Jared Lindahl is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and is director of the humanities research track in the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab. In 2010 Dr. Lindahl began collaborating on the Varieties of Contemplative Experience research project, and in 2014 he came to Brown in order to direct the ongoing data collection, qualitative analysis, and publication of results. Lindahl holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation research adopted a bio-cultural methodology to investigate the significance of light-related experiences and discourses in Buddhist and Christian contemplative traditions, a part of which informed the first publication from the VCE study. His ongoing research continues to integrate historical and textual studies of contemplative traditions with phenomenological and neurobiological approaches in order to elucidate the relationship between contemplative practices, resultant experiences, and culturally situated appraisals of meaning and value.
| "Relationships Between Religious and Scientific Worldviews in the Narratives of Western Buddhists Reporting Meditation-Related Challenges." Journal of Contemplative Studies, 2023. |
| "Fear and Terror in Buddhist Meditation: A Cognitive Model for Meditation-Related Changes in Arousal and Affect." Journal of Cognitive Historiography, 2022. |
| "How Do Mindfulness-based Programs Improve Depression Symptoms: Selflessness, Valence, or Valenced Self?." Cognitive Therapy And Research, 2022. |
| Lindahl JR, Palitsky R, Cooper DJ, Britton WB. "The roles and impacts of worldviews in the context of meditation-related challenges." Transcultural Psychiatry, vol. 60, no. 4, 2022, pp. 136346152211286. |
| Britton, Willoughby B., Lindahl, Jared R., Cooper, David J., Canby, Nicholas K., Palitsky, Roman. "Defining and Measuring Meditation-Related Adverse Effects in Mindfulness-Based Programs." Clinical Psychological Science, 2021, pp. 216770262199634. |
| Britton, Willoughby B., Debordes, Gaelle, Abachuk, Rebecca, Peters, Sarah, Lindahl, Jared, ... Moitra, Ethan. "From Self-Esteem to Selflessness: An Evidence (Gap) Map of Self-Related Processes as Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Interventions." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, no. 730972, 2021. |
| Canby NK, Eichel K, Lindahl J, Chau S, Cordova J, Britton WB. "The Contribution of Common and Specific Therapeutic Factors to Mindfulness-Based Intervention Outcomes." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2021, pp. 603394. |
| Cullen, Brendan, Eichel, Kristina, Lindahl, Jared R., Rahrig, Hadley, Kini, Nisha, Flahive, Julie, Britton, Willoughby B. "The contributions of focused attention and open monitoring in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for affective disturbances: A 3-armed randomized dismantling trial." PLOS ONE, vol. 16, no. 1, 2021, pp. e0244838. |
| Cooper, David J., Lindahl, Jared R., Palitsky, Roman, Britton, Willoughby B. "Like a Vibration Cascading through the Body”: Energy-Like Somatic Experiences Reported by Western Buddhist Meditators." Religions, vol. 12, no. 12, 2021, pp. 1042. |
| Lindahl JR, Cooper DJ, Fisher NE, Kirmayer LJ, Britton WB. "Progress or Pathology? Differential Diagnosis and Intervention Criteria for Meditation-Related Challenges: Perspectives From Buddhist Meditation Teachers and Practitioners." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020, pp. 1905. |
| Jared R. Lindahl, Willoughby B. Britton, David J. Cooper, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. "Challenging and Adverse Meditation Experiences: Toward a Person-Centered Approach." Oxford Handbook of Meditation, edited by Miguel Farias, David Brazier & Mansur Lalljee, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 1-26. |
| Jared R. Lindahl Willoughby B. Britton. "‘I Have This Feeling of Not Really Being Here’: Buddhist Meditation and Changes in Sense of Self." Journal of Consciousness Studies, vol. 26, no. 7-8, 2019, pp. 157–183. |
| Britton, Willoughby B., Davis, Jake H., Loucks, Eric B., Peterson, Barnes, Cullen, Brendan H., Reuter, Laura, Rando, Alora, Rahrig, Hadley, Lipsky, Jonah, Lindahl, Jared R. "Dismantling Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Creation and validation of 8-week focused attention and open monitoring interventions within a 3-armed randomized controlled trial." Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 101, 2018, pp. 92-107. |
