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CONTACT: Chris O’Brien, Development and Communications Officer // chris@mindandlife.org // (303) 530-1940 x106

Boulder, CO (December 1, 2011) – On 28 November, 2011, the Mind and Life Board of Directors confirmed the selection of Professor Arthur Zajonc as the new president of the Mind & Life Institute. Professor Zajonc, who will formally take up his appointment in January, 2012, succeeds Mr. R. Adam Engle, a Mind and Life Co-Founder who served as the president and chair of the Institute for more than two decades. This appointment represents the culmination of a successful presidential succession search facilitated by Rusher-Loscavio Executive Search for which the Mind & Life Institute especially thanks President Robert M. Fisher, PhD, JD.

Arthur Zajonc PhD (U. Michigan) is professor of physics at Amherst College, where he has taught since 1978. He has been visiting professor and research scientist at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, and a Fulbright professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. His research has included studies in electron-atom physics, parity violation in atoms, quantum optics, the experimental foundations of quantum physics, and the relationship between science, the humanities, and the contemplative traditions. He is author or editor of eight books including: Catching the Light (Oxford UP, 1995), The Quantum Challenge (Jones & Bartlettt, 2nd ed. 2006), Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love (Lindisfarne Press, 2009), and with Parker Palmer,The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal (Jossey-Bass, 2010).

In 1997 Professor Zajonc served as scientific coordinator for the Mind and Life dialogue published as The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama (Oxford UP, 2004). He organized the 2002 dialogue with the Dalai Lama, “The Nature of Matter, the Nature of Life,” and co-organized the 2007 dialogue on “The Universe in a Single Atom.” Zajonc acted as moderator at MIT for the “Investigating the Mind” Mind and Life public dialogue in 2003, and again in 2010 at Stanford’s CCARE public dialogue with the Dalai Lama on research concerning the cultivation of compassion and altruism. The proceedings of the Mind and Life-MIT meeting were published under the title The Dalai Lama at MIT (Harvard UP, 2003, 2006) which he co-edited. He currently directs the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, which supports appropriate inclusion of contemplative methods in higher education. He has also been General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society, president/chair of the Lindisfarne Association, and was a senior program director at the Fetzer Institute. For more information see www.arthurzajonc.org.

In celebrating the Board’s appointment of Professor Zajonc as the new president of the Mind & Life Institute, the Chairman Dr. Thupten Jinpa comments:

“I am extremely happy to note that the Mind and Life board’s election of Arthur was resounding and unanimous. We, the entire board, feel confident that Arthur is the ideal leader to take the Mind & Life Institute to its next stage of development. As a noted scientist held in the highest esteem both in North America and Europe, as someone widely respected for his critical role in bringing the contemplative dimension into higher education, and as a leader with long experience of guiding various non-profit initiatives, Professor Zajonc brings a unique combination of experience and expertise to his new position. Our previous president and co-founder Mr. R. Adam Engle, whose dedication and outstanding service during more than two decades is deeply appreciated by the board, leaves the organization in good health and strength.

Professor Zajonc is no stranger to the Mind and Life family. In addition to serving on the board of Mind and Life between 1998 and 2006, he has also played an active role in several important Mind and Life dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, including one on the new physics and cosmology in 1997, on the mind at MIT in 2003, and on “Universe in a Single Atom” in Dharamsala in 2007, editing two volumes from these dialogues for publication.

With Professor Zajonc as our new president, I strongly believe that today Mind and Life is well-placed to move forward in its unique mission and be more effective in making its contribution to the betterment of the world we live in. My colleague Rip Gellein, Mind and Life Vice Chair, and I are honored to work with Professor Zajonc as the new Mind and Life leadership team.”

The President-elect Arthur Zajonc comments:

    “It is an honor and privilege to take on the leadership of the Mind & Life Institute as its President. For over 20 years the work of the Mind & Life Institute has enriched our understanding of the mind by bringing together the remarkable achievements of modern research in neuroscience with the equally profound traditions of contemplative inquiry. Together they have the possibility not only of illuminating the nature of mind, but also of addressing many of the sources of suffering that are rooted there. I look forward to continuing the good work of the Institute and to collaborating with the Institute’s many friends and colleagues in the years ahead.”

