Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Occurrence of Psychologically Profound, Meaningful, and Mystical Experiences During a Month-Long Meditation Retreat

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Mindfulness Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

Contemplative practice can occasion powerful psychological experiences. Yet few empirical studies have investigated whether their occurrence is associated with intensive meditation-based interventions. Here, we assess the prevalence of profound, meaningful, and mystical experiences in experienced meditators during a month-long insight meditation retreat compared to a control group of similarly experienced meditators.

Method

Participants completed the 100-item States of Consciousness Questionnaire (SOCQ) and the Mysticism Scale before and after a 3-week period of intensive retreat or daily life. Multivariate distance matrix regression was used to compare multivariate profiles of responses on the SOCQ and to describe which items contributed most to differences between groups at the end of retreat. Changes in self-reported mystical dimensions of experience were also directly compared between retreat and control participants.

Results

The retreat and control groups differed over the training period in their multivariate profile of individual experiences. Retreat group participants reported a greater extent of profound insights, powerful emotional experiences, and non-ordinary sensory or perceptual events compared to experienced meditators not on retreat. Retreatants also reported greater levels of specific dimensions of mystical experience, including internal unity, transcendence, sacredness, noetic quality, and deeply felt positive affect, relative to control participants.

Conclusions

These findings support the idea that intensive periods of meditation training are associated with a range of profound and mystical-type experiences. Increased access to these experiences may be one path by which immersive periods of contemplative training contribute to psychological or spiritual development, though the long-term consequences of such experiences remain to be fully understood.

Preregistration

This study is part of a larger investigation that was registered on clinicaltrials.gov (#NCT03056105).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the OSF repository and can be found at: https://osf.io/p6a29/

References

  • Álvarez-López, M. J., Conklin, Q. A., Cosín-Tomás, M., Shields, G. S., King, B. G., Zanesco, A. P., Kaliman, P., & Saron, C. D. (2022). Changes in the expression of inflammatory and epigenetic-modulatory genes after an intensive meditation retreat. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 11, 100152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2022.100152

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ballentine, G., Friedman, S. F., & Bzdok, D. (2022). Trips and neurotransmitters: Discovering principled patterns across 6850 hallucinogenic experiences. Science Advances, 8(11), eabl6989. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl6989

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, F. S., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2015). Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(11), 1182–1190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881115609019

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, F. S., & Griffiths, R. R. (2018). Classic hallucinogens and mystical experiences: Phenomenology and neural correlates. In A. L. Halberstadt, F. X. Vollenweider, & D. E. Nichols (Eds.), Behavioral neurobiology of psychedelic drugs (pp. 393–430). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2017_474

  • Britton, W. B., Lindahl, J. R., Cooper, D. J., Canby, N. K., & Palitsky, R. (2021). Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(6), 1185–1204. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702621996340

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Z., Hood, R. W., Jr., Yang, L., & Watson, P. J. (2011a). Mystical experience among Tibetan Buddhists: The common core thesis revisited. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50(2), 328–338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01570.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Z., Qi, W., Hood, R. W., Jr., & Watson, P. J. (2011b). Common core thesis and qualitative and quantitative analysis of mysticism in Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 50(4), 654–670. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01606.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. N., Jensen, D., Stange, J. P., Neuburger, M., & Heimberg, R. G. (2017). The immediate and long-term effects of an intensive meditation retreat. Mindfulness, 8(4), 1064–1077. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0682-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conklin, Q. A., King, B. G., Zanesco, A. P., Lin, J., Hamidi, A. B., Pokorny, J. J., Álvarez-López, M. J., Cosín-Tomás, M., Huang, C., Kaliman, P., Epel, E. S., & Saron, C. D. (2018). Insight meditation and telomere biology: The effects of intensive retreat and the moderating role of personality. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 70, 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2018.03.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, C. J., & Davidson, R. J. (2019). Mindfulness and the contemplative life: Pathways to connection, insight, and purpose. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 60–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.11.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, C. J., Lutz, A., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Reconstructing and deconstructing the self: Cognitive mechanisms in meditation practice. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(9), 515–523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, J., & Kornfield, J. (2001). Seeking the heart of wisdom: The path of insight meditation. Shambhala Publications.

  • Goldstein, J. (1987). The experience of insight: A simple and direct guide to Buddhist meditation. Shambhala Publications.

