Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2021
Terje Sparby, Matthew D Sacchet
68 citations
Classifying meditation techniques is crucial for research but faces fundamental challenges. This paper describes problems in defining meditation and suggests an integrated model. Drawing on classical, contemporary, and holistic systems, it proposes that all meditation techniques involve a specific set of activities: focusing, releasing, imagining, and moving in relation to an object of meditation or fields of experience. These activities can be combined and unified into observing, producing, and being aware, and all are unified in awareness of awareness. Defining specific techniques involves specifying which activities and objects are involved. This approach can account for the inner workings of existing classification systems, laying a foundation for an overarching system to guide future research and practice.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
January 14, 2024
Winson Fu Zun Yang, Avijit Chowdhury, Marta Bianciardi et al.
41 citations
Jhanas are profound meditative states that can deconstruct ordinary consciousness, according to a case study of an adept meditator. Using 4 hours of 7T fMRI data collected across 27 sessions, the study identified distinctive brain activity patterns in cortical, subcortical, brainstem, and cerebellar regions during jhana meditation. Correlations between brain activity and phenomenological qualities of attention, jhanic qualities, and narrative processing showed that jhanas differ from non-meditative states. The findings suggest jhana practice offers unique insights into consciousness and potential benefits for mental health and well-being.
Heliyon
May 14, 2024
Winson F.z. Yang, Terje Sparby, Malcolm Wright et al.
30 citations
Advanced concentrative absorption meditation, such as the jhanas, involves volitional mental absorption that can be scientifically studied. This paper argues that these states represent a distinct category of meditative experience characterized by deep, effortless focus and profound well-being. It proposes a scientific framework for understanding these measurable states of consciousness, drawing on existing research to outline how absorption, concentration, and positive outcomes like well-being can be systematically investigated. The authors suggest that developing a rigorous scientific approach to jhana and similar practices could bridge contemplative traditions and consciousness research, offering new insights into the nature of deep meditative states and their potential benefits.
Neuroimage
December 14, 2024
Avijit Chowdhury, Marta Bianciardi, Eric Chapdelaine et al.
14 citations
Advanced meditation states known as Jhanas, achieved through concentration absorption, are associated with distinct patterns of brain activity and subjective experience. In an intensive case study of an experienced meditator, each Jhana state showed unique neural signatures, including changes in gamma power, alpha desynchronization, and connectivity between frontal and parietal regions. These findings suggest that Jhana states are not merely variations of ordinary mindfulness but involve specific, reproducible neurophenomenological profiles. The work demonstrates that deep meditative absorption can be systematically studied using multimodal brain imaging and first-person reports, providing a foundation for understanding altered states of consciousness.
Religions
September 11, 2022
Terje Sparby
13 citations
Meditation research often highlights positive outcomes, but negative effects—termed challenging, unpleasant, adverse, or harmful—are more common than expected. Before unifying these concepts, the notion of meditation hindrances must be clarified. Traditional Buddhist texts and modern manuals define hindrances as reactions that impair spiritual progress and access to absorption states. While strategies exist to renounce or counteract hindrances, one influential idea treats a hindrance as the path to liberation, blurring or collapsing the distinction between positive and negative. This questions whether a unified conception of negative effect is possible. The article reviews the concept of meditation hindrances and discusses the problems and potential benefits of relativizing the negative-positive distinction, which could either harm practitioners or become their greatest asset.
NeuroImage
January 1, 2025
Winson F Z Yang, Avijit Chowdhury, Terje Sparby et al.
12 citations
The stages of insight (SoI) are a series of psychological realizations experienced during advanced investigative insight meditation (AIIM). In a case study of one adept meditator who underwent 4 hours of 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) across 26 runs with concurrent phenomenological reports, distinct whole-brain activity patterns were identified for specific SoI, differing from non-meditative control states. SoI consistently deactivated brain regions involved in self-related processing, such as the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal poles, while activating areas linked to awareness and perception, including parietal and visual cortices, caudate, brainstem nuclei, and cerebellum. Patterns of brain activity related to affective processing and SoI phenomenology were also observed. This provides the first neurophenomenological evidence that SoI shifts and deconstructs self-related perception and conceptualization, increasing general awareness and perceptual sensitivity.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
February 5, 2025
Ruby M Potash, Winson F Z Yang, Brian Winston et al.
