The Practical Power of Meditation
Adam Engle advocates the creative blending of what he considers “first-person science”—knowledge based in the subjective experience of contemplative Buddhism—and “third-person science,” or knowledge derived from empirical observation. With grant support from the John Templeton Foundation, Engle, chairman and CEO of the Mind & Life Institute, hosts an annual summer program in which hundreds of laboratory researchers, scholars, and Buddhist practitioners come together to share information about the intersection between contemplative religion and science.
This past summer, 163 attendees met in Garrison, New York, for the 2010 Summer Research Institute, which focused on the possibility of developing a secular, scientific foundation for introducing contemplative practices into public educational settings. The goal was not religious instruction, but rather discovering ways to promote personal resilience among students and to decrease behavior that leads to educational and social failure. The scholars brought together each summer, says Engle, are slowly compiling a body of evidence showing that particular contemplative practices can lead to improved health, better cognitive and emotional skill development, greater happiness, and increased social harmony.
Neuroscientist Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, who studies brain imaging and meditation at West Virginia University, has attended Mind & Life’s summer program. She has been working on studies of long-term meditators in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. After performing brain scans of individuals who were meditating, she and her colleagues found that when they introduced sounds of people in distress, the insula—that part of the brain thought to be involved in human empathy—became active. In long-term meditators (those with several decades of practice), the insula became much more active than in those recently taught meditation.
Another Summer Research Institute fellow, Stanford University neuroscientist Philippe Goldin, has done work on anxiety disorders. His finding that meditation can decrease levels of social anxiety was published recently in Emotion, a journal of the American Psychological Association.
Richard Davidson, lead scientific advisor for the Mind & Life Institute, has studied the effects on brain function of long-term meditative practice. He has concluded that in many ways, human beings have the ability to reshape their own brains. Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the Vancouver Sun that, “It may be a period of time, but by 2050 I believe mental exercise will be understood as being as important as physical exercise.”
The work that the Mind & Life Institute is doing “to bridge the gap between religious practitioners and the scientific studies of those practices” is very important to JTF, says Drew Rick-Miller, a senior program officer at the Foundation.
“Sir John was very interested in how you can use your mind and character to change things,” he said. Rick-Miller added that there are broad implications to the idea that the practice of meditation itself, apart from religious content, can help build one’s character.
Zach’s Unusual Summer Vacation
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Most 12-year-olds spent their summer at the beach, by the pool, playing video games or otherwise enjoying their break from school. Not Zach Bonner. The Florida boy has trekked from his home near Tampa across the most blistering part of the North American continent, headed to California in an effort to raise money for homeless youth through his non-profit Little Red Wagon Foundation. Bonner first gained national notice in 2004, working to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Charley. He collected and distributed the equivalent of 27 truckloads of provisions to the needy with his Radio Flyer. This past May, the Foundation-supported Philanthropy Project charity began principal photography on Little Red Wagon, a feature film version of Bonner’s story, set for major release in 2011. Meanwhile, far from Hollywood, the rail-thin but tireless redhead wore holes in his sneakers making the 2,500-mile journey, much of it across the scorching desert Southwest, one step at a time, raising money at stops along the way for homeless children (singer Elton John promised a $50,000 donation if Bonner makes it to Los Angeles), and urging other kids to get involved helping in their communities. Bonner’s walk received national media attention in the New York Times, and on the NBC Nightly News, ABC’s Good Morning America, and CBS’s Early Show. He anticipates concluding his solitary march across America when he arrives at the Santa Monica Pier on September 14.
Window Closing on New JTF Grant Inquiries
Researchers and project leaders seeking financial support from the John Templeton Foundation in its current funding cycle have until October 15 to complete preliminary applications. For the current grantmaking year, the Foundation has designed several Funding Priorities, and invites Online Funding Inquiries (OFIs) that specifically address one or more of the Big Questions in the following areas:
Potential grantees can learn more about how to submit an OFI for these 2010 Funding Priorities and Our Core Funding Areas by visiting www.templeton.org.
