Over three decades, Mind & Life convenings have brought diverse perspectives to bear in informing and advancing the nascent field of contemplative science and its application to real-world challenges. The collective knowledge of presenters and rich themes explored at Mind & Life events remain relevant today, while offering a retrospective look at how the field has grown and evolved. Below, we are pleased to share a rich repository of our programs and events, searchable by date and topic.
2025 Summer Research Institute
Sunday, June 1 – Friday, June 6, 2025 “Reimagining Contemplative Education: Shaping a Collective Future” is for researchers, educational and contemplative practitioners, and policymakers who are committed to exploring how contemplation can enrich and reimagine educational systems in the 21st century. Contemplative education integrates academic study with practices that cultivate mindfulness, self-awareness, reflection, and compassion. …
2024 Summer Research Institute
The Summer Research Institute (SRI) is an application-based program and will take place in-person at the Garrison Institute in upstate New York. Applications are now closed. Participants will be notified of decisions by March 16th. Upon notification of your accepted application, you will be contacted directly with more information concerning the program schedule and how to register …
Mind & Life Connect – Session 8
Session 8 transcript now available In this session, Gail Parker, PhD, a clinical psychotherapist and certified yoga therapist, shares her expertise in integrating psychology and yoga therapy, particularly within diverse communities. Neuroscientist Gabriela Torres-Platas, PhD, contributes her groundbreaking research on Tibetan Dream Yoga. Both practices of restorative yoga and Tibetan Dream Yoga may seem divergent …
Mind & Life Connect – Session 7
Session 7 transcript now available The two will discuss how developmental research and application go together and the need for greater scientific attention to flourishing in diverse cultural groups. They’ll also share the emerging vision of the PEACE Network (Promoting Empathy Awareness and Compassion through Education Network) and its goal to foster dialogue across disciplines …
Mind & Life Connect – Session 6
Session 6 transcript now available We’re living in a time of profound disruption—a time rife with challenges yet ripe with potential. How do we nurture the inner well-being so essential to being a force for good in the outer world? What’s getting in our way? How can we align our personal and professional lives to …
Mind & Life Connect – Session 5
Session 5 transcript now available Join Tony Chambers in a thought-provoking conversation centered around the transformative shifts of power from the individual to societal levels. Explore how higher education shapes society’s core objectives and grapple with systemic challenges. We’ll take a close look at our role in driving systemic change and reshaping power dynamics. In …
Mind & Life Connect – Session 4
Session 4 transcript now available What do we learn when we track daily emotions? What is the relationship between our daily emotions and pervasive feelings of burnout and stress? Why did the Dalai Lama support the creation of an Online Atlas of Emotions, what are destructive emotions, and why did the Dalai Lama host a …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Stress & Resilience
A Future We Can Love Livestream
Friday, June 9 1:00 pm Honolulu | 4:00 pm Los Angeles | 7:00 pm New York Join us for the launch of the new book, A Future We Can Love: How We Can Reverse the Climate Crisis with the Power of Our Hearts & Minds, by Susan Bauer-Wu, President of the Mind & Life …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Environment | Interconnection | Mindfulness | Social Change
2023 Summer Research Institute
A collaborative, interdisciplinary, and immersive opportunity for conversations around trauma, healing, and flourishing—for researchers, contemplatives, changemakers, and anyone interested in this topic.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Stress & Resilience
Mind & Life Connect – Session 3
Session 3 transcript now available In this session, we will explore the impact of trauma on individuals and how those with a history of trauma can build resilience. Our talk will focus on the role of culture in trauma and healing, as well as the influence of the media, our ancestors, and intergenerational trauma on …
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Topics: Body-based Practices | Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Mental Health | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
Mind & Life Connect – Session 2
Session 2 transcript now available Join us as we delve into the complex relationship between stress, trauma, and the body with licensed clinical psychologist and scholar Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler. Throughout this session we will explore the intersectionality between stress, trauma and race. We will also discuss how stress can manifest in the body, thoughts, feelings, …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Social Change | Stress & Resilience
Mind & Life Connect – Session 1
Session 1 transcript now available Community Conversations on Contemplative Science, Wisdom, and Action Join us for Mind & Life Connect, our new series of inspirational online conversations aimed at exploring key themes in contemplative science and their relation to everyday life. In our inaugural session, contemplative researcher and social activist Juan Santoyo will explore topics such …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Interconnection | Mental Health | Self & Other | Stress & Resilience
2022 Mind & Life Conversation
The Mind & Life Institute and Mind & Life Europe are honored to host a free live stream event with His Holiness the Daila Lama. The program will explore insights on the increasing complexity of our world, catalyzed by climate change, rapid technological innovation, and mounting political divisions, which is calling us to change the way we live.
