A 9-month online program teaching traditional Tibetan Mind-Body meditation practices based on Bon Dzogchen philosophy led to gradual improvements in compassion for self and others, mindfulness, flourishing, and non-dual awareness among 30 predominantly experienced meditators. Improvements were independent of how often participants meditated, suggesting the program's structure itself drove benefits. The findings provide preliminary evidence that such practices may foster advanced meditative states tied to self-transcendence. Limitations include the small, self-selected sample, lack of a control group, and reliance on quantitative measures, which may miss the richness of advanced meditative experiences.
People with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness—the tendency to pay attention to present-moment experience nonjudgmentally—are more likely to experience self-transcendent perceptual changes during a naturalistic psychedelic retreat. Over a prospective longitudinal observational study, participants who scored higher on mindfulness measures reported greater alterations in consciousness, including feelings of unity and sacredness. The findings suggest that pre-existing mindfulness may shape how individuals respond to psychedelic experiences, potentially enhancing their capacity for profound shifts in perception and self-awareness.