regulation, alertness, and organization. TTA could be considered as a cognitive remediation method and requires that the instructor really master its practical and theoretical aspects.