Mind & Life Institute Conference With Dalai Lama On “Science and Clinical Applications of Mediation” Nov. 8-10 In Washington DC; Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Co-Sponsor
Adam Engle, Chairman and co-founder with the Dalai Lama of the Mind and Life Institute, said meditation is used in treatment of stress, pain and other chronic diseases but applications only touch the surface.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 13, 2005 -- The Mind and Life Institute announced
that the “Mind & Life XIII: The Science and Clinical Applications of
Mediation” public dialogue with the Dalai Lama and leading scientists is set for
November 8-10 in Washington DC at the DAR Constitution Hall.
Adam Engle,
Chairman and co-founder with the Dalai Lama of the Mind and Life Institute,
said, “Meditation has begun to be used in the treatment of stress, pain and
other chronic diseases, but the applications have only touched the surface. The
conference will build on the growing interest in meditation in medicine and
biomedical science. Leaders in science and related disciplines will share their
views with the Dalai Lama and the public.”
The Mind & Life XIII
conference is co-sponsored by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Georgetown
University Medical Center. The public meeting is expected to attract thousands,
including members of science and related disciplines and the general public
interested in practices of meditation by Buddhists and other contemplatives
relating to the data and disciplines of Western science.
The November
meeting will be the second public dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The previous 11
private conferences took place in India, Europe and the United States since 1987
and seven books have been published about those discussions. In 2003, The
McGovern Institute at MIT co-sponsored the first public meeting, held on the MIT
campus.
The XIV Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, gave a directional challenge
to the Mind and Life Institute to explore the means by which people can create
and maintain a healthy mind. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he is
regarded worldwide for his leadership about universal responsibility, love,
compassion and kindness. The Dalai Lama feels through a better understanding of
meditation and scientific applications that people can be helped to find inner
happiness and lead to a more peaceful world. He will be traveling to the United
States from his home in India and will remain in the U.S. for a short time after
the Mind and Life Institute meeting for other engagements, including a major
speech at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and a public talk
at the MCI Center in Washington DC. The Dalai Lama is head of the Tibetan
government-in-exile and is revered as the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
Engle said, “With the advent of sophisticated brain imaging technology,
the area of science investigating the brain and mind is growing exponentially
and is where genomic research was decades ago. The potential applications for
the benefit of mankind are plentiful. When the Dalai Lama co-founded the Mind
and Life Institute to give direction and momentum to this area of scientific
exploration of meditative practices, he opened vistas of opportunity for
individuals and society.”
The Mind and Life Institute is a non-profit
organization dedicated to creating a working collaboration and research
partnership between modern science and Buddhism and other contemplative
traditions to better understand the nature of reality and investigating the
mind.
About the Sponsor and Co-sponsors
The Mind and Life
Institute, based in Boulder, CO, is a 501 C3 non-profit organization co-founded
in 1987 by the Dalai Lama, entrepreneur Adam Engle and an acclaimed
neuroscientist, the late Franciso J. Varela, to create a rigorous dialogue and
research collaboration between modern science and Buddhism. The Mind and Life
Institute operates through four divisions: Meetings and Dialogues, Publications,
Scientific Education and Research Grants and Sponsorship. Since 2000, the focus
of MLI has been the creation of a new interdisciplinary field of science that
asks and answers the question: how do we create and maintain a healthy mind? For
more information visit the websites, www.mindandlife.org and www.investigatingthemind.org or contact Brian Dobson at Dobson
Communications at 203-894-9240.
Georgetown University Medical Center is
an internationally recognized academic medical center in Washington, DC, with a
three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through its
partnership with MedStar Health). Its mission is carried out with a strong
emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of
cura personalis—or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the
School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally
ranked, and the world renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more
information, visit the websites www.gumc.georgetown.edu and http://cfmi.georgetown.edu/.
Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine is one of the world's premier centers for scholarship, research and
patient care. The university and The Johns Hopkins Health System are separate,
but closely allied, institutions. Founded in Baltimore, they now reach across
the Baltimore Washington area, with additional facilities in China, Italy and
Singapore and partnerships around the world. The university comprises eight
schools, a research and development division called the Applied Physics
Laboratory and a number of institutes and centers. Components of the $2.7
billion enterprise are consistently named at the top of national rankings for
best hospital and best school of medicine, and its faculty consistently win the
largest share of National Institutes of Health research funds. For more
information, visit the website www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb260531.htm