About the Mind & Life Institute

The Mind & Life Institute is a Boulder, CO-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building a scientific understanding of the mind through the investigation of contemplative practices in order to reduce suffering and promote well being. The Mind & Life Institute implements this mission and vision through a strategy of integrated initiatives including Dialogues and Publications, the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute and accompanying Varela Awards, the Mind and Life Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative, and as a co-sponsor and coordinator of the International Symposia for Contemplative Studies (Denver ׀ April, 2012www.contemplativeresearch.org). For more information, visit www.mindandlife.org, or contact Chris O’Brien, Development and Communications Officer // chris@mindandlife.org // (303) 530-1940 x 106.

After opening remarks by Dan Goleman. Diana Liverman described the Anthropocene age we now live in, the first geologic era to be defined by the actions of one species.  Starting in 1950, a number of spikes have occurred – human population increase, automobile usage, carbon dioxide release, and several other measured indicators of climate change.  She laid out abundant data that pointed not only toward human-caused climate change, but also a series of other interrelated areas where people are having significant impact on the planet. Biodiversity, ocean acidification, ozone deplection, and other indicators were described to show a total of 9 impact areas which could trigger irreversible change if any of them reach excessive levels.

Watch the full session.

Session 2

Jonathan Patz spoke of the effects of climate change on human health.  For instance, the geographic ranges of disease-carrying mosquitoes is shifting to impact new populations.  Rising sea levels will reduce the coastlines of countries like Bangladesh.  Patz noted that climate change is being caused largely by people in developed countries, but the largest impacts are being felt by societies which have so far contributed very little to large scale environmental problems.  On the positive side, he explained that efforts to address climate problems will produce ‘co-benefits;’ that is, solving one problem will help with other challenges.  For example, biking to work instead of driving will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will also improve one’s health.

Watch the full session.

 Session 3

On the morning of Day 2, Greg Norris spoke about ‘life cycle assessment,’ the comprehensive measuring of production, distribution, use, and disposal of consumer products and services.  Not only does the production of something like an iPhone have substantial impact because of the energy and materials required to produce one, it also affects economies across the world and the livelihoods of millions of people throughout and after its useful life.  Some companies are using measurements like these to reduce their negative impacts on the planet.  Impacts on the world as a result of our use and abuse of the environment can be described as our ‘footprint.’  However, we can view efforts to help the planet, our positive effects, as our ‘handprint.’  Personal habit changes like driving less and eating less meat and raise our handprint on the environment.  The Mind & Life Institute pledged as part of this conference to buy enough carbon offsets to mitigate the negative impacts of participants’ travel and hotel nights.

Watch the full session.

Session 4

Clare Palmer introduced the emerging field of environmental ethics, especially the school of thought about a non-human centered view on what is intrinsically valuable in the environment.  Is the environment important beyond what services humans can extricate from the land and animals?  Then she addressed the question of ‘future people;’ do people who have not yet been born have rights, and should we make decisions today with their interests in mind?  Dr. Palmer ultimately triggered His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness the Karmapa to begin developing a (Tibetan) Buddhist theory and perspective about the relationship between humanity and the environment.

The final minutes of the session were devoted to a presentation from Matthieu Ricard about the use of animals for global food production.  Rather than focusing solely on the moral implications of harming other living beings, he spoke of the huge environmental impacts caused by producing meat.  The water and land needed to produce protein via animals is many times larger than by growing grains and vegetables that can produce the same nutritional benefits.  Reducing meat consumption would even produce the co-benefit of increasing a person’s health.  Turning to the idea of causing suffering, industrial animal farming creates great harm for these beings, not only in their final execution, but also in the quality of life they experience until the end.

Watch the full session.

