# Meditation can harm you, Buddhist texts have always known

> Ancient scriptures reveal that meditation has always carried risks, and offer advice for when practice goes wrong.
- Title: Meditation can harm you, Buddhist texts have always known
- Summary: Ancient scriptures reveal that meditation has always carried risks, and offer advice for when practice goes wrong. Meditation isn't risk-free for everyone…
- Keywords: meditation, buddhism, the buddha, mindfulness, mental health, willoughby britton, brown university, meditation sickness, pali texts, tibetan medicine, japan, china
- Source: The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/even-the-buddha-experienced-challenges-with-meditation-historical-texts-reveal-its-potential-downsides-287741
- Author: Pierce Salguero
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: meditation, buddhism, the buddha, mindfulness, mental health, willoughby britton, brown university, meditation sickness, pali texts, tibetan medicine, japan, china
## Scientists find meditation can harm
Between 3% and 65% of practitioners experience adverse effects like fear, anxiety, and paranoia from mindfulness or contemplative practice.
## Buddhist texts warned for millennia
Asian Buddhist traditions have discussed meditation dangers for thousands of years, calling them 'meditation sickness' in East Asia or disorders of 'wind.'
## Even Buddha had meditation problems
Early texts describe the Buddha experiencing headaches and other symptoms from overconcentration during his own meditation practice.
## Meditators went mad from loud sounds
A fifth-century scripture from Khotan describes how adept meditators 'went mad' when startled by noise while deep in meditation.

> went mad
## Monks committed suicide after meditating
One early text tells of monks who killed themselves en masse after practicing a meditation the Buddha taught, forcing him to change his instructions.
## Side effects are nobody's fault
Buddhist sources treat meditation risks as acknowledged dangers of powerful transformative practices, not as failures by practitioners.
## Grounding techniques can help
Traditional treatments include redirecting attention to the lower abdomen or feet, or visualizing energy descending through the body from head to toe.
## Hakuin's butter visualization technique
A 17th-century Japanese monk described visualizing butter melting on the head and slowly oozing downward, relaxing everything until it reaches the ground.
## Challenges are part of the process
Buddhist texts say people should expect difficulties as part of spiritual development. The key is distinguishing normal challenges from true medical crises.
## Meditation needs informed consent
Experts now call for warning labels, better teacher training, and screening to recognize when meditation becomes dangerous, like any medical intervention.
## Key takeaway

Meditation isn't risk-free for everyone, but Buddhist traditions have millennia of wisdom on managing its side effects through grounding techniques and other remedies.