2022 Summer Research Institute
SRI 2022 explores the crisis of disconnection and othering. The challenges we face—from racial injustice to conflict within and across borders to climate change—demand concerted action; yet we remain more divided than ever. What is the role of our minds in creating these divisions, and how can our minds transform to create a more connected world?
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Self & Other | Social Change
Inspiring Minds – February 2022
This conversation features Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Aaron Stern, with artist Hawah Kasat sharing innovative programs and approaches designed to nurture meaningful dialogue, break down barriers, and facilitate personal transformation aimed at healing the harmful legacies of the past.
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Self & Other
Inspiring Minds – January 2022
Our January 2022 conversation features Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Elissa Epel. They discuss how contemplative practice can build resilience to address injustice and the climate crisis.
Topics: Environment | Social Change | Stress & Resilience
2021 Mind & Life Conversation
Our December 2021 conversation with the Dalai Lama features Elissa Epel, Michelle Shiota, and John Dunne. The program asks: What is the role of activating hope in pursuing a positive vision of the future? Can action come with a heavy heart, and before we have a clear vision of the radical changes needed? How can we cultivate joy amidst adversity?
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Mental Health | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – November 2021
Our November conversation features Eric Garland and Durga Leela, with musician Geoffrey Menin. They discuss mindfulness and embodied practices for holistic healing.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Mindfulness
Illuminating the Mind: Exploring Buddhism and Science with the Dalai Lama
Join His Holiness the Dalai Lama in an exploration of the nature of mind with leading researchers, philosophers, and Buddhist scholars in this online course, co-produced by Mind & Life and Wisdom Academy.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom
Inspiring Minds – September 2021
Our September conversation features Adam Bucko and Fred Bahnson, with musicians Holy River. They discuss how Christian contemplative practice can reinforce our sense of interconnection, reciprocity, and kinship.
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Social Change | Stress & Resilience
2021 Online Speaker Series
This six-day speaker series explores how the union of contemplative traditions, indigenous wisdom, and science can lead to greater awareness of the interconnectedness of all life, and reignite our collective responsibility as stewards of our planetary future.
Topics: Environment | Interconnection | Social Change
2021 Summer Research Institute
The SRI 2021 will explore how the union of contemplative wisdom and science can lead to greater awareness of the interconnectedness of all life, and the relationship between earth care and human health and cooperation.
Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Environment | Interconnection
Science & Wisdom of Emotions Summit
Co-hosted with The Awake Network, the Science & Wisdom of Emotion Summit explored the research and insights catalyzed 20 years ago by the Mind & Life Destructive Emotions Dialogue with the Dalai Lama,
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – April 2021
Our April conversation features Amishi Jha and Jon Kabat-Zinn, and cellist Barbara Bogatin. Learn more about the inner workings of the mind, and how to cultivate greater attention and wise action in how we conduct ourselves individually and collectively.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Mindfulness
Inspiring Minds – March 2021
Our March conversation, “Transformative Change: Where Research and Action in the World Meet,” features Doris Chang and Reggie Hubbard, with musician Grant Jones. We discuss the tendency for research and ‘real-world’ practice to get siloed. What can contemplative scientists and changemakers working to advance social justice learn from and share with each other?
Topics: Interconnection | Mindfulness | Social Change | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – January 2021
Our January conversation, “Mindfulness, Resilience, and Compassion for the New Year,” features Rhonda Magee and Jack Kornfield, with musicians Marti Nikko and DJ Drez. We look at how we can lay the foundations for a year of compassion and healing grounded in our shared humanity.
