contemplativeinquiry

News from Mind and Life Europe: The 2016 European Summer Research Institute (ESRI) is holding an international multidisciplinary conference in Chiemsee, Germany, August 22-28, 2016. The topic is Contemplative Training: Plasticity and Change in Science and Society.

The purpose of the conference is to investigate processes of change, from cell to society, arising from mental training as practised in the contemplative traditions. Two specific questions will be addressed:

• what is the impact of mind training on brain, behaviour and society?
• How, and to what degree, are these findings relevant to our understanding of processes of change as they take place in our personal and social worlds?

The conference spans the arc from the physiological level, where the focus is on neuroplasticity and epigenetics, to the individual and societal levels, where critical life periods of change (adolescence, ageing) as well as contemplative practice-related change in settings like psychotherapy, education, the workplace, and politics will be examined. Sciences and philosophies of change from both Western ad Eastern traditions will be explored.

For further information, please see: http://www.mindandlife-europe.org/