Two important secular compassion training programs have been developedat Stanford and Emory Universities. Each of these programs derives largely from the mind-training tradition of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. It is widely assumed that compassion is a good thing and that, by extension, such programs are therefore good. However, much more systematic attention needs to be directed towards …
Continue reading “Concurrent Session 4 – Challenges in Teaching Secular Compassion Cultivation”
The purpose of this interactive workshop is to introduce a contemporary contemplative pathway designed as an initial step to organizational change and development. In an effort to begin to re-found spirituality as a source of health and healing intrapersonally, interpersonally, and organizationally, a documentary film was created as a catalyst to courageous conversations about compassion. …
Current theories of mindfulness (Pali: sati) emphasize attention, emotional regulation, and meta-awareness. This interpretation de-emphasizes an original association of sati with remembrance in relation to cultivating virtue. Recovering remembrance reconnects mindfulness with narrative traditions of loving virtue. In practice, this occurs through cultivating both (1) affective awareness of the source of love, or ultimate reality; …
This paper discusses the relationship between psychological resilience andcompassion. It will begin by looking at a particular set of techniques, drawn from the Tibetan Buddhist mind-training (lojong) tradition, in which the stresses, adversity, and suffering of the subject are the initial focus that eventually inspires empathetic identification with others. This type of compassion meditation training …
Continue reading “Concurrent Session 3 – Resilience and Compassion”
There has been a steady increase in interest in utilizing contemplative practice to improve teaching and learning in schools. At the first International Symposium for Contemplative Studies meeting in 2012, a panel presented preliminary findings from two teacher programs. The current panel will provide a research and practice update on innovative approaches for promoting mindfulness …
Compassion is at the heart of medical care for people living with a serious, life-threatening illness. Yet no evidence-based interventions exist to cultivate compassion in nurses, physicians, and other clinicians. The Halifax model of compassion represents a novel approach based on established practices for mind training that targets attention, empathy, and self-regulation based in contemplative …
How can we advance true compassion in an increasingly pluralistic society? My paper will examine some possibilities in the light of ideas postulated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his book Beyond Religion, in which he stated that we are born free of religion but we are not born free of the need for …
Continue reading “Concurrent Session 1 – Engaged Compassion: Humanizing the Sacred and Secular”
Recent social psychological and neuroscientific studies demonstrate that specific contemplative interventions, especially secular forms of Buddhist-based compassion trainings, enhance prosocial behavior. This panel offers a rare opportunity for scientists and humanists to review together recent discoveries and discuss pressing questions. Advocates often assume that practices such as compassion training and its behavioral effects are universally …
This presentation will explore the use of dance and choreographic methodology as embodied practices for guiding classroom explorations of ethical issues and active compassion. Movement is used as the primary medium for discovering mindful awareness expanding from the personal to the relational and then to social justice awareness and engagement. This presentation will use themes …
Meditation training is presumed to influence individuals’ emotional engagement with others’ suffering. Although evidence is accumulating for the prosocial effects of intensive practice in meditation, little is known about how training may alter primary cognitive representations of compassion-eliciting stimuli. We assessed individuals’ remote (six-year) incidental memory for emotional images viewed both before and after a …
