What is happening to attention in an "always on" culture? In this salon, we look at Attention Ecology and the science of mindful metacognition. Expect a thoughtful conversation linking stress physiology, media, and polarization with practical ways to strengthen reflection, resilience, and more constructive dialogue across difference.

Metaphor – using a more concrete example to express a more abstract idea or experience – is a fundamental feature of literature and language. The study of metaphor as a feature of language has long been central to literary studies. The study of Buddhist literature has given some attention to metaphor, drawing primarily from literary studies. In this workshop we week to identify features of metaphorical expression that are often a work in Buddhist contemplative literature. For UVA Graduate Students and Faculty.

This discussion treats ‘nature’ as both a lived reference point for contemplative practice and a charged, historically overdetermined term—less a stable object “out there” than a scene of negotiation where bodies, concepts, and the more-than-human co-compose what counts as real. Holding this tension, the workshop explores practices of contemplative naturalness in the early Tibetan Dzogchen and Chinese Chan traditions—noncoercive awareness and effortless cultivation alongside the modern need to meet climate grief, guilt, anxiety, and responsibility as weather moving through the nervous system and the elements. Inspired by contemporary eco-poetics and decolonial critique, we follow the genealogies of physis, natura, rang byung, and ziran while foregrounding the claim that the modern distinction between nature and culture sits at the heart of colonial modernity and its enduring ethical, ecological, and technological consequences.

Spontaneous forms of thought such as mind-wandering foster creativity and exploration. But digital technologies may be crowding out spontaneity: In the past, during idle times such as waiting for a bus, our minds were more accustomed to wandering. Now we are stuck on our phones. How can we make room for spontaneity in a digital world?

The University of Virginia School of Nursing; School of Education and Human Development; and Contemplative Sciences Center are co-hosting a half day pan-University Compassionate Care Research Symposium related to compassion research and scholarship across Grounds. This symposium will explore compassion related research with an interdisciplinary focus and is intended to spark connections and collaborations.

Across the multi-millennial discourse on contemplative practices within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, there is a pervasive tension that persists between practices that apply effort and those that are effortless. Recently this has emerged as an important framework for interdisciplinary engagement about enhanced cognitive performance. While presented as a binary in classical accounts—as if effort is a fixed and static quantity that is present or absent—it is better understood as a descriptive framework for a spectrum of contemplative dynamics that unfold during meditative experiences, and which can be intentionally enacted, or fostered, by different contemplative techniques. These practices are performed in ongoing and dynamic shifts across a spectrum of intensities of effort. This symposium furthered transdisciplinary research collaborations to advance a collective understanding of the underlying dynamics of contemplative practices by bringing together leading specialists for an exploration of these practices in light of contemporary philosophical inquiry and psychological research on effort and effortless, self-emergent experiences.

A Symposium on Contemplative Technologies was held by the Contemplative Sciences Center and its Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab (CIRCL) on October 9 and 10. The symposium was a public event exploring meditative, artistic, and interactive tools — including historical practices, immersive installations, sonic environments, and Virtual Reality — designed to guide attention, deepen perception, and evoke embodied insight. View video of all of the symposium panels and more.

Connect with fellow attendees, researchers, and experts in the field of compassionate care to help plan a half-day pan-University Compassionate Care symposium. Unwind, share ideas, and build new relationships in a relaxed setting.

An overview of “A Symposium on Contemplative Technologies,” hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center and its Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab (CIRCL). Held on October 9 and 10, the symposium drew scholars from around the glob, experts in a vast array of disciplines. The overview—written by Michael Overstreet—includes links to the program, videos, and other related resources.

Popular notions of mindfulness and contemplation tend strongly toward “calming.” Yet “calming” only tells half the story, which can be deeply problematic when clarity and action are desired or called for. Alternatively, “grit and grace” resonates better with the professional audiences in business and healthcare that I work with. “Grit” captures focus and determination, while “grace” captures composure and compassion. In this salon, I invite reactions to this framing and seek ideas about how to support “grit and grace” with evidence-based research and wisdom traditions.