As many as 30% of individuals seeking treatment for obesity meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for binge eating disorder (BED). BED is marked by recurrent episodes of bingeing, accompanied by feelings of loss of control, and involves chronic disregulation of physiological, emotional and behavioral systems. Meditation-based interventions have been used successfully to treat disorders with similar addictive and disregulatory characteristics, but have not been applied to treating BED. Data from an uncontrolled pilot study suggests that such an intervention can have marked immediate impact on decreasing episodes of binge eating and other associated characteristics in obese women. Therefore, this study incorporates appropriate comparison conditions to further investigate the efficacy of a mindfulness meditation-based intervention as a treatment component for treating BED symptoms. Exploratory aspects include further development of a manual, establishment of effect size (in comparison to appropriate comparison groups), inclusion of a more diverse population, and of measures that address: 1) individual differences in treatment response, 2) possible mechanisms, 3) time course of response, and 3) impact on medical/health variables.