Here I announce a breakthrough in the neuroscience of the highly refined meditative states known as jhānas, revealing biological mechanisms of deep states of absorption that are profound, restorative, and deeply beneficial for the mind. ⤵️

I recently spoke with New Scientist, one of world’s major weekly science-and-technology magazines, to share how our work is revealing one of the most promising frontiers in human development, and may also be part of a bigger story about our collective potential and evolution. ⤵️

Have you ever wondered whether you’ll be able to access advanced and transformative meditation? Or do you doubt whether the science of advanced meditation will ever extend beyond the laboratory, or beyond the rare achievements of a handful of very accomplished practitioners? ⤵️

Can meditation be understood as systematic mental training? Despite the obvious appeal of thinking of meditation training like a workout for the mind, as the gym is for muscles, and its wide usage across communities practicing and researching meditation...

What if it takes losing our minds to save our minds? For centuries, enlightenment, known by many names, has been considered largely in myth, metaphor, or mystical verses. In most secularized contexts, it has been treated as a beautiful but largely superstitious story. ⤵️

Powerful scientific clues to the mystery of consciousness are emerging from its very absence. Advanced meditation research seeks to scientifically understand profound and powerful shifts in consciousness that can arise from contemplative mastery. One such shift, which we call...

Advanced meditation ushers in incredible new possibilities for the science of consciousness. In the first-ever fMRI study of Extended Cessation (EC), for which we’ve just preprinted, my colleagues and I examine this advanced meditative event—where consciousness is deliberately switched off and...

For thousands of years, Theravāda Buddhism—an ancient tradition with origins in India—has described what is considered the highest meditative attainment, called nirodha samāpatti, regarded as deeply connected to nirvana/enlightenment. For the first time, we have been able to use brain imaging... ⤵️

No single tradition owns meditation — and science promises to finally help us find common ground. 🧵

Advanced meditation may not just transform individual lives — it may change the moral future of society itself. 🧵

Has the modern worldview overlooked a major dimension of human development—simply because we are afraid of death? 🧵

What if advanced meditation is the next stage in human development? The idea that human development doesn’t stop after adolescence is hardly new. What is new, and what’s emerging from our research at the Meditation Research Program, is a growing recognition that advanced meditation may ... 🧵

Delighted to share our new publication in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, entitled: “Integrated phenomenology and brain connectivity demonstrate changes in nonlinear processing in jhana advanced meditation” 🧠🧘‍♀️🔬 🧵

What is the influence of long-term meditation on attention? How might attentional changes relate to the emergence of advanced meditative states and traits? 🧵

Describe an experience of derealization to a Western clinician, and you may receive a psychiatric diagnosis—and strong medication. Describe the same experience to a seasoned meditation teacher, and you may be congratulated. In their eyes, you might be waking up! So, who’s right? 🧵

What happens when meditation turns your world inside out? Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Harvard Gazette about an often-overlooked aspect of meditation: the high prevalence of meditation-related altered states of consciousness—and the fact that, for many, these experiences ...

What is the influence of long-term meditation practice on cognition? How might this relate to advanced meditation—access to meditative states, stages, and endpoints? In our new review titled “Mindfulness, cognition, and long-term meditators: Toward a science of advanced meditation,” we aimed ...

Announcing our new preprint on the neuroscience of cessation events as informed by brain criticality The manuscript is titled: “Brain Criticality and Advanced Meditation ‘Cessation’ Events: An Intensively Sampled Electroencephalography Case Study” In this intensively sampled case study, ...

How can lived experience be mathematically formalized, and what might computational models reveal about the depths of consciousness during advanced meditation? As research on advanced meditation enters a new era, a powerful question emerges: Can we mathematically model meditative experience ...

Meditation research is entering its most daring phase yet. The first wave focused on the benefits of meditation. The second wave brought greater methodological rigor and began exploring the mechanisms behind those benefits. Now, the third wave shifts the spotlight to largely unexplored ...

