Tibetan Medicine and Meditation Symposium
Announcing a very special event ~ April 13-15, 2012
This event is free and open to the public, but as of April 11 there are 450 registrants, which was our registration limit. We expect some people won’t actually come, so we welcome people to still come, though we can not absolutely guarantee a seat at this point if you didn’t register. We will do our best to accommodate those who arrive without registrations.
Location: University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, VA.
Click to Download Event Flyer
Organized by: Arura Medicine of Tibet, the UVa Contemplative Sciences Center, the UVa Tibet Center, and the UVa School of Nursing
Sponsored by: the Page-Barbour Lecture Series at UVa, the UVa Center for International Studies, the UVa East Asia Center, and the UVa South Asia Center
With Support from Featheridge and Sacred Plant Traditions
This innovative symposium will bring together leading Tibetan, American and international scholars and practitioners of meditation and mindfulness, researchers on mind-body connections, and medical professionals to explore the intersection between modern science and the classical medical and contemplative traditions of Tibet. It will investigate how Tibetan medical and meditation systems have traditionally been used in the healing of mind and body, as well as exploring how these techniques can be adapted and incorporated into contemporary healthcare and educational systems.
The event will inaugurate the opening of Arura Medicine of Tibet’s USA branch in Charlottesville and the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia
Symposium details are forthcoming and will be provided on the future conference website (www.tibetconference.org) that will be launched in March. Until then you can now learn more about the conference on this Tibet Center website and subscribe to the newsletter for the Contemplative Sciences Center. This will help you stay informed by email of all related news about this conference and more.
NOTE: Registration is not required, and the symposium is open to the public but we cannot guarantee a seat if you are not registered. Register today, as seats are nearly filled! Please bring your registration confirmation to the conference with you.
SYMPOSIUM PARKING
Primary parking for the symposium is available in the McLeod Hall parking garage here (free after 5pm on Friday, but okay to arrive a bit early, and free all day Saturday and Sunday). If the McLeod garage is full, overflow parking is available at the parking lot behind Gibson Hall off of Jefferson Park Avenue (free after 5pm on Friday and all day Sat. and Sun.).
Directions
McLeod Hall, 202 Jeanette Lancaster Way, Charlottesville, VA 22903
Driving From the North: Take U.S. 29 South. Upon reaching Charlottesville, go past the U.S. 250 Bypass and remain on 29 South Business (Emmet Street). After passing University Hall move to the left lane. At the intersection of University Avenue and Ivy Road (the Cavalier Inn is on the corner), turn left onto University Avenue. Proceed to third traffic light [you will pass under train bridge]. Turn right onto Jefferson Park Ave. Continue to second traffic light and turn left onto Lane Road. Take immediate right onto Jeanette Lancaster Way [formerly 15th St, SW]. McLeod Hall is on your left with underground parking attached to building [not marked, so go slowly or you’ll miss it! If you reach ‘Hospital Parking Garage South’ /permit only, you’ve gone too far.]
Driving From the South: Take U.S. 29 North. Upon reaching Charlottesville, take the U.S. 29 North Business exit and turn right when coming off the exit ramp onto Fontaine Avenue. Follow the signs to the Medical Center/University Hospital. Go through two traffic lights – the street becomes Jefferson Park Avenue. Proceed to the light at the intersection. Bear right to continue on Jefferson Park Avenue. Turn right onto Lane Road. Take immediate right onto Jeanette Lancaster Way [formerly 15th St, SW]. McLeod Hall is on your left with underground parking attached to building [not marked, so go slowly or you’ll miss it! If you reach ‘Hospital Parking Garage South’ /permit only, you’ve gone too far.]
Gibson Hall, 1550 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22903
From McLeod Hall, Head northeast on Jeanette Lancaster Way toward Lane Rd. From Lane Rd. turn left onto Jefferson Park Avenue (JPA). From JPA take the second left onto Brandon Rd. at the light and proceed about until you find the K2 parking lot on your right.