Session 5

The third day of Mind and Life XXIII began with Sallie McFague and a scholarly Christian viewpoint on ecology, consumerism and personal responsibility.  She discussed the idea that part of the way that we start helping the planet is by consuming less, but this will be a hard pill to swallow – consumerism is so ingrained within whole societies that it could even be viewed as a new religion in itself.  McFague talked of the need for religious people to move from merely belief into a more proactive state of action.  She introduced to His Holiness the Christian idea of kenosis, a ‘self-emptying’ so that one puts the concerns and needs of others more prominently in one’s life than one’s own desires.  By shifting one’s world view of what is what is important, one can more forcefully and effectively move to a lifestyle of real altruism and compassion.  His Holiness agreed strongly with this idea and saw many similarities with the ideals of Buddhism as well as other world religions.

Watch the full session.

Session 6

The afternoon session gave His Holiness the Dalai Lama to ruminate on Buddhist notions of what our relationship to the environment should look like.  He spoke of stories in the ancient texts which allude to insights into the need to respect plants and animals.  He also spoke with concern over the trajectory of education and technological progress over the past centuries.  While they have produced many human benefits, they have also focused too much on the material world and comforts.  They have ignored the spiritual and physical benefits of introspective pursuits and contemplative practices.

Watch the full session.

Session 7

Roshi Joan Halifax, the final moderator, introduced the final main topic of the conference, that of action, and then Elke Weber presented on the psychology of behavior change.  While people may have in intellectual understanding about large problems, it is often quite difficult to translate that into action.  Challenges arise from such influences as personal paradigms, from the conflict of short-term vs. long-term goals, or from environmental factors.  Some factors that help enable behavior change include measurable goals or the ability to make decisions in multiple ways (based on logic, on emotions, or the presence of legal or ethical rules).

Watch the full session.

Session 8

Thupten Jinpa stepped out of his traditional role as translator to His Holiness for the eighth session in order to give a presentation on the Buddhist path that would benefit the other participants and the audience members.  Speaking mainly from the Nalanda tradition, he reflected on the View, Meditation, and Action.  The View is the right understanding of reality, of the ethical values a person should cultivate.  The Meditation is familiarization with this View, of building the right habits and attitudes, not just sitting on a cushion.  Action is the translation of this integrated understanding and worldview into how one conducts himself when confronted with everyday challenges and scenarios, which ultimately leads one towards benefiting others.  One of the salient points in his presentation was making a commitment to keeping on the Path through a constant mindfulness about one’s mind and actions.

Watch the full session.

Session 9

The final formal presentation came from Dekila Chungyalpa of the World Wildlife Fund.  She spoke on the importance of activism and of the challenges and strategies that individuals and organizations face in effecting change.  By using the example of work on the Mekong River by WWF and partner organizations, she illustrated the potential harm of damming on the river and WWF’s multifaceted style of fighting proposed dam projects which would affect the water quality, the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, and the runs of numerous species of fish.  Motivating the public, demonstrating cost/benefit analyses and tools for decision-makers, and reaching out to major global players (for instance, the US) all helped in altering and mitigating these projects.

Watch the full session.

Session 10

Ecology, Ethics and Interdependence closed with a roundtable discussion of ideas that had percolated throughout the week.  The participants put forth simple ideas that could reduce one’s impact on the environment; they highlighted organizations and foundations that are making very positive impacts at both local and regional levels; and they listed ways to become involved in activism.  The need for personal transformation and a shift away from consumerism and material gain as the dominant paradigm were echoed in several comments from the discussants.  In closing, His Holiness the Dalai Lama pledged to include the environment in his ongoing efforts to make this a better world.

Watch the full session.

Thank you for your keen interest and ongoing support of the Mind & Life Institute. After 25 exciting and productive years as Co-founder, Chair and CEO of the Mind & Life Institute, I have been contemplating how best to transition my leadership positions in a way that is proactive, thoughtful and most effectively supports our mission and vision. At our recent Board meeting in late March, the Mind and Life Board took a step forward in executing this transition by appointing Dr. Alfred Kaszniak as interim CEO while we conduct a search for a permanent CEO. Al has served on the Mind and Life Program and Research Council since its formation in 2009, and as Mind and Life’s Chief Academic Officer since July, 2010.

