This presentation introduces the contemplative thought of Plotinus (c. 205-270 CE), the Greek philosopher who has been called the father of the Western contemplative tradition. Plotinus’s philosophy — today described as ‘Neo-Platonism’ — influenced Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystics as well as Renaissance humanists and scientists, touching thinkers as diverse as St. Augustine, Rumi, and …
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Concurrent Session 1 – Contemplation as Organizational Transformation in a Research I University: The University of Virginia as a Case Study
The founding of the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia provided an opportunity for institutional transformation across all schools in teaching and learning, research, engagement, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The approach has been to assess the organizational culture, intellectual norms, pedagogical practices, and gaps in student outcomes to consider how contemplative ideas, values, and …
Concurrent Session 1 -Neurocognitive Processes of Addiction: A Therapeutic Role for Mindfulness?
Several neurocognitive processes have been implicated in addiction, including motivated attention, reward processing, emotion regulation, stress reactivity, delay discounting, and inhibitory control. These processes appear to depend on functionally integrated cortico-limbic-striatal circuits whose dysfunction supports the acquisition, maintenance, and reinstatement of addictive behaviors. Novel interventions that target the neurocognitive processes underlying addictive behavior may hold …
Concurrent Session 1 – Remote Emotional Memory for Depictions of Human Suffering Following an Intensive Meditation Intervention
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 …
Concurrent Session 1 – Validation of the Perceived Compassion Scale
A self-report scale measuring perceived compassion, in its embodied and functional aspects, will be presented, including preliminary psychometric validation results. There has been some debate as to whether compassion can be measured through self-report. Neff’s Self-Compassion Scale, possibly the most widely used instrument, operationalizes compassion in terms of mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. Others (e.g., …
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Concurrent Session 1 – Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction to Promote Intra- and Interpersonal Flourishing Among Survivors of Traumatic Violence
Interpersonal violence is a significant threat to public health with serious ramifications to family and society. Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), originally designed for those dealing with chronic illnesses, is now being offered to individuals with histories of surviving interpersonal violence. Yet, to be optimally effective, MBSR should be modified to address the unique needs …
Concurrent Session 1 – Dogen’s “Nonthinking”: What the Founder of Soto Zen Can Teach Us About Intentionality and Discrimination During Shikantaza Meditation
This paper investigates Zen master Eihei Dogen’s emphasis on the role of “nonthinking” (hishiryo) in shikantaza (“just sitting”) meditation by viewing nonthinking as a cognitive process existing in dynamic relation to thinking (shiryo) and not-thinking (fushiryo). Dogen’s ostensibly mysterious shift away from the Ch’an terminology of “no-thought” (munen) and “no-mind” (mushin) provides vital insight into …
Concurrent Session 1 – “This peace, this rest, this eternity”: Meditation and Consciousness in Modernist Literature
This paper explores the role of the meditative mind in modernist literatureand theories of consciousness. Modernist authors, such as Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and William Faulkner, are known for their fascination with subjective perception and self-conscious interiority, as well as representations of trauma and illness. This paper shows how the hitherto unexplored trajectory of the …
Concurrent Session 1 – The Role of Contemplative Practice in Developing Authentic Leaders
Recent research in the fields of neuroscience and emotional intelligence point to the importance of authenticity, self-awareness, and interpersonal awareness for effective leadership. However, development of these qualities in leaders has been elusive and difficult to achieve through conventional means. Contemplative practices such as meditation, reflective inquiry, mindful dialogue, and various embodiment disciplines offer specific …
Concurrent Session 1 – Turning Towards or Turning Down? Mindfulness and Relaxation as Distinct Forms of Emotion Regulation
Mindfulness in the West is often described as a bare attentional process, but it is unclear how such attention regulates emotional arousal to promote well-being. One hypothesis suggests that mindfulness involves “turning towards” experience: Through curiosity, openness, and acceptance, emotional experience is enhanced, and this attentional enhancement obviates the need for other conditioned responses. An …
