Nadia later worked with Jhourney to write the most extensive report yet (tweetstorm summary) on how jhanas improve the well-being of meditators, including claims like “2x more likely to report changes in lifestyle (84% vs. 41%), 1.5x more likely to report changes in thoughts + beliefs (92% vs. 59%), more kindness, awareness of pleasure, and reduced cravings”. I find Nadia’s claims somewhat more believable because, to quote her:
I am not a meditator. (Even after experiencing the jhanas, I still have no desire to develop a meditation practice.) Nor am I a “spiritual seeker” of the sort you might find at Burning Man or a Vipassana retreat. …
If you’re raising an eyebrow right now, I must once again stress that I, too, did not believe this was a thing. I arrived at the retreat feeling rather silly for being there. I left astonished, and perplexed, as to why barely anyone has studied the jhanas at all. …
I am less interested in making the argument that everyone should try the jhanas. But it seems to me that if people can access these experiences with relatively little mental effort – and to do so legally, for free – more ought to know that such a thing exists. At the very least, shouldn’t there be more than three published studies about it?
Nadia later worked with Jhourney to write the most extensive report yet (tweetstorm summary) on how jhanas improve the well-being of meditators, including claims like “2x more likely to report changes in lifestyle (84% vs. 41%), 1.5x more likely to report changes in thoughts + beliefs (92% vs. 59%), more kindness, awareness of pleasure, and reduced cravings”. I find Nadia’s claims somewhat more believable because, to quote her: