Studying the Well-Trained Mind Neuroscientist and psychologist Richard Davidson confers with Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard during an EEG study that monitored brain waves during different meditative practices (Lutz & others, 2004). Ricard, a former molecular biologist, helped design the studies, held under the auspices of the Mind and Life Institute (www.mindandlife.org). The 14th Dalai Lama has been instrumental in encouraging such collaborations between Western scientists and Tibetan Buddhist practitioners (Ekman & others, 2005; Ricard & others, 2014). As the Dalai Lama wrote, “Buddhists have a 2,500-year history of investigating the workings of the mind” (Gyatso, 2003). Using imaging devices that show what occurs in the brain during meditation, Dr. Davidson has been able to study the effects of Buddhist practice for cultivating compassion, equanimity, or mindfulness.

Jeff Miller/University of Wisconsin-Madison