From 7–9 October, the Ligmincha Institute will hold its fourth annual conference on the intersection of Buddhist practice and modern science at its Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Virginia. Led by the New Bon teacher Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, the conference will host an impressive selection of noted scientists, doctors, psychiatrists, and therapists. Discussions will center on cutting-edge research investigating how Western science is confirming what Buddhist practitioners have known for centuries—that meditative techniques involving the body, mind, and visualization have profoundly beneficial effects on human experience and health.
Lingmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge. From Lingmincha Institute Facebook
The primary meditation master in attendance, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, is a notable and accomplished teacher in the New Bon tradition, which traces its roots to the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, reputed to have lived about 18,000 years ago—thousands of years before the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. While there is debate about the relationship between Bon and Buddhism and there are no historical records that mention Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche before the 10th century, the teachings of Bon are considered very similar to those of Vajrayana Buddhism, the major difference being in recorded lineage rather than in technique or philosophy. The Dalai Lama has acknowledged Bon as one of the great Tibetan philosophical schools along with the Gelugpa, Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, and now Jonang, traditions.
Image of the mind/brain.
From serenityridge.lingminchainstitute.org
The conference speakers include many illustrious researchers who have gained accomplishment in their fields through studying the benefits of meditative practice on the body and mind. Those who will give presentations are: Susan Bauer-Wu, who specializes in the use of contemplative techniques to help cope with the effects of chronic stress; Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, a student of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche who teaches trul khor exercises to cancer patients and their care-givers; James Coan, associate professor of Clinical Psychology, director of the Virginia Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, and a prolific author, having written for Psychology Today, The New Yorker, and the Atlantic; Gaëlle Desbordes, who has led research on how participation in an eight-week meditation intensive can create changes to the brain that remain even when no longer meditating; Maria Kozhenikov, lecturing on the neurocognitive effects of tummo meditation; Sasha Loring, who authored the book Eating With Fierce Kindness and will be presenting on the effects of mindful eating; Kathrin Milbury, a teacher at the University of Texas, who has authored papers on the use of Tibetan yoga by couples to heal lung cancer; and David W. Wetter, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Rice University, who has studied and formulated methods for reducing cancer risk behaviors by applying the methods of mindfulness.
The topics exemplify a broad spectrum of university-level research on the effects of meditation. On their own, they represent a “grand tour” of modern thought on the advantages of this practice; gathered together, they combine to form an excellent symposium on the ways in which modern medicine is slowly being influenced by the advanced psychosomatic techniques that are common practice in the ancient traditions of Buddhism and its affiliated schools of philosophy. The conference is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
For further information, see ligmincha.org