Dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Experts from various scientific fields

Location: Kyoto, Japan
Organized in collaboration with the Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University.

Participants: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama; Richard J. Davidson; Jay L. Garfield; Roshi Joan Halifax; Yoshiro Imaeda; Atsushi Iriki; Thupten Jinpa; Barry Kerzin; Shinobu Kitayama; Shigefumi Mori; Makoto Nagao; Shinsuke Shimojo; Junko Tanaka-Matsumi; Arthur Zajonc

Description: The nature of the human mind remains one of the most profound unresolved questions we face as a species. While the mind’s ultimate nature may forever elude us, we can nonetheless carefully study the mind’s characteristics, capabilities, and associated phenomena. We have mapped the human genome, the night sky and the fundamental particles of the physical universe, yet that which is closest to us – our mind – has still to be adequately mapped. An important missing element in the study of the mind is the failure of contemporary science to critically engage with the inherited wisdom of the contemplative traditions, for example, the many insights to be found in Buddhist philosophy concerning the mind. In this Mind & Life/Kokoro dialogue, we brought together experts from the Buddhist contemplative tradition, including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, with experts from modern psychology, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and other relevant disciplines from Japan and North America in order to comprehensively consider the nature, characteristics and operations of the mind.