The Meditation Myth

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
A new study finds that many of the benefits related to meditating turn out to be false. It was found that it does not make a person calmer or more compassionate, and just as aggressive or prejudiced if this was in their nature to begin with.

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Meditation might not be as helpful as it's touted to be

The 14th Dalai Lama once claimed: "If every eight-year-old in the world is taught meditation, the world will be without violence within one generation." However it appears he's wrong, since a study has found this "trendy Buddhist practice" doesn't change how adults behave towards each other.

Since the 1970s the powers of meditation became very popular in the Western world. The Transcendental Meditation movement focuses on the mental repetition of a Sanskrit short word. It was defined as a non-religious technique of paying attention to the present moment. During the 1970s, researchers published studies that concluded it decreased aggression and violence at a societal level. The appeal to this idea is obvious since it's not only a way to change a person but society as well.

​Dr. Miguel Farias, co-author of the study said:

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All world religions promise the world would change for the better if only people were to follow its rules and practices. The popularization of meditation techniques in a secular format is offering the hope of a better self, and a better world to many. In the early 1970s, Transcendental Meditation conveyed this message openly, announcing that the rising number of individuals practicing this technique would lead to world peace in the short term. Psychologists using mindfulness or other Buddhism-derived meditation techniques are now advancing similar ideas about the prosocial effects of meditation. The popularization of meditation techniques, like mindfulness, despite being taught without religious beliefs, still seem to offer the hope of a better self and a better world to many.

Only 1% of studies look in to the negative results of meditation

More than 20 studies were investigated where meditators were compared to persons who did not meditate. Overall there was a positive impact where people felt more empathetic and compassionate, however further analysis found meditation didn't reduce aggression or prejudice.

There was an unexpected finding with the results citing positive outcomes of compassion had methodological flaws. Only if the meditation teacher was also an author of the report did the compassion levels increase, which indicates biases in the findings.

Bottom line, even scientists will lie to justify their own personal beliefs on a subject.

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The media portrayal of meditation as a cure for a range of mental health problems or to improve well-being is very likely to feedback into participants who will have a high expectation of the benefits of a meditation intervention. 

In some cases meditation cause a person to revisit traumatic events from the past

​There is a less positive side to meditation, which is demonstrated when some people described problems sleeping or re-experiencing traumatic events from their past. There has been very little examination of negative experiences.

In 2020, of 7,000 studies on mindfulness only 1% investigated the down side of this practice. According to Willoughby Britton Ph.D a professor at Brown University:

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People don't want to tell you that they were harmed by your treatment. They'd rather lie, and the therapist doesn't want to hear it. The researcher doesn't want to hear it. Pretty much no one wants to talk about it.

Troubles with meditation come in both a physical in a spiritual way

It was found that 6% who reported negative side-effects meditated more. There has been documentation in Buddhist textual sources that are hundreds of years old, which also described adverse effects.

Some of the downsidesreported from meditation are: anxiety attacks, increased dissociation with the world, lack of motivation and sleep problems. Physical symptoms are: pain, pressure, involuntary movements, headaches, fatigue, weakness, gastrointestinal problems and dizziness.

A 1992 study conducted by Deane H. Shapiro, Jr., professor emeritus of psychiatry and human behavior at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, found that participants were more aware of their negative qualities after returning from a meditation retreat.

A study from 1979, found there was a precipitation of acute psychosis brought on by intensive meditation for persons with a history of schizophrenia.

There also another aspect to meditation as described in this entry:

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I have been a Vipassana meditator since 2001 and had a very strong practice and very good concentration. Last 2-3 years I started feeling a physical violation of space and then hearing voices. What interacts with me is some kind of demon or demons that have started harming me with negative gross vibrations of all kinds, and use very harmful language. They also harm physically and hurt around the spine and different organs of the body, and the nervous system - to get your energy - some kind of energy vampires. They harm continuously and never stop. It is impossible to meditate or do anything else. They seem to know how to connect to human mind and body, and somehow gain control over the nervous system.

I asked a lot of people for help including meditators even teachers, but so far haven't found anyone who knows about this or wants to help. I don’t even know where to get the help.

No drugs or medicines have helped so far, even tried to get some mantra tantra help. I have also read and listened to Ratana and Atanatiya sutta. Written to monasteries ...  I cannot give metta or practice Vipassana at all because I am constantly under attack.
I am not delusional and these are not illusions. 

Red Dakini, Nyingmapa Buddhist, Tibet c.18th-19th century

British scholar Os Guinness states: "Many… who practice yoga or Zen Meditation have found they have opened their minds to blackness and spiritism, seeing themselves as mediums and describing themselves as possessed."

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