A video of this talk is now available on our YouTube channel:

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Piet Hut is Professor of Astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he is also Head of the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies. His current research interests run from large-scale simulations of the stellar dynamics of dense stellar systems to questions about the origins and nature of life, and the origins and nature of cognition, in the areas of complex systems, cognitive science, and philosophy of science. He is also a Principal Investigator and Councilor of the Earth-Life Science Institute, which he helped found at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In Manhattan he is the President of YHouse, a new institute for research and outreach.

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Loch Kelly, M.Div., LCSW is a graduate of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, where he received a fellowship to study meditation in Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal, where he studied with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. His book Shift into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness, was awarded “Top 10 Best Books of the Year” by Spirituality & Health Magazine. Loch is a contemplative psychotherapist and internationally recognized meditation teacher. Loch has worked in community mental health and addiction recovery, and he has counseled family members of 9/11. He is the founder of the nonprofit Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch collaborates with neuroscientists at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University to study how awareness training