What does neuroscience really know about focused attention meditation? And what’s next? Focused attention meditation (FA) is a class of practice involving intentionally directing attention to a single object, such as the breath or bodily sensations, while consistently bringing your focus back ...

Does brain stimulation increase levels of mindfulness in PTSD? Our new study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, offers preliminary evidence that repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can enhance dispositional (trait) mindfulness in individuals with post-traumatic stress ...

How does meditation affect our nervous system, especially after years of practice? What we often label as “mindfulness stress relief” barely captures the full physiological complexity of long-term meditation practice. In our new review in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Idil Sezer ...

At our Meditation Research Program at Mass General and Harvard Medical School, my team and I are on a mission to demystify and democratise advanced meditation and related altered states of consciousness—from mystical and ecstatic experiences to perceptual distortions and far beyond. ...

Have you ever used psychedelics and later had interesting, out-of-the-ordinary experiences like these? 🌙 Felt the world was dreamlike or cartoonish? 🌿 Experienced a deep sense of unity with life?...

People sometimes have sudden, powerful experiences they describe as ‘spiritual, mystical, energetic, or magical.’ But did you know that almost half of the general population report having had such unusual experiences? These phenomena, also called altered states or emergent phenomena, are ...

Announcing our new paper investigating brain connectivity in absorption meditation, now published in Cerebral Cortex, titled: “Advanced concentrative absorption meditation reorganizes functional connectivity gradients of the brain: 7T MRI and phenomenology case study of jhana meditation” ...

Announcing our new study of dynamics of natural brain modes and relations to phenomenology during jhana advanced meditation Delighted to share our new paper in Cerebral Cortex entitled: “Investigating the complex cortical dynamics of an advanced ... 🧵

We are entering a third wave of meditation research. It isn’t about stress reduction anymore—it’s about unlocking the highest reaches of human potential. The focus of this new wave: What happens with time and mastery? Can science map the deep meditation practices of monastics, mystics, and ...

Psychedelics and meditation: can meditation training support improved outcomes for psychedelic-assisted mental health treatments? Announcing our new preprint titled: “Practitioner perspectives on meditation-based preparation for psychedelic experiences” 🧠🧘‍♀️🔬🍄 🧵

I'm hiring a program manager/research assistant for our work on advanced meditation, neuroscience focus, at Harvard and Mass General For details: massgeneralbrigham.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/MGBExternal/... Join us to contribute to advanced meditation science Likes/reposts/sharing appreciated! 🧠🧘‍♀️🔬

Announcing our new preprint advancing the neuroscience of jhāna and specifically nonlinear brain connectivity and phenomenology The manuscript is titled: “Integrated phenomenology and brain connectivity demonstrate changes in nonlinear processing in jhana advanced meditation” 🧵

What do we know about long-term/advanced meditation and physiology? We are delighted to share the preprint of our latest review: "Advanced and long-term meditation and the autonomic nervous system: a review and synthesis" Meditation has long been recognized for its impact on well-being through...

Very proud to have contributed to this work with @matthewsacchet.bsky.social and his team exploring the neurophenomenology of advanced Jhana meditation. Notice the strong similarities with psychedelic states, especially in EEG findings. Stay tuned for more www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Long-term meditators (LTMs) and cognitive processing What do we know? Delighted to share our new preprint titled: Mindfulness, cognition, and long-term meditators: Toward a science of advanced meditation. doi.org/10.31219/osf... 🧵

Does the brain reorganize during advanced jhāna meditation? Delighted to share our new paper in NeuroImage titled: “Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana” This multimodal intensive case study (7T MRI, EEG) of...

Announcing a breakthrough study on the neuroscience the stages of insight advanced investigative insight meditation Now published in NeuroImage @neuroimageeic.bsky.social “Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of ...

What brain states do jhana practitioners experience? Delighted to share our new paper in Network Neuroscience @mitpress.bsky.social entitled: “Dynamic brain states underlying advanced concentrative absorption meditation: A 7T fMRI intensive case study” 🧠🧘‍♀️🔬 🧵