Mind & Life

Roshi Joan Halifax - Enactive Compassion

In this episode, Wendy speaks with Zen Buddhist teacher and author Roshi Joan Halifax. A pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, Roshi Joan was instrumental in developing the dialogue between science and Buddhism, and has been an advocate for engaged Buddhism, social activism, and compassion in response to today's crises. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• the birth of dialogues between the Dalai Lama and scientists;
• how our minds are "enactive";
• compassion as emergent and dependent on context;
• the trainable factors that set the stage for compassion;
• the importance of embodiment in health care;
• non-referential compassion;
• interdependence, compassion, and climate change;
• working with dying people;
• how letting go is safe;
• clinical use of psychedelics;
• and reflections on the field of contemplative science.

Full show notes and resources

 

Cliff Saron - Embracing Complexity

In this episode, Wendy speaks with neuroscientist and contemplative researcher Cliff Saron. Cliff is a pioneer in studying the effects of meditation on attention and emotion, and has been deeply embedded in the field of contemplative science since the earliest days. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• his winding path into contemplative research;
• drilling down and pulling back;
• conducting research with Tibetan monks in India;
• how brain signals can predict behavior, and implications for free will;
• the importance of context in meditation research;
• effects of intensive meditation on attention, markers of cellular aging, and purpose in life;
• community-engaged participatory research;
• communicating the nuance and uncertainty inherent in science;
• Ubuntu, and living into our interdependence.

Full show notes and resources

Bobbi Patterson - Contemplation, Place, and Resilience

In this episode, Wendy speaks with professor and Episcopal priest, Bobbi Patterson. Bobbi's work integrates Christian contemplation, Buddhist meditation, contemplative pedagogy, the role of place, and adaptive resilience. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• contemplative Christian traditions;
• the power of silence;
• dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism;
• a Christian contemplative view of mind;
• women in the church;
• how to listen to a place;
• bringing students into nature and urban settings;
• the role of the body in contemplation;
• understanding burnout;
• and adaptive and land-based resilience.

Full show notes and resources

Cortland Dahl - Integrating Science and Buddhism

In this episode, Wendy speaks with researcher, translator, and Buddhist teacher, Cortland Dahl. Cort's work integrates science, psychology, meditation, and Tibetan Buddhism. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how meditation helped with his social anxiety as a young person;
• benefits and challenges in the dialogue between Buddhism and science;
• customizing meditation practice in the Healthy Minds app;
• understanding the diversity of contemplative practice;
• analytical meditation;
• meditation as a treatment for mental health problems;
• transcending the conceptual mind, and loosening concepts of self;
• seeing the limits of science;
• looking at well-being through the lens of learning;
• the key role of social connection;
• and moving forward with intellectual humility (knowing that we don't know).

Full show notes and resources

 

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel - Identity as Path

In this episode, Wendy speaks with author, Zen priest and Buddhist teacher, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. Zenju's work highlights how the various facets of our identity can become "fertilizer" for growth on the path of spiritual and personal development. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• growing up in the Christian church, and the questions it raised for her;
• her unusual path into Buddhism;
• how to work with your identity while moving beyond the self;
• the truth of interdependence and cause & effect;
• two truths (relative vs. absolute) in relation to identity;
• bringing together spirituality and social justice;
• the central importance of embodiment;
• integration with nature;
• how contemplative science should proceed;
• and the dance between delusion and enlightenment.

Full show notes and resources

 

Willoughby Britton - When Meditation Causes Harm

In this episode, Wendy speaks with clinical psychologist and meditation researcher, Willoughby Britton. Willoughby is a pioneer in contemplative research and one of the only people dedicated to understanding the possible negative outcomes from meditation (so called meditation-related adverse experiences). This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how she came to study the negative side of meditation;
• support and resources for those struggling with meditation-related difficulties (Cheetah House);
• scientific research on meditation-related adverse experiences;
• changes in perception and anxiety that can happen with meditation;
• how the same experience can be positive or negative depending on context;
• how the causes of adverse effects may be the same as for the benefits;
• the science of measuring harms in meditation research;
• what we know (and don't know) about these effects—who's at risk, how frequent they are, and how they show up for people;
• whether or not these difficulties are "part of the path" of transformation;
• grounding care in compassion;
• and aligning practices with the outcomes you want.