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
2021 Mind & Life Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops
We're honored to host a special free livestream event on January 9, 2021 at 10:30 p.m. EST with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and leading scientists to explore steps for addressing the urgent challenges presented by this threat.
Topics: Environment | Interconnection | Social Change
Inspiring Minds – December 2020
Our December conversation, “Finding Connections: Pathways to Embodied Wisdom,” features Peter Wayne, Willa Blythe Baker, and Srinivas Reddy. We discuss the relevance of ancient wisdom practices today and the profound inner-knowing that lies within the body.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Contemplative Wisdom | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – November 2020
Our November conversation “Yoga as a Tool for Social Change” features Richard Freeman and Gail Parker, along with pianist/composer Peter Kater. We’ll explore how embodied yoga practices can lead to greater self-awareness and agency in contributing to a better world.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Social Change
2020 Contemplative Research Conference
The Mind & Life 2020 Contemplative Research Conference is online November 5-8, 2020. The virtual conference is an international convening for rigorous interdisciplinary investigation of contemplative practices and programs in diverse contexts. The conference will feature plenary sessions and concurrent symposia on a diverse range of topics and best practices within contemplative research, including basic research, clinical studies, cultural and philosophical analyses, and education.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – October 2020
Join Mind & Life for our monthly online series that brings together thought leaders and contemplatives to engage with one another and the audience in exploring the role of the mind in human flourishing. At a time of profound global crises, we’ll be looking at how science and contemplative wisdom can inform efforts to build a more just, compassionate, and inclusive world.
Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Self & Other
2020 Mind & Life Conversation
June 19, 2020, 10:30pm EDT The Mind & Life Institute was honored to host this special livestream event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The program explored insights for individual and collective healing, integrating contemplation, science, and action, helping us to consider how crisis can be an opportunity to shift human consciousness and embrace our …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Self & Other
2020 Summer Research Institute
The world, in the face of pressing global ecological, economic and political challenges, stands in need of social systems renewal. We need generations of individuals, both young and old, who are skilled in the virtuous habits of the head, the heart and the hand, and who therefore are positioned to address the global challenges of our times. How can prosocial qualities be cultivated in individuals, families, schools and communities such that we support generations of people in becoming “forces for good” in the world today?
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Education | Social Change
2019 Mind & Life Conversation
Join the Mind & Life Institute online for two special free Livestream events from Dharamsala, India. On October 30th and November 1st, we will host two unique conversations between Pumla Goboda-Madikizela, David Sloan Wilson, and the Dalai Lama. Livestream video replays are available.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Social Change
2019 Summer Research Institute
Political strife, immigration, cultural and racial conflict, environmental concerns, depression, and distraction—these issues and many more influence our daily lives as we struggle to find personal well-being and social harmony. How does the latest research on mental habits, contemplation, and compassion inform opportunities to create change for ourselves and others?
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Mental Health | Self & Other | Social Change
2018 International Symposium for Contemplative Research
The Mind & Life International Symposium for Contemplative Research (ISCR) is the flagship conference for interdisciplinary investigations of the mind, meditation, and other contemplative practices. We are teachers, researchers, scientists and scholars. We are activists, politicians and business leaders. We are parents, students, social workers and first responders. We are instructors, writers, filmmakers and philosophers. We are all change-makers.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Education | Self & Other
2018 International Research Institute
As the “cultural heart of Japan,” Kyoto is home to longstanding traditions of contemplative practice, philosophy, and scientific research. Inspired by this setting, and its location at the Zen temple complex Myōshin-ji, the theme for this Mind & Life International Research Institute is Contemplative Practice in Context: Culture, History, and Science. This five-day immersive program brings together leading scholars in the sciences and humanities, contemplatives, and artists to examine contemplative epistemologies within a variety of contexts.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Education | Mindfulness
2018 Summer Research Institute
The 2018 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute extends the arc from the 2016 and 2017 programs that addressed themes of context, social connectivity, and intersubjectivity by engaging critical topics relevant to cultural difference and human diversity. The weeklong immersive program will examine social and psychological patterns, both implicit and explicit, to discuss how difference is constructed at personal, interpersonal, and socio-structural levels. Scientific, humanistic, and first-person contemplative perspectives will give attention to processes of othering and how we can overcome conflict by embracing difference.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Self & Other | Social Change
2018 Mind & Life Dialogue XXXIII
The “Reimagining Human Flourishing” Dialogue has a central focus on education, especially in light of His Holiness’ longstanding prioritization of secular ethics education initiatives. It includes a mixture of both scientific and practice-oriented discussions to catalyze the synthetic and integrative opportunity provided by the meeting, taking up crucial questions on how to gain better scientific understanding of key constructs like “attention,” “meta-awareness,” and “emotion regulation,” as well as the practical issue of how to expand the Social Emotional Learning framework to incorporate the teaching of compassion and secular ethics more fully.
