We believe that to successfully address and solve the monumental issues facing humanity
WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE MIND.
The Center for Contemplative Research offers unprecedented long-term access to the
CONTEMPLATIVE TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY TO STUDY CONSCIOUSNESS.
Cultivating an ever deepening understanding of the mind and consciousness
SHOWS US HOW TO HEAL OURSELVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US.
Welcome to the Center for Contemplative Research.
A global network of groundbreaking research observatories that provide the ideal environments for dedicated contemplatives to explore the nature and potentials of consciousness firsthand, while fully engaging with scientists to develop rigorous measures for novel research into the nature of the mind.
Working collaboratively across the interface of religion, science, and philosophy, we seek to catalyze a revolution in the mind sciences and nurture a renaissance within the world’s great contemplative traditions, so that together we may discover the true causes of sustainable well-being, grounded in nonviolence and compassion.
With the support of forward-thinking scientists, colleagues, friends, and thousands of students, Dr. Alan Wallace has founded the Center for Contemplative Research with a far-reaching goal: Fathom the nature of consciousness, its multiple dimensions, its origins, and what happens at death.
Modeled after the The Shamatha Project, one of the most comprehensive scientific studies of meditation to date, the Center for Contemplative Research offers unprecedented opportunities for longitudinal studies in collaboration with contemplatives committed to years of continuous, full-time training.
Together, we question the dominant paradigms of the modern world and seek to catalyze a fundamental shift in our vision of “the good life,” in our very idea of human flourishing: recognizing that the satisfaction, the fulfillment, the happiness we seek is to be cultivated from within.

“I am delighted that the Center for Contemplative Research is offering opportunities for rigorous mind-training and collaborative research by practiced contemplatives and scientists. Together they seek to explore the inner sources of mental conflict and distress, the roots of genuine well-being, and the origins, nature, and potentials of the mind.”
— His Holiness The Dalai Lama
B. Alan Wallace, PhD
Founder and President of
the Center for Contemplative Research
Fathom the Mind.
Dedicated contemplatives receive ongoing instruction in ancient methods for cultivating exceptional mental balance, and practice in periods of long-term, solitary retreat, ranging from several months to years on end.
Throughout the course of their retreats, they meet periodically with their teachers, one another, and with scientists from different disciplines, reporting on their first-person discoveries and providing scientists with the opportunity to collect third-person data.

Highly-trained Contemplatives
- Engage in full-time retreat practice, training the heart and mind in tandem.
- Gain insights into the nature of their own minds—the defining characteristics of consciousness itself.
- Emerge from retreat to apply these insights to practical issues in such fields as mental health, education, the arts, global leadership, ethics, racial justice, and environmental activism.
- Effect powerful transformation as individuals and in the world.

Interdisciplinary Scientists
- Conduct rigorous, novel research and publish their results.
- Catalyze a paradigm shift in scientific approaches to what is widely regarded as a mystery: consciousness itself.
- Expand the scope of scientific research, transcending the ideological and methodological constraints of materialist reductionism.
- Collaborate with contemplatives to make discoveries that fundamentally transform the way we view and inhabit our world.

Members of Our Global Community
- Nurture the growth of individual contemplatives in long-term retreat.
- Passionately work to develop revolutionary new directions in education, the arts, social work, business, medicine, government, and environmental renewal.
- Study and practice the essential teachings of the great contemplative traditions.
- Support the building and development of new CCR hermitages around the world.
- Volunteer in many areas of CCR’s nonprofit organization.
Heal the World.
We see a future guided by collaborative, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary inquiry.
Where scientists and contemplatives work together in mutual respect to fathom the nature and potentials of the mind.
And seek to discover and implement the sustainable causes of personal and social well-being, thus meeting the unprecedented challenges that face humanity and our environment today.
The Four Facets of the Center for Contemplative Research

Contemplative
Science & Technology
Contemplative Science is a discipline of first-person, subjective inquiry into the nature of the mind and its role in the natural world, which utilizes methods for developing refined attention, mindfulness, and introspection to directly observe states of consciousness and mental functions in their relationship with the body and the physical world at large.
CCR Founder and President, B. Alan Wallace, discusses Contemplative Science and Contemplative Technology.
Research
Observatories
Contemplative Research Observatories are places where professionally trained contemplatives can make replicable discoveries in collaboration with scientists from diverse disciplines. Meditators hone the tools of contemplative technology through tens of thousands of hours of day-and-night practice in a conducive environment.
CCR Retreatant, Jodie Lea,
discusses the inner work of Research Observatories.
Contemplative
Applications
Contemplative Applications include teaching ways to cultivate exceptional mental health, resilience, creativity, and contentment. Recognizing the difference between hedonic pleasure and genuine well-being, we share the knowledge that genuine well-being is grounded in ethical conduct, following the ancient ideals of nonviolence and compassion.
CCR Resident Teacher, Doug Veenhof, discusses Contemplative
Applications.
Contemplative
Renaissance
Contemplative Renaissance means fostering a renewal of contemplative inquiry within the world’s great religious traditions, so that we may realize the ultimate meaning of our existence. Nurturing inter-contemplative dialogue grounded in experience and realization, we transcend boundaries and gain new insight: rediscovering the depths of our own diverse traditions.
CCR Co-founder and Resident Teacher, Eva Natanya, discusses Contemplative Renaissance.