Symposium Schedule
Friday (April 13)
3:00-4:30pm: Related Talk – Maitri: An Introduction to Mandala Principle, Judith Simmer Brown, Professor, Naropa University and Richard Brown, Associate Professor of Contemplative Education, Naropa University. Location: Claude Moore Nursing Education Building Room G010 (across the road from McLeod Hall)
Location: McLeod Auditorium, McLeod Hall, University of Virginia School of Nursing
5:00-5:10pm: Welcome from David Germano, Director of UVa Tibet Center and Dorrie Fontaine, Dean of UVa Nursing
5:10-5:20: Welcome from Dr. Otsang Tsokchen, President of ARURA Tibetan Medical Group in Tso-Ngon (Qinghai)
5:20-5:40: Introduction to ARURA, Tsem Gonthar, Vice Director, Tibetan Medicine and Cultural Museums
5:45-6:45: Tibetan Physicians and the Medicine Buddha, Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Columbia University
6:45-6:55: Welcome and Announcement of the UVa Contemplative Sciences Center from UVa President Teresa Sullivan
6:55-7:15: Reception outside of auditorium
Saturday (April 14)
Location: McLeod Auditorium, McLeod Hall, University of Virginia School of Nursing
9:30-11:30am: Tibetan Medical Care
Talks are 20 minutes with 10 minutes of Q&A. Questions/comments from the audience should be under 2 minutes in duration.
- Tibetan Medicine for Cancer – A Review of Case Studies, Susan Bauer-Wu, Associate Professor, Emory University Woodruff School of Nursing
- Knowledge of Maintaining Good Health Improves Current Tibetan Medical Care, Kunchok Gyaltsen, Tibetan Medical Doctor and Professor of Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College
- Integrating mind, body and spirit: Tibetan medicine as a model for healing across the continuum of life, Leslie Blackhall, Associate Professor of Medicine, UVa Medical School
- History and Theory Based Clinical Practices of Tibetan Medicine, Doctor Dorjee, Tibetan Medical Doctor, Professor, and President of Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) Provincial Tibetan Medical Research Institute
11:30-1:00: Lunch break. Catered for participants only.
1:00-3:00pm: Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and Education
Talks are 15 minutes in duration with a final 45 minutes of collective interaction between the panel and audience.
- Contemplation in Curricular Context: Classical Buddhist Models, Kurtis Schaeffer, Professor, UVa Department of Religious Studies
- Teaching Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers, John Schorling, Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Evaluation Sciences and Director, UVa Mindfulness Center
- Mindfulness is Not Enough, Judith Simmer Brown, Professor of Religious Studies, Naropa University
- Contemplative Wisdom and Social Transformation, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, President, Ligmincha Institute
- Compassionate Presence in Teaching, Richard Brown, Associate Professor of Contemplative Education, Naropa University
3:30-5:30pm: Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Tibetan Buddhist Meditation
- Contemplative Neuroscience and the Mind-Body Problem: Western and Tibetan Perspectives, Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
- A response from John Dunne, Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies, Emory University
- A response from David Germano, Professor of Tibetan Buddhist Studies, University of Virginia
Sunday (April 15)
Location: McLeod Auditorium, McLeod Hall, University of Virginia School of Nursing
9:30am-11:30am: Tibetan Medicine in Modern Society
- Tibetan Medical Perspectives on Diabetes, Phuntsog Wangmo, Director of the School of Tibetan Medicine, Shang Shung Institute
- Either Medicine or Religion? Epistemologies and Practices of Tibetan Medicine in Tibet and the West, Mona Schrempf, Researcher, Humbolt University, Berlin
- Tibetan Medicine, Public Health, and Cultural Competency in an Era of Evidence-Based Health-Development Programs, Sienna Craig, Assistant Professor, Dartmouth College
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Psychological Disorders in Tibetan Medicine, Lhusham Gyal, Tibetan Medical Doctor, Professor, and Dean of Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College
- Integrating Integrative Medicine, Andy Haig, Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan
The Buddhist Studies Group at the University of Virginia, an organization devoted to promoting the academic field of Buddhist Studies, is organizing a symposium on the Tibetan Book from November 6-8, 2014.
