We’re joined this week by Brown University neuroscience researcher Willoughby Britton. In this episode Dr. Britton shares some of the details of a research project that she’s working on called, “The Difficult Stages of the Contemplative Path.” She goes into the purpose of the research project and also some of the research methods she’s using to establish a helpful subjective phenomenology for these difficult stages. She also speaks about how she has collaborated with both meditation teachers and Buddhist scholars to help determine what the common experiences are for practitioners, and whether they have textual references in the Buddhist canons. And to make matters even more interesting, she shares what her personal experiences have been like, as she’s a committed meditation practitioner herself. This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, The Dark Night Project. Episode Links: Willoughby Britton @ Brown University ( http://research.brown.edu/myresearch/Willoughby_Britton ) Britton Lab ( http://www.brittonlab.com ) Willoughby Britton at the Buddhist Geeks Conference, on the Problem with Meditation ( http://blogs.laweekly.com/stylecouncil/2011/09/buddhist_geeks_considerable_to.php ) Cheetah House ( https://cheetahhouse.wordpress.com ) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.