The scientific study of Buddhist meditation has proceeded without much attention to Buddhist literature that details the range of psychological and physiological changes thought to occur during meditation. This paper presents reports of various meditation-induced light experiences derived from American Buddhist practitioners. The reports of light experiences are classified into two main types: discrete lightforms and patterned or diffuse lights. Similar phenomena are well documented in traditional Buddhist texts but are virtually undocumented in scientific literature on meditation. Within Buddhist traditions, these phenomena are attributed a range of interpretations. However, because it is insufficient and problematic to rely solely upon the textual sources as a means of investigating the cause or significance of these phenomena, these qualitative reports are also considered in relation to scientific research on light-related experiences in the context of sensory deprivation, perceptual isolation, and clinical disorders of the visual system. The typologies derived from these studies also rely upon reports of experiences and closely match typologies derived from the qualitative study of contemporary practitioners and typologies found in Buddhist literary traditions. Taken together, these studies also provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that certain meditative practices – especially those that deliberately decrease social, kinesthetic, and sensory stimulation and emphasize focused attention – have perceptual and cognitive outcomes similar to sensory deprivation. Given that sensory deprivation increases neuroplasticity, meditation may also have an enhanced neuroplastic potential beyond ordinary experience-dependent changes. By providing and contextualizing these reports of meditation-induced light experiences, scientists, clinicians, and meditators gain a more informed view of the range of experiences that can be elicited by contemplative practices.

Contemplative practices, which engage the subjective or "fi rst-person" perspective, are being incorporated into systems of higher education that have traditionally relied on didactic or "third-person" approaches (Dederer . The students who are learning these new fi rst-person methodologies will eventually become the scientists, doctors, and professors who make up the fields of science and medicine. What might be some of the long-term consequences of contemplative pedagogies on academia in general and on science and medicine in particular?The content of this chapter is not merely speculation but rather is a collective consensus from university-level students who have received this new fi rst-person training. Brown University' s Contemplative Studies Initiative is one of the fi rst to incorporate intensive fi rst-person training into traditional course curricula as part of a concentration at both the university and medical school levels (see Roth, forthcoming, for details). First-person training includes mind-training technologies drawn from both ancient contemplative traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, as well as modern mind sciences like psychology and neuroscience. These This chapter describes the potential far-reaching consequences of contemplative higher education for the fi elds of science and medicine.