Nathan Fisher
PhD Candidate, UC Santa Barbara
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Nathan Fisher graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Religious Studies in 2011. He then joined the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Brown University where he managed the “Varieties of Contemplative Experience” study from 2012-2015. He received the Francisco J. Varela Research Award from the Mind and Life Institute in 2012 and began a PhD program in Religious Studies, with a concentration in Cognitive Science, at UCSB in the fall of 2015. He is currently a PhD candidate writing his dissertation on the 'dark nights of the soul' in Abrahamic meditative paths.
Contemplative States of Absorption in Abrahamic Traditions
While the trait of absorption has received a considerable amount of scientific study, states of absorption have been comparatively understudied, and even less scholarly or scientific attention has been paid to those that are cultivated within the contemplative traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This presentation explores canonical descriptions of states of contemplative absorption in these Abrahamic traditions, specifically how they are cultivated using sensory deprivation and sensory withdrawal, can entail functional impairment considered normative in some contexts, have both positive or negative valence, and in certain cases are set apart as the goal of the meditative path. The import of this survey goes beyond just historical significance since these traditions assume, and recent research suggests the plausibility, that such states may be hyper-plastic and pivotal in both adaptive and maladaptive directions, which if empirically confirmed would have significant clinical and pedagogical implications.
New perspectives on meditation-related unusual and adverse experiences.
In Talk 1 Nathan Fisher presents findings from a qualitative study investigating the range of experiences and interpretations reported in contemporary Abrahamic contemplative traditions. In appraising distressing or challenging meditation-related experiences, teachers and practitioners understood them to be either normative, non-normative, or sometimes a combination of the two.
In Talk 2 Jonathan Davies presents new US representative data on the prevalence and predictors of meditation-related unusual experiences (UEs). 99% of participants reported at least 1 UE, which were predicted by unusual beliefs, psychedelic use and experience. 62% of participants experienced AEs, which were predicted by trauma history and psychological distress.
In Talk 3 Imke Hanssen presents data from a mixed-methods study investigating the prevalence and course of adverse effects during MBCT in patients with bipolar disorder. AEs were reported by 29 of 72 patients and seen most frequently up to Week 3. More than half of patients viewed AEs as therapeutic rather than harmful.
In Talk 4 Amit Bernstein presents data from a non-randomized prospective matched-control study of 6-day intensive mindfulness meditation retreats. Experiences more frequently reported during intensive retreats vs daily living matched-controls were primarily pleasant and associated with a salutary impact at 2-weeks post-retreat. By contrast, unpleasant (adverse) side-effects did not differ between intensive retreats and daily living matched-controls and were associated with a salutary impact at 2-weeks post-retreat.
Nathan Fisher
PhD Candidate, UC Santa Barbara
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