Washington National Cathedral

Not since the Beatles went to India has meditation had such a moment to bask in the public spotlight—and now it is with the backing of science, the buzz of a corporate America trend and the rekindling of ancient Christian contemplative practices.

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has participated in dozens of scientific dialogues across the globe organized by the Mind and Life Institute, which he co-founded with its chairman, Adam Engle, and Francisco Varela. These programs examine the scientific applications of meditation and its impact on mental health, chronic illness and the cultivation of well-being. This year the Mind and Life Institute came to Washington, expanding its reach to include the Christian contemplative perspective.

While the conference itself was primarily for researchers and clinicians, three of its most prominent participants brought their professional and spiritual insights together at Washington National Cathedral in a panel discussion moderated by National Public Radio’s Lynn Neary.

Consider psychologist Daniel Goleman’s report on the latest research on highly experienced meditation practitioners hooked up to state-of-the-art brain imaging technology, called a functional MRI.

“Meditation enhances our capacity for compassion to a surprising degree neurologically, and now it’s scientifically proven,” Goleman says. It helps people learn to set aside “destructive emotions,” the title of his latest book, and instead build “the ability to empathize, along with the preparedness to help in any way possible.”

Stress reduction expert Jon Kabat-Zinn’ spoke of the convincing case for the way “meditation can co-exist with modern scientific views of the world without setting aside matters of the heart.”

At the University of Massachusetts Medical School Kabat-Zinn has tallied “over 25 years of training medical patients and mainstream Americans in using Buddhist practices without the Buddhism, as a way of catalyzing healing, growing and transforming across the lifespan.”

Also joining the discussion was Father Thomas Keating, a Cistercian monk from St.Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. He joined the Mind and Life Institute for the first time, in keeping with his own life’s work of popularizing a Christian contemplative practice known as Centering Prayer, in which a person meditates by using a sacred word such as “shalom,” “Lord,” “Mother” or “love.”

“I call it ‘divine therapy’ because it’s not just a relationship, a friendship, but it’s also a medicinal relationship,” Keating has said. “Jesus said, ‘I am a physician, and those who need a doctor should come to me.’ Contemplative prayer is really the healing of body, mind and spirit.”