Mind and Life Institute
The Mind and Life Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism as methodologies in understanding the nature of reality. The institute has affiliates including notable scientists, and Buddhist practitioners, the most notable of which is Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Origins
The 14th Dalai Lama has been interested in science since childhood. In 1973, he visited the astrophysics laboratory of Cambridge University. Ten years later, he participated in the conference Alpbach Symposia on Consciousness – where he met Francisco J. Varela. They had several discussions later on. At the time of a visit of the Dalai Lama in France, he proposed to consecrate a week to him in Dharamsala in north India. Varela met R. Adam Engle, who also wished exactly such an exchange. This was the origin of the first week of discussions between scientists and the Dalai Lama.
Mind and Life program was initiated 1985 by Adam Engle and Francisco Varela to foster a dialogue between Buddhist scholars and Western scientists.
A the time of the 3rd lecture The Mind and Life Institute was formally founded, in 1990.
Board of directors
- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (Honorary Chairman)
- R. Adam Engle (Chairman and Co-Founder)
- Francisco J. Varela (Co-Founder)
- Tendzin Choegyal
- Richard J. Davidson
- Daniel Goleman
- Joan Halifax
- Anne Harrington
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Matthieu Ricard
- Bennett M. Shapiro
- Ulco Visser
- B. Alan Wallace
- Raymond J. Gellein, Jr
- Thupten Jinpa
- Sona Dimidjian
- John D. Dunne
- Diego Hangartner
- Alfred Kaszniak
- Clifford Saron
- Evan Thompson
Mind and Life Conferences
1987 : Mind and Life I
Dialogues between Buddhism & the Cognitive Sciences Dharamsala, India
- Publication : Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind ,
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Newcomb Greenleaf, Jeremy Hayward, Robert B. Livingston, Pier Luigi Luisi, Eleanor Rosch and Francisco J. Varela. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
1989 : Mind and Life II
Dialogues between Buddhism & the Neurosciences Newport Beach, California, USA
- Publication : Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism.
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Patricia Smith Churchland, Antonio R. Damasio, J. Allan Hobson, Lewis L. Judd and Larry R. Squire. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
1990 : Mind and Life III
Emotions & Health Dharamsala, India
- Publication : Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions, and Health,
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Francisco J. Varela, Joyce McDougall, Jayne Gackenbach, Jerome Engel and Joan Halifax. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
- From this exchange was born the initiative of a neurobiological study of Buddhist meditation; this is also to facilitate this project that was founded the Mind and Life Institute.
1992 : Mind and Life IV
Sleeping, Dreaming, & Dying Dharamsala, India
- Publication : Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness with the Dalai Lama,
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Jerome Engel, Jayne Gackenbach, Joan Halifax, Joyce McDougall, Charles Taylor, Francisco Varela. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
1995 : Mind and Life V
Altruism, Ethics, & Compassion Dharamsala, India
- Publication : Visions of Compassion: Western Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine Human Nature
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Nancy Eisenberg, Robert H. Frank, Anne Harrington, Elliott Sober and Ervin Staub. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
1997 : Mind and Life VI
The New Physics & Cosmology Dharamsala, India
- Publication : The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Arthur Zajonc, David Finkelstein, George Greenstein, Piet Hut, Tu Wei-ming and Anton Zeilinger. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
1998 : Mind and Life VII
Epistemological Questions in Quantum Physics and Eastern Contemplative Sciences Innsbruck, Austria
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Arthur Zajonc and Anton Zeilinger. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2000 : Mind and Life VIII
Destructive Emotions Dharamsala, India
- Publication : Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama par Daniel Goleman.
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson, Paul Ekman, Owen Flanagan, Mark Greenberg, Matthieu Ricard, Jeanne Tsai, Francisco Varela. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2001 : Mind and Life IX
Transformations of Mind, Brain & Emotion Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Richard J. Davidson, Paul Ekman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Michael Merzenich, Matthieu Ricard, Francisco Varela, Antoine Lutz. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2002 : Mind and Life X
The Nature of Matter, The Nature of Life Dharamsala, India
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Arthur Zajonc, Michel Bitbol, Steven Chu, Ursula Goodenough, Eric Lander, Pier Luigi Luisi, Matthieu Ricard, Antoine Lutz. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2003 : Mind and Life XI
Investigating the Mind Cambridge, MA, USA
2004 : Mind and Life XII
Neuroplasticity: The Neuronal Substrates of Learning and Transformation Dharamsala, India
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Richard J. Davidson, R. Adam Engle, Fred H. Gage, Michael J. Meaney, Kazuo Murakami, Helen J. Neville Matthieu Ricard, Phillip R. Shaver, Evan Thompson. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2005 : Mind and Life XIII
The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation Washington DC, USA
- Publication : The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation, by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Richard Davidson.
2007 : Mind and Life XIV
A Dialogue on The Universe in a Single Atom Dharamsala, India
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Richard J. Davidson, John Dunne, Paul Ekman, R. Adam Engle, Martha Farah, George Greenstein, Matthieu Ricard, Bennett M. Shapiro, Wolf Singer, Joan Halifax, Evan Thompson, Anton Zeilinger, Arthur Zajonc. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
Video recording available here: http://www.youtube.com/user/gyalwarinpoche#g/c/B99CDF90B3832607
2007 : Mind and Life XV
Mindfulness, Compassion, and the Treatment of Depression October 20, 2007 — Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
- Participants : Tenzin Gyatso, Richard J. Davidson, John Dunne, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin (Negi), Helen S. Mayberg, Charles B. Nemeroff, Robert A. Paul, Charles L. Raison, Zindel V. Segal. Interprets: Thubten Jinpa and B. Alan Wallace
2009 : Mind and Life XVIII
Attention, Memory and the Mind: A Synergy of Psychological, Neuroscientific, and Contemplative Perspectives with His Holiness The Dalai Lama April 6–10, 2009 — Dharamsala, India
- Participants: Tenzin Gyatso, David E. Meyer, B. Alan Wallace, Anne Treisman, Rupert Gethin, Adele Diamond, Amishi Jha, Clifford Saron, Elizabeth Phelps, Shaun Gallagher. Interprets: Geshe Thupten Jinpa
Video recording available here: http://www.youtube.com/user/gyalwarinpoche#g/c/B99CDF90B3832607
2009 : Mind and Life XIX
Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century: Educators, Scientists and Contemplatives Dialogue on Cultivating a Healthy Mind, Brain and Heart October 8–9, 2009 — Washington D.C., USA
- Participants: Tenzin Gyatso, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Goleman, Richard Davidson, Linda Lantieri, Peter L. Benson, Martin Brokenleg, Ronald E. Dahl, Linda Darling-Hammond, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Nancy Eisenberg, R. Adam Engle, Mark Greenberg, Joan Halifax, Takao Hensch, Thupten Jinpa, Anne C. Klein, Kathleen McCartney, Matthieu Ricard, Lee Shulman.
2010 : Mind and Life XX
Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems: Dialogue between Economics, Neuroscience and Contemplative Sciences April 9–11, 2010 — Zurich, Switzerland.
- Participants: Tenzin Gyatso, Thupten Jinpa, Ernst Fehr, William Harbaugh, Richard Layard, Tania Singer, Richard Davidson, Sanjit Bunker Roy, William George, Antoinette Hunziker-Ebneter, Arthur Vayloyan, Matthieu Ricard, Roshi Joan Halifax, John Dunne, Gert Scobel, Daniel Batson, Joan Silk, Diego Hangartner.
