2009 - The Science of Happiness and the Experience of Bliss

MYSTICS & SCIENTISTS 32
The Science of Happiness and the Experience of Bliss

3rd-5th April 2009
University College , Winchester

 

 

 

 

 

Chairs: Dr. Peter Fenwick, David Lorimer

Speakers: Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, Lord Richard Layard, Dr. Carol Craig, Shakti Maira, Shantha and Devika Rao, Dr. Peter Malinowski

The Mystics and Scientists conferences have been held every year since 1978, and are dedicated to forging a creative understanding of the complementary roles of scientific and mystical approaches to reality. This year we are looking at the relationship between the emerging science of happiness and the personal experience of bliss, and have brought together some high profile speakers to address the conference.

PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 3rd April

Opening Wine Reception followed by dinner and introductions

David Lorimer: Can Happiness be Pursued?

David Lorimer is Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Vice-President of Wrekin Trust. He is editor of The Spirit of Science, Thinking Beyond the Brain and Science, Consciousness and Ultimate Reality. His book on the Prince of Wales's philosophy and work – Radical Prince - has been translated into French, Spanish and Dutch.

SATURDAY 4th April

Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox: Happiness and Bliss and the Return of the Sacred Masculine

Are men happy?  Are women happy?  Are men making women happy?  Might both men and women be happier if both moved beyond a distorted view of masculinity and recovered more of the Sacred Masculine?  Just as the Divine Feminine and the Goddess have returned through women's expanded consciousness in our time, so it is time that the Sacred Masculine, lagging behind and serving Empire-building in its present forms of punitive fatherhood, be excavated and renewed.  We will explore healthy and ancient archetypes and metaphors for awakening the Sacred Masculine.

Prof. Lord Richard Layard: Can our Children be Happier than Us?

Richard Layard argues that there is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not just anecdotally true, it is the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average, people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. Will our children overcome this paradox in view of the fact that the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago?

Shakti Maira: Bliss & Beauty – An Indian Vision

The purpose of philosophy in India is not knowledge but transformation. The word for philosophy – darshan – is ‘seeing' and is most frequently used in the religious sense of going to a temple, to an image of a deity or to a guru. All of these are lenses through which one's vision is directed and focused to cognize reality more clearly. It was thought that the ultimate aim of consciousness is to experience ‘Ananda' – bliss and transformative joy, and experiencing this was considered the heart of the aesthetic experience. The movement of the human spirit towards ananda furnished the central purpose of all the classical arts in India . The classical Indian aesthetic philosophy and its practice in the arts will be outlined with an eye on the relevance of these ideas in the contemporary world, with a special emphasis on the connections between beauty and bliss – in the arts, and in other social and life systems.

Shantha and Devika Rao, Annapurna Dance Company – Expressions of Ecstasy
www.annapurnadance.com

The evening performance will embody the title of Shakti's lecture, when the magical Annapurna Indian dancers share their close affinity with the God of dance Shiva and the joy of dancing, revealing an inner sense of liberation. The belief that life is part of great rhythmic process of creation, new beginnings and natural endings sparkled the imagination of the ancient Hindus. And this is reflected in the dance of Shiva Nataraja, the great cosmic dancer. His dance embodies layers of symbolism, celebrating the bliss and eternity of life itself.

Shiva literally means auspiciousness, truth and beauty. Annapurna Indian dancers attempt to search this wonderful experience whilst bringing fresh interpretations of the mythology and mysticism behind their vibrant traditional and rhythmic dances using storytelling and stunning costumes.

SUNDAY 5th April

Dr. Peter Malinowski: The Happy Brain: The Psychology and Neuroscience of Meditation

Studies from psychology and cognitive neuroscience suggest a variety of positive effects of sustained meditation practice on brain function, well-being and the experience of happiness. This talk will provide an overview of accumulating empirical evidence in this field and relate it to a theoretical framework of mental balance, well-being and sustainable happiness. It will show how ancient Buddhist ideas of extraordinary well-being and current psychological ideas of happiness can work in unison.

