Frontiers of the Mind’s Potentials

Frontiers of the Mind’s Potentials

Frontiers of the Mind’s Potentials

Meditation research is entering its most daring phase yet.

The first wave focused on the benefits of meditation. The second wave brought greater methodological rigor and began exploring the mechanisms behind those benefits. Now, the third wave shifts the spotlight to largely unexplored frontiers of the mind’s potential.

We’re talking about:

• The intense bliss, peace, and deep well-being reported in advanced concentration meditation (deep absorption, sometimes called jhāna states).
• The clarity of perception, deepening wisdom about the nature of reality, and diminishing attachment to a fixed sense of self (sometimes through insight meditation).

The third wave is also the first to focus on a nuanced, systematic look at the difficulties and challenges often encountered on the meditation path. While these experiences might be viewed as “negative” from a Western psychological standpoint, the post argues that under the right conditions, they may actually be essential signs of meditative and psychological growth.

Frontiers: Adverse Experiences vis a vis Signs of Growth

To borrow a metaphor: muscle strain and pain during and after training aren’t simply signs of physical weakness, but rather tell you that growth is happening. Similarly, certain meditation-related challenges might be developmentally appropriate responses to deep inner work.

In a theoretical paper, the author and colleague Terje Sparby suggest that dips in energy, focus, functioning, or well-being may not necessarily be regressions or pathologies, but signs of deeper processes of inner change and psychological reorganization. Though not always linear or pleasant, these experiences may sometimes underlie what makes meditation beneficial over time.

Meditation Research Program

At the Meditation Research Program, the authors view humans as capable of delaying gratification and enduring challenges in service of deeper meaning and flourishing. Capturing the nuances of positive, negative, and growth-related experiences in advanced meditation is presented as vital to this third wave of research.

May this work benefit many.

Resources

The manuscript mentioned is available via the Meditation Research Program site and its publications page:

• https://meditation.mgh.harvard.edu/
• https://meditation.mgh.harvard.edu/publications/

For an article published 11 June 2025 by Sparby, T., Sacchet, M.: “The Third Wave of Meditation and Mindfulness Research and Implications for Challenging Experiences: Negative Effects, Transformative Psychological Growth, and Forms of Happiness”

Springer link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-025-02607-7

A related IMHU post: https://imhu.org/spiritual-emergence/the-next-wave-of-meditation-research-and-training/

The full article was written by Matthew Sacchet, PhD and published on his LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-sacchet/