Students at the world-renowned Misk School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia embarked on their first training adventure within in an intensive summer program held in cooperation with CCARE that focused on empathy in the design approach and building the city of Qiddiya and its facilities through innovative solutions that employ artificial intelligence and enhance the spirit of collaborative work.
Social Connection, Compassion, and Youth Mental Health
An inspiring conversation with distinguished panelists US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Dr. James Doty, moderated by Emma Seppälä at The George Washington University on May 6, 2022. Amid the ongoing mental health crisis made more acute by the global pandemic, this distinguished panel explores the future of mental health, work, and life in general in the U.S., giving young people tips and tools to be happy now, and into the future.
Meng-Wu Lecture: Prof. Dr. Tania Singer
From Inner Change Towards a More Caring Economy: The Neuroscience of Motivation, Care and Compassion
Abstract: In the last decades our society has faced many global and economic problems that call for new solutions and change. Emerging fields such as affective-social and contemplative neurosciences as well as neuro-economics have produced promising findings that can help inform such necessary changes as well as inform new economic models which integrate psychological and biological knowledge about human motivation and decision making. For example, plasticity research has suggested that training of mental capacities such as compassion and care is indeed effective and leads to changes in brain functions associated with increases in mental health, well-being and pro-social behaviors and cooperation. Evidence for the trainability and alterability of what economists have postulated being fixed and context-insensitive preferences questions classic views of homo economicus and call for the development of new decision-making models based on care and affiliation and not only on consumption motivation. In this talk, she will introduce the idea of caring economics and review findings from two mental training studies: the Resource Project, a large-scale multi-methodological one-year secular mental training program that aims at the cultivation of attention and social skills such as empathy, compassion and perspective taking, and the CovSocial Project, focusing on assessing changes in mental health, social cohesion and resilience throughout the Covid19 pandemic in 2020/21/22. She will show how such mental trainings can indeed foster resilience and social skills as well as cooperation and human prosociality. Further she will show how 10-weeks mental online training including 12-minutes daily partner-based practices, so called Contemplative Dyads, can actually reduce increasing levels of loneliness and stress elicited by multiple consecutive lock-downs during the Covid19 pandemic and increase social connectedness and resilience. She will discuss these findings in light of their relevance for caring economics models aiming at reintroducing secular ethics and care in society emphasizing the need to step into a global responsibility through personal change.
About Prof. Dr. Tania Singer
Tania Singer is the scientific head of the Social Neuroscience Lab of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, Germany. After doing her PhD in Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, she became a Post-doctoral Fellow at the same institution, at the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, and at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in London. In 2006, she first became Assistant Professor and later Inaugural Chair of Social Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics as well as Co-Director of the Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research at the University of Zurich. Between 2010 and 2018 Tania Singer was the director of the department of Social Neurosciences at the Max Planck Institute of Cognitive and Human Development in Leipzig. Tania Singer is author of more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters and edited together with Mathieu Ricard the two books Caring Economics (2015) and Power and Care (2019).
Her research focus is on the hormonal, neuronal, and developmental basis of human sociality, empathy and compassion, and their malleability through mental training. Learning from contemplative traditions from the East, she has initiated and headed one of the largest meditation-based secular mental training studies on compassion, the ReSource project. Linking such findings to the field of (neuro)economics, she developed a Caring Economics approach, developing new models of economy based on care and social cohesion. She is also heading the CovSocial project, a large-scale study on stress, resilience and social cohesion in Berliners during the corona crisis. Throughout her life she has explored how inner change can bring about societal change putting science in the service of societal transformation. Web: taniasinger.de
Conversations on Compassion with The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi
Dr. James Doty, CCARE Founder and Director, hosted this online Conversation on Compassion with the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, author of Running Toward Mystery.
