Abstract: The Shamatha Project is one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies of meditation ever conducted. The study investigated the effects of 3 months of full-time meditation practice in a residential retreat setting at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes Colorado. Taught by Buddhist scholar, teacher and translator B. Alan Wallace, the meditation training emphasized the cultivation of relaxed, stable, and clear attention through practice of shamatha meditation techniques. Generative practices (loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity) for cultivating beneficial aspirations for self and others were also taught. In keeping with these training emphases, we conducted experiments to measure changes in attentional and socioemotional processes. Given the departure from daily stressors entailed by the retreat environment we also examined biological measures related to stress and cellular aging. As such, the project represents a unique and rich dataset that utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to assess the impacts of the training and retreat environment.