| Lindahl, Jared. "Somatic Energies and Emotional Traumas: A Qualitative Study of Practice-Related Challenges Reported by Vajrayāna Buddhists." Religions, vol. 8, no. 8, 2017, pp. 153. |
| Lindahl, Jared R., Fisher, Nathan E., Cooper, David J., Rosen, Rochelle K., Britton, Willoughby B. "The Varieties of Contemplative Experience: A Mixed-Method Study of Meditation-Related Challenges in Western Buddhists." PLOS ONE, vol. 12, no. 5, 2017, pp. 1-32. |
| Lindahl, Jared R. "Methodological applications of an event cognition model for the study of religious experience." Religion, Brain & Behavior, 2016, pp. 1-3. |
| Britton, Willoughby, Lindahl, Jared. "Meditation." Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets, 2015. |
| Lindahl, Jared R., Kaplan, Christopher T., Winget, Evan M., Britton, Willoughby B. "A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, 2014, pp. 973. |
| Lindahl, Jared R. "Why Right Mindfulness Might Not Be Right for Mindfulness." Mindfulness, vol. 6, no. 1, 2014, pp. 57-62. |
| Britton WB, Lindahl JR, Cahn BR, Davis JH, Goldman RE. "Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1307, no. 1, 2013, pp. 64-81. |
| Lindahl, Jared. "Self-transformation in Buddhist stages of the path literature." Pacific World, vol. 3, no. 14, 2012, pp. 231-275. |
| Lindahl, Jared, Chilcott, Travis. "Religious experiences, transformative paths and religious goals." Religion, vol. 41, no. 1, 2011, pp. 79-83. |
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Lindahl, Jared.
"The Ritual Veneration of Mongolia’s Mountains." Tibetan Ritual, edited by Jose Cabezon, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 225-248.
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Dr. Lindahl is co-director of the Varieties of Contemplative Experience research project—a qualitative study of more than 60 American Buddhist meditation practitioners and 30 meditation teachers designed to investigate under-reported challenging, difficult, distressing, or functionally impairing effects of meditation.
He is currently working on a series of articles on meditation-related changes based upon the Varieties of Contemplative Experience data set. Topics include changes in sense of self, the impact of social relationship factors, the relationship between arousal and fear, energy-like somatic experiences, and religious versus scientific appraisals of experiences.International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society
Lindahl and Palitsky (Co-PIs) 12/1/2020 - 7/31/2021
“Dynamics of Science and Religiosity in the context of Meditation-Related Challenges”
This project examines scientific and religious worldviews among practitioners of Buddhist meditation in the West who have experienced meditation-related challenges. It aims to identify and describe the language that meditation practitioners use to interpret their challenging experiences in relation to religious and scientific frameworks, as well as the ways in which these worldviews change on account of undergoing meditation-related challenges; as well as seeking to examine how religious and scientific worldviews both impact and are impacted by practitioners’ responses. Outcomes from this project will contribute to ongoing efforts to provide didactic and therapeutic tools for meditation-related challenges among Westerners, whether they are practicing meditation in secular settings and holding a scientific worldview or in the context of a religious path.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation in Buddhist Studies / American Council for Learned Societies
Lindahl (PI), Britton & Stuart (Collaborators) - 8/1/2016 - 7/31/2017
"Liberating the Impurities of the Body: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Somatic Experiences among American and Indian Meditators in the Goenka Vipassana Tradition"
This cross-cultural collaborative project brings together a historical and ethnographic study of the Goenka Vipassana tradition in India and a qualitative study of the range of experiences reported by American Buddhist meditation practitioners. While Vipassana narratives present somatic experiences as a path to liberation attained through the release of psycho-somatic impurities, some practitioners report these experiences as being difficult and distressing. This collaborative project illuminates the range of meditation experiences reported by practitioners in this tradition in both India and the West, and contextualizes the way such experiences are appraised within the historical and social frameworks of these two cultural contexts.