  • Griffiths, R. R., Richards, W. A., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2006). Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology, 187(3), 268–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5

  • Griffiths, R., Richards, W., Johnson, M., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2008). Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 621–632. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881108094300

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2011). Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: Immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Psychopharmacology, 218(4), 649–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2358-5

  • Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., Jesse, R., MacLean, K. A., Barrett, F. S., Cosimano, M. P., & Klinedinst, M. A. (2018). Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 32(1), 49–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881117731279

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, A. W., & Garland, E. L. (2019). Spatial frame of reference as a phenomenological feature of self-transcendence: Measurement and manipulation through mindfulness meditation. Psychology of Consciousness, 6(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, A. W., & Garland, E. L. (2022). Self-transcendence predicts better pre- and postoperative outcomes in two randomized clinical trials of brief mindfulness-based interventions. Mindfulness, 13(6), 1532–1543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01896-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, R. W., Jr. (1975). The construction and preliminary validation of a measure of reported mystical experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14(1), 29–41. https://doi.org/10.2307/1384454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, R. W., Jr., Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Ghramaleki, A. F., Bing, M. N., Davison, H. K., Morris, R. J., & Williamson, W. P. (2001). Dimensions of the Mysticism Scale: Confirming the three-factor structure in the United States and Iran. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40(4), 691–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/0021-8294.00085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, T. L., Epel, E. S., Lin, J., Blackburn, E. H., Wolkowitz, O. M., Bridwell, D. A., Zanesco, A. P., Aichele, S. R., Sahdra, B. K., MacLean, K. A., King, B. G., Shaver, P. R., Rosenberg, E. L., Ferrer, E., Wallace, B. A., & Saron, C. D. (2011). Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36(5), 664–681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.09.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1902). The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature. Longmans, Green & Co.

  • Khoury, B., Knäuper, B., Schlosser, M., Carrière, K., & Chiesa, A. (2017). Effectiveness of traditional meditation retreats: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 92, 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.11.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, B. G., Conklin, Q. A., Zanesco, A. P., & Saron, C. D. (2019). Residential meditation retreats: Their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 238–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.021

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl, J. R., Kaplan, C. T., Winget, E. M., & Britton, W. B. (2014). A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: Traditional Buddhist and neurobiological perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 973. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00973

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K., & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLoS ONE, 12(5), e0176239. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176239

  • Lutz, A., Jha, A. P., Dunne, J. D., & Saron, C. D. (2015). Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist, 70(7), 632–658. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039585

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacLean, K. A., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2011). Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(11), 1453–1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881111420188

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McArtor, D. B., Lubke, G. H., & Bergeman, C. S. (2017). Extending multivariate distance matrix regression with an effect size measure and the asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic. Psychometrika, 82(4), 1052–1077. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-016-9527-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McArtor, D. B. (2018). MDMR: Multivariate distance matrix regression. R package version 0.5.1. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MDMR

  • McDonald, R. P. (1999). Test theory: A unified treatment. Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millière, R., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Roseman, L., Trautwein, F.-M., & Berkovich-Ohana, A. (2018). Psychedelics, meditation, and self-consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1475. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01475

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nave, O., Trautwein, F.-M., Ataria, Y., Dor-Ziderman, Y., Schweitzer, Y., Fulder, S., & Berkovich-Ohana, A. (2021). Self-boundary dissolution in meditation: A phenomenological investigation. Brain Sciences, 11(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060819

  • Norman, A., & Pokorny, J. J. (2017). Meditation retreats: Spiritual tourism well-being interventions. Tourism Management Perspectives, 24, 201–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2017.07.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pahnke, W. N. (1969). Psychedelic drugs and mystical experience. International Psychiatry Clinics, 5(4), 149–162.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Petitmengin, C., van Beek, M., Bitbol, M., Nissou, J.-M., & Roepstorff, A. (2019). Studying the experience of meditation through micro-phenomenology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.10.009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pokorny, J. J., Norman, A., Zanesco, A. P., Bauer-Wu, S., Sahdra, B. K., & Saron, C. D. (2018). Network analysis for the visualization and analysis of qualitative data. Psychological Methods, 23(1), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, W. A. (1975). Counseling, peak experiences and the human encounter with death: An empirical study of the efficacy of DPT assisted counseling in enhancing the quality of life of persons with terminal cancer and their closest family members [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Catholic University of America.

