Meditation research has focused mostly on short-term effects in beginners and mindfulness-based practices, leaving advanced and long-term meditation poorly understood. This systematic review of 52 studies found that long-term and advanced meditators show greater well-being, deeper relational attunement, and more refined emotional capacities than those with basic practice. These benefits appear tied to skill-based proficiency rather than simply how long someone has meditated. However, the field's reliance on time-based measures and tools unsuited for experienced practitioners may hide these deeper effects. Realizing meditation's full potential requires shifting research toward meditative skills, stages, and attainments.
Advanced meditators report profound psychological changes across emotional, cognitive, interpersonal, and existential domains, including vast improvements in baseline well-being, consistently strong positive attitudes, increased positive affect, enhanced mental clarity and attentional stability, positive shifts in life orientation, and transformative changes in mental health conditions. Many described existential insights arising through resolving psychological difficulties, leading to reduced suffering and deeper meaning. Additional themes included synergistic effects between meditation, psychotherapy, and psychedelics. This provides initial empirical evidence that advanced meditation supports profound psychological transformation and reduced suffering.