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Education
2017 Mind & Life Dialogue XXXII
The Botswana Dialogue brings African humanitarian and spiritual leaders, scholars and healers into conversation with international neuroscientists about the African worldview of Botho/Ubuntu, during five sessions followed by a concert performance by Vusi Mahlasela. Defining humanity through our connections with one another, Botho/Ubuntu is expressed as: “I am because you are.” Examining African values and healing practices in light of new scientific research on social connection and trauma, the Dialogue in Botswana explores the potential of Botho/Ubuntu as a framework for healing the legacy and trauma of wars and colonialism, and advancing social justice and women’s equality.
Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Self & Other | Social Change
2017 Summer Research Institute
The 2017 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute gives attention to scientific, humanistic and first-person contemplative perspectives on intersubjectivity and social connectivity. Plenary presentations, workshops and small group discussions explore interrelational human dynamics, including how we relate to ourselves and others, and to community and strangers. Faculty from across a multitude of disciplines present research findings on the meditative cultivation of pro-social emotions, intergroup dynamics, social and embodied cognition, cognitive ecology, implicit bias and social justice.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Mental Health | Self & Other | Social Change
2016 International Symposium for Contemplative Studies
The Mind & Life Institute’s International Symposium for Contemplative Studies (ISCS) seeks to encourage and help shape a cohesive interdisciplinary field of contemplative studies in which basic and applied science, scholarship, education, the arts, and contemplative traditions collaboratively develop an integrated way of knowing. In 2016 we gathered the most innovative thought leaders and present their ground breaking research in neuroscience, psychology, clinical science, the humanities, philosophy, and education – all with the goal of advancing our understanding of the mind, reducing human suffering, and enhancing our well-being.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Brain & Cognitive Science | Mindfulness | Social Change
2016 Mind & Life Dialogue XXXI
While the notion of power can be seen as a neutral concept, neither harmful nor beneficial by definition, the western historical perspective links it to concepts such as domination, instrumentalization, or sovereignty. This idea of power as power over is apparent in political, societal and interpersonal spheres, as indicated by problems such as the wealth …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Interconnection | Social Change
2016 Summer Research Institute
The 2016 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute (MLSRI) will be devoted to the theme of context, and its relevance for basic mental processes as well as effects of contemplative practices. Findings from the cognitive and social sciences, humanities, and philosophy increasingly suggest that context shapes mind in fundamental ways. With regard to contemplative studies, practices that were once embedded within traditional religious cultures are now being widely disseminated across a variety of globalized, largely secular settings. Contextual factors impact the very course and outcome of these practices, and if not carefully considered, even well-intended efforts can lead to unsatisfactory or incomplete results.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection
2015 Mind & Life Dialogue XXX
Western science has advanced our understanding of many foundational issues in cognition, and has expanded psychological and philosophical explorations of the mind. Among the central topics addressed in this scientific endeavor are perception, concept acquisition, the nature of conceptual thought, and the role of language in cognition, and the origins and content of our sense …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Self & Other
2015 Summer Research Institute
The 2015 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute (MLSRI) examines the theme of Fear and Trust in Self and Society. Presentations and discussions draw on research in both the sciences and the humanities, including neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, religion, and contemplative studies. We explore the biological and experiential aspects of fear, its influence on our cognition …
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Topics: Self & Other
2014 International Symposium for Contemplative Studies
The 2014 International Symposium for Contemplative Studies (ISCS) drew a diverse, talented and enthusiastic group of attendees, and brought together distinct, though overlapping, fields of research and scholarship across the sciences, humanities, arts and other domains. ISCS 2014 focused on advancing our understanding of the human mind, and how training through contemplative practices can lead …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Contemplative Wisdom | Mindfulness
