Overview
Meditation techniques, including mindfulness, have become popular wellbeing practices. The scientific study of their effects has recently turned 50 years old. But how much do we know about them? What were they developed for and by whom? How similar or different are they? How effective can they be in changing our thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and biology? What are their social, spiritual, and ethical implications?The Oxford Handbook of Meditation is the most comprehensive volume published on meditation, written in accessible language by world-leading experts on the science and history of these techniques. It covers the development of meditation across the world and the varieties of its practices and experiences. It includes approaches from various disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, history, anthropology, religious studies, and sociology, and it explores its potential for therapeutic and social change, as well as unusual effects. Edited by practitioner- researchers, this book is an essential guide for all interested in meditation, including teachers, clinicians, therapists, researchers, or anyone who would like to better understand this topic.
Full Product Details
Author: Farias ,
Brazier ,
Lalljee
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 17.10cm
, Height: 24.60cm
, Length: 5.40cm
Weight: 1.772kg
ISBN: 9780198985563
ISBN 10: 0198985568
Pages: 1040
Publication Date: 26 September 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation offers ample resources that provide a useful overview of important questions currently being discussed in the field of meditation studies: the promise and limits of empirical research, the possibility of a transcultural science of meditation (and the risks necessarily involved in such a project), and comparative concerns about ""meditation"" across cultural and disciplinary boundaries. It can serve as an introduction to the field of meditation studies as well as provide direction for future research. Serious readers will no doubt agree that the Handbook successfully follows through on its promise to feed the wonder and desire to know of a wide audience of specialists and non-specialists alike. * Journal of Contemplative Studies * The Oxford Handbook of Meditation serves as an excellent introductory-level course handbook for religious studies. It strikes a balance between academic rigor and accessibility, making it valuable to a broad audience, including scholars of medicine, psychology, and religious studies, as well as individuals interested in exploring the subject or deepening their knowledge of meditation practices. By emphasizing the diversity of meditation techniques, the book underscores that knowing one form of meditation does not equate to understanding them all. * Zsuzsanna Szugyiczki, Religious Studies Review *
Author Information
Miguel Farias, BSc (Lisbon), MA (Wales), DPhil (Oxford) is the founding director of the Brain, Belief, & Behaviour Lab at Coventry University. After his doctorate in Experimental Psychology at Oxford University (2000-2004), he was a Research Fellow at Cambridge University and Oxford University (2005-2007) and a Lecturer in Experimental Psychology at Oxford University (2008-2013). His work focuses on the psychobiology of spiritual practices and beliefs, and in 2017 he won the William Bier award, given by the American Psychological Association, Division 36, for his outstanding contribution to research in the psychology of religion and spirituality. He is a regular speaker at Science festivals, and his popular book with Catherine Wikholm, The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You?, has been translated into various languages. David Brazier, MA, PhD (Keele University) is president of the International Zen Therapy Institute, author of a dozen books and many chapters, monographs and articles on Buddhism, psychology and culture, a Buddhist priest, and head of a religious order. He holds professional qualifications in psychotherapy, social work and management and is an authority on Buddhist psychology. In the past he has practised as a psychotherapist and previously in social work, setting up rehabilitation schemes in the fields of mental health, respite care for the mentally handicapped, and juvenile delinquency, as well as aid projects for refugees. He lectures on Buddhism and Buddhist psychology in Europe, Asia and North & South America and supervises educational programmes in English and Spanish. He has practised meditation for over fifty years. Mansur Lalljee BA (Bombay); BA, MA, DPhil. (Oxon.). Until his retirement, Mansur Lalljee was a University Lecturer in Social Psychology and Fellow of Jesus College, University of Oxford. After graduating with a degree in philosophy from the University of Bombay, he moved to Oxford to complete his studies in psychology, and stayed on the faculty at Oxford for the rest of his career. He has published work on a wide range of psychological issues including the psychology of respect; the psychology of explanation; religion; social and political attitudes; and interpersonal communication; and has been invited to talk about these issues at conferences and in Universities in several parts of the world. He has also held visiting appointments at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and Yale University, New Haven.
