This chapter provides a background and a schematic overview of the book. In this volume we argue that meditation enables us to influence some aspects of our biological make-up and could, for example, boost our cognitive flexibility as well as our ability (and propensity) to act compassionately. Then we proceed to seek to connect a number of such changes to an improved capacity for instilling and maintaining a range of character traits (primarily epistemic virtues) as identified by Aristotle and some modern virtue epistemologists. Cultivating the virtues is of course beneficial for the individual but it seems likely that it also has a positive effect on the surrounding society and their fellow citizens.