Mind and Life XV at Emory University
Therefore, beginning in 2000 MLI officially added the goal of catalyzing collaborative research between scientists, contemplatives, and other relevant disciplines as part of its mission. Richie and Francisco affirmed their commitment to develop collaborative research projects in their labs and Paul Ekman, a world-renowned emotions researcher from UCSF who had participated in the ML VIII meeting, initiated the ‘Cultivating Emotional Balance’ research project with MLI support.
It also became clear that for a collaborative research effort to be meaningful to society, it needed to attract a larger group of dedicated young scientists who would work in this emerging area over the course of their careers. Moreover, in order for them to do this, these scientists would need reliable streams of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. To explore the feasibility and desirability of such a research effort, MLI decided to organize its first public meeting among neuroscientists and contemplatives.
In May 2001, just weeks after our ML IX meeting in Madison, MLI co-founder and scientific visionary Francisco Varela passed away. This was a huge blow both to Adam personally, who had been working closely with Francisco for 16 years, and to MLI which was preparing for its first public meeting. To meet our challenges, Richie Davidson stepped in as MLI’s primary science visionary and Adam, who had been working pro bono for MLI for 17 years, gave up his “day job” to work full time for MLI.
In January 2003, after the successful ML X meeting in Dharamsala, MLI released Destructive Emotions, written by Dan Goleman. Not only did the book sell well and provide much needed financial support for MLI, but Dan’s book tour and the resultant publicity helped generate interest for our first public ML XI dialogue held at MIT in October 2003.
The success of our ML XI conference in 2003, together with the launch of our ML Summer Research Institute (MLSRI) and Varela Research Awards in June 2004, marked the beginning of a new developmental phase for MLI—implementing the strategy of catalyzing new fields of science (yet unnamed) that involved true collaboration between scientists and contemplatives in research settings.
At first, these collaborations were focused on neuroscience. However, in October 2005, building on mindfulness research already spearheaded by the Center for Mindfulness, Mind and Life organized a second public meeting with Richie Davidson and Jon Kabat-Zinn as coordinators. Focusing on clinical science and co-sponsored by Johns Hopkins Medical University and the Georgetown Medical Center, the meeting would be held in Washington, D.C. Coincident with our MLI meeting, His Holiness addressed the annual meeting for the Society of Neuroscience in Washington, which brought further credibility and support to our mission.
In 2006 the MLI Board conducted a strategic review and at the December, 2006 meeting formally adopted a comprehensive strategy to promote and support rigorous scientific investigation of the mind which will lead to the development and dissemination of practices to cultivate the mental qualities of attention, emotional balance, kindness, compassion, confidence and happiness.
Mind and Life XX in Zurich, Switzerland. Photo: Manuel Bauer
What is unique about the MLI approach to the sciences investigating the mind is the integration of the first and second person inquiry developed and refined by the worlds’ living contemplative traditions with the third person inquiry developed and refined by modern science. We also are committed to a multi-disciplinary investigation which includes the traditional mind sciences, social sciences, contemplative scholarship and practice, philosophy and humanities. We believe that only through this integrated investigation can we achieve an accurate understanding of how the mind works.
The MLI board, program and research council and management team continuously review and refine the MLI strategy to produce the maximum impact given its limited financial and human resources. Our current comprehensive strategy includes and integrates the following initiatives:
- Mind and Life Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Mind and Life Publications which report on these ML Dialogues
- Mind and Life Summer Research Institute which helps train scientists and scholars in the emerging fields of Contemplative Science and Studies
- Mind and Life Research Grant Programs which provide pilot research grants to pioneering investigators in Contemplative Science and Studies
- Mind and Life Developmental Science Research Network which explores the human development issues necessary to create programs that can begin to educate children to cultivate the mental qualities of attention, emotional balance, kindness, confidence, and happiness early in life
- Mind and Life Leadership and Organization Research Network which explores how best to bring mental and emotional fitness, stress reduction, creativity and long term well-being to organizations
- Mind and Life Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative to insure that the emerging fields of Contemplative Science and Studies are multi-disciplinary and integrated among 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person modes of investigation
- Mind & Life Institute Collaborator Initiative which promotes cooperation among the emerging research centers and laboratories in Contemplative Sciences and Studies; organizes the International Symposia on Contemplative Studies and coordinates the development of best practices in Contemplative Research
For a complete list of Mind and Life Dialogues and related publications, click here.
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