The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is an innovative thinker, philosopher, educator and a polymath monk. He is President & CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a center dedicated to inquiry, dialogue, and education on the ethical and humane dimensions of life. The Center is a collaborative and nonpartisan think tank, and its programs emphasize responsibility and examine meaningfulness and moral purpose between individuals, organizations, and societies. Six Nobel Peace Laureates serve as The Center’s founding members and its programs run in several countries and are expanding. Venerable Tenzin’s unusual background encompasses entering a Buddhist monastery at the age of ten and receiving graduate education at Harvard University with degrees ranging from Philosophy to Physics to International Relations. He is a Tribeca Disruptive Fellow and a 2018 Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Venerable Tenzin serves on the boards of a number of academic, humanitarian, and religious organizations. He is the recipient of several recognitions and awards, and received Harvard’s Distinguished Alumni Honors for his visionary contributions to humanity.
From Fear to Love | The Power of Compassion
Dr. James Doty and Heartfulness Guide, Daaji Kamlesh D. Patel discussed the journey from fear to love, the power of compassion.
Conversations on Compassion with Dr. Scilla Elworthy
CCARE founder and director, Dr. James Doty, welcomed Dr. Scilla Elworthy, a distinguished activist for peace who has worked on peace-related issues for over 30 years, for a Conversation on Compassion.
Dr. Elworthy turns vision into action: three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for developing effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their critics, with the Oxford Research Group, founded in 1982.
In 2002, Dr. Elworthy founded Peace Direct to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas. She was advisor to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson in setting up The Elders, independent and global leaders working together for peace and human rights. Dr. Elworthy was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003.
Today her full attention is on developing The Business Plan for Peace resulting from her 2017 book The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War. Her TED talk on non violence has been viewed over 1.4 million times on TED and YouTube.
2019 Compassion Revolution Conference: Dr. James Doty
Compassion Revolution was a movement where attendees learned from those who are creating a compassionate future. Compassion Revolution was so much more than a conference. The conference consisted of workshops, mentoring and coaching to build more compassionate communities. It was the place to be to become inspired, learn new skills, develop new strategies and make a commitment to take action.
Dr. James Doty was one of the many guest speakers at the conference.
Conversations on Compassion with Dr. Shauna Shapiro
In this conversation, CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, will ask Dr. Shauna Shapiro about her life’s work and how compassion plays a role.
Shauna Shapiro is a professor, author, and internationally recognized expert in mindfulness and compassion. Over one million people have watched her 2017 TEDx talk “The Power of Mindfulness,” rated top 10 talks on mindfulness. Dr. Shapiro has published over 150 journal articles and co-authored two critically acclaimed books translated into 14 languages: The Art and Science of Mindfulness, and Mindful Discipline. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Wired, USA Today, Dr. Oz, the Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, and the American Psychologist. Dr. Shapiro has been an invited speaker for the King of Thailand, the Danish Government, Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Summit, and the World Council for Psychotherapy, as well as for Fortune 100 Companies including Google, Cisco Systems, Proctor & Gamble, LinkedIn and Genentech. Dr. Shapiro is a summa cum laude graduate of Duke University and a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, co-founded by the Dalai Lama.
Conversations on Compassion with Dr. BJ Miller
In this conversation, CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, asked Dr. BJ Miller about his life’s work and how compassion has played a role.
Dr. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician at UCSF and a leading voice reframing society’s discourse on the field of death and dying. His interests are in working across disciplines to affect broad-based culture change and in cultivating a civic model for aging and dying. He invites us to think about, and discuss, the end of our lives through the lens of a mindful, human-centered model of care, one that embraces dying not as a medical event but rather as a universally shared life experience.
Informed by his own experiences as a patient, BJ powerfully advocates the roles of our senses, community and presence in designing a better ending. He brings a unique blend of training, experience and commitment to furthering the message that suffering and dying are fundamental and intrinsic aspects of life and is widely recognized for his efforts in cultivating a larger dialogue on this full scope approach to the reality of life and death.
His TED Talk, “What Really Matters at the End of Life” has been viewed over 8 million times and his work have been the subject of multiple interviews and podcasts including Oprah Winfrey, PBS, The New York Times, The California Sunday Magazine, Krista Tippett, Tim Ferriss, and the TED Radio Hour. BJ’s practical guide for preparing for death, entitled A Beginner’s Guide to the End, co-authored with Shoshana Berger, will be released in July 2019.
