{{short description|American nonprofit organization}} {{Multiple issues| {{Third-party|date=August 2022}} {{Notability|org|date=August 2022}} }} {{Infobox organization | name = Mind & Life Institute | logo = Mind and Life Institute new logo.png | logo_size = 200px | type = Non-profit | tax_id = | founded = {{start date and age|1991}} | founder = R. Adam Engle; Francisco J. Varela; His Holiness the Dalai Lama | location = 210 Ridge McIntire Road Suite 325, Charlottesville, VA 22903 | coordinates = = {{Coord|38.03179439999999|-78.48444569999998|format=dms}} | origins = Mind & Life Dialogues | key_people = Francisco J. Varela<br />The 14th Dalai Lama<br />President Susan Bauer-Wu | region_served = Worldwide | focus = Scientific understanding of the mind, Contemplative Sciences, Contemplative Practice, Neuroscience, Meditation, Phenomenology, Consciousness | method = Research Grants, Conferences and webinars, Podcast | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = | num_members = | owner = | former_name = Mind & Life Dialogues | website = {{URL|www.mindandlife.org/}} | dissolved = | footnotes = }} The '''Mind & Life Institute''' is a US-registered, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1991 to establish the field of contemplative sciences. Based in Charlottesville, Va., the institute “brings science and contemplative wisdom together to better understand the mind and create positive change in the world."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mission|url=https://www.mindandlife.org/mission/|access-date=2020-07-24|website=Mind & Life Institute|language=en-US}}</ref> Over three decades, Mind & Life has played a key role in the mindfulness meditation movement by funding research projects and think tanks, and by convening conferences and dialogues with the Dalai Lama. Since 2020, Mind & Life's grant-making, events, and digital programs have sought to nurture personal wellbeing, build more compassionate communities, and strengthen the human–earth connection.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Mind & Life|url=https://www.mindandlife.org/about/|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Mind & Life Institute|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Origins: dialogues and publications== [[File:R Adam Engle receiving ceremonial scarf from Dalai Lama, Dharamsala, India, 1987.jpg|thumb|262x262px|R. Adam Engle with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, at the first Mind and Life dialogue, 1987, Dharamsala|alt=]] <!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|right|200px|Scene from first 'Mind and Life' dialogue between Dalai Lama and western scientists, Dharamsala, India, 1987 --> [[File:Francisco Varela.jpg|thumb|262x262px|Francisco J. Varela in Dharamsala, 1994|alt=]] [[File:Barry Kerzin meditating with EEG for neuroscience research.jpg|thumb|262x262px|Barry Kerzin, an American Professor of Medicine and Buddhist monk meditating with EEG for MLI neuroscience research|alt=]] Mind & Life Dialogues, forerunners of the Institute, were initiated by American entrepreneur R. Adam Engle in 1983.<ref name=TM1>Begley 2007, pp.19-22</ref> He heard of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama’s interest in modern science<ref name=nyt>{{cite web|author1=Tenzin Gyatso|title=Our Faith in Science|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/opinion/12dalai.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&|work=New York Times|date=November 12, 2005|quote=Science has always fascinated me}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Melissa Rice|title=Carl Sagan and the Dalai Lama found deep connections in 1991-92 meetings, says Sagan's widow|url=https://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2007/10/meeting-two-minds-carl-sagan-and-dalai-lama|publisher=Cormell University, Cornell Chronicle|date=October 3, 2007|quote=The Dalai Lama, who has had a lifelong interest in science}}</ref> and offered to arrange a dialogue for him with selected scientists.<ref name=Plasticmind>{{cite book|author1=Sharon Begley|title=The Plastic Mind|date=2007|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-84529-674-2|pages=318–324|edition=Kindle|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fP6dBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT229 |chapter=Appendix}}</ref> The Dalai Lama accepted and authorised Engle to set one up.<ref>Begley 2007, pp.19-20</ref>
In 1984 Chilean neuroscientist Francisco Varela heard about this.<ref name=GB>{{cite book|author1=Jeremy W. Hayward, Francisco J. Varela|title=Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind|date=1992|publisher=Shambala Publications|location=USA|isbn=978-1-57062-893-1|page=x|chapter=Preface}}</ref> Having participated in a conference on consciousness attended by the Dalai Lama in 1983,<ref>Begley 2007, pp.18-19</ref> and like Engle a Buddhist practitioner since 1974, he was interested in further exploration of the interface between science and Buddhism and contacted Engle, offering to assist.<ref name=BM>{{cite journal | author = Barinaga M | date = Oct 2003 | title = Buddhism and neuroscience. Studying the well-trained mind | journal = Science | volume = 302 | issue = 5642| pages = 44–6 | pmid = 14526055 | doi = 10.1126/science.302.5642.44 | s2cid = 142600601 }}</ref>