Pilot Program: Vietnam
Reason for Interest in C2C Vietnam has a history of struggles for national independence and the Vietnamese people have shown amazing strength and resilience to face and overcome obstacles. After the end of the war, the priority was to rebuild the country and to develop the economy, but the new generation is facing different challenges, …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection | Mindfulness
Fall 2014 Visiting Scholars
Andrew Bresnen Research Imaging Institute of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio Morgan Derby Lesley University Oren Ergas Hebrew University, Israel Matt Jankauskas Brown University Kasley Killam Queen’s University, Canada Golnoosh Mahdavi Brown University Andrew Olendzki Barre Center for Buddhist Studies Andrea Poile Harvard University Alora Rando Brown University Emiliana Rodriguez Harvard …
Pilot Program: Israel
Reason for Interest in C2C There is a dire need in the Israeli educational system for a program addressing the significant burnout rate of teachers as well as the dropout of new teachers (over 25%) within the first years. Furthermore, the steady increase in bullying prevalence and the negative attitudes toward the “other” which are …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection | Mindfulness
Summer 2014 Visiting Scholars
Rajesh Kasturirangan examined four factors of “eudaimonics,” or the study of human flourishing—the conceptual, which represents the philosophical element that dates back to Aristotle and Confucius; the contemplative, which also hearkens back to the same network of thinkers and practitioners; empirical research, which has grown with recent breakthroughs in the realms of psychology and neuroscience; …
2014 Mind & Life Dialogue XXIX
The nature of the human mind remains one of the most profound unresolved questions we face as a species. While the mind’s ultimate nature may forever elude us, we can nonetheless carefully study the mind’s characteristics, capabilities, and associated phenomena. We have mapped the human genome, the night sky and the fundamental particles of the …
2014 Mind & Life Dialogue XXVIII
There has always been a deep commitment at Mind & Life toward understanding what an ethical life can and should mean in today’s world. By becoming more aware of our deep interdependence and the need for mutual care, a proper foundation for ethics is possible – one that allows us to better address the global …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection
Pilot Program: Bhutan
Reason for Interest in Call to Care The Ministry of Education has developed a training program for teachers to “Educate for Gross National Happiness,” and a first phase of implementation has been completed in 2014. The Call to Care Program serves as a primary tool for deepening this educational effort to bring more mindfulness and …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection | Mindfulness
2013 Mind & Life Dialogue XXVII
Desire is a natural part of life that provides the motivating force for our achievements. Our highest aspirations are animated by desire. Yet, when desire becomes obsession or craving, we cross over into the territory of suffering. What before was an aid to accomplishment can devolve into a source of personal anguish and social violence. …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Mental Health
Fall 2013 Visiting Scholars
In order to more deeply understand meditation, Peter Grossenbacher analyzed findings regarding brain function during meditation, with the goal of identifying neurobiological patterns conducive to successful meditation, and providing practitioners—in consultation with neuroscientists and meditation teachers with efficient training and new techniques that elicit those patterns. He plans on piloting an ensuing program of research …
2013 Mind & Life Dialogue XXVI
This landmark six-day event, convened at the specific request of the Dalai Lama, brought together 20 of the world’s foremost scientists and philosophers with senior Tibetan scholars. Several thousand monks and nuns from numerous Tibetan monastic centers of learning were in attendance. In addition to critically engaging in important questions of mutual interest and challenge …
2012 Mind & Life Dialogue XXV
For some years now, there has been a great deal of interest in the ways that contemplative practices with roots in spiritual traditions may also provide a range of emotional and physical benefits to practitioners. We now have a substantial body of experimental and clinical work focused both on outcomes and on the neural, cognitive, …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
2012 Mind & Life Dialogue XXIV
In this private dialogue, six young scientists were chosen to represent the Francisco J. Varela Grant program, a catalyst for seeding the field with young scientists investigating contemplative practice. These researchers, representing a new generation of scientists, presented the Dalai Lama with their recent research outcomes. LOCATION: Rochester, Minnesota Participants
2011 Mind & Life Dialogue XXIII
