In some visions for contemplative studies, considerable importance is given to the integration of personal and professional practice. How might this work in practice, and what challenges and potentials does this entail in the laboratory, the clinic, and other contexts of research and application? Drawing on examples from our research projects and interventions, we offer …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Dream Neurophenomenology and Contemplative Sciences
In recent years, significant advances have been made in the cognitive neuroscience of conscious experiences, including contemplative states, sleep, and dreaming. A wealth of evidence suggests that contemplative practices influence processes of attention, emotion regulation, and brain plasticity. On the other hand, sleep and dreaming have been consistently linked to memory, emotion regulation, and brain …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Heartfulness as Mindfulness: Affectivity and Perspective in Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions
Current theories of mindfulness (Pali: sati) emphasize attention, emotional regulation, and meta-awareness. This interpretation de-emphasizes an original association of sati with remembrance in relation to cultivating virtue. Recovering remembrance reconnects mindfulness with narrative traditions of loving virtue. In practice, this occurs through cultivating both (1) affective awareness of the source of love, or ultimate reality; …
Concurrent Session 2 – Exploring Sleep Paralysis
The exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness can have a potentially deep impact on our understanding of ourselves and the world. These states, however, are difficult to bring into a scientific discourse due to issues connected to their properties of reproducibility and ineffability. But these obstacles do not pose impossible challenges. Recently, there has been …
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Concurrent Session 1 – Yoga’s Self-Regulatory Functions in Promoting Psychological Health: A Proposed Model
Research suggesting beneficial effects of yoga on myriad aspects of psychological health has proliferated in recent years, yet there is currently no overarching framework by which to understand yoga’s beneficial effects. In this session, we provide a theoretical framework and systems-based conceptual model of yoga that focuses on self-regulation. We begin by contextualizing yoga in …
Concurrent Session 1 – Engaged Compassion: Humanizing the Sacred and Secular
How can we advance true compassion in an increasingly pluralistic society? My paper will examine some possibilities in the light of ideas postulated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his book Beyond Religion, in which he stated that we are born free of religion but we are not born free of the need for …
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Concurrent Session 1 – Can There Be a Jewish Contemplative Studies?
As neuroscience and contemplative studies “come of age,” researchers are increasingly inquiring into non-Asian traditions, particularly Abrahamic ones. This paper addresses some of the methodological concerns implicated by this westward turn, focusing on Jewish contemplative practice. First, it provides an introduction to the major phenomenological types of Jewish mystical/contemplative practice. Second, it addresses the nature …
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Concurrent Session 1 – The Role of Contemplative Practice in Developing Authentic Leaders
Recent research in the fields of neuroscience and emotional intelligence point to the importance of authenticity, self-awareness, and interpersonal awareness for effective leadership. However, development of these qualities in leaders has been elusive and difficult to achieve through conventional means. Contemplative practices such as meditation, reflective inquiry, mindful dialogue, and various embodiment disciplines offer specific …
Master Lecture – Buddhism, Behaviorism, and the Brain
Buddhism, Behaviorism, and the Brain: Towards a Better Understanding of the Mechanisms and Mitigation of Craving, Grasping, and Addiction The seemingly intractable behavioral cycles and suffering of addiction offer a vivid and painful illustration of the necessity and challenge of behavior change. Decades of tireless research on the nature of, and mechanisms underlying, addiction have …
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Master Lecture – Dreamless Sleep and Consciousness
One of the major debates in classical Indian philosophy concerned whether consciousness is present in dreamless sleep. Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, and Sankhya-Yoga argued that consciousness is present in dreamless sleep, whereas Nyaya denies this. Consideration of this debate, especially the reasoning Advaita Vedanta used to rebut the Nyaya view, calls into question the standard neuroscience …
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