MEDITATIVE ABSORPTION AND WORKING MEMORY: AN FMRI-BASED COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LONG-TERM YOGIC PRACTITIONERS AND NON-PRACTITIONERS, INDIA

The demand for strong memory skills is rising as people face constant cognitive pressure in education, work, and daily life. This study investigated whether meditative absorption can enhance working memory, an essential capacity for learning and productivity, with a focus on India where stress and weak memory are reported as barriers to performance. The objective was to test how focused attention, open monitoring, and jhana-like absorption influence capacity, accuracy, maintenance, and updating of memory. A descriptive design using secondary data from 120 published sources was applied, analyzed through correlation and regression. Results showed that longer focus improved capacity by up to 25 percent, higher immersion raised accuracy by 23 percent, and distraction-free conditions increased maintenance by 21 percent. Open monitoring improved updating efficiency by 22 percent and accuracy by 20 percent, while jhana-like absorption produced the strongest effects with maintenance gains of 26 percent, accuracy improvement of 24 percent, and capacity growth of 22 percent. Regression confirmed that absorption practices explained 69 percent of memory outcome variance, with jhana-like absorption contributing the largest effect (β = 0.322). The highest correlation coefficient was 0.853, showing strong links between deep absorption and memory resilience. These findings prove that meditative practices are powerful, low-cost strategies for improving cognitive skills. The study recommends their integration into schools, workplaces, and health systems to support learning, productivity, and mental resilience.