The Mind & Life Institute is a non-profit organization that seeks to understand the human mind and the benefits of contemplative practices through an integrated mode of knowing that combines first person knowledge from the world’s contemplative traditions with methods and findings from contemporary scientific inquiry. Ultimately, our goal is to relieve human suffering and advance well-being.
Values
To guide us in our Mission, Vision and Strategy, the Mind & Life Institute has adopted a set of core values:
- Love, Mindfulness and Compassion
- Trust and Integrity
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Impeccability and Continuous Improvement
- Open Communication and Transparency
We aspire to bring these values into our work, lives and culture as we grow the Mind and Life Family of researchers, contemplatives and participants.
Vision
The Mind & Life Institute sees the potential of a world that fully understands the critical importance of training the mind in ways that reduce individual and societal suffering and promote individual and planetary peace, health, well-being and cooperation. Moreover, we envision a world where everyone has access to age-appropriate and culturally appropriate mental and emotional fitness practices.
To accomplish this, we implement a practical, results-oriented Mission and Strategy based on scientific research to understand how we, as humans, can train our minds to develop the qualities of mind that support and advance our Vision.
Mission
The Mission of the Mind & Life Institute is to promote and support rigorous, multi-disciplinary scientific investigation of the mind which will lead to the development and dissemination of practices that cultivate the mental qualities of attention, emotional balance, kindness, compassion, confidence and happiness.
Our investigation is rooted in an integrated way of knowing that combines the first and second person direct experience of contemplative practice with a modern scientific third person inquiry.
Our commitment to multi-disciplinary investigation includes research in 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 benefits of mental fitness, and the best practices for achieving mental and emotional fitness.
Strategy
To execute this Vision and Mission we have developed a comprehensive strategy integrated initiatives:
Mind and Life Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama- Mind and Life Publications which report on these 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 & 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
- Mind and Life Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative, which ensures that the emerging fields of Contemplative Science and Studies are multi-disciplinary and integrated among first, second, and third-person modes of investigation
- Mind and Life Developmental Science Research Network, which explores human development issues and helps create education-related programs that can help children 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
