IF and SRI are hosting a 10-year series of roundtables, colloquia,
and conferences on inner science. In July of 2002 we will host
our inaugural colloquium at Columbia University, to be comprised
of our core group of 40 to 50 scholars. Future conferences will
be increasingly open to other scholars and to the public. In parallel
with this series, we will also be sponsoring scholars (as individuals
and as teams) to participate in related conferences hosted by
other groups. As an example of this type of support, we are pleased
to announce that a select subgroup of our scholars has been invited
to participate in a world conference on "mind science"
at the Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-Kharagpur, in January
2002. We are pleased that our team will be able to provide a contribution
of Indic inner science perspectives to this important and prestigious
conference.
Other past and ongoing inner science initiatives sponsored by IF are included
under IF's "Wisdom Grants." Examples of these grants include:
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13th
International Congress of Vedanta
The 13th Congress will be held in the Marcum Conference Center
of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, between September 12 and
15, 2002. International Congress of Vedanta, founded in 1986
at Miami University , Oxford, Ohio, is the focal point for meeting
of North American scholars specializing in all aspects of Indian
philosophy and religion. In the past, the Congress has also
celebrated the birth centennial of S. Radhakrishnan 1988), the
1200th anniversary of Sri Sankaracharya (1990), the centennial
of Swami Vivekananda's sojourn to America and his participation
in the World Parliament of Religions (1992), birth centennial
of J. Krishnamurti (1995), and the 700th anniversary of sanjeewan
samadhi of Sri Jnaneswara (1996). International Congress of
Vedanta also held its meetings in Madras, Rishikesh and Hyderabad,
India, and in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in order to facilitate
better interaction between scholars in India and the West.
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12th
International Congress of Vedanta
A five-day forum held in September, 2000, at Miami University
in Ohio. This was one of the largest academic conferences of
its kind in the western hemisphere, attended by more than one
hundred distinguished Indian and Western scholars. The next
congress is slated for September 2002 at Miami University.
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Global
Renaissance Institute(GRI)
IF has offered a two year grant to facilitate the development of
the Second Renaissance Institute (SRI), whose mission is "to
cross-fertilize between the modern sciences and professions and
the insights and methodologies of the classical inner sciences (Sanskrit
adhyatmavidya), as developed within the spiritual
institutions of the world's religions, so as to generate a second,
global Renaissance.
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- Rutgers
Conference: "Quantum Physics and Indian Philosophy"
This grant was used for a conference on "The Metaphysics of Quantum
Mechanics" (April 17-18, 1998) and for a series of over 15 seminars
including the following: Arindam Chakrabarti (Professor of Philosophy,
University of Hawaii) on "Prologemena to a Metaphysics of the
Future;" Stephen Phillips (Professor of Philosophy, University
of Texas at Austin) on "The Inferential Vitiator and Additional
Condition in Classical Indian 'New Logic.'" Other guest lecturers
included Alan Wallace (Professor of Religion, UCSB), and Arthur Zjionc
(Professor of Physics, Amherst College).
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IONS
Fellowship to do Research on Consciousness
This grant funded a science research project at the Institute
of Noetic Sciences (IONS). The name of the project was "Science
within Consciousness." It was based on the idea that consciousness,
not matter, is the ground of all being. Research approaches
included biology, psychology, health and healing, and new work
in the area of self-referential computers. The project lasted
four years and dissemination consisted of research preprints,
workshops, and lecture series.
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Indic
Translation Projects: Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies
Columbia University's Center for Buddhist Studies was offered a
grant to translate and publish key Indian and Tibetan works, including
Maitreyanatha's Mahayanasutra-alamkara, along with
commentary and essays on how these teachings might contribute to
contemporary discourses. The objective is to provide primary educational
and reference material to scholars, students, and lay persons in
the Western world that would enable them to understand and benefit
from the findings of the Indic inner sciences.
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- Columbia
University Courses on Nonduality
The Non-Duality grant was used to support advanced courses specially
dedicated to the issue of non-dualism. A seminar entitled "Nonduality
in Indian and Tibetan Thought" was taught in the Fall of 1998
by Prof.s Gary Tubb and Robert Thurman with the assistance of two
graduate students, Tom Yarnall and Joe Loizzo. Also offered were two
advanced Sanskrit courses involving reading Advaita Vedanta and other
primary texts on non-duality. This course was a great success and
was repeated in the Spring of 2000.
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University
of Hawaii Projects on Non-Duality
Grants were offered to support four years (1997-2000) of research
and teaching in non-dualism philosophies at the University of
Hawaii. The project coordinator was Professor Arindam Chakrabarti,
professor of philosophy, University of Hawaii.
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- UCSB
Curriculum of Science & Religion
This grant was used in two ways. First, the UCSB Department of Religious
Studies organized a lecture series which included three major lectures
relating to science and religion, including a two-day conference on
" Nothing in Common: Scientific and contemplative views on nothing."
Second, they developed new courses in Religion and Science Programs
in the Department of Religious Studies. This included a course entitled
"Consciousness: Eastern and Western Perspectives"
taught by B. Alan Wallace.
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- UCSB
Conference on "The Influence of Mind on Healing & Dying"
IF partially sponsored the 3rd Annual University of California at
Santa Barbara Conference on Global Medicine, entitled "The Influence
of Mind on Healing & Dying," held May 19th - 20th, 2000.
Presenters included Sogyal Rinpoche, David Simon, Glenn D. Wollman,
Jo Ann Tall, B. Alan Wallace, and Anita Cignolini.
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- Book
on the "Major Meditation Systems of the World"
This edited volume on "Major Meditation Systems of the World,"
to be edited by Dr. Jonathan Shear of Virginia Commonwealth University,
will contain essays by over ten leading authors. The contents and
structure of this edited volume will enable it to serve as a readily
accessible, cross-traditional textbook for a wide variety of college
courses (e.g., religion, psychology, philosophy, multicultural studies,
etc.), and as an authoritative reference for scholars. In addition,
the book should be of interest to the many people who practice various
forms of meditation and would like to know something about procedures
other than their own, as well as those who are simply curious about
the topic.
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- Book
on "The Logic of the Infinite: Experiencing the Soul of Psychology"
Dr. Don Salmon is writing this book
in order to bring out aspects of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy which
he believes have not yet been sufficiently acknowledged as having
a potentially profound impact on the development of the science and
practice of psychology. As Sri Aurobindo represents a unique East-West
synthesis, Dr. Salmon will argue that Sri Aurobindo's work can provide
a powerful means of bringing a spiritual perspective to psychology
which would be in harmony with the best of modern science. It is hoped
that by providing an overview of the psychological implications of
Sri Aurobindo's work, a new initiative in the field of the original
"Integral Psychology" might develop, and that a truly global
understanding of science, of humanity, and indeed, of life can be
fostered.
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Lindisfarne
Association -- "Inner and Outer" Relationship
This grant was used to fund a Kira research project in 1998-99.
Five members of the Kira Institute engaged in research individually
and jointly, focused on the question of the relationship between
"Inner and Outer" or the role that physical and
mental phenomena play in our experience of the world and of
ourselves.
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