Engle, Varela, and the Dalai Lama saw Buddhism and science as different methodologies with a similar aim: to investigate nature and reality, using knowledge gained to improve the quality of life and the planet.<ref name=BGK>{{cite web|author1=Vincent Horn|title=The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues|url=http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/|publisher=Buddhist Geeks|access-date=9 May 2015|ref=BD 122|quote=And Buddhism ... is based on also understanding the nature of reality and then using that to provide a knowledge base for improving lives|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061533/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/|archive-date=4 May 2015}}</ref> They concurred that science uses technology and the scientific method as its means while Buddhism uses the human nervous system refined by meditation and rigorous mental and emotional training.<ref name=GB/><ref name=MITTR>{{cite web|author1=Curt Newton|title=Meditation and the Brain|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/402450/meditation-and-the-brain/|website=technologyreview.com|publisher=MIT Technology Review|date=February 1, 2004|quote=The Dalai Lama notes that both traditions encourage challenging dogma based on observation and analysis, and a willingness to revise views based on empirical evidence.}}</ref> Until then, there had been no mechanism for scientists and Buddhist masters to meet and share their findings in dialogue. The concept pioneered a new interdisciplinary, cross-cultural engagement.<ref name=Plasticmind /><ref>Watson 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=80JNDfdTA2MC&pg=PA169 p.169]</ref>
Engle organized the original Mind and Life Dialogue in October 1987 at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamshala, India as a week-long event.<ref>Hayward, Varela 1992, Preface</ref> Six scientists including Varela, two interpreters and the Dalai Lama spent five hours daily, sharing views and discussing the sciences of the mind.<ref name=Plasticmind /> At the end, Engle asked the Dalai Lama if he wanted to do it again. The answer was "yes", and the series of dialogues was born.<ref name=BG122>{{cite web|author1=Vincent Horn|title=The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues|url=http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/|publisher=Buddhist Geeks|access-date=9 May 2015|ref=BD 122|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061533/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/|archive-date=4 May 2015}}</ref>
The second dialogue was a two-day event in October 1989 in Newport Beach, California.<ref name=Plasticmind /> At the third dialogue, held in Dharamsala in 1990, it was decided that in order to organize and fund further dialogues and potential research programmes the Mind & Life Institute should be incorporated as a non-profit organization in the US.<ref>Begley 2007, p.258</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Speakers and Panelists for Investigating the Mind 2005|url=http://www.investigatingthemind.org/speakers.html|publisher=The Mind and Life Institute|access-date=9 May 2015|date=2003|quote=[Adam Engle] co-founded the Mind and Life dialogues in 1983, and formed the Mind and Life Institute in 1990|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220033300/http://investigatingthemind.org/speakers.html|archive-date=20 February 2015}}</ref><ref>Watson 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=80JNDfdTA2MC&pg=PA169 p.170]</ref> The institute was incorporated in 1991. Engle was elected Chair and CEO, a post he held for 22 years until his retirement in 2012 having guided its development into "a worldwide and influential organization bringing together the highest standards of modern science and contemplative practice." Engle was then succeeded by the physicist and author Arthur Zajonc.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Matthieu Ricard|title=Celebrating the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Mind and Life Institute|url=http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/blog/posts/celebrating-the-twenty-fifth-anniversary-of-the-mind-and-life-institute|website=Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk, photographer and author|access-date=28 July 2015|date=January 18, 2013}}</ref>
By 1998 Mind & Life had hosted seven dialogues between numerous world renowned scientists, philosophers and the Dalai Lama on cognitive neuroscience and physics, and published six books relating the dialogues to the general public.<ref name=pdf>{{cite web|title=A 25 Years History of Accomplishment|url=https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gns1ff0ziu9ikx3/AAAH3rqan1jP_RyksNVOYl0Da/MLI%2025%20years%20of%20Accomplishment.pdf?dl=0|publisher=Mind and Life Institute|access-date=6 May 2015|format=PDF|date=2012}}</ref>
By 2019, 33 Dialogues with the Dalai Lama had been hosted. The format then shifted to shorter, more frequent conversations between leading thinkers and spiritual leaders such as the Dalai Lama on critical issues of modern life at the intersection of scientific and contemplative understanding.
