Education & Training
Meditation has the potential to facilitate life-altering psychological transformation and to enable incredible experiences, such as ecstatic bliss and deep calm, profound insight into the mind and sublime experiences of compassion. We believe that only a tiny fraction of the potential of contemplative practice has been realized globally and along with advancing foundational science, our mission is to radically democratize and increase access to advanced meditation.
The Meditation Research Program is situated within the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General), the world’s largest research hospital, and is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, the top-ranked global university and medical school. Our objective is to develop comprehensive, scientifically informed, safe and effective advanced meditation education and training programs for health care providers and the broader public.
Our goal is facilitated by our powerful research feedback loop that incorporates empirical data and research findings, along with contemporary technological developments, to inform the development and implementation of our programs.
We see extensive and powerful possibilities for mutually beneficial exchange and enrichment between clinical research, fundamental basic science and advanced meditation teachers and traditions.
“We are enthusiastic to partner with Dr. Sacchet and the Meditation Research Program. Their research and education initiatives bring a marriage of cutting-edge scientific investigations and collaborations with the very promising domain of advanced meditation to Mass General and Harvard Medical School to benefit clinicians, patients, and the public at large.”
Maurizio Fava, MD
World renowned leader in psychiatry and at Mass General/Harvard
Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Associate Dean, Slater Family Professor, Mass General/Harvard
Burgeoning cultural interest in meditation, continuing innovations in neuroscience and in the behavioral and mind sciences, increased cultural exchange around advanced meditation and continuing developments in the science of advanced meditation, make the current era a pivotal time to help an ever-growing and ever-suffering population experience greater well-being, insight, wisdom and transformation.
The last several decades have seen incredible growth in meditation research, and the cultural adoption of such practices as well as initial efforts toward secularization. A Pew survey of over 35,000 Americans reported weekly meditation prevalence at 40% of adults, with an additional 12% meditating periodically.
As the total number of meditators continues to expand globally and as adjacent consciousness transformation modalities like psychedelic enhanced therapy increase in legality and utilization, we expect the number of people engaged in more rigorous and advanced meditation practice to grow massively over the coming decade.
We intend to lead the effort to ensure the public has safe and effective access to deeper forms of advanced mediation.
Our educational and training programs, resources and retreats unite with research as the second major pillar of our program. Join our email list to be among the first to hear about new opportunities for advanced meditation education and training.