Integration of Buddhist Psychology with Thai Traditional Medical Practice: Development of a Clinical Internal Readiness Model

Abstract

This article aims to develop and synthesize an integrative conceptual framework for explaining the mind–body relationship within the context of Thai Traditional Medicine clinical practice. It integrates knowledge from Buddhist psychology, Thai Traditional Medicine, and contemporary health sciences in response to the increasing complexity of chronic illness and mind–body disorders, for which fragmented therapeutic approaches may be insufficient. In Buddhist psychology, the process of feeling and mental formation (vedanā–saṅkhāra) is understood as a key mechanism underlying suffering and mental fluctuation. In Thai Traditional Medicine, illness is explained through the imbalance of the elements, particularly wind and fire elements, which are closely related to mental states and systemic changes in the body. This study employs documentary analysis and synthesis based on the Tipiṭaka, Buddhist literature, Thai Traditional Medicine texts, and research in psychoneuroimmunology. The synthesis leads to the development of an integrative causal framework for explaining the mind–body system. The article proposes the “vedanā–saṅkhāra–element cycle” as a core mechanism linking inner experience with changes in the living system. Based on this synthesis, the “Clinical Internal Readiness Model” is developed as a nine-step process covering bodily regulation, cultivation of mental awareness, and long-term stabilization of the living system. In addition, a four-dimensional evaluation framework is proposed, consisting of inner experience, behavior, clinical symptoms, and biological indicators. In conclusion, this model elevates mental cultivation into a structured clinical tool that can be applied for planning, monitoring, and evaluating therapeutic outcomes. It also provides a means of intervening in the mind–body cycle at its root level, contributing to holistic regulation of the living system, reduction of recurrence, and sustainable well-being.