In 2020, Mind & Life refined its strategic vision and expanded its digital programming, including the launch of the Mind & Life Podcast, to elevate key insights that inspire action toward positive change.
==Establishment of research agenda== In 1998, to increase Mind & Life's potential for societal benefits, Engle broadened its mission to include carrying out scientific research.<ref name="BG122" /> This idea was encouraged by the Dalai Lama, who, at the next dialogue in 2000, suggested scientific investigation under laboratory conditions to establish whether Buddhist contemplative practices could be of significant benefit to modern society, and if so to find a way of teaching the subject in a secular environment.<ref name="BG122" /> A research program was launched accordingly as a result of Mind & Life's first public dialogue, held at MIT in 2003, entitled "Investigating the Mind".<ref name=BM/><ref>{{cite web |author1=Curt Newton |date=February 1, 2004 |title=Meditation and the Brain |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/news/402450/meditation-and-the-brain/ |website=MIT Technology Review |publisher=}}</ref> Participants included Nobel Laureate scientist Daniel Kahneman and Eric Lander, Director of the MIT Centre for Genomic Research.<ref name="pd">{{cite web|title=Dialogues with the Dalai Lama - Past Dialogues|url=https://www.mindandlife.org/dialogues-dalai-lama/|access-date=13 August 2015|website=Mind and Life Institute|quote=[list of dialogues with location, subject, participants etc.]}}</ref> This conference was attended by 1,200 people and marked the birth of contemplative neuroscience.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Harrington, Zajonc|title=The Dalai Lama at MIT|date=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=USA|isbn=978-0674023192|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1ZxmnsIEIQC&pg=PA3 |quote=Records of Conference "Investigating the Mind" at MIT}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Claudia Kalb|title=Dalai Lama: Moment For Meditation|url=http://www.newsweek.com/dalai-lama-moment-meditation-136251|access-date=1 August 2015|publisher=Newsweek|date=September 21, 2003|quote=Adam Engle… hopes that the conference will be a catalyst to attract young scientists to the field and to launch rigorous new research.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Denise Brehm|title=Dalai Lama enlists science in quest for 'a happy mind'|url=http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2003/dalai-lama-enlists-science-quest-happy-mind-1|access-date=1 August 2015|publisher=MIT News|date=September 17, 2003}}</ref>
In 2004, Mind & Life launched its Summer Research Institute at the Garrison Institute in New York. This conference presented the first curriculum on contemplative neuroscience to graduate students, post doctorates and science faculty members.<ref>Begley, 2007 p.260</ref>
In the same year, Mind & Life started the Francisco J. Varela Research Awards,<ref>{{cite web|title=Mind and Life Summer Research Institute and Francisco J. Varela Awards|url=https://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/grants/mind-and-life-summer-research-institute-and-francisco-j-varela-awards|website=John Templeton Foundation|access-date=3 August 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912022810/https://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/grants/mind-and-life-summer-research-institute-and-francisco-j-varela-awards|archive-date=12 September 2015}}</ref> which provided pilot study funding to qualified applicants on a competitive basis. Through this and other grant mechanisms, by 2020, Mind & Life had awarded more than $5.2 million to over 270 projects in cognitive science, psychology, medicine, anthropology, religious studies, and education—in 30 US states and 20 countries. As a result of Mind & Life funding, more than 280 scholarly articles and books have been published, and grantees have gone on to compete successfully for over $110 million in follow-on grant funding from other sources.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Overview of Mind & Life Grants|url=https://www.mindandlife.org/grants-overview/|access-date=2020-07-24|website=Mind & Life Institute|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2012 Mind & Life hosted its inaugural International Symposium on Contemplative Studies (ISCS) in Denver Colorado, with 700 attendees from the field of Contemplative Science and Studies research.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Katy Killam|title=International Symposia for Contemplative Studies|url=http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/kasley-killiam/2012050722023|website=Positive Psychology News Daily|access-date=4 August 2015|date=May 7, 2012}}</ref> Subsequent research conferences were held in Boston (2014), San Diego (2016), Phoenix (2018), and online (2020).