At Mind & Life, we believe that fostering dialogue among individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives is essential to pursuing practical solutions to complex challenges. Our convenings bring together researchers, contemplatives, and changemakers to explore big questions. Among them is how contemplative wisdom can be applied in pursuit of a more just, compassionate, and inclusive world.
Mind & Life convenings are cross-disciplinary and cross-generational learning exchanges, incorporating diverse perspectives, contemplative practices, and the arts. We create spaces where enduring relationships are formed, and new insights can emerge. Increasingly, we’re focused on the theme of interconnection, and how the integration of science and contemplative wisdom can contribute to individual well-being—and collective flourishing.
As part of our commitment to inclusion, many of our programs include scholarships for individuals who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Upcoming Events
2021 Summer Research Institute
The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis
Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Environment | Interconnection
2021 Online Speaker Series
The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis
Topics: Environment | Interconnection | Social Change
Recent Events
Inspiring Minds – April 2021
The Role of Attention and Awareness in an Era of Misinformation and Digital Seduction
Our April conversation features Amishi Jha and Jon Kabat-Zinn, and cellist Barbara Bogatin. Learn more about the inner workings of the mind, and how to cultivate greater attention and wise action in how we conduct ourselves individually and collectively.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Mindfulness
Inspiring Minds – March 2021
Transformative Change: Where Research and Action in the World Meet
Our March conversation, “Transformative Change: Where Research and Action in the World Meet,” features Doris Chang and Reggie Hubbard, with musician Grant Jones. will discuss the tendency for research and ‘real-world’ practice to get siloed. What can contemplative scientists and changemakers working to advance social justice learn from and share with each other?
Topics: Interconnection | Mindfulness | Social Change | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – January 2021
Mindfulness, Resilience, and Compassion for the New Year
Our January conversation, “Mindfulness, Resilience, and Compassion for the New Year,” features Rhonda Magee and Jack Kornfield, with musicians Marti Nikko and DJ Drez. We look at how we can lay the foundations for a year of compassion and healing grounded in our shared humanity.
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists
The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: A Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops
We’re honored to host a special free livestream event on January 9, 2021 at 10:30 p.m. EST with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and leading scientists to explore steps for addressing the urgent challenges presented by this threat.
Topics: Environment | Interconnection | Social Change
Inspiring Minds – December 2020
Finding Connections: Pathways to Embodied Wisdom
Our December conversation, “Finding Connections: Pathways to Embodied Wisdom,” features Peter Wayne, Willa Blythe Baker, and Srinivas Reddy. We discuss the relevance of ancient wisdom practices today and the profound inner-knowing that lies within the body.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Contemplative Wisdom | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – November 2020
Yoga as a Tool for Social Change
Our November conversation “Yoga as a Tool for Social Change” features Richard Freeman and Gail Parker, along with pianist/composer Peter Kater. We’ll explore how embodied yoga practices can lead to greater self-awareness and agency in contributing to a better world.
Topics: Body-based Practices | Social Change
2020 Contemplative Research Conference
State of the Field—Discoveries, Opportunities, and Challenges
The Mind & Life 2020 Contemplative Research Conference is online November 5-8, 2020. The virtual conference is an international convening for rigorous interdisciplinary investigation of contemplative practices and programs in diverse contexts. The conference will feature plenary sessions and concurrent symposia on a diverse range of topics and best practices within contemplative research, including basic research, clinical studies, cultural and philosophical analyses, and education.
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Mental Health | Mindfulness | Stress & Resilience
Inspiring Minds – October 2020
Mindfulness and Racial Healing
Join Mind & Life for our monthly online series that brings together thought leaders and contemplatives to engage with one another and the audience in exploring the role of the mind in human flourishing. At a time of profound global crises, we’ll be looking at how science and contemplative wisdom can inform efforts to build a more just, compassionate, and inclusive world.
Topics: Contemplative Wisdom | Interconnection | Self & Other
2020 Mind & Life Conversation
Mind & Life Conversation: Resilience, Compassion, and Science for Healing Today
June 19, 2020, 10:30pm EDT The Mind & Life Institute was honored to host this special livestream event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The program explored insights for individual and collective healing, integrating contemplation, science, and action, helping us to consider how crisis can be an opportunity to shift human consciousness and embrace our […]
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Contemplative Wisdom | Self & Other
2020 Summer Research Institute
Cultivating Prosocial Development Across the Lifespan: Context Relationships, and Contemplative Practices
The world, in the face of pressing global ecological, economic and political challenges, stands in need of social systems renewal. We need generations of individuals, both young and old, who are skilled in the virtuous habits of the head, the heart and the hand, and who therefore are positioned to address the global challenges of our times. How can prosocial qualities be cultivated in individuals, families, schools and communities such that we support generations of people in becoming “forces for good” in the world today?
Topics: Brain & Cognitive Science | Compassion & Empathy | Education | Social Change
About Mind & Life Events
Mind & Life research conferences provide a rich forum for interdisciplinary investigation of the mind and contemplative practices in diverse contexts. Innovative thought leaders present groundbreaking research in neuroscience, psychology, clinical science, the humanities, philosophy, and education—all with the goal of advancing understanding of the mind and its role in individual and collective flourishing.
The Summer Research Institute (SRI) is a week-long, residential program held at the Garrison Institute in New York. Through inquiry and dialogue, the SRI seeks to foster collaborative research among scientists, scholars, contemplatives, and social activists. SRI participants refer to this annual event—founded in 2004—as a unique gathering place and “professional home.”
Mind & Life Conversations convene key thought leaders—prominent scholars, contemplatives, and changemakers—to engage in intimate, one- to two-hour discussions designed to bridge contemplation, research, and action. A key theme is addressing contemporary issues related to disconnection.
Mind & Life Dialogues are conversations between leading thinkers and spiritual leaders such as the Dalai Lama, addressing critical issues of modern life at the intersection of scientific and contemplative understanding. The Dialogues began in 1987 as intimate discussions and have grown to include large public and private events at locations around the world.
Join Mind & Life for our monthly online series that brings together thought leaders and contemplatives to engage with one another and the audience in exploring the role of the mind in human flourishing. At a time of profound global crises, we’ll be looking at how science and contemplative wisdom can inform efforts to build a more just, compassionate, and inclusive world.
Mind & Life has a long history of hosting transformative, cross-disciplinary learning exchanges that bridge science and contemplative wisdom. Over time, our events have served a variety of audiences and needs. A consistent goal is fostering new insights that inspire action in addressing real-world challenges—from education to leadership to nurturing prosocial behaviors.