Full resources and show notes

Nicholas Van Dam - Nuancing the Narrative

In this episode, Wendy speaks with meditation researcher and clinical psychologist, Nicholas Van Dam. Nicholas is the Director of the Contemplative Studies Centre at the University of Melbourne—the first such center in Australia. His work explores how meditation and mindfulness can support well-being, and help with conditions like anxiety and depression. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how an existential crisis led him to meditation practice;
• bringing loving critique to contemplative science;
• the complicated realities of mindfulness, how we measure it, and its impact on the brain;
• looking at effects beyond just the individual who is meditating;
• insights from a year of daily practice;
• balancing personal interest vs. research objectivity;
• the freedom that comes from letting go;
• how skills learned on the cushion transfer to daily life;
• deconstructing the self;
• mindfulness and meditation for anxiety and depression;
• getting out of your head and into your body;
• connecting with Indigenous and other non-Buddhist contemplative traditions;
• and advancing evidence-based research on meditation.

Full show notes and resources

Rhonda Magee - Mindfulness, Interconnection, and Justice

In this episode, Wendy speaks with law professor, author, and meditation teacher, Rhonda Magee. Rhonda's work has focused on bringing contemplative approaches into the practice of law, and the fight for social justice. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• her path to contemplative practice from roots in the American South;
• mindfulness in the fight for racial justice;
• embracing equanimity when you really want a certain outcome;
• contemplative approaches in law;
• awakening to our interconnectedness;
• challenging the idea of one winner/one loser (the adversarial model in law);
• balancing individual rights with a connected whole;
• restorative justice and collaborative divorce;
• how racism harms us all (including white folks);
• bias, fear and safety in the body;
• how dominator culture cuts us off from our bodies;
• racial capitalism;
• ColorInsight vs. color blindness;
• and the joy that comes from embracing our shared humanity.

Full show notes and resources

Jon Kabat-Zinn - The Heart of Mindfulness

We're back with Season 3 of the show, starting with renowned meditation teacher, author, and creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Jon Kabat-Zinn. This spacious and personal conversation is full of insights on a wide range of topics, including:

• what drew him to meditation;
• his development of and vision for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR);
• the mystery of the line between the inside and outside of any system;
• adapting Buddhist practices for Western audiences;
• how mindfulness has been taken up in society, and science as a main driver;
• moving from "me" to "we";
• the challenges of repeatability in scientific studies of meditation;
• weaving together art and science;
• and how 50+ years of meditation has changed him.

Full show notes and resources

 

Vandana Shiva - Earth Democracy

In this bonus episode, we're sharing a special presentation from environmentalist, physicist, and eco-feminist Vandana Shiva. This session is from our Summer Research Institute, held in June of this year, entitled The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis. We're adding this to the podcast feed because Vandana speaks powerfully about how the mind contributes to so many of the world's current emergencies, including health, hunger, poverty, climate, extinction, and injustice, exclusion, and inequality. Countering these outcomes of disconnection, Vandana offers Earth Democracy as a worldview, paradigm, and practice based on the recognition that everything is interconnected. She covers a lot of ground, touching on topics such as:

• the intellectual architecture of disconnection;
• the many ramifications of Cartesian dualism;
• the colonialist mindset of conquest and mastery;
• mistaken frameworks that try to dominate nature;
• how dead carbon leads to wars;
• food and our microbiome;
• quantum physics and interconnectedness;
• statistics and updates on the science of climate change;
• the economy of earth care;
• and the power of self-organizing systems within nature to heal ourselves and our world.

Full show notes and resources