The slow meltdown of Earth’s capacity to sustain much of life, as we know it, poses an urgent challenge for both spiritual traditions and science. These two ways of knowing have developed distinctive responses, which are potentially synergistic. The goal of the meeting is to provide an opportunity to articulate an engaged environmental ethics. This …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Environment | Interconnection | Social Change
2010 Mind & Life Dialogue XXII
The impetus for this Mind & Life meeting stems from the Dalai Lama’s wish to have a Mind & Life meeting in Asia, particularly India. To this end, the conference brings together scientists, philosophers, and contemplative scholars and practitioners to discuss the benefits of contemplative science. In doing so, it provides a context for scientists …
2010 Mind & Life Dialogue XXI
As part of the grand opening of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, the Dalai Lama, along with contemplatives and contemplative scholars, engaged in a dialogue with scientists envisioned in the style of a working lab meeting. In a session to update His Holiness on the latest scientific discoveries, presenters outlined recent research findings as …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science
2010 Mind & Life Dialogue XX
Classic economic theory is based on the assumption that humans are self-interested and rational actors, and casts doubt on the very existence of altruism. New research in both economics and neuroscience reveals a much richer and more complex picture of humanity, where altruism and compassion are not only part of the equation but also can …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Interconnection
2009 Mind & Life Dialogue XIX
How can our educational system evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century? How will we educate people to be compassionate, competent, ethical, and engaged citizens in an increasingly complex and interconnected world? The urgent challenges of a globalized and interdependent world demand a new vision of world citizenship that is not confined to …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection
2009 Mind & Life Dialogue XVIII
The discussions during this Dialogue will primarily focus on the subjective phenomenology, information-processing operations, and neural mechanisms of attention, memory, and conscious awareness from both scientific and Buddhist perspectives. Special attention will be focused on the distinctive characteristics and interactions of attention, memory, and metacognition as seen from diverse viewpoints, including the possibility of multiple dimensions …
2009 Mind & Life Dialogue XVII
Private dialogue LOCATION: Ann Arbor, Michigan Participants
Topics: Mindfulness
2008 Mind & Life Dialogue XVI
This Dialogue reviews the current science and clinical applications of meditation, and identifies new lines of research on clinical applications of contemplative practices such as meditation within medicine. New scientific studies are beginning to show that meditation may have specific beneficial effects for helping patients cope with certain diseases and the stress associated with them, …
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Topics: Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
2007 Mind & Life Dialogue XV
In contemporary behavioral science, the general term “depression” covers a wide range of some of the most striking and prevalent forms of mental suffering in the world today. Within the broad spectrum of depression, some forms are relatively well understood. This Dialogue builds on that understanding to further examine the nature of depression and explore …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Mental Health | Mindfulness
2007 Mind & Life Dialogue XIV
In addition to being a scientific autobiography, the Dalai Lama’s book The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality highlights those issues he feels are most important in the “convergence of science and spirituality.” In his book, the Dalai Lama includes ethical, philosophical, and metaphysical reflections prompted by science. These issues and questions …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom
Mind & Life Educational Research Network
The Mind & Life Education Research Network (MLERN) was formed in 2006 as a multidisciplinary intellectual forum dedicated to investigating issues at the intersection of the mind, brain, education and contemplative practice. Directed by Dr. Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin, MLERN included a core group of contemplatives and contemplative scholars, neuroscientists, cognitive, developmental …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Education | Interconnection
2005 Mind & Life Dialogue XIII
Though still in the early stages, there have been efforts to scientifically study the clinical application of meditative practices as well as the physiological effects of meditation in both novice and advanced practitioners. This Dialogue is a further opportunity for some of the scientists who have contributed most to this field to present their approaches …
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Topics: Mental Health | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
