Tadashi Nishihira’s research interests have focused upon studies of human life cycle and spirituality. His recent interests include the Japanese traditional wisdom of human transformation. Nishihira’s main publications (in Japanese) include: Philosophy and Psychology of E. H. Erikson (University of Tokyo Press, 1993); Spiritual life-cycle in the work of Jung, Wilber, and Steiner (University of Tokyo Press, 1997); Inquiries into Psychology of Religion (co-editor) (University of Tokyo Press, 2001); Philosophical Investigation into the Zeami’s teaching of Exercise and Expertise (University of Tokyo Press, 2009); Care and Human Life (ed.), (Minerva-shobo, 2013); Dynamism of Mu-shin: No-mind-ness (Iwanami-gendai-sosho, 2014); Mysteries of Death and Birth in Childhood, (Misuzu-shobo, 2015); Japanese translation of E. H. Erikson’s Young Man Luther (Misuzu shobo, 2002); and Identity and Lifecycle (Seishin shobo, 2011). His teaching experiences include serving as a professor at Kyoto University from 2007 to present, associate professor at The University of Tokyo from 1997 through 2007, and associate professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo between 1990 and 1997.

Barry Kerzin is a monk, doctor, and international teacher. He is founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute (altruismmedicine.org) and is founder and chairman of the Human Values Institute in Japan (humanvaluesinstitute.org), as well as physician to the Dalai Lama. He holds several faculty positions and has written four books.

Marc-Henri Deroche is Associate Professor in Buddhist studies and cross-cultural philosophy at Kyoto University (GSAIS, Shishu-Kan), specialized in the philosophy of the mind-body and theories of meditation according to the Tibetan tradition of Dzogchen (“the Great Perfection”). Born in France, he received his Ph.D. (2011) in Asian studies (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris) with a dissertation and forthcoming book (Une quête tibétaine de la sagesse: Prajñāraśmi (1518-1584)) on ecumenism in Tibet according to the threefold model of wisdom: “listening, reflection and cultivation.” He was main editor of Revisiting Tibetan Religion and Philosophy (2012), and as grantee of the scholarship of the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT), he has also researched in the Department of Buddhist studies at Kyoto University from 2008 to 2013. In 2013, he was appointed as Hakubi Assistant Professor in Buddhist studies at Kyoto University and has since then mainly published on the philosophy of the mind-body in Dzogchen (in particular: Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 33, 44, etc.). Since 2012, he has become a collaborator with the Mind & Life Institute, especially co-organizing the 2014 Dialogue with H.H. the Dalai Lama in Kyoto. In 2015, he took his current academic position. His research now focuses on mindfulness and meta-awareness at the junction of Eastern and Western classical traditions, and cognitive and life sciences, while keeping a specialization on Dzogchen (JSPS Grant No. 17K13328, 2017-2020). Inspired by French philosopher Pierre Hadot and Kyoto School thinkers, his work tries to elucidate the lived articulations between philosophical reasoning and contemplative practice.

Senko Ikenobo is headmaster designate of Ikenobo, which has a history of over 555 years and takes its origin from of one aspect of Japanese traditional culture: ikebana. She serves as vice head priest of Shiunzan Chohoji (Rokkakudo) temple in Kyoto and as honorary consul of Iceland. Senko Ikenobo’s varied activities focus on life as emphasized through Ikenobo ikebana. In 2013, she conducted an ikebana workshop at Harvard University and performed a floral offering ceremony at United Nations Headquarters. In 2016, her ikebana work was displayed at the Shima Kanko Hotel The Classic to welcome prime ministers on the occasion of the forty-second G7 summit, held in Mie Prefecture, Japan.

Motoko Saito graduated from the medical department of Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University (now known as Toyama University) in 1991. Motoko worked as a gastroenterological surgeon for more than twenty years before shifting to the specialty of preventive medicine and terminal care. Saito has practiced Yoga since 2006. Among her mentors are Shri O. P. Tiwari from Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute in Lonavla, India, and Paul Dallaghan from Samahita Retreat in Koh Samui, Thailand. She has taught yoga to patients at hospitals as a supportive medicine and founded the yoga studio Chandra in Fukui in 2011.

Dr. Yulia Golland is an Assistant Professor in the Sagol Center for Brain and Mind, at Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, IDC, Herzliya. Her research is broadly focused on the physiological substrates of interpersonal interaction, and combines physiological measures (fMRI, ANS) and real-life social set-ups. In particular, she is interested in the role of the physiological and behavioral interpersonal synchrony in social interactions. Her work has been published in distinguished journals in the field of neuroscience and biological psychology and presented in neuroscience conferences. Past and current research projects in the lab include synchronization of autonomic signals between individuals in social emotional contexts, neural attunement to interpersonal emotional feedback, interpersonal synchrony in autistic individuals, physiological mechanisms of emotional transmissions, the physiological effects of the mere co-presence, and physiological markers of togetherness.

Emiliana Rodríguez  is a co-founder and Research Director at AtentaMente – a Mexican organization dedicated to the development and implementation of contemplative based social and emotional learning curricula for children, adolescents and adults. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and a Master’s in Mind Brain and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For more than 12 years she has studied and practiced Buddhism. Her interest in bridging scientific research, contemplative practices and education led her to contribute in research projects at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Wisconsin, and Research Schools at Harvard University.  Her current projects include a longitudinal study to understand the effects of a contemplative based training for adolescents; curriculum development, creation of an app for mobile phones to foster contemplative practice; and a research initiative to understand the learning pathways of compassion in children.