Video of Past Contemplative Studies Lectures
A Cognitive Psychologist's Analysis of Contemplative Practice: Theoretical Information Processing Models of the Mind, Brain, and Meditation
David E. Meyer
David E. Meyer is a professor at the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Cognition and Perception Program and the Department of Psychology.
SAILING HOME: Using the Wisdom of Homer's Odyssey to Navigate Life's Perils and Pitfalls: A Talk and Book Signing
Zoketsu Norman Fischer
Norman Fischer is the former Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center.
Sudden and Gradual: Paradigm of Awakening in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism
Mark Unno
Mark Unno is a renowned scholar of Japanese Buddhism and Japanese Psychotherapy. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford and has taught at Carleton University and at Brown University. He is the author of Shingon Refractions: Myoe and the Mantra of Light (Wisdom: 2004) and the editor of Buddhism and Psychotherapy Across Cultures (Wisdom, 2006), as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. He is currently Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon.
The Present Moment: Psychological and Buddhist Perspectives
Harvey Aaronson, Ph.D., LCSW
Making Waves and Riding the Currents:
Activism and the Practice of Wisdom
Charles Halpern
One of America's most distinguished social innovators and the founder of its first public interest law firm, Charles Halpern has been a catalyst for launching an array of enduring institutions dedicated toward enriching human lives and our world. In Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom, Halpern reflects on his distinguished career—a journey that led him from career-mindedness to a life devoted to social justice and activism. But this captivating memoir is about more than even that. It's about the inner work thatmakes the outer work possible.
Over the course of his remarkable career, Halpern founded the Center for Law and Social Policy, where he litigated landmark environmental protection and constitutional rights cases; was the founding dean of the City University of New York School of Law, where he initiated a program for training public interest attorneys; was president of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, where he launched an innovative grant program,supporting new programs that drew together social justice advocacy withmeditation and spiritual inquiry; and was a founding board member of the progressive-think tank Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action. Throughout these endeavors, he sought ways to develop inner resources that complemented his cognitive and advocacy skills. These explorations led him to the conviction that what he calls "the practice of wisdom" is essential both to his own success and to our collective capacity to effectively address the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes)
Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the School Zen Master and Guiding Dharma Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and studied with him since 1972. She was given inka in 1977. A registered nurse since 1969, she works for Hospice Care of Rhode Island. She helped found Providence Zen Center, and lived there for seventeen years, serving in a number of administrative capacities. Zen Master Soeng Hyang has a daughter and lives with her partner, Mary, in Providence.
Lecture 3 in our Contemplative Palliative Care Series. Co-Sponsored with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Deathbed Visions and Near-Death Experiences
Willoughby Britton, Ph.D.
This lecture is intended to give an empirical overview of the most common phenomenological elements of Near Death Experiences and their after-effects so that health care professionals, families and loved ones may become more familiar with them. The description will be followed by a review of the various scientific investigations of the phenomenon, including neurobiological correlates.
Willoughby Britton received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Colgate University, a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona, and completed her clinical residency at Brown Medical School. Her pioneering research on the neural and psychological correlates of near death experiences was published in Psychological Science and featured in the New York Times in 2004. She recently completed a three year clinical trial on the neurophysiological effects of mindfulness meditation, and has lectured internationally on both research topics.
Co- Sponsored by the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
and the Contemplative Studies Initiative
Naada Yoga: Raga Music as Contemplative Practice
Srinivas Reddy
A brief introduction to Hindustani raga music and its spiritual origins followed by a short sitar performance.
Srinivas Reddy is an Indian-American sitarist, guitarist and composer. In 1998 he came under the tutelage of Pandit Partha Chatterjee, a direct disciple of the late sitar maestro Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Since then Srinivas has rigorously trained with his teacher in the traditional guru-shishya style. Both here and abroad he continues to imbibe and practice the subtleties of the Hindustani musical tradition.
Srinivas is a professional concert sitarist and has given numerous recitals in the US and India. He is also an experienced teacher and educator. Srinivas holds a BA from Brown University and an MA from UC Berkeley, both in South Asian Studies. He has taught several college level courses on both South Asian literature and music.
After nine years of study and performance in the San Francisco Bay Area, Srinivas has recently relocated to New England where he plans to establish a center for South Asian music, art and literature.
Co- Sponsored by the South Asian Studies Concentration
and the Contemplative Studies Initiative
Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
Roshi Joan Halifax
The talk by Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, explores an overview of innovative approaches in the psycho-social, ethical, and spiritual aspects of care of the dying. The talk covers important areas, including: ethical, spiritual, psychological, and social aspects of care of the dying; community-building around dying persons and relationship-centered care; exploration of peri-death phenomena; care of the caregiver; and contemplative approaches to care of the dying and their families. The talk will include a powerpoint presentation and question and answers.
A medical anthropologist and world leader in innovative end-of-life care, Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, has pioneered her work with the dying for forty years. Dr. Halifax is a former Honorary Research Fellow at Harvard University, a recipient of a National Science Foundation Fellowship, and has taught at numerous universities and medical centers around the world on care of the dying. She is a former faculty member of the University of Miami School of Medicine’s Pediatrics and Psychiatry departments, a former researcher at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, and was on the faculty of the New School of Social Research in New York City. Her many books include The Human Encounter with Death (with Stanislav Grof), The Fruitful Darkness, Being with Dying: Compassionate End-of-Life Care Training Guide, and Being With Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death.
Co- Sponsored by the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
and the Contemplative Studies Initiative