Role: Project Coordinator (Principal Investigator)
NIH UH2 AT009145-01 - Loucks, Britton, King (Co-PIs) - 10/1/2015 - 08/30/2020
“Mindfulness Influences on Self-Regulation: Mental and Physical Health Implications”
This collaborative infrastructure grant aggregates Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) data across multiple labs and institutions in order to clarify the most reliable mechanisms of MBIs for self-regulation. This project will also identify which practices are best or worst-suited for which populations, including adverse event profiles.
Role: Co-investigator
1440 Foundation - Britton/Lindahl (Co-PIs) - 6/1/2015-5/31/2017
Assessing Beneficial Relationship Factors that Support Contemplative Development
The goal of this study is to assess how different types of social relationships (parents, friends, instructor etc.) impact (promote/undermine) meditation practice success or mindfulness-based treatment outcomes, including adverse effects, non-compliance and attrition.
Role: Co-PI
Bial Foundation - Britton (PI) - 1 /1/2013 - 5/31/2017
The Contemplative Development Mapping Project
The goal of this project is to document the range of experiences that can arise in the context of contemplative practices such as mediation.
Role: Co-investigator
K23 AT006328-01A1 - Britton (PI) - 4/1/2013 - 6/30/2016
Mentored Patient-Oriented Career Development Award ““Dismantling Mindfulness”
The goal of this “mindfulness dismantling” study is to compare the effects and mechanism of different types of meditation on 3 domains of prefrontal cortex functioning (attention, emotion regulation, alertness/sleep propensity.
Role: Consultant on Manual and Resource Guide for Open Monitoring & Focused Attention Modules
Mind and Life Varela Award - Britton/Fisher (PIs) - 1/1/2013 - 12/31/2015
The Varieties of Contemplative Experience
The goal of this project is to document the range of experiences that can arise in the context of contemplative practices such as mediation.
Role: Co-investigator
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | PhD | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2005 | MA | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2001 | BA | Northern Arizona University |
2016 Collaborative Fellow of the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation in Buddhist Studies
2015 Faculty at Mind and Life Summer Research Institute Fear and Trust in Self and Society
2015 Mind and Life Institute Workshop Grant for The Contemplative Development Mapping Project
2013 Senior Investigator at Mind and Life Summer Research Institute Mapping the Mind
2012 Participant in NEH Summer Institute Investigating Consciousness: Buddhist and Philosophical Perspectives
2010 Ostad Elahi Fellowship in the Study of Religion, awarded by the Department of Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara
2008 Institute of International Education Fulbright award for Mongolia (declined)
2006 Stephen Hay Endowment for the Study of Prayer and Ethics, awarded by the Department of Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara
2006 Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship in Tibetan, University of California, Santa Barbara
2004 Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council Grant, awarded by Graduate Division, University of California, Santa Barbara
2003 Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship in Tibetan, Summer Intensive Program hosted by Cornell University
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Britton, Willoughby | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences |
List of courses taught at Brown and elsewhere:
History and Literature of Buddhism
Sacred Mountains of Buddhist Asia
Tibetan Buddhism and the West
Buddhist Philosophy
Religions of South Asia
Religions of the East
Psychology of Religion
Mysticism
Me, Myself, and I: Exploring Senses of Self from a Mulitdisciplinary Perspective
Meditation and the Brain
Contemplative Studies
Stages of the Contemplative Path
Contemplative Approaches to Living and Dying
Exploring Religion: Religious Approaches to Living and Dying
Religion and Culture
Cross-Cultural Approaches to Death and Dying
Senior Capstone for Religious Studies & Global Studies
| COST 0200 - Meditation and the Brain |
| COST 0450 - Stages of the Contemplative Path |
| COST 1082 - Me, Myself, and I: Exploring Senses of Self from a Multidisciplinary Perspective |
