Dear list members, There will be a facilitated discussion on compassion on Wednesday September 3 between 6:00pm and 7:30pm in the Law School Foyer, Level 2 of the Sydney Law School Annex, University of Sydney. The event is free; however, online registration is requested, via this link. Kind regards, AABS Executive The monk and the neuroscientist: A dialogue on compassion The Dalai Lama states that “If you wish to make others happy, practice compassion. If you wish to be happy, practice compassion”. According to Stanford neuroscientist, Professor James Doty, we now have the science to show it. In a unique one-time only event, Professor Doty, director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) will come together with Venerable Bhante Mahinda, spiritual director of the Australian Buddhist Mission and revered Buddhist monk. Through cross-disciplinary dialogue they will provide insight into the critical importance and “value proposition” of compassion and how 21st century science and ancient contemplative practice are learning from each other. Venerable Bhante Mahinda was ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk in 1976 under the tutelage of Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda. He undertook basic Buddhist studies and training in Sri Lanka and practised Buddhist meditation under several masters in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Thailand. He is also acquainted with the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. He is currently Buddhist Chaplain at the University of Technology, Sydney and a Trustee of the University Buddhist Education Foundation (UBEF). He also serves as spiritual advisor/patron to a number of Buddhist organisations in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. Professor James R Doty, M.D. is the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He collaborates with scientists from a number of disciplines examining the neural bases for compassion and altruism. Additionally, he examines the impact of meditation interventions on potentiating one’s compassion and the effect on peripheral physiology. Dr Doty is also a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, as well as an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His neurosurgical research and clinical interests have been focused on stereotactic radiosurgery and complex and minimally invasive spine surgery.