Dr. Carol Craig: Positive Psychology: A Common Sense Perspective on Happiness

Positive psychology aims to be a major development not just in psychology but in social science. It also aims to affect practitioners and the public by bringing the learning from the ivory tower to the main street. The Centre for Confidence and Well-being, run by Dr Carol Craig, is one of the main organisations in the UK to disseminate the findings and ideas from positive psychology. In this talk Carol Craig will briefly explain the history and main pillars of positive psychology and why her organisation has been keen to work with its ideas. She will outline how its research can be useful in counteracting the materialism of the age and empower individuals to make better choices for their lives. However, Carol will also warn of what she sees as the potential dangers of positive psychology particularly for young people.

SPEAKER DETAILS

Matthew Fox
is author of 28 books including Original Blessing ; The Reinvention of Work ; Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet ; One River , Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths ; A Spirituality Named Compassion ; A New Reformation! He was a member of the Dominican Order for 34 years. He holds a doctorate (received summa cum laude) in the History and Theology of Spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. Fox has taught at Stanford University , Vancouver School of Theology, Association for Transpersonal Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies among other places. He is currently scholar in residence with the Academy for the Love of Learning headquartered in Santa Fe , New Mexico . Fox believes that by "reinventing work, education and worship we can bring about a non-violent revolution on our planet" and has committed himself to this vision for many years. A new book published in 2006 is called The A.W.E. Project: An Educational Transformation for Post-Modern Times lays out the elements of an educational revolution for young people that is based on his 30 years of educating adults with an alternative pedagogy based on cosmology, creativity and contemplation. 

Richard Layard
is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, where he was until 2003 the founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance. He now heads the Centre's Programme on Well-Being. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords. He is currently working on how to produce a happier society. His book Happiness – Lessons from a New Science was published in March 2005 and appears in 20 languages. He is coordinator of the Local Well-Being Programme in which three local authorities have introduced the Resilience Programme into the curriculum for their 11-year-olds, and will in due course be offering a guaranteed apprenticeship to all teenagers who want it. Richard Layard is an active member of the Children's Society Inquiry into The Good Childhood, and is drafting the Inquiry's Report.

Shakti Maira
is a respected artist. He has had 24 one-person shows around the world and his work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in India , and in many private collections in India , Europe and USA . He has been engaged in children's education and development through art, and has conducted numerous workshops in schools in the US and India . In 2005 he helped organise the ‘Learning through the Arts in Asia' symposium in New Delhi , and was subsequently invited by UNESCO to formulate the Asian Vision of Arts in Education: Learning through the Arts . Shakti has written extensively on art, aesthetics and education for newspapers and magazines, and in 2006 his book Towards Ananda: Rethinking Indian Art and Aesthetics was published by Penguin/Viking in India . It has developed a passionate following for pulling art out of its modern confusions and reconnecting it with everyday life and living.

Peter Malinowski
is senior lecturer in psychology and cognitive neuroscience at Liverpool John Moores University and experienced meditation teacher. Integrating psychological as well as physiological dimensions, his research aims at increasing the understanding how meditation practice benefits in a variety of non-clinical contexts.

Dr Carol Craig
is Chief Executive of the Centre for Confidence and Well-Being which was launched in December 2004 at the highly successful Scotland 's Tipping Point conference. Prior to taking up this post Carol ran her own training and development business specialising in personal and team development. Dr Craig is author of The Scots' Crisis of Confidence,   and has recently written a second book entitled Creating Confidence: a handbook for professionals working with young people which has already generated a great deal of interest and publicity. Dr Craig is a leading figure in the field of Positive Psychology.  She gave the keynote speech at the first ever Positive Psychology Conference, in Warwick 2007.Carol has a B.A. in politics from the University of Strathclyde and a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Edinburgh . In July 2006 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Abertay .

Fees

Members
Residential ........................................... £220.00
Non-residential .................................... £185.00

Non-Members
Residential ........................................... £235.00
Non-residential .................................... £200.00

For pdf leaflet, including booking form, click here

For further information, please contact:

Charla Devereux, Conference Administrator, Scientific and Medical Network

Tel: +44 (0) 1608 652000 Fax: +44 (0) 1608 652001

Email: info@scimednet.org