You can read about Al’s distinguished career on the following websites:
http://www.mindandlife.org/about/leadership/management/
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~kaszniak/

This restructuring will enhance our ability to continue to implement our current initiatives with excellence, and continue to provide capable leadership in today’s changing economic and scientific environment. I will remain Chair of the Board, responsible for refining strategy, developing collaborative partnerships, cultivating and deepening relationships with our financial partners, and working with our search committee to recruit a new CEO. Diego Hangartner will remain COO and Head of International, reporting to Dr. Kaszniak.

Mind and Life began 25 years ago with periodic dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Ten years ago, we added contemplative research to our agenda and began to develop the fields of Contemplative Neuroscience, Contemplative Clinical Science and Contemplative Education. Our efforts have been remarkably successful and these emerging fields are expanding rapidly. None of this progress would have been possible without your keen interest and ongoing support, for which we are eternally grateful.

Please join us in celebrating this milestone as Mind and Life begins to transition its leadership to the next generation.

With love and warmest regards,

R. Adam Engle, Co-founder and Chair

Save the Date!

2012 International Symposia for Contemplative Studies
April 26 – 29, 2012
Denver, Colorado

The inaugural 2012 International Symposia for Contemplative Studies is a collaborative effort among Centers and Laboratories around the world that explore the correlates and consequences of contemplative practice. The Symposia brings together world-renowned researchers, scholars, teachers, and students in keynote addresses, concurrent master lectures, panels, workshops and poster presentations.

Speaker, program and registration information coming soon.

Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s grey matter.

“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says Sara Lazar, PhD, of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program, the study’s senior author. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced mediation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.

For the current study, MR images were take of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation – which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings and state of mind – participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images were also taken of a control group of non-meditators over a similar time interval.

Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased grey-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion and introspection. Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased grey-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life.” says Britta Hölzel, PhD, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. “Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.”

Amishi Jha, PhD, a University of Miami neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training’s effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, “These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an 8-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amydala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR’s potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.” Jha was not one of the study investigators.

###
James Carmody, PhD, of the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School, is one of co-authors of the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the British Broadcasting Company, and the Mind and Life Institute. More information on the work of Lazar’s team is available at http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~lazar/.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $700 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine.

via Mindfulness meditation training changes brain structure in 8 weeks.

Contact: Sue McGreevey
smcgreevey@partners.org
617-724-2764
Massachusetts General Hospital

Kapila Vatsyayan, of the Indian Parliament, professed to be ignorant in many topics that had been brought up over the course of the conference, claiming that the discussions have been on planes with which she has little expertise.  However, she noted that empirical and philosophical questions have always been a part of being human.  Vatsyayan stated that science should really be a holistic endeavor.  Lastly, she posited that ‘secular ethics,’ a subject His Holiness loves to share with audiences, is in reality a culturally and historically framed idea, not merely a universal truth.  The word ‘secular’ is definitely used in a way that presents problems for an Indian context.  She asked His Holiness to reflect on this notion.

His Holiness responded that Dr. Vatsyayan had created ‘shakiness’ in his belief of what the word ‘secular’ means.  He would think more about this idea in the future, but he promised he would never abandon his campaign to promote secular ethics.  As Kapila-ji lastly asked His Holiness to explain his own Nalenda tradition, the Dalai Lama then took some time to explain where the beliefs and history of Buddhism.

His Holiness began by stressing the importance of personal investigation, rather than just accepting the words of one’s own teacher or even the Buddha himself.  All achievements, from the most immediate to the ultimate attainment of nirvana, come from clear knowledge.  Liberation comes from refraining from non-virtuous actions, from grasping at a notion of ‘self,’ and from holding any distorted views.  In terms of the virtuous actions, the secular ethics, although they will produce a good rebirth in the Buddhist sense, the dialogues with scientists should not be concerned with such notions.  Instead, they should focus on how they produce happiness in this life.