Conversations on Compassion with Dr. Elissa Epel
Join us this special evening for a conversation on compassion, meditation, and the biology of aging. Our interviewer for the evening, Dave Simpson, graciously stepped in for Dr. James Doty, who was unfortunately unable to host the conversation. Dave is a CCARE collaborator, an Organization Development Practice Manager with Stanford Healthcare, and we are deeply grateful for his participation this evening.
Dr. Elissa Epel is a Professor at UCSF in the Department of Psychiatry. She studies how chronic stress can impact aspects of biological aging (including the telomere/telomerase system), and how behavioral, mindfulness, and meditation interventions may buffer stress effects and promote psychological and physiological thriving. She co-leads the NIH Stress Network and a UC obesity research consortium, linking other UC campuses in the study of stress, sugar, food addiction, and obesity. Dr. Epel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, steering council member for the Mind and Life Institute, and President Elect of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She co-authored “The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer”, a NYT best seller, with Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn.
We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Meng-Wu Lecture: Stephanie Brown, PhD
Dr. Brown received her PhD in social psychology from Arizona State University. She is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Stony Brook Medical School. Dr. Brown uses a variety of biomarkers to test whether and how helping behavior in humans emerges from neural circuits that evolved to motivate parenting behavior. Her studies increase understanding of how neural circuits that support parenting behavior promote mental health and protect individuals against disease.
Dr. Brown will present: Is it safe to help? Perceived familiarity with the recipient alters the neural, hormonal, and immunological consequences of helping behavior. Here is a sneak preview: Two studies tested the neurological, hormonal, and immunological effects of helping behavior. Results of these tests showed that the physiological consequences of helping behavior depend on the nature of the relationship between the helper and recipient. When individuals helped someone they cared about, helpers showed a pattern of neural responses that resemble the neural responses associated with parenting behavior, and they displayed a hormonal profile that down-regulated transforming growth factor–beta (TgF-B), a molecule that turns on disease states in the brain.
Conversations on Compassion with Sri M & Dr. James Doty
We were deeply honored to host spiritual guide, social reformer, educator and writer, Sri M, for a privately recorded conversation with CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, on August, 8, 2018.
This conversation takes you through Sri M’s brief encounter during his childhood at the tender age of 9 that eventually led him on his spiritual path. Sri M reminisces his childhood as it relates to his family, his need to feel unrestrained when he started practicing meditation and reading the literature, on to his relationship with his Master, Maheswarnath Babaji, in the early years of his training.
Join us as Sri M takes you through his life-long spiritual journey to date through stories and a good sense of humor.
Supported in part by the Satsang Foundation
A Quest for Meaning – Discussion Q&A with co-director Marc De La Menardiere
About The Event
Dr. James Doty hosts a film screening of A Quest for Meaning, followed by a brief discussion and Q&A with the co-director, Marc De La Menardiere.
About A Quest for Meaning
A Quest for Meaning tells the story of two childhood friends and their life-changing journey around the world. Equipped with nothing more than a tiny camera and a microphone, Marc and Nathanael will attempt to uncover the causes of the current world crises and discover a way to bring about change. Through the messages of environmental activists, philosophers, biologists, and guardians of the ancient cultures, they invite us to join their adventure and partake in their questionings of the world.
A quest that gives confidence in our ability to influence things for the better. Change is at hand all over the world – a change in consciousness, motivated by our need to live in harmony with ourselves and with the world.
Hayward TEDx Talk by Emma Seppala
Emma Seppala, Ph.D. is a Science Journalist & Author and the Associate Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University.
Emma Seppala’s areas of expertise are health psychology, well-being, and resilience. She conducts research, writes and speaks about the science of happiness, social connection, and compassion. Her research investigating the effects of yoga- and meditation-based interventions for combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with trauma was featured in the documentary Free the Mind. Emma’s research has been cited in numerous television and news outlets including ABC News and The New York Times as well as books such as Congressman Tim Ryan’s Mindful Nation. Emma often gives talks on the psychology of health and well-being to academic, corporate, and governmental institutions including places such as Google, the National Science Foundation, and a US Congressional Hearing.
