Meditation
Methods and Scientific Research

The conference will present results of research into, and the practical application of, different methods of meditation, including:

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist methods, including shamatha and vipashyana

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

An eight-week programme in mindfulness training intended to reduce stress and physical and mental suffering in general. The programme was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the USA.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Developed in the 1990s by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale, this programme has introduced mindfulness into western psychology, and is a new approach that prevents recurring depression.

The Shamatha Project

A multi-method study on the potential effects of long-term intensive meditation practice on basic mental and physical processes related to cognition, emotion, health physiology, and motivation. It is jointly directed by Clifford Saron and the Buddhist teacher and scholar Alan Wallace, in collaboration with more than thirty other scientists and researchers.

Research

Research in the area of mediation and health is burgeoning.

Facts, statistics and scientific research on meditation

Other sources:

MBSR website "Major research findings over the past twenty-eight years have shown consistent, reliable, and reproducible demonstrations of major and clinically relevant reductions in medical and psychological symptoms across a wide range of medical diagnoses, including many different chronic pain conditions”

Mind and Life Institute

Centre for Mind and Brain – UC Davis

MBCT website