Life in HD: An investigation of the jhanas’ impact on Jhourney retreat attendees

The jhanas are a series of eight altered meditative states that have attracted growing attention from media, researchers, and the public. They are part of a new wave of “advanced meditation,” as some call it, which promises access to a range of unusual subjective experiences – from the euphoric, to psychedelic, to voluntary loss of consciousness – all of which are unlocked solely through sustained concentration. 

Many jhana practitioners report benefits – feeling more calm and joyful; detachment from cravings; improved outlook and relationships – that mirror what’s been reported about psychedelics, MDMA, and ketamine therapy. Unlike drug therapies, the jhanas are also free and legal to practice.

“Since the retreat I am able to be more present throughout the day - I appreciate the world around me, savor pleasant sensations, and feel grateful.”

But advanced meditation is new to researchers, and is still understudied. To our knowledge, no one has yet studied the impact of these experiences on meditators in a structured way, partly because it is challenging to recruit enough subjects who are able to reliably enter these states.

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