Acknowledgments

we are deeply grateful to the many people who helped to make Mind & Life XXVI and this book a reality. Firstly, a deep bow of gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has provided constant support, encouragement, and guidance to the Mind & Life Institute since the beginning. He is the heart of this book, and a source of great hope and inspiration for us and many others. We wish to thank all the event speakers and moderators for giving gener- ously of their time, wisdom, and kindness at the event and in completing this book. Many friends helped shape the content of the conference by shar- ing their ideas and contacts, particularly Anne Harrington and Richie Da- vidson. Special thanks go to Thupten Jinpa, who envisioned how we could bring a Mind & Life dialogue to a monastic setting, and whose extraordi- nary skill and dedication as a translator cannot be overstated. Thank you also to the entire Mind & Life staff, especially Arthur Zajonc for his sage guidance and Heather Lee Lohr for her careful planning and on-the-ground support in Mundgod. Without the generous fi nancial support of the Hershey Family Founda- tion and the Dalai Lama Trust India, Mind & Life XXVI would not have been possible. We extend our gratitude to our cosponsors, the Dalai Lama Trust India and the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and particu- larly to Geshe Lhakdor for his coordination of an untold number of logisti- cal details within India. We are inspired by the important work in monastic science education being done by Science Meets Dharma, Science for Monks, and the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative. Without years of effort from these groups, we could never have hoped to bring this dialogue into a monastic setting. Thank you to everyone at the Offi ce of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Drepung Monastery for serving as our gracious hosts for the event, to Ganden Shartse Monastery for making a home for the present- ers and staff in their lovely guesthouse, and to all the wonderful monks and nuns in Mundgod.

xi xii acknowledgments

We are grateful to Linda Loewenthal for helping fi nd a home for this book, and to our superb team at Yale University Press, especially Jennifer Banks, Kate Davis, Heather Gold, and Margaret Otzel. Two anonymous reviewers gave the book their careful attention and improved the manu- script greatly. Constance Kassor fi xed our Tibetan and Sanskrit and clarifi ed the fi ner points of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy for us (any remaining errors are entirely our own). Andy Rotman gave us invaluable feedback on the intro- duction and support throughout the project. David Pasek and Ned Dunn helped create our beautiful book jacket. Northampton Coffee and Haymar- ket Cafe fueled many long work sessions. A grant from the Turkey Land Cove Foundation provided critical time and a serene space for writing the introduction. Finally, to the many people who helped us along the way—especially Diego Hangartner, David Kittelstrom, Sally Knight, Alex Phillips, Brendan Tapley, B. Alan Wallace, David White, Warner White, James Wilson, and everyone at the Writers’ Mill in Florence, Massachusetts—we thank you.