The session explores whether physical health can provide a secular basis for ethical living by showing how harmful and beneficial states of mind affect the body. Lee Yearley begins with Thomas Aquinas’s account of virtues and vices, describing how compassion, courage, wisdom, justice, moderation, faith, hope, and charity guide human flourishing, while anger, envy, greed, …
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Emotion, Brain Activity, Immune Function
Clifford Saron presents research, conducted with Richard Davidson, on how different emotional tendencies are reflected in patterns of brain activity. Using electroencephalography (EEG), facial expressions, behavioral observations, and self-reports, the researchers found that greater activity in the left frontal region of the brain is generally associated with approach-oriented behavior and positive emotions, while greater right-frontal …
Day 1 Afternoon Discussion
The afternoon dialogue examines whether compassion can provide a sufficient foundation for ethics and whether moral principles must depend on religious or metaphysical beliefs. Sharon Salzberg presents the Buddhist view that compassion arises from recognizing the shared wish to be free from suffering, while the Dalai Lama argues that compassion is a natural human capacity …
Brief and Built to Last: The Case for Micropractice
Many of us know when something’s not right—there’s a familiar, heightened sensation: blood rushing, mind racing, gut dropping. Maybe you’ve just received an unwanted email from your boss, a hefty text from a family member, or a heavy headline running across your television screen. And in the moment, bringing a hand to your chest, closing …
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Psychoneuroimmunology
Francisco Varela introduces psychoneuroimmunology by describing the immune system as a kind of “second brain” that works alongside the nervous system to maintain the body’s health and identity. He explains how networks of lymphocytes, including B cells and T cells, recognize and respond to molecular signals through activation, suppression, and antibody production, much as neurons …
Dialogue with His Holiness and Matthieu Ricard
The discussion explores how stress, brain plasticity, physical activity, social relationships, and contemplative practice interact to shape health and well-being. The Dalai Lama and the scientists consider whether mindfulness is sufficient on its own, concluding that practices may be strengthened by physical activity, ethical understanding, and the deliberate cultivation of wholesome states of mind. They …
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Reflections, Integration and Future Directions for Research and Policy
The final session of Mind & Life XX reflects on how compassion, altruism, leadership, education, and institutional design might come together to create economic systems that support both material prosperity and human and environmental well-being. Joan Halifax frames compassion as a necessity for survival, while Bill George argues that transforming organizations requires compassionate, authentic leaders …
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Altruism: Evolutionary Origins and Modern Expressions
The discussion examines how altruism and compassion might become practical foundations for economic and social life by drawing on evolutionary biology, economics, neuroscience, and Buddhist thought. Matthieu Ricard argues that because economic systems shape everyday life, cultivating greater concern for others is essential for reconciling short-term economic interests, quality of life, and long-term environmental well-being. …
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Compassion, Empathy, Altruism, and Prosocial Behavior
This opening session brings together Buddhism, psychology, neuroscience, and economics to challenge the assumption that human behavior is fundamentally driven by self-interest and to explore whether compassion can help shape more sustainable economic systems. The Dalai Lama argues that economic activity cannot be separated from human motivation and emotion, pointing to greed, speculation, ignorance, and …
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Session 2 – Presentations and Panel Q&A
Linda Carlson presents research showing that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) can help cancer patients and their families cope with the psychological, physical, and existential challenges of cancer, with studies reporting reductions in mood disturbance, stress, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, blood pressure, and inflammatory activity, alongside improvements in quality of life, spirituality, and coping. Roshi Joan …