Practices are aimed at creating states of heightened concentration, of transcending pleasure and pain as dominating forces in one’s life.  The methods are partly single-pointed focus and partly analytical.  An appreciation of the interdependence of all things is vital to attaining both immediate happiness and long-term spiritual freedom.

Wolf Singer remarked on the importance of using different perspectives to create the most complete picture possible.  The must be some synthesis of perspectives from around the globe which could point to a common denominator, a way for all of us to communicate.  We should look for ‘translators’ who can bridge the scientific views and terminology of the West with the philosophical perspectives of the East.

Richard Davidson, in thinking of the importance of this Mind and Life dialogue in India, congratulated His Holiness on His efforts to bring science into the monastaries.  He mused whether something comparable could be possible in institutions of higher learning in India, in Europe, in the United States.  He reminded the audience of the attempts to teach contemplative practices in schools in India but noted that there is a dearth of research into their efficacy.  He also looked forward to a day when mental training is regarded in the same way as physical training.  “Well-being is something more than just the absence of disease.”  Davidson thanked His Holiness for His leadership in the promotion of secular mental training.

VS Ramamurthy joined the conversation and noted that, in the past, traditional scholars have looked inwards to discover knowledge.  Modern science has been looking outwards.  “It is unfortunate that the two systems have not been complementing each other, but actually have been looking at each other with a little distrust.”  This is changing, however.  Partly due to the development of neuroscience, we are beginning to think of the human brain as more than just a supercomputer, and that it is also more than just a collection of elements and molecules.  While it is important that gurus of each tradition talk with each other about similarities, it is also necessary to disseminate the knowledge to the younger generation.  He stated that meetings like this should continue to happen and in different places.  Another idea that he had to help spread the word is via social networks, to take advantage of modern technology.  One problem he saw in garnering interest and funding from governments was that there is no quantifiable measure of happiness, that happiness is not a component of GDP.  A better understanding of the human mind does not immediately translate into financial gain.  We should attempt to figure out how to quantify human well-being.

His Holiness concluded the meeting by thanking the organizers and the host country of India.  He believed that there is great potential here – the cultural atmosphere is ripe for working in this realm of Contemplative Science.  He admitted that His role in these meetings is largely to support the great work being done by all the scientists, and that He continually appreciates the efforts and involvement of everyone who becomes active in the Mind and Life family.

(Click on the thumbnails to see a full-size image.)

Matthieu Ricard then gave a presentation that acted as a follow-up to Thupten Jinpa’s remarks from Session 1.  He went into detail describing ‘the Path,’ the means by which one liberates oneself from suffering.  “It is the purification of the misconstruction of reality,” he said.  Many people are addicted to the causes of suffering; but numerous recitations and meditations are all attempts to come to a clearer understanding, to have the right perception of the mind.  This maturation process takes time and patience, however.  “You cannot pull at grass to make it grow faster, you will only kill it.”

His Holiness mused whether there could be future experiments where practitioners remain in one state for long periods, apart from compassion (which has been utilized in many experiments to date) – like admiration or devotion.

Rajesh Kasturirangan of the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore then entered the conversation, stating that this conference and collaboration is extremely good for India.  He noted that western science entered its Renaissance when new material and ideas were ‘discovered’ from other parts of the world.  A similar spurring of enthusiasm for research in India could be fostered from these dialogues among distinct traditions.  A big concern for him, however, was the gap in understanding of the mind between Indian traditions and the West.  Maybe, in his view, we need to gather the ‘mental taxonomy’ from India, as its traditions have developed a rich tapestry of concepts and terms over thousands of years to describe minute distinctions, similar to the way Alaskan eskimos have forty words for ‘snow.’

