Master Lecture – Buddhism, Behaviorism, and the Brain

Buddhism, Behaviorism, and the Brain: Towards a Better Understanding of the Mechanisms and Mitigation of Craving, Grasping, and Addiction The seemingly intractable behavioral cycles and suffering of addiction offer a vivid and painful illustration of the necessity and challenge of behavior change. Decades of tireless research on the nature of, and mechanisms underlying, addiction have …

Master Lecture – Dreamless Sleep and Consciousness

One of the major debates in classical Indian philosophy concerned whether consciousness is present in dreamless sleep. Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, and Sankhya-Yoga argued that consciousness is present in dreamless sleep, whereas Nyaya denies this. Consideration of this debate, especially the reasoning Advaita Vedanta used to rebut the Nyaya view, calls into question the standard neuroscience …

A Question of Focus

Meditators often feel that their practice aids concentration. But do these subjective reports pan out in daily life?

The Dalai Lama’s Conjecture

A preview of Evan Thompson’s new book, Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy

Concurrent Session 4 – Teaching Mindfulness-Based Training in High-Stress Contexts

This presentation will present research about Mindfulness-Based Mind FitnessTraining (MMFT®) within the context of modifying mindfulness-based training for environments characterized by extreme or prolonged stress and deployment to combat and others in highstress occupations, it will examine how mindfulness training can be integrated with an understanding of the role of the autonomic nervous system in …

Roshi Joan Halifax

A pioneer in compassion-based medicine on death, dying, and our health care system

Model Behavior

A new study asks: Does meditation make us more compassionate?