The welcome session featured a performance of the National Anthem of Botswana, introductory remarks, official welcomes from Botho University, the Republic of Botswana, and Mind & Life, and a video message from the Dalai Lama. Participants Mind & Life Connections
Topic Archives:
2017 Mind & Life Dialogue XXXII
The Botswana Dialogue brings African humanitarian and spiritual leaders, scholars and healers into conversation with international neuroscientists about the African worldview of Botho/Ubuntu, during five sessions followed by a concert performance by Vusi Mahlasela.
Defining humanity through our connections with one another, Botho/Ubuntu is expressed as: “I am because you are.” Examining African values and healing practices in light of new scientific research on social connection and trauma, the Dialogue in Botswana explores the potential of Botho/Ubuntu as a framework for healing the legacy and trauma of wars and colonialism, and advancing social justice and women’s equality.
Ethics and Compassion in Education Research
The program continues with the scientific research on education and discussion of the psychology of ethical development, including moral reasoning, compassion, moral motivation, and issues of community and culture. Moving from these theories, there will be examples of how they can be translated into educational experiences. Widening the frame, Buddhist understandings of compassion are presented …
Continue reading “Ethics and Compassion in Education Research”
Social and Emotional Learning and Education in the Classroom
Continuing our discussion of social and emotional learning, Day Two begins by illustrating how social and emotional learning (SEL) has expanded over the past decade around the world and is being integrated into the very fabric of educational policy and practice. Education practitioners will explore the important question of how His Holiness’ vision of educating …
Continue reading “Social and Emotional Learning and Education in the Classroom”
Closing Keynote: What is Mindfulness? An Embodied Cognitive Science Perspective
This keynote lecture proposes that mindfulness includes cultural practices, habits of attending, and ways of using the body in the social and material world. Current neuroscience conceptions of mindfulness as an inner mental state or trait that can be correlated with unique patterns of brain activity are therefore inadequate because they leave out the wider …
Continue reading “Closing Keynote: What is Mindfulness? An Embodied Cognitive Science Perspective”
Letter from the Future
Buddhist scholar Andrew Olendzki writes: “It is time for us to evolve…. The problem we now face is that these very instincts, which have served us well in a primitive, competitive setting, have become counterproductive in the interdependent social world we now inhabit and have themselves become our greatest existential threat.” Similarly, Jewish scholar Arthur …
Mindfulness as a novel intervention for improving romantic relationships
Romantic relationship quality declines over time for most couples. In addition, most first marriages end in divorce, and divorce rates have doubled during the past few decades among people over 35. Identifying interventions that improve compassionate love, empathy, and prosocial behavior between romantic partners is thus a critical goal. Our overarching aim is to experimentally …
Continue reading “Mindfulness as a novel intervention for improving romantic relationships”
From violence and victims to voices and visions: Exploring the power of mindfulness to effect lasting positive change in post-conflict settings in Northern Uganda
Most post-war accounts highlight the vulnerability of females and violence of males; interventions therefore focus on providing relief hand-outs, stripping the populations of any agency. Using Stepping Stones for Peace and Prosperity (StSt4P&P)’s community-based mindfulness techniques grounded in inter-personal neurobiology, this study explores how post-war populations, and males in particular, can develop prosocial and compassionate …
SHAPE JOY: A program to nurture empathic happiness in children through contemplative parenting practices
Young children seem to be wired to notice and enjoy the happy experiences of others, but this tendency to experience “empathic happiness” seems to fade in later childhood when it is replaced by self-doubt, envy, and worry. This process of losing the natural inclination for empathic happiness is exacerbated for some children who become dysregulated …
Neurobehavioral effects of prenatal mindfulness training on maternal presence and compassionate love
A large body of research has shown that mindfulness training can improve individual well-being. However, effects on the prosocial qualities expressed in real-life interpersonal relationships are mixed, and the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying such potential effects remain largely unknown. We propose to address this gap by studying how prenatal mindfulness training tailored to focus on family …
