In 2007 the most comprehensive longitudinal study of meditation occurred here at Shambhala Mountain Center. It was called the Shamatha Project. Researchers from UC Davis teamed up with B. Alan Wallace and 60 participants for two 3-month retreats in which the meditation practitioners participated in an intensive study to record and analyze the effects of meditation. B. Alan Wallace instructed the participants in three increasingly subtle forms of shamatha (calm-abiding meditation) as well as a complementary practice to cultivate compassion, loving-kindness, empathetic joy and equanimity called the brahmavihāras or Four Immeasurables. Through shamatha the participants developed concentration, mindfulness and introspection while the Four Immeasurables created an ethical motivation and context for practice. The study employed a variety of measurement techniques taken before, during and after the retreat, including interviews, computer-based experiments, physiological measures, behavioral measures, and questionnaires. This led to a tremendous amount of data that is still being analyzed 9 years later. But a number of conclusions have been made: meditation improves attention, one’s sense of well-being, emotional responses related to compassion, and even …