The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? [Paperback]

Millions of people meditate daily but can meditative practices really make us ‘better’ people?
 
In The Buddha Pill, pioneering psychologists Dr Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm put meditation and mindfulness under the microscope. Separating fact from fiction, they reveal what scientific research – including their groundbreaking study on yoga and meditation with prisoners – tells us about the benefits and limitations of these techniques for improving our lives. As well as illuminating the potential, the authors argue that these practices may have unexpected consequences, and that peace and happiness may not always be the end result.
 
Offering a compelling examination of research on transcendental meditation to recent brain-imaging studies on the effects of mindfulness and yoga, and with fascinating contributions from spiritual teachers and therapists, Farias and Wikholm weave together a unique story about the science and the delusions of personal change. Mindfulness is modish, but can it deliver? If you are after a reliable guide to the possible benefits and harms of mindfulness and meditation, this is the book for you. Clear, readable and measured, it sifts a wealth of evidence in order to assess the real effects, and get beyond the hype
- Linda Woodhead MBE, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University

'Mindfulness and meditation are practiced by millions of people around the world, and their benefits are being hailed by everyone from doctors and mental health professionals, to parents and teachers. Mindfulness programs are being rolled out in schools and prisons, in workplaces and homes. Its popularity has exploded, and everybody knows all the ways it can transform our lives and make us happier, calmer, and better people. Yet nobody ever seems to talk about the negative impact it can have tlÓ