Sacramento TEDx Talk by James Doty
Dr. James Doty explains the neurological benefits of Compassion. “Project Compassion” has now turned into a leading research and educational institution and the only institution solely focused on the study of Compassion, Altruism and Empathy.
Compassion improves the world; yet the world around us seems ever in need of greater feats of compassion. How, then, can we create more compassion and inspire compassionate acts? And how is it that the brain and the heart work together to create compassion in the first place? James Robert Doty, M.D., tackles these tough questions, examining the neural, mental, and social bases of compassion. He serves as Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and Founder and Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) – of which the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He serves as Chairman of the Dalai Lama Foundation and as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Council of the Parliament of the World’s Religion. He has just release his first book, Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Sacramento TEDx Talk by Emma Seppala
You already possess the tool you need to control your own happiness. Emma Seppala explores the science behind harnessing your state of mind and how it can ultimately lead to success.
“Thank you for giving me my life back,” shared one veteran who was helped by Emma Seppala, Ph.D., to overcome trauma during a study that used non-traditional ways to help veterans successfully cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. In her new book, The Happiness Track, Dr. Seppala shares how to apply the science of happiness in one’s life in order to accelerate success (www.emmaseppala.com/book/). As it turns out, happiness is not as elusive as it once seemed. Using findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Seppala simplifies happiness so that anyone can enjoy it. As the Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Dr. Seppala is a “leading expert on health psychology, well-being, and resilience.” She’s a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today and Scientific American Mind. She’s the founder and editor-in-chief of Fulfillment Daily, a news site dedicated to the science of happiness.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Golden Gate TEDx Talk by James Doty
James Doty speaking at TEDxGoldenGateED on June 11, 2011.
Conversations on Compassion with Werner Erhard
In this dialogue, CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, will ask Werner Erhard about his life’s work and how compassion has played a role.
Werner Erhard is an original thinker whose ideas have transformed the effectiveness and quality of life for millions of people and thousands of organizations around the world. For nearly 50 years he has been the creator of innovative ideas and models of individual, organizational, and social transformation. His work has been the source of new perspectives for thinkers and practitioners in fields as diverse as business, education, philosophy, medicine, psychotherapy, developing countries, leadership, conflict resolution, and community building. Erhard has created new ways of seeing things in areas where progress has stalled or where breakthroughs would make a significant difference. A majority of the Fortune 100 companies and many foundations and governmental entities have used his ideas and models. Fortune magazine’s 40th anniversary issue (5/15/95), in examining the major contributions to management thinking, recognized Erhard’s ideas as one of the major innovations of the last few decades. In recognition of his humanitarian work in the U.S. and around the world, in 1988 Erhard was awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Humanitarian Award.
Since 2002 Erhard has committed his time and intellectual effort almost exclusively to the academic world. Some of his recent research, writings, lectures, and courses can be accessed from his author page in the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). Most recently in Capitalism and Society, (The Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University).
More than three million people around the world have participated in the public, corporate, charitable, and academic programs and courses he has created.
Erhard’s ideas were first introduced to the public through programs derived from his models, which programs included The est Training and The Forum of the 1970s and 1980s. Social scientist Daniel Yankelovich said of a large-scale study he conducted of participants of The Forum: “Several of the study’s findings surprised me quite a bit, especially the large number of participants for whom The Forum proved to be ‘one of the most valued experiences of my life’. This is not a sentiment that people, especially successful, well-educated people, express lightly.”
Erhard is largely self-educated, albeit with tutoring from some important thinkers of his time, including: Gregory Bateson, Warren Bennis, Isaiah Berlin, Hubert Dreyfus, David Eagleman, Heinz von Foerster, Richard Feynman, Fernando Flores, Ronald Heifetz, Michel Foucault, Milton Friedman, Humberto Maturana, James Grier Miller, Sir Karl Popper, Karl H. Pribram and Hilary Putnam (Erhard says any of his errors are his sole responsibility). One of his tutors, Professor of Philosophy, Michael E. Zimmerman, said of Erhard “He had no particular formal training in anything, but he understood things as well as anyone I’d ever seen; and I’ve been around a lot of smart people in academia. This is an extraordinary intellect I saw at work”.