In Session 3, Swami Atmapriyananda gave another presentation, this time about the Vedanta tradition.  A driving concept behind this is the necessity of ‘seeing things as they are.’  Leave out the preconceptions you bring to a situation, and just witness it as it is, not as you want it to be.  Swami stated that everyone wants to be happy all the time, because happiness is their basic nature, their natural state.  There are many steps of purification, which allow a clearer view of one’s inner self, her luminescent self; the goal is to de-hypnotize oneself.  There is not just the little ‘I’ apart from the rest of the world – ‘I’ is part of everything.  An analogy was made to a balloon.  “Think of your ego as the air filling up the balloon.  If it pops, where does the air go?”  He explained that it goes nowhere, because it just remerges with all the rest of the air, the rest of the universe.  The ground of reality, in the Vedanta view, is supreme consciousness, not demarcated by individual egos, but all unified.

Session 4 was highlighted by Muni Mahendra Kumar of the Jain tradition describing the steps of Preksha meditation.  Among several other aspects, he noted that during the meditation, there is perception on many levels, or ‘ordinary’ things like breathing and of the body but also of deeper ideas like psychic centers and colors.

Shirley Telles described studies in schools of the effects of meditation on students, and the effects ranged from increased attention to improved memory.  There are also lab studies underway involving dharana versus dhyana meditation, which is, in a sense, effort-ful versus effort-less meditation.  Richard Davidson presented findings on behalf of BN Gangadhar, who was unable to attend the conference.  Gangadhar’s studies were on yoga, especially on subjects who suffer from depression or schizophrenia.  Cortisol, a ‘stress’ agent, was found to be reduced during yogic exercises.  In fact, yoga was demonstrated to be more beneficial than regular exercise for reducing stress.

At the end of the session, His Holiness said, “After yesterday and today, I am leaving very excited.  Now, it’s like we have a ‘spiritual supermarket!’”  He gave a word of caution, however, foreseeing that there could be possible confusion in mixing up traditions and elements.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama then gave an inspired speech about the importance of this dialogue.  He has wanted to expand the gamut from which scientists choose practices for years, and his enthusiasm was plainly evident.  By enlarging the menu of practices, researchers are approaching the field of Contemplative Science with a more holistic perspective.  “In order to reach the ultimate goal, you must have the best understanding.  Read.  Investigate.  The Buddha said, ‘Do not take my word for it – investigate it for yourself.’”

“Years ago, I told our monasteries it is very good to learn science.  At first there was resistance and skepticism to this; but now after just five years, we have created a whole curriculum.  And now we are starting to study non-Buddhist thought, so that we have monks with fuller knowledge.  We must study living traditions, like Christianity, Islam, and modern philosophy.”

His Holiness explained the two purposes of the Mind and Life dialogues from his perspective:

1. To expand knowledge, not just of subatomic particles but of the mind.  This will help modern science to become complete.
2. With the help of science, we should attempt to discover ways to promote happiness, and to help the world.

“I consider myself a messenger of ancient India traditions, as Buddhism arose there.  India ultimately taught us Tibetans.  I now wish that my ‘guru’ starts taking a more active role in this sort of exploration.”

The presentations of the session came from Swami Atmapriyananda and Thupten Jinpa.  Swami attempted to give an overview of the Indian traditions and their common denominators in fifteen minutes.  He emphasized that they are not so much characterized by a dogma, as much as they are means of investigating reality.  He joked that India has produced too many theories, but they do not have enough practical implications.

Thupten Jinpa traded hats for this session; whereas he normally acts as His Holiness’ principal English interpreter, he in this case presented a review of Buddhism and its philosophy.  He focused on the idea of Ground/Path/Result.  The Ground is the aim, what one is attempting to attain – a clear understanding of reality.  The Path is what one does to attain the goal; one incorporates the understanding of reality by adopting correct view, by internalization (meditation), and by right action.  The Result is the genuine freedom achieved by following the Path.

Charkravarthi Ram-Prasad entered the conversation by addressing challenges facing Contemplative Science, among which are the terminology and western interpretations of Buddhist and Indian-tradition concepts.  The West has an all-purpose word – ‘mind’ – while Buddhist and Indian traditions have several nuanced terms to describe a range of aspects.

In short, the opening session of Mind and Life XXII served as a refresher to place everyone – from the audience to His Holiness to the speakers – on the same page before moving forward with discussions on Indian traditions and their implications for scientific study.

(Click on the photos for larger versions)