The Dark Side of Dharma: Meditation, Madness and Other Maladies on the Contemplative Path

A dive into the less-known and undesirable side-effects of meditation and mindfulness.

Anna Lutkajtis is a postgraduate researcher from Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on mysticism, the dark night of the soul and the healing potential of altered states of consciousness. She is particularly interested in the relationship between mental illness and spirituality, mystical experiences, and how techniques that were originally designed for contemplative purposes have been integrated into modern Western psychology. Her master's thesis, The Dark Side of Dharma, examined why meditation adverse effects, while well known in spiritual and religious traditions, have been ignored in contemporary secular contexts.