science & clinical applications of meditation discussion Nov. 8 town

[Guest guest]

Dalai Lama, top scientists to discuss science & clinical applications

of meditation

Conference addresses western medicine & society's embrace of

meditation, press meeting with Dalai Lama, Hopkins Medical Dean

, and town University Professor Aviad Haramati at

8am on Nov. 8

With Western medicine's increasing interest in meditation's affect on

mental and physical well-being, the Mind & Life Institute, in

partnership with the town University Medical Center, and the

s Hopkins University School of Medicine will host " Mind & Life

XIII: The Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation, " November

8-10, 2005 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. The historic

conference on meditation, a convergence of Eastern and Western

thinkers, will feature acclaimed speakers from scientific and

contemplative communities, among them, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A

pre-event press meeting with the Dalai Lama, s Hopkins Medical

Dean , and town University Professor Aviad

Haramati will be held 8:00 - 9:00 am on Tuesday, November 8 on

the " C " Street lobby level of DAR Constitution Hall.

The upcoming conference, on the cutting-edge of science and

meditation, will be only the second public dialogue on this topic

with the Dalai Lama, the internationally recognized Nobel laureate

and Tibetan spiritual leader. In 2003, the McGovern Institute for

Brain Research at MIT co-sponsored the first public conference on how

the mind works, involving Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama,

and neuroscientists. That meeting received international media

coverage and was included in a cover story on meditation in TIME

Magazine. The Mind & Life conference offers science and medical

professionals a rare opportunity to learn about the intersection of

meditation and medicine. The conference, which will be held in

dialogue format, will feature sessions on meditation-based clinical

interventions: science, practice, and implementation, possible

biological substrates of meditation, clinical research on meditation

and mental Health, and clinical research on meditation and physical

health. Following the conference the Dalai Lama will participate in

two other historic events in Washington, DC. First, he will address

the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, which expects

30,000 attendees on Saturday, November 12, from 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM in

the Washington Convention Center, Hall D. SfN is the world's largest

organization of scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding

the brain and the nervous system. On Sunday, November 13, the Dalai

Lama will also speak at the public Global Peace through Compassion

event at 3:00 pm at the MCI Center. This public event is co-sponsored

by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the Mind and Life

Institute.

The first Mind & Life Conference took place in October 1987 in India

and was followed by other private meetings in India and the United

States that have made enormous contributions to the field of research

about affects of meditation on mind and body. Dozens of books have

been published as a result of these conferences. The Institute has

been a driving force in the new and widespread acceptance of

meditation in the West.

Adam Engle, Chairman and co-founder with the Dalai Lama of the Mind &

Life Institute, said, " Various applications of meditation have

already made their way into the mainstream of medicine and psychiatry

in the treatment of stress, pain, and a large range of chronic

diseases. The Mind and Life conference is an opportunity to review

some of the recent work that has been unfolding in these areas, and

to map out the potential for both broadening and deepening these

investigations. "

" The meeting will provide an opportunity for scientists whose

research is focused on basic mind-brain-body interactions to learn

more about meditation and to contribute to an ongoing dialogue about

the mechanisms by which meditation may influence physical and mental

health, " Engle added.

More information on the Mind & Life XIII public meeting is available

at mindandlife.organd investigatingthemind.org.