Transformation is a mind-body endeavor. Yet in the quest for enlightenment, meditation can overlook body-based practices, while modern yoga can omit the training of the mind and emotions. This talk focuses on the body’s role in transformation. We examine the significance of the body in mindfulness-based practices such as interoception and self-compassion. Drawing from emerging …
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Concurrent Session 5 – Externally-Induced Contemplation: A Neuroscience Study of Architecture
Neuroscience research on contemplation usually considers only internally induced (self-directed) methods for attaining mindfulness (e.g., meditation, prayer). We explored other “external methods” for cultivating mindfulness, focusing on architecture that we design and inhabit. Our study evaluated if buildings designed for contemplation would elicit brain activation patterns similar to those found under contemplation. We used a …
Concurrent Session 2 – Contemplative Neuroscience, the Phenomenology of Attention and the Mereology of the Subject
In this paper, I argue that results from contemplative neuroscience can help resolve a dispute between Husserl and Gurwitsch regarding whether attention is endogenous or exogenous. The empirical results indicate that attention is endogenous, i.e., that we are subjectively aware — and to a certain extent in control — of the direction of our attention. …
Concurrent Session 2 – Transforming Moral Distress: Lessons from Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Contemplative Practice
For clinicians exposed daily to pervasive suffering, death, and moral conflict in their work, maintaining composure, courage, and resilience is especially difficult and can lead to moral distress. In this experiential, interactive workshop, we will present collaborative work, supported by the Mind & Life Institute, between clinicians, philosophers, and leaders in contemplative practice and neuroscience. …
Concurrent Session 1 – Distinctions of Contemplative Practice in Different Religious Traditions and Relevance to Neuroscience
Contemplative practices of the many traditions of the West and of the East have different characteristics. For example, the absorption of mystics (in Christian or Sufi traditions) has a different character than does Buddhist contemplation. Whereas the mystic enters into the subtle domain of mind in the experience of a higher power (in the face …
Developing Objective Measurements of Climate Resilience and Emotional Adaptability in Youth
Climate change is both an environmental and psychological crisis, with college-aged youth (Gen Z/α) especially vulnerable to climate distress. While climate education can foster resilience and engagement, most studies rely on self-report, limiting objectivity. This proposal introduces an innovative approach by integrating cognitive and neurophysiological measures to evaluate climate resilience interventions. The study has two …
Jay Van Bavel
Jay Van Bavel is a Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations, Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, and Director of the Center for Conflict & Cooperation. He is also an Associate Editor of the Proceedings of the National …
Contemplative and Ecological Education
What if the solution to our most pressing environmental, educational, and emotional crises was hiding in plain sight—in the trees, the silence of a forest, or the stillness of our own breath? As a researcher and educator, I’ve spent years exploring how contemplative practices and nature, two ancient sources of wisdom, can come together to …
Bridging Science and Buddhism: The Dalai Lama’s 100 Year Vision
It was a starlit winter evening in southern India as we barreled down a rural road through a Tibetan settlement village in our tuk-tuk, a three-wheeled motorized taxi. The sputter of the motor was interrupted only by the joyful laughter of our Tibetan Buddhist monastic friends as they raced us in their own tuk-tuk on …
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Embodiment and Intersubjectivity: Empirical and Phenomenological Approaches, Pt 1
Two themes that have become prominent in studies of consciousness and cognition: embodiment and intersubjectivity. We will begin by discussing recent work in embodied cognition, informed by both science and philosophical phenomenology.
