The Next Wave of Meditation Research and Training
We believe that scientific research has only scratched the surface in exploring the potential of meditation. Most initial studies focused on using mindfulness for stress reduction and various clinical applications. The Meditation Research Program, led by Dr. Matthew D. Sacchet at Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) and Harvard Medical School, aims to further the field by pioneering new research and training on advanced meditation.
Join us on this transformative journey into the evolving science and practice of advanced meditation.
Advanced Meditation: What Is It and Why It Matters
Advanced meditation is deeper engagement with meditative practices that with time and mastery, produce refined states of mind and awareness. These include bliss states, insights into the mind, altruistic/compassionate mindsets and ultimately, enduring transformation. Such transformation may result in profoundly altering one’s relations to psychological suffering, desire and motivations and sense of self.
Advanced meditation enables fundamental potential for human flourishing. It promises to contribute to innovation and impact in many fields and domains including mental health, personal thriving and life meaning, wisdom development and consciousness exploration. Advanced meditation also impacts research in relation to psychedelics and more generally, altered states, artificial intelligence, sustained excellence and peak performance, among others.
The Opportunity and Our Solution
We currently have a nascent understanding of advanced meditation, with current meditation research focused on clinical applications of mindfulness. There has been limited scientific research on advanced meditation, it is still in the early stages of introduction to modern culture and life.
The Meditation Research Program’s vision is to lead with the best research and education on advanced meditation. This goal is achieved through our comprehensive multidisciplinary advanced meditation research and our development and implementation of advanced meditation training programs and resources.
SCIENCE
Multidisciplinary Advanced Meditation Research Driving Innovation from Theory to Practice
PRACTICE
The Development and Implementation of Advanced Meditation Education and Training
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“Advanced meditation holds significant and untapped opportunities to diminish suffering and help people flourish. […] Our work in the new wave of advanced meditation research is not just about coping with the stress of modern living. It could improve our understanding of and approach to the mind, mental health and well-being, allowing each of us to lead a more fulfilled, compassionate and ‘enlightened’ life.”
Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D. in Scientific American, June 2024
Our Team, Mass General, and Harvard
Our team is comprised of individuals at different career stages from undergraduates to senior professors. We are supported by a pantheon of visionaries and leaders at Harvard Medical School, Mass General and beyond that are committed to our Program’s impact and success.
Mass General is the largest hospital-based research program in the world and the oldest and largest affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
Countless medical and first-time scientific breakthroughs have been realized here including the invention of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), both technologies that are core tools in our neuroscience research.
“The Meditation Research Program at MGH is a visionary organization that has the potential of becoming the premier research and education center in the world for the study of advanced meditation practice.”
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
World renowned leader in meditation research and education
Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, William James Professor, University of Wisconsin Madison
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