Distinctions between pain and suffering are critical and relevant within the context of Buddhist thought and practice. This talk will map out a Buddhist perspective on suffering, its ultimate causes, the possibility of liberation from suffering, and a systematic path for its realization. It will touch on what Buddhists refer to as universal qual­ities of the human mind that are directly accessible through the cul­tivation of awareness through meditation.

MBSR has been widely accepted, used, and studied within main­stream medicine and psychiatry for the past twenty five years. This talk will describe MBSR’s approach to making mindfulness, “the foundational core of Buddhist meditation,” accessible to Western medical patients in a secular form while preserving the universal dharma dimension at its heart. Results from two clinical trials will be presented, one on rates of skin clearing in psoriasis, the other on emotional processing in cortical regions of the brain, and accompa­nying effects of immune function. Directions in current and future research programs will be pointed out.

Many peripheral biological systems exist within a network of neural and humoral connections that mediate the influence of the brain on peripheral biological function. Afferent connections to the brain are reciprocated in most of these systems. This anatomical and func­tional arrangement permits the mind to influence the body and vice versa. Meditation is a form of mental training that involves the vol­untary alteration of patterns of neural activity that can produce con­sequences for peripheral biology through these mechanisms.

Father Keating will offer a Christian contemplative perspective to expand the conversation beyond a Buddhist meditative framework, pointing out commonalities and differences that may be of value in developing new models for meditative interventions and investiga­tions. Matthieu Ricard and Sharon Salzberg will offer their own unique perspectives on the interface between meditation and science and the challenges of living a full and healthy/wholesome life in these times.

This session will showcase some of the latest scientific research on these topics to provide a foundation for the likely substrates upon which med­itation might operate. In addition, a detailed understanding of the bio­logical substrates of stress and plasticity will provide a framework for the design of new research that is based upon this recent understanding.

Few of us will succumb to cholera, smallpox or scarlet fever. Instead, we die from diseases of Westernized lifestyle, which are often dis­eases worsened by stress. When the stress-response is mobilized by the body because of a typical mammalian stressor (e.g., a sprint from a predator), it is highly adaptive. However, when activated in the classic manner of Westernized humans (i.e., chronic psychoso­cial stress), it is pathogenic. The presentation will consider this dichotomy, as well as new directions of research needed for under­standing the neurobiology of stress and stress management.

Modern scientific knowledge of how stress affects the brain and body and how the brain can become re-organized to produce states of focused attention that promote learning and change has burgeoned over the past decade. This session will showcase some of the latest scientific research on these topics to provide a foundation for the likely substrates upon which med­itation might operate. In addition, a detailed understanding of the bio­logical substrates of stress and plasticity will provide a framework for the design of new research that is based upon this recent understanding

The advent of effective treatments for mood disorders has provided relief for many depressed patients, yet staying well and preventing relapse are enduring challenges. The clinical application of mindfulness in this group acquaints patients with the modes of mind that often characterize mood disorders while simultaneously inviting them to develop a new relationship to these modes. Thoughts come to be seen as events in the mind, independent of their content and emotional charge. They need not be disputed, fixed or changed but can be held in a more spacious awareness.

Functional neuroimaging has established that both non-pharmaco­logical and pharmacological treatments for depression both change the brain, though they change the brain in different ways. This pres­entation will present findings from positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of functional brain changes mediating depression remission using cognitive behavioral therapy. Differences between cognitive and pharmaco­logical interventions will be discussed in the context of limbic-cortical network model of depression.

This session will review the experimental evidence for the effectiveness of MBCT in reducing relapse rates for chronic depression, and how mindfulness might be functioning in the brain to regulate depressive cognitions, affect, and behaviors. The different elements comprising the meditation practices and approaches will be examined from the contemplative perspective, and cross-cultural issues discussed regard­ing content and context and how they may serve to synergistically opti­mize meditation-based interventions in Western and Asian settings.

Psychological stress can markedly decrease blood flow to the heart, dramatically elevating the risk of dying. This talk will describe the protocol of an ongoing NIH funded study of the impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on blood flow responses to mental stress in cardiac patients using cardiac imag­ing, and on their quality of life.

Various forms of stress affect specific brain systems and through alterations in these circuits, profound changes in immune function can arise. This talk will present an overview of modern research on the impact of different kinds of stress on specific immune processes. The mechanisms through which these effects are pro­duced will be described. This corpus of research can then be used to consider the mecha­nisms by which meditation may operate to influence diseases of the immune system.

As scientific research establishes that many “physical diseases” are modulated by psychological processes such as stressful life events and emotions, the mechanisms underlying these interactions have been targets for scientific research. As the mechanisms become more well­ understood, the rationale for using meditation as an intervention for certain types of physical illnesses becomes more compelling and more solidly grounded in modern scientific research.

Medicine is moving inexorably toward a more integrative perspective on many fronts, as emerging technologies and expanded epistemologies are incorporated into how medicine is practiced. This set of reflections will consider the ways in which what has been presented from both the clinical and basic science perspectives might contribute to this ongoing development in medical care, medical education, and medical research, and its potential for giving rise to more rational institutional approaches to health and well-being, as well as elucidating a larger role for engaged participation on the part of individuals in furthering their own health.

Research over the past two decades has identified specific features of neural oscillations and synchrony that appear to participate in perceptual processes and consciousness. These may be among the mechanisms that are affected by meditation. This set of reflections will consider the application of basic research on neural oscillations and synchrony to the understand of changes that may be produced by meditation and related forms of mental practice.