Mind & Life periodically invites guest contributors to the blog to deepen dialogue and understanding around themes central to our mission. In the reflection below, Buddhist scholar Paula Arai shares how her scholarship on women and Buddhism has shaped her contributions to Mind & Life’s Earth Awareness Working Group. When I joined Mind & Life’s …
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United & Present: Inner Capacities for Cooperation in a Polarized World
Mind & Life periodically invites guest contributors to the blog to deepen dialogue and understanding around themes central to our mission. The following post is adapted from Mara Lisa Arizaga’s presentation at Mind & Life’s 2026 Summer Research Institute. We live in a time of profound polarization. Across societies, communities, and institutions, disagreements can quickly …
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Summer Research Institute 2026: Cultivating Connection in a Fractured World
The Mind & Life Summer Research Institute is a collective experience shaped by many voices and perspectives. This personal reflection by participant Solei Sarmiento is but one of them. “Padre, no te espantes, pues todavía estamos nepantla.” (Durán 1967: 237) “Father, don’t be alarmed, for we are still nepantla.” This was the bold response of …
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Carrying the Vision Forward: My Reflections on Celebrating His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 90
On March 28, Mind & Life gathered at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C., for Wisdom for Our Time: A Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 90—a full day of reflection, conversation, and shared vision in honor of His Holiness’s 90th birthday. The room held researchers at different stages of their careers, …
What Can Eco-Anxiety Teach Us About Finding Meaning in a Time of Crisis?
Mind & Life periodically invites guest writers to contribute to the blog. Below, climate emotions researcher Panu Pihkala reflects on eco-anxiety and the emotional and existential dimensions of the climate crisis—and how meaning, community, and contemplation can help us navigate them. Panu served as a member of Mind & Life’s earth awareness working group in …
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Parent-Child Mindfulness: Why Families Should Practice Together
While working with stressed adults, and especially women, struggling with the long-term effects of early life adversity, contemplative researcher Joanna Guan had a recurring thought: we could have intervened earlier. But implementing early mindfulness interventions for children hasn’t exactly been straightforward. School-based mindfulness programs have proliferated in recent years, yet studies like the massive My …
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Reconnecting with Nature in a Time of Climate Crisis: Advancing the Science of Earth Awareness
Underlying rising temperatures and climate emergencies lies a quieter rupture: our growing disconnection from the living systems that sustain us. Earth awareness practices—contemplative practices that cultivate a lived sense of interconnection with the natural world—offer promise for rekindling the reciprocal relationship between humans and the Earth. Yet without a stronger evidence base, their potential to …
A New Chapter for the Mind & Life Podcast
Since its launch in April 2020, the Mind & Life podcast has been a space for deep inquiry—where rigorous science meets lived wisdom, and where fundamental questions about the mind, human experience, and our shared humanity can unfold across many lenses. Drawing from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, and first-person experience, the show has created a …
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Welcoming Tsewang Namgyal to Mind & Life’s Board of Directors
The Mind & Life Institute is pleased to welcome Tsewang Namgyal to our Board of Directors. With nearly two decades of leadership in global finance and a lifelong dedication to Tibetan contemplative traditions, Tsewang brings a rare ability to bridge ancient wisdom with the modern world. For Tsewang, joining Mind & Life’s community is deeply …
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Walking in Awareness: Indigenous Wisdom and Nature Connectedness
Ask a farmer in the Ecuadorian Andes how they know if the soil is healthy, and they might tell you they can feel it. Press further, and you may not get a rational explanation. You’ll likely hear about the humidity visible in the earth, the number of worms beneath the surface, and the smell of …
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