Attending Mind and Life’s first-ever International Research Institute (IRI) in Kyoto, Japan, was a career highpoint. The event bridged my past and present, my current studies in the U.S. with my roots in Japan, and my interest in exploring the connection between mind and body.

Quite simply, I felt at home.

As a child, I went on field trips to Buddhist temples, but never really appreciated them. That all changed years later within the awe-inspiring setting of Myōshin-ji, a 14^th century Zen temple complex typically reserved for monks, yet made available to IRI participants to explore the theme of “Contemplative Practice in Context: Culture, History, and Science.”

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Claims abound about the benefits of mindfulness in promoting human health and well-being, making it hard for people to distinguish between hype and hard science. Over the last two decades, hundreds of trials have explored the impact of meditation and mindfulness on mental health in individual studies, but researchers rarely undertake the challenge of investigating what these findings reveal across the field as a whole.

One exception is Simon Goldberg. An assistant professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin and affiliate faculty member at the Center for Healthy Minds, Goldberg started meditating in college and later pursued a doctorate to better understand the psychotherapeutic benefits of mindfulness. His most recent research sought to identify the larger lessons hidden within mountains of data.

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What role do context and history play in influencing meditation practice and outcomes? How can the contemplative practices of one culture be effectively studied and practiced by another? More than 75 scientists, scholars, contemplatives, and artists from 11 countries recently convened in Kyoto, Japan to explore these and related questions at Mind & Life’s inaugural
International Research Institute (IRI).

Held within the serene setting of Myōshin-ji, a 14^th century Zen temple complex, the five-day event was modeled on Mind & Life’s signature Summer Research Institute (SRI), now in its 15th year. The conference theme, “Contemplative Practice in Context: Culture, History, and Science,” framed presentations and discussion on topics ranging from the centrality of narrative to human experience to the historic influence of Zen on the arts in Japan. Read More

With a focus on the latest in contemplative research from some of the field’s most noted scholars—a goal that’s informed the gathering since its 2012 inception—this year’s International Symposium for Contemplative Research (ISCR) is also moving beyond its roots and broadening its voice. 

That means lively discussions of contemplative practice in the digital age. Dialogue on mindfulness training in high-pressure environments—the military, healthcare, in emergency response—where practitioners strain against the clock. Research on mindfulness’s impact on children in a classroom, its ability to assuage pain, and be a possible salve for those struggling with addiction. And deep thinking about how, and why, social justice, historical inequities and determined inclusion must inform its progress forward.

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Written in collaboration with the Garrison Institute

How do we emotionally and socially construct our notions of difference and “the other?” Are there core truths about otherness that transcend geographic or racial boundaries? In June, more than 130 scientists, scholars, students, and activists from 19 countries gathered at Mind & Life’s 15th Summer Research Institute (SRI), each held at the Garrison Institute. This year’s theme, “Engaging Cultural Difference and Human Diversity,” provided the opportunity for a deep dive into these and other questions at the heart of today’s growing divides. Read More

In 1972, American photographer and writer Thomas Laird traveled overland from Europe into India on a mission to document works of art designed to transform human consciousness. Now, nearly 50 years later, his mission has been achieved in a single, monumental book: “Murals of Tibet.”

The SUMO-sized publication by TASCHEN presents—for the first time—130 of the rarest and most precious murals of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. “Murals of Tibet” is as much a definitive guide to the art of the Himalayas as it as a masterpiece in itself. In honor of this landmark in the preservation of Tibetan culture, His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama personally signed and blessed all 998 copies of the Collector’s Edition. Read More

“It requires something more than personal experience to gain a philosophy or point of view from any specific event. It is the quality of our response to the event and our capacity to enter into the lives of others that help us to make their lives and experiences our own.”
—Emma Goldman

The relationship between contemplative practice, scholarship, cultural difference, and human diversity became clear to me the first time I stepped barefoot into a meditation center to find I was the only person of color aside from the monks in their saffron robes. As a first generation Mexican-American woman growing up in Texas, the power imbalances I encountered within North American contemplative communities prompted me to step away from practicing and facilitating in community. The ‘othering’ people of color in the U.S. often experience on a daily basis now drives my research at Brown University into the intersection of contemplative science with race/ethnicity, class, and society. Read More

Nourished. Connected. Validated. Protected. Challenged. Humbled. Grateful. These were just a few of the words used by participants at Mind & Life’s 2018 Summer Research Institute (SRI) to describe their experience.

In keeping with the event’s theme, “Engaging Cultural Difference and Human Diversity,” Mind & Life’s 15^th annual SRI was the most diverse ever, bringing together over 130 scientists, scholars, students, and activists from 19 countries across 6 continents. More than three quarters of attendees were women; half represented racial minorities. With generous support from the Hershey Foundation and other donors, 45 attendees received scholarships. Read More