Meditation Research: Three Observations on the State-of-the-Art
Jonathan Cole Smith
July 12, 2017 DOI: 10.4324/9780203785843-80 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that meditation research is a young, heterogeneous field in which early work was often conducted by committed converts, and that meditation may be as complex as sleep, involving multiple stages within and across sessions. Concludes that it is too early to draw firm conclusions from this research. |
Abstract
The most conspicuous trend is that messianic research appears to be on the decline. In the early 1970&s;s meditation research tended to be conducted by new meditation converts who at times seemed more committed to furthering their cause than to objective research. The design involves comparing transcendental meditation (TM) to no treatment and to a control treatment carefully constructed to match the form, complexity, and expectation-fostering aspects of TM. In many respects meditation is proving to be a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. Meditation may well be as complex as sleep, and involve various stages within and across sessions. The topics of meditation research are indeed filled with exciting possibilities, as can be seen from the selections. However, it is too early to draw firm conclusions from this research.