Nature of Mind

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A project that brought together neuroscientists, philosophers, psychologists, and Buddhist thinkers.

Your mind is your most valuable asset and most dangerous possession. It can be amazingly creative or terrifyingly destructive. Every experience you have, or could possibly have, is mediated through your mind. The health of your mind is the health of your life.

Conversations and Meditations

Amishi Jha: Peak Mind | click to expand

A professor of psychology at the University of Miami, Dr Jha serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California–Davis and postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Dr. Jha’s work has been featured at NATO, the World Economic Forum, and The Pentagon. She has received coverage in the The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Forbes and more.

interview

Dr Amishi Jha in conversation with Amalavajra about owning your attention, emotional strength, and mindfulness.

Seminar

Maitreyabandhu and Amalavajra discuss Jha’s work and the role of paying attenttion.

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are four guided sessions.

Bernardo Kastrup: Mind, Matter, Metaphysics | Click to expand

With a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering specializing in artificial intelligence and reconfigurable computing, Kastrup has worked as a scientist in some of the world’s foremost research laboratories, including the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the “Casimir Effect” of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has authored many academic papers and books on philosophy and science, including More Than Allegory, Brief Peeks Beyond, and Why Materialism Is Baloney.

interview

Viryadeva interviews Kastrup about materialism, mind, and oceanic consciousness.

Seminar

Viryadeva and Danayutta explore the implications of Kastrup’s work; what is life for if we are but whirlpools in cosmic consciousness?

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are five guided sessions.

Carol Bowman: Past-Life Memories | Click to expand

Internationally known author, lecturer, counselor, past life regression therapist, and pioneer in reincarnation studies, Bowman’s books, Children’s Past Lives (Bantam, 1997) and Return from Heaven (HarperCollins, 2001) are now classics in the reincarnation field, and have been published and read around the world in 22 foreign editions.

interview

Vajratara interviews Carol Bowman on past life memories.

Seminar

Satyadasa and Ksantikara in conversation about children’s past life memories.

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are five guided sessions.

Iain McGilchrist: The Divided Brain | Click to expand

Former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where he taught literature, McGilchrist then trained in medicine and working as a psychiatrist. He is committed to the idea that the brain can be understood only by seeing it in the broadest possible context of our physical, cultural and spiritual existence.

interviews

Note for more interviews with McGilchrist, see The Divided Brain with Jnanavaca and The Making of the Western World with Maitreyabandhu.

Seminar

Jnanavaca reflects on McGilchrist’s work. Note that the coversation between Jnanavaca and Maitreyabandhu took place on the Buddhism: The Big Questions retreat.

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are five guided sessions.

Paul Gilbert: The Compassionate Mind | Click to expand

Prof. Paul Gilbert OBE is a British clinical psychologist and founder of Compassion Focused Therapy. He is the author of the bestselling guide Overcoming Depression, and The Compassionate Mind.

interviews

Prof. Gilbert, in conversation with Maitreyabandhu, exploring the compassionate mind: its strengths, its enemies, and why we resist it. 

Seminar

Saddhanandi and Ksantikara discuss Gilberts work on compassion and the ‘curse of the self’

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are five guided sessions.

Penny Sartori: Near-Death Experiences | Click to expand

Dr Penny Sartori worked as a nurse in a British hospital for 21 years, including 17 years in Intensive Care. She has conducted unique and extensive research into the near-death experiences (NDEs) of her patients.

interviews

Dr Penny Sartori (PhD in Near-Death Experiences) in conversation with Maitreyabandhu.

Seminar

Jnanavaca and Maitreyabandhu explore the implications of Dr Sartori’s work, looking at the Buddhist vision of rebirth and the menace of nihilism.

Meditations

Note that the video above is part of a playlist – there are five guided sessions.

Talks + Retreats

talks from
Subhuti and Padmavajra

change your mind,
change the world Retreat

buddhism:
the big questions Retreat

English (UK)