11 citations
Advanced concentrative absorption meditation produces distinct, distributed brain-wide activity patterns that differ from ordinary consciousness, as shown by ultrahigh-field 7T fMRI in a single expert meditator. Using geometric eigenmode decomposition, the study found elevated global brain state power and energy during meditation compared to control tasks, with mid-frequency brain state power and energy following a non-random, cubic trajectory across the meditation sequence. These brain state differences correlated with subjective reports of attention, meditation quality, and sensations. The findings reveal similarities and differences between advanced meditation and psychedelic-induced states, offering insights into refined conscious states and their implications for well-being.
PLoS ONE
September 13, 2018
Terje Sparby, Ulrich Ott
11 citations
Interviews with 30 Anthroposophic meditators revealed 14 themes of motivation, organized into three overarching forms: external, internal, and service. The findings suggest a developmental trajectory from external and internal motivations toward service-oriented motivations. This framework expands on a prior scheme by Shapiro, adding new motivation types and distinguishing between self-related (heteronomous and autonomous) and other-related motivations.
Scandinavian journal of psychology
February 1, 2023
Terje Sparby, Mira Leass, Ulrich W Weger et al.
8 citations
Training people to use micro-phenomenological self-inquiry can improve their ability to describe the fine details of headache experiences, including distinguishing the sensation of pain from the experience of suffering. Thirteen untrained subjects met twice in one week to investigate their headache experiences using this method. Their reports became richer, as shown by more categories described and more words needed for accurate description. The method allows deep focus on single moments of experience but may miss broader contextual meanings. The authors suggest the approach could be useful in clinical settings with initially untrained subjects for describing specific experiences and answering complex phenomenological questions.
Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)
January 1, 2025
Isaac N Treves, Winson F Z Yang, Terje Sparby et al.
6 citations
Advanced meditation involves states and stages that develop with experience. A case study using 7-T fMRI and dynamic functional connectivity analysis of a meditator practicing jhāna advanced absorptive concentration meditation (ACAM-J) identified three distinct brain states: a default-mode network (DMN)-anticorrelated state, a hyperconnected state, and a sparsely connected state. The DMN-anticorrelated state was more prevalent during ACAM-J than control conditions and increased with deeper meditation. The hyperconnected state, marked by elevated thalamocortical and somatomotor connectivity, was also more common during ACAM-J but decreased over the session, corresponding to reports of wider attention and reduced physical sensations. This suggests that functional neuroimaging can track the dynamics of altered states of consciousness in advanced meditators.
Scandinavian journal of psychology
December 1, 2021
Terje Sparby, Anna-Lena Lumma, Friedrich Edelhäuser et al.
5 citations
Micro-phenomenology is a technique for improving first-person reports of experience, typically conducted with a second-person interviewer. A self-inquiry format, using a guiding document without an interviewer, offers time and cost advantages but its reliability for untrained subjects was unknown. This study attempted to replicate a previous experiment that tested whether micro-phenomenology increases report reliability. The replication failed. Possible explanations include a methodological weakness in the original study, ineffectiveness of the self-inquiry format used here, or that micro-phenomenological self-inquiry requires training. The authors conclude that the self-inquiry format is insufficient for conducting micro-phenomenological studies and that training is necessary.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
September 6, 2025
Winson F.z. Yang, Akila Kadambi, Kilian Abellaneda-Pérez et al.
4 citations
preprint
An advanced meditative state called extended cessation (EC), where consciousness is voluntarily suspended and later resumes with heightened clarity and equanimity, provides a natural model for studying consciousness. Using ultra-high-resolution 7T fMRI with dense sampling of three individuals, the research mapped whole-brain activity, connectivity, gradients, and eigenmodes during EC, linking them to brain chemistry and cognitive maps. EC increased activity in sensory regions, reduced activity in higher-order association areas, subcortex, and brainstem, expanded the principal cortical gradient, and decreased low-order global eigenmodes.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
September 19, 2025
Kenneth Shinozuka, Winson F.z. Yang, Ruby M. Potash et al.
3 citations
preprint
Advanced meditators can enter a state called extended cessation (EC) in which they intentionally suppress consciousness and later emerge with clarity and equanimity. In the first electrophysiological study of EC, five meditators were recorded with EEG and MEG. EC markedly reduced alpha power and tended to increase neural complexity, unlike sleep, anesthesia, or disorders of consciousness. The findings indicate that the neural correlates of EC are distinct from other unconscious states and that complexity alone is not sufficient for consciousness, offering new insights into advanced meditation and human flourishing.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 12, 2024
Terje Sparby, Dirk Cysarz, David Hornemann V. Laer et al.