  • Russ, S. L., & Elliott, M. S. (2017). Antecedents of mystical experience and dread in intensive meditation. Psychology of Consciousness, 4(1), 38–53. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahdra, B. K., MacLean, K. A., Ferrer, E., Shaver, P. R., Rosenberg, E. L., Jacobs, T. L., Zanesco, A. P., King, B. G., Aichele, S. R., Bridwell, D. A., Mangun, G. R., Lavy, S., Wallace, B. A., & Saron, C. D. (2011). Enhanced response inhibition during intensive meditation training predicts improvements in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning. Emotion, 11(2), 299–312. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022764

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salzberg, S. (1995). Lovingkindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Shambhala Publications.

  • Schlosser, M., Sparby, T., Vörös, S., Jones, R., & Marchant, N. L. (2019). Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations. PLoS ONE, 14(5), e0216643. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216643

  • Shapiro, D. H., Jr. (1992). Adverse effects of meditation: A preliminary investigation of long-term meditators. International Journal of Psychosomatics, 39, 62–67.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stace, W. T. (1960). Mysticism and philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Timmermann, C., Bauer, P. R., Gosseries, O., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Vollenweider, F., Laureys, S., Singer, T., Mind and Life Europe (MLE) ENCECON Research Group, Antonova, E., & Lutz, A. (2022). A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: Hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.11.006

  • Vago, D. R., & Silbersweig, D. A. (2012). Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): A framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 296. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00296

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vieten, C., Wahbeh, H., Cahn, B. R., MacLean, K., Estrada, M., Mills, P., Murphy, M., Shapiro, S., Radin, D., Josipovic, Z., Presti, D. E., Sapiro, M., Chozen Bays, J., Russell, P., Vago, D., Travis, F., Walsh, R., & Delorme, A. (2018). Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science. PLoS ONE, 13(11), e0205740. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205740

  • Wallace, B. A. (2004). The four immeasurables: Cultivating a boundless heart. Snow Lion Publications.

  • Yaden, D. B., Haidt, J., Hood, R. W., Vago, D. R., & Newberg, A. B. (2017). The varieties of self-transcendent experience. Review of General Psychology, 21(2), 143–160. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanesco, A. P., Skwara, A. C., King, B. G., Powers, C., Wineberg, K., & Saron, C. D. (2021). Meditation training modulates brain electric microstates and felt states of awareness. Human Brain Mapping, 42(10), 3228–3252. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25430

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zapala, M. A., & Schork, N. J. (2012). Statistical properties of multivariate distance matrix regression for high-dimensional data analysis. Frontiers in Genetics, 3, 190. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2012.00190

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank our research participants and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center staff and teachers: Christine Owens, Jim Rodgers, Sean Fargo, Jack Kornfield, James Baraz, Guy Armstrong, Heather Martin, Tempel Smith, Sally Clough Armstrong, Max Erdstein, John Travis, Winnie Nazarko, Lila Kate Wheeler, Pascal Auclair, and Trudy Goodman. We also thank the Anubhuti Retreat Center and Program Manager Elizabeth Padilla, Katherine MacLean for her early contributions to study planning, and Anahita Vieira and Jennifer Pokorny for their help with data collection and study implementation.

Funding

This work was supported by Fetzer Institute grant #2191 and the John Templeton Foundation grant #39970; gifts from the Nancy Driscoll, Hershey Family, Baumann, Tan Teo Charitable, Owsley Brown III Philanthropic, and Yoga Science Foundations; and an anonymous individual donor all to Clifford D. Saron.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5665 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Anthony P. Zanesco

  2. Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, USA

    Brandon G. King, Quinn A. Conklin & Clifford D. Saron

  3. The MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, USA

    Clifford D. Saron

Authors
  1. Anthony P. Zanesco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brandon G. King
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Quinn A. Conklin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Clifford D. Saron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

AZ: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. BK: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, writing—review and editing. QC: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, project administration, writing—review and editing. CS: conceptualization, data curation, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, project administration, supervision, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony P. Zanesco.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of California, Davis.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (XLSX 37 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zanesco, A.P., King, B.G., Conklin, Q.A. et al. The Occurrence of Psychologically Profound, Meaningful, and Mystical Experiences During a Month-Long Meditation Retreat. Mindfulness 14, 606–621 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02076-w

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02076-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation