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An Overview of Meetings, Conferences and Events
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Mind and Life XVI
Investigating the Mind-Body Connection:
The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation
with
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Hosted by Mayo Clinic Rochester
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Mind and Life Institute presented Mind and Life XVI, Investigating the Mind-Body Connection: The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation, on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, hosted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Mind and Life XVI convened the Dalai Lama, scientists, clinicians, other contemplatives, and an audience of Mayo Clinic professionals to review the current science and clinical applications of meditation, and, to identify new lines of research on and clinical applications of contemplative practices such as meditation within medicine. New scientific studies are beginning to show that meditation may have specific beneficial effects for helping patients cope with certain diseases and the stress associated with them, particularly chronic diseases; and that biological processes underlying some of these diseases may be effected in beneficial ways by the practice of meditation.
WEBCAST INFORMATION
The panel discussion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as well as the other conference presentations, will be available until May 16 by clicking the links below.
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama (Panel Discussion)
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=854&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D.: A Contemplative Approach to Human Flourishing:
The Short and Long Term Effects of Mental Training
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=871&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.: "Reflections on the Origination, Development, and Scope of
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programs in Mainstream Medicine"
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=848&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.: "Mind-Brain-Body Interaction and Meditation"
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=849&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Linda E. Carlson, Ph.D., R. Psych.: "Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Programs for Patients
and Families Living with Cancer: Overview of a Program of Research"
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=852&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.: "Compassionate and Mindful End-of-Life Care:
A Relational-Contemplative Approach for Clinicians"
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=851&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8
Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. (Audience Questions)
http://mayo.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=853&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8 .
Morning Sessions
The Short and Long term Effects of Transforming One's Mind with contemplative
Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D.
Reflections on the Origination, Development, and Scope of Mindfulness-based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) Programs in Mainstream Medicine with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
Mind-Brain-Body Interaction and Meditation with Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
MBSR Programs for Clinical Patients Diagnosed with Cancer with Linda Carlson, Ph.D.
Compassionate and Mindful End-of-Life Care with Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.
The morning session was moderated by Mind and Life board member and best-selling author Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
Afternoon Panel Discusion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The afternoon session included a panel discussion between His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Glenn S. Forbes, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic Rochester, Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., and Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., to discuss the broad range subjects covered in the morning session.
Mind and Life XVI was a remarkable opportunity to share the fruits of ongoing scientific investigations, inspired and promoted by over twenty years of Mind and Life dialogues between contemplatives and scientists, and to begin a conversation on these investigations and their relevance for future science and clinical practice with a community of the Nation's leading physicians and physician-scientists. The Mayo Clinic is an organization of nationwide scope and global reputation in medical research, clinical practice and education. Finding new and better ways of providing health care is a part of Mayo's mission. With this meeting, Mind and Life Institute brings together leading scientists and health care professionals with contemplatives and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the service of forwarding that mission.
For More Information
Complete information about this meeting can be found in the Investigating the Mind-Body Connection program brochure PDF available for download at this website link.
The 2008 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute
Garrison Institute, Garrison, New York, June 6-12, 2008
Purpose
The purpose of the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute is to advance collaborative research among behavioral and clinical scientists, neuroscientists, and biomedical researchers based on a process of inquiry, dialogue and collaboration with Buddhist contemplative practitioners and scholars and those in other contemplative traditions. The long-term objective is to advance the training of a new generation of behavioral scientists, cognitive/affective neuroscientists, clinical researchers, and contemplative scholar/practitioners interested in exploring the potential influences of meditation and other contemplative practices on mind, behavior, brain function, and health. This includes examining the potential role of contemplative methods for characterizing human experience and consciousness from a neuroscience and clinical intervention perspective.
The specific goals of the Summer Research Institute are:
1) to cultivate strategic dialogue between experimental psychologists, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists on the one hand, and contemplative scholar/practitioners and philosophers on the other, in order to develop research protocols to enhance investigation of human mental activity;
2) to foster a cadre of nascent scientists (graduate students and post-docs) and contemplative scholars and philosophers to participate in the development of the next generation of scientists, clinicians, and scholars interested in innovation and collaboration at the mind-brain-behavior interface;
3) to advance a collaborative research program to study the influence of contemplative practices on the mind, behavior and brain function, by informed use of highly trained subjects in human neuroscience protocols;
4) to explore ways in which the first-person examination of mental phenomena, by means of refining attention and related skills, may be raised to a level of rigor comparable to the third-person methodologies of the cognitive sciences; and
5) to catalyze the creation of three new scientific and academic disciplines: Contemplative Neuroscience; Contemplative Clinical Science and Contemplative Studies.
Primary Theme
The 2008 Summer Research Institute will be devoted to the theme of attention and emotion regulation. It will bring together researchers in basic science, clinical science, contemplative scholarship and practice, and philosophy to investigate the relation between attentional processes and emotional self-regulation.
In recent years, emotional self-regulation and attention have emerged as central themes in psychology (clinical and developmental) and neuroscience (affective and cognitive), yet little work has been done to link findings about attention in cognitive psychology and neuroscience to findings about emotional self-regulation in clinical and developmental psychology and affective neuroscience. This gap reflects a longstanding separation of cognition and emotion in the brain and cognitive sciences, but one that has become increasingly untenable.
Contemplative mental training, including the psychological and philosophical theories of mental functioning that inform this training, open new avenues for investigating the complex relations among emotion, attention, meta-cognition, cognitive appraisal, affect and feeling, and the voluntary self-regulation of mental states. Contemplative practice not only offers new psychological phenomena for scientific investigation, but also and more importantly provides new resources for advancing scientific theories and models of cognitive and emotional functioning and subjective experience.
Through scientific, contemplative, and philosophical presentations, as well as intensive group discussions, the 2008 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute aims to break new ground in our understanding of attention and emotion regulation while fostering collaborative research in the newly emerging fields of contemplative neuroscience, contemplative clinical science, and humanistic contemplative studies.
The scientific emphasis will include developing rigorous experimental designs to evaluate both state and trait effects of contemplative practice, clinical trials methodology for evaluating the impact of meditative-based interventions, and potential experimental designs for incorporating "first-person" contemplative methods into cognitive/affective neuroscience research on consciousness. We will encourage the active collaboration of scientists, Buddhists, and other contemplative practitioner/scholars in all phases of research. Examples of findings from such collaborations will be provided.
Other Themes
Some other possible themes that may be addressed include:
Functional neuroimaging research on relations between changes in subjective experience during meditation and alterations in brain function.
Neuroplasticity and its implications for understanding transformations in brain and behavior as a function of development, including the impact of educational methods, with a focus on certain critical issues in developmental psychology.
Fundamentals of clinical intervention research to study comparative outcomes of meditation-based interventions, as well as to investigate the causal agency of contemplative practices in reducing suffering and promoting health.
Integration of first-person methods in research on brain function, meditation, and consciousness.
Affective and cognitive trait effects of meditation and methods to interrogate these changes in brain and behavior.
Longitudinal research with meditation practitioners.
Epistemological and methodological issues about introspection and meta-cognition, as seen from the perspectives of Buddhist and other contemplative psychology and modern cognitive science.
Issues in the professional development of meditation researchers including: how to write a successful grant; what types of professional positions are especially amenable to conducting meditation research; optimal ways to combine one's own personal contemplative practice with meditation research; and other aspects of professional development.
Format
The Institute is a quasi-retreat in which opportunities for deep dialogue across disciplines, as well as inquiry through first-person meditation practice, are optimized. Formal mindfulness/awareness meditation practice, with appropriate instruction, and periods of silence, are an integral part of the program, allowing all concerned to have an extended first-hand experience of what is involved practically speaking in engaging in contemplative practice, and the challenges of honoring and learning from first-person experience.
In addition to the daily hour-long meditation sessions that will take place morning and evening, there will also be a silent, day-long "mini-retreat" led by the contemplative faculty to extend and deepen the experience, understanding, and challenges of meditation practice. The natural beauty and cloistered atmosphere of the Garrison Institute, coupled with the informal and collegial nature of the gathering, all contribute to a relaxed but vigorous community of intention and mutual respect. The Faculty will consist of scientists, clinicial researchers, Buddhists and other contemplative practitioner/scholars and teachers. The meeting will be restricted to 150 participants, as innovative and interdisciplinary scientific conversations and potential collaborations and new projects are more likely to develop successfully with a limited number of committed participants.
Venue
The 2008 Summer Research Institute will be held at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, 50 miles north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley. Please see the Garrison Institute website for more details: www.garrisoninstitute.org/home.php.
Schedule
The Summer Research Institute will begin mid-afternoon on Friday, June 6, and continue for 6 days, ending on the morning of Thursday, June 12, 2008.
Application and Registration Schedule
January 15, 2008 - Applications open
February 29, 2008 - Applications close and materials due
March 30, 2008 - Final selection of applicants
April 21, 2008 - Notification of applicants (via email)
April 23, 2008 - Registration and payment opens for accepted applicants
May 18, 2008 - Last day for payment of fees
Who Should Attend
Scientific Attendees:
Research Fellows: Trainees, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows conducting research in neuroscience, clinical science or intervention research and/or biomedicine will be considered "Research Fellows".
Senior Investigators: Established academic researchers in these same areas who hold university or college faculty appointments (full-time, clinical or adjunct) at the level of Assistant Professor or above will be considered "Senior Investigators". Other professional groups (e.g. clinicians/therapists) who are independent practitioners will also fall into this category.
Contemplative Attendees:
Research Fellows: Dharma students or other students at the undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral level studying contemplative traditions, philosophy, or humanities will be considered "Research Fellows".
Senior Investigators: Contemplative scholars, teachers or researchers who hold a faculty or comparable position will be considered "Senior Investigators".
For More Information
If you are not already on the Mind & Life electronic email list, and you would like to receive automatic email notification regarding the application process for the MLSRI, please go to the home page (www.mindandlife.org), click on "Sign Up Online for Regular Information and Newsletters" (bottom left side of the page) to put yourself on our email list.
For more information about the 2008 Summer Research Institute , please go to: http://www.mindandlife.org/sri08.ml.summer.institute.html.
For information about past Summer Research Institutes, please see the CONFERENCES AND EVENTS page and click on "Archive of Past Conferences and Events".
For specific questions, not answered on these pages, you may contact maryann@mindandlife.org .
© Copyright 2008 Mind and Life Institute, Boulder, CO, USA. All rights reserved.
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