1 citation
Attentional control has two basic aspects: directing attention to different objects is experienced as easy and a sign of freedom, while sustaining attention on a chosen object is difficult because mind-wandering is inevitable. This raises the question of whether we are fundamentally unfree. An introspective study with six people performing various attention tasks over a month examined whether it is possible to experience the source of attention—the subject enacting freedom through attention. Common and contrasting experiences are reported, forming a basis for discussing the method of introspection and how to handle conflicting reports.
PsyArXiv
May 28, 2026
Oliver Andersson Hugemark, Terje Sparby, Andrea Grabovac et al.
preprint
Advanced meditation can sometimes lead to challenging experiences involving destabilization, rigidification, and social negotiation. Through a reflexive thematic analysis of practitioners' accounts, the authors describe how embodied sense-making and integration processes unfold during these difficulties. The analysis identifies how meditators navigate destabilizing experiences, how rigid patterns of response may emerge, and how social contexts shape the meaning and resolution of these challenges. The findings suggest that advanced meditation difficulties are not merely individual psychological events but are deeply embedded in bodily, relational, and social processes.
PsyArXiv
May 27, 2026
Asiya Gul, Sebastian Ehmann, Catherine Prueitt et al.
preprint
This theoretical paper proposes extending the scientific study of advanced meditation to Sufism within Islam, comparing self-attenuation practices across Theravāda Buddhism, Tibetan Dzogchen, and Sufi traditions. The authors argue that contemplative traditions beyond Buddhism, particularly Sufism, offer valuable but underexplored models for understanding advanced meditative states and their effects on self-related processing. By examining similarities and differences in how these traditions conceptualize and cultivate self-transcendence, the paper suggests that a broader cross-traditional framework can enrich scientific understanding of meditation's transformative potential. The analysis highlights common themes of self-diminishment and non-dual awareness while respecting each tradition's unique doctrinal and practical contexts.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
February 10, 2026
David Zarka, Winson F.z. Yang, Abel Rassat et al.
preprint
Extended cessation (EC) is a rare meditative state in which conscious experience temporarily stops, followed by heightened perception and emotional balance. In five highly trained meditators, electroencephalographic microstate analysis revealed that EC altered brain activity patterns linked to self-referential processing. Specifically, microstate B occurred less often and for shorter durations, while microstate C occurred more often and for longer durations. Transition probabilities also shifted, with more transitions from A and B to C and fewer from A to B. These changes appeared across delta, theta, and beta frequency bands, with additional band-specific effects for microstates A and D. The findings suggest EC involves a reweighting of self-referential and sensory processes.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
November 13, 2025
Winson F Z Yang, Ruby Potash, Grace Mackin et al.
preprint
Advanced concentration absorption meditation (ACAM-J) produces a distinct, structured mode of awareness characterized by stable positive states and reduced narrative thought. In the first ultra-high-field (7T) fMRI study of jhana meditation, neural trajectories across eight successive states showed reorganization from anterior to posterior brain regions, flattening of cortical hierarchies, and nonlinear changes in global brain harmonics. These brain changes were tightly linked to equanimity, attentional stability, and behavior. Brain activity patterns associated with ACAM-J related more to attentional monitoring than to suffering-related processes. The findings suggest advanced meditation offers a framework for understanding psychological transformation and supporting human well-being.
bioRxiv
September 25, 2025
Jakub Vohryzek, Edmundo Lopez-Sola, Winson F.z. Yang et al.
preprint
Advanced concentrative absorption meditation (jhāna) produces a shift in brain dynamics toward near-criticality, a state of heightened flexibility and integration. Using 7T fMRI and whole-brain modeling, the study found that later absorption states, considered minimal phenomenal experiences, show increased large-scale functional integration and a shift of the default mode network from a noise-driven regime to near-critical dynamics. This near-critical regime is interpreted as a form of openness, where constrained brain activity gives way to greater flexibility, correlating with broader attention and reduced narrative thought. The trajectory of these states is non-linear, with major reconfigurations at key meditative milestones.
Mindfulness
April 1, 2024
Brentyn J. Ramm, Anna‐lena Lumma, Terje Sparby et al.
Twelve of twenty adults who had never practiced the Headless Way exercises reported a void-like experience after being guided through them, and five reported an experience of awareness itself. These experiences were categorized as subsets of perceptual absences and the sense of not being person-like. The exercises can effectively induce experiences of emptiness and awareness in participants without prior meditation experience. The findings suggest that such experiences can be elicited outside a traditional meditation context, and that the sense of not being person-like and perceptual absences may be precursors to recognizing awareness itself and the void-like nature of the mind.