2004 Mind & Life Dialogue XII
Neuroplasticity refers to structural and functional changes in the brain that are brought about by training and experience. The brain is the organ that is designed to change in response to experience. Neuroscience and psychological research over the past decade on this topic have burgeoned and are leading to new insights about the many ways …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science
2003 Mind & Life Dialogue XI
From its inception Buddhism has probed the nature of mind, using the mind itself as its instrument of investigation, especially with the aid of refined meditation methods. For the past millennium, Tibetan Buddhists have pursued this investigation in monastic universities with rigor and exacting scholarship. Until now, science has been skeptical of this course of …
2002 Mind & Life Dialogue X
At the outset of his famous 1943 lecture What Is Life?, the physicist Erwin Schrödinger posed the question, “Can that which takes place inside a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry?” In this Dialogue, we explore the perennial question concerning the nature of life and its relationship to matter. Schrödinger’s question is asked …
2001 Mind & Life Dialogue IX
This Dialogue presents an overview of modern methods for investigating human brain function, and discussions of the application of these methods to understand the changes produced by meditation practice. LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin Participants
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mindfulness
2000 Mind & Life Dialogue VIII
This Dialogue explores a perennial human predicament: the nature and destructive potential of “negative” emotions; for example, when jealousy turns into murderous rage. The Buddhist tradition has long pointed out that recognizing and transforming negative emotions lies at the heart of spiritual practice. From the perspective of science, these same emotional states pose a perplexing …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Stress & Resilience
1998 Mind & Life Dialogue VII
The purpose of this Dialogue is to compare the epistemologies of two major intellectual traditions: Western science culminating in modern quantum physics, and Eastern contemplative sciences as represented by Tibetan Buddhism. What are the roles of observer and consciousness? Are there fundamental limits to what can be said about the world? What are the foundations …
1997 Mind & Life Dialogue VI
This Dialogue explores contemporary understandings of the natural world that have arisen through groundbreaking advances in physics and astrophysics made during the 20th century. These advances have exerted a profound influence on our conception of the world, changing it fundamentally from the views that reigned until the end of the 19th century. For example, through …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom
1995 Mind & Life Dialogue V
This Dialogue focuses on the study of altruism and compassion in Western science. It addresses these topics from a highly multidisciplinary perspective since altruism and compassion are clearly significant for both the social and life sciences. A historical perspective on the role of compassion in science, and the bias in the study of negative rather …
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Topics: Compassion & Empathy
1992 Mind & Life Dialogue IV
The topic of this Dialogue focuses on the delicate areas of sleeping, dreaming, and dying. The meeting brings to discussion those “marginal states” in which our habitual, reified sense of personal identity is challenged, and in which concomitantly a host of phenomena of great significance for human existence become intensified or are made manifest. Current …
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Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Stress & Resilience
1990 Mind & Life Dialogue III
The topic of this Dialogue is the role of emotional states in physical health. Over the past 2,500 years, Buddhists have explored this topic through contemplative practices and logical analysis. Their research has been conducted within the context of spiritual disciplines aimed at the release from physical and mental suffering. The principal means for pursuing …
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Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Mental Health
1989 Mind & Life Dialogue II
Buddhism and neuroscience have parallel but quite distinct traditions for examining consciousness and its relation to the body. These traditions go back at least 2,500 years to the Buddha and Hippocrates. While both disciplines place great emphasis on experience and reason, their methods of research and verification are radically different. While neuroscience examines mind-brain processes …
1987 Mind & Life Dialogue I
This groundbreaking meeting, which began the Dialogue series, was inspired by a shared interest in opening a conversation between Buddhist thought and cognitive science to mutually inform and enrich these two distinct modes of exploring existence. LOCATION: Dharamsala, India Participants
