During the spring and fall of 2007, seventy people participated in two three-month intensive meditation retreats, during which the effects of their 8-10 hours per day of practice were meticulously studied by a team of psychologists and neuroscientists. With a wide arrary of psychological and physiological measurements taken toward the beginning, middle, and end of this training, the Shamatha Project was the first longitudinal scientific study of its kind. B. Alan Wallace originally conceived of this project and has been working with this team of cognitive scientists for four years, and he served as the resident instructor for these retreats.

In this lecture, Dr. Wallace provides a preliminary report of the findings of this historic study.