Varela 20/30

In 2021, we were paying tribute to two anniversaries: the 20th of Francisco's passing in 2001 and the 30th of the publication of The Embodied Mind. Click here to learn more!

Activity Report 2021

Check out our Activity Report for 2021 to find out all about the exciting webinars, exclusive webcasts and online programs that we organised, plus much, much more!

Read it now!

Give MLE Friends as a gift!

Surprise your loved ones, colleagues and friends with a unique gift: one year of immersive learning experiences in the areas of contemplative science, education and well-being.

Happy Holidays!

As the year 2021 draws to a close, all of us at Mind & Life Europe would like to wish you a happy holiday season!

We hope that you will join us in 2022 for another year of inspiring events!

Mind and Life Europe acts as catalyst for human flourishing

Understanding the mind and cultivating the heart

Every day, we support vital work that transforms our scientific understanding of the human mind and its capacity to develop positive mental states. We believe that when contemplative wisdom and practices are fully integrated into modern day science it has the power to act as a catalyst for human and societal flourishing. This is the promise of what we call contemplative science.

The main message, to me, is the importance for human beings to learn how to become experts on their own mind. -- Francisco J. Varela

Together with the world's leading scientists, contemplative scholars, and healthcare, educational and management practitioners, we create an open and interdisciplinary dialogue between modern sciences and contemplative practices and share our findings with the world.

 

Varela 20/30 Events

Francisco and Friends webinar series

In the context of our Varela 20/30 anniversaries, Francisco Varela's dialogue partners share experiences and insights about working with him and the influence of these special relationships on their life and work, in a series of webinars on the MLE YouTube channel. 

Learn more!

Join the MLE Friends community!

MLE Friends is a community for people who seek to foster human flourishing in connection with science and wisdom traditions.

Find out more!

Ouroboros Season 2

The second season of the Ouroboros Seminars, held in cooperation with Metanoia and the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts (Slovenia), has now concluded.

Watch the final seminar with Amy Cohen Varela here!

Learn more!

Previous Events

ESRI 2021 (online)

In August 2021, we held the second online European Summer Research Institute (ESRI).

This year's program was themed: "Care for life: Enacting knowedlge in an interdependent and uncertain world." ESRI 2021 is the second part of a 3-year thematic arc dedicated to the theme of "Knoweldge". 

Learn more!

Webinar with The Dalai Lama (June 9 2021)

On June 9, MLE hosted a wonderful webinar with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama titled: "Dialogue for a Better World - Remembering Francsico Varela". 

The special friendship between The Dalai Lama and Francisco Varela led to the creation of Mind & Life and its groundbreaking work in the field of contemplative science. 

Find out more!

MLE Retreat 2021

Our first MLE Retreat was held in 2019 in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany and themed: "Exploring Contemplative Life: Integrating personal, professional and spiritual aspects of our path".

Following the success of this retreat we held our first online MLE Retreat for young researchers in February 2021. 

Learn more!