Investigating the Mind
The McGovern Institute, MIT
September 13-14, 2003

The Investigating the Mind conference, sponsored by the McGovern Institute and the Mind and Life Institute was held on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13-14. The conference engaged scientists and Buddhists in a dialogue about the nature of reality, to see what scientists can learn from the minds of Buddhist monks who spend long hours in meditation. The McGovern Institute sponsored event was preceded by a news conference at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge on Friday and followed by a public talk at the Fleet Center on Sunday evening.

The Dalai Lama, head of the Tibetan government in exile since 1959, resides in Dharamsala, India, and regularly invites scientists to visit for dialogue, which is a traditional Buddhist method of discovering truth. The McGovern Institute/MIT conference was the 11th such meeting, the first that was made public. It sold out quickly.