<ref>{{Cite web|title=2020 Contemplative Research Conference|url=https://www.mindandlife.org/convening/2020-contemplative-research-conference/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=Mind & Life Institute|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Publications relating to the dialogues== * Mind & Life 1, 1987: Hayward, Jeremy W.; Varela, Francisco J, eds. (1992) ''Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind''. Boston MA., Shambhala Publications. {{ISBN|1-57062-893-9}}. * Mind & Life 2, 1989: Houshmand, Zara; Livingston, Robert B.; Wallace B. Alan, eds. (1999) ''Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism''. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. {{ISBN|978-1559391276}}. * Mind & Life 3, 1990: Goleman, Daniel, ed. (2003) ''Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions and Health''. Boston MA: Shambala Publications. {{ISBN|9781590300107}}. * Mind & Life 4, 1992: His Holiness the Dalai Lama (author), Varela, Francisco J, ed. (1997) ''Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness''. Somerville, MA., Wisdom Publications. {{ISBN|0861711238}}. * Mind & Life 5, 1995: Davidson, Richard, Harrington, Anne; eds. (2002) ''Visions of Compassion: Western Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine Human Nature''. Oxford University Press, New York. {{ISBN|019513043X}}. * Mind & Life 6, 1997: Zajonc, Arthur, ed. (2004) ''The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama''. Oxford University Press, New York. {{ISBN|9780195159943}}. * Mind & Life 8, 2000: Goleman, Daniel. (2003) ''Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama''. New York: Random House, {{ISBN|0553801716}}. * Mind & Life 10, 2002: Luisi, Pier Luigi, Houshmand, Zara. (2009) ''Discussions with the Dalai Lama on the nature of reality''. Columbia University Press, New York. {{ISBN|978-0-231-14550-3}} * Mind & Life 11, 2003: Harrington, Anne; Zajonc, Arthur, eds. (2006) ''The Dalai Lama at MIT''. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-02319-6}} * Mind & Life 12, 2004: Begley, Sharon. (2007) ''Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves'', New York: Ballantine Books. {{ISBN|978-0-345-47989-1}}. * Mind & Life 13, 2005: Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Davidson, Richard. (2012) ''The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation''. New Harbinger Publications, Oakland CA, {{ISBN|9781572249684}}. * Mind & Life 14, 2010: Singer, Tania; Ricard, Matthieu. (2015) Caring Economics. Picador. {{ISBN|9781250064127}} * Mind & Life 15, 2013: Hasenkamp, Wendy; White, Janna, eds. (2017) ''The Monastery and the Microscope: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mind, Mindfulness, and the Nature of Reality.'' Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-21808-4}}.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography== * Barinaga, Marcia. [https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.302.5642.44 "Studying the Well-Trained Mind"], ''Science'', 3 October 2003, Vol. 302 no. 5642 pp. 44–46, {{doi|10.1126/science.302.5642.44}} * Watson, Gay. (2008) [https://books.google.com/books?id=80JNDfdTA2MC ''Beyond happiness: deepening the dialogue between Buddhism, psychotherapy and the mind sciences''], Karnac Books, {{ISBN|978-1-85575-404-1}} * Wallace, B. Alan. (2003) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=GnInKpuApaUC Buddhism & Science: breaking new ground]'', Columbia University Press, ''Appendix: a History of the Mind and Life Institute'' : pp. 417–421.
==External links== * {{Official|http://www.mindandlife.org/}} * [http://www.mindandlife-europe.org/ Mind & Life Europe, Homepage] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150504061533/http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2009/05/bg-122-the-evolution-of-the-mind-and-life-dialogues/ Buddhist Geeks podcast interview with R Adam Engle, 2009: "The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues"] * [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB99CDF90B3832607 Free video recordings of various Mind & Life Dialogues are viewable on YouTube] {{Buddhism topics}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mind And Life Institute}} Category:1990 establishments in Virginia Category:Buddhist organizations based in the United States Category:Buddhism and science Category:Buddhism in Virginia Category:Consciousness Category:Education in Charlottesville, Virginia Category:Mind–body interventions Category:Mindfulness (Buddhism) Category:Mindfulness movement Category:Non-profit organizations based in Charlottesville, Virginia Category:Research institutes established in 1990 Category:Research institutes in Virginia