Conversations on Compassion with Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell
In this dialogue with CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, will ask Katie about her life’s amazing work and how compassion has played a role.
Step into an evening of radical self-inquiry with Byron Katie, as she launches her new book, A Mind at Home with Itself. As a surprise, Katie’s husband and co-author of the new book, Stephen Mitchell, will help make this evening extra special by joining in on the conversation. The book weaves the brilliant clarity of the Diamond Sutra with the power of The Work, her method of self-inquiry. Katie will engage participants, using The Work, which is so sharp that it can cut through the most obstinate stressful thought and lead you to the freedom that is your birthright.
In 1986, Katie woke up one morning to a state of constant joy that has never left her. In that moment beyond time, she realized that when she believed her stressful thoughts she suffered, but that when she questioned them she didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being.
Katie has been bringing The Work to millions of people for more than 30 years. Her webcasts, weekend workshops, 5-day intensives, 9-day School for The Work, and 28-day residential Turnaround House have brought the beginning of the end of suffering to people all over the world.
HUMAN Film Screening Recorded Discussion
CCARE was deeply honored to host the film screening* of HUMAN, directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand followed by the trailer of the upcoming film WOMAN, which he is currently co-directing with Anastasia Mikova. The evening ended with a discussion of both films and audience Q&A.
Watch the HUMAN movie trailer at https://vimeo.com/149788153
Watch the WOMAN movie trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b8f1EpD50U
*The screened film at Stanford was the theatrical version (2 hours 23 minutes). If you were unable to attend or are interested in seeing the extended version of this extraordinary film, the three volumes are available on YouTube.
Engage Webinar with Dr. James Doty
Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute holds a program called Engage, which is for leaders looking to bring the benefits of mindfulness and emotional intelligence to workplaces and organizations. Engage is a five-month intensive program in mindful leadership.
This is a webinar that took place with Dr. James Doty, who is one of the many guest faculty members for the program.
To find out more about Engage, click here.
Conversations on Compassion with Krista Tippett
In this dialogue, CCARE’s founder and director, Dr. James Doty, will ask Krista Tippett about her life’s work, her award winning program, On Being, and how compassion has played a role.
Krista Tippett is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast On Being and curates the Civil Conversations Project, an emergent approach to the differences of our age. She received the 2013 National Humanities Medal at the White House for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On the air and in print, Ms. Tippett avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of every background to join her conversation about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom.” Krista was a journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin and holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale University. Her books are Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living (now also available in paperback), Einstein’s God – Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit, and Speaking of Faith – Why Religion Matters, and How to Talk about It. In 2013, Krista took On Being and The Civil Conversations Project into independent non-profit production.
Jane Dutton and Monica Worline: Thought Leadership Showcase
This book talk featured Jane Dutton and Monica Worline, authors of Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations.
The event, hosted by the Center for Positive Organizations on March 13, 2017, also featured Scott Sonenshein, author of Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less—and Achieve More than You Ever Imagined.
The Power of Compassion to Change Lives with Dr. James Doty
UNE Center for Global Humanities and its founding director, Anouar Majid, host James R. Doty, M.D. on “The Power of Compassion to Change Lives”.
Meditation and the Science of Human Flourishing Workshop – Part 4
CCARE and Tergar Meditation Community held Meditation and the Science of Human Flourishing workshop followed by a Conversation on Compassion.
Can we cultivate well-being in the same way that we can train our bodies to be healthier and more resilient? If so, how might we use the practice of meditation to experience equanimity, to open our hearts fully to others, and to cultivate insight and wisdom? In this workshop, two world-renowned experts, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Richard J. Davidson, PhD, shared their perspectives and insights on meditation and the cultivation of well-being. This workshop included teachings on simple meditation practices that help us to recognize and nurture the mind’s natural qualities of awareness, compassion, and wisdom, as well as discussions on the practice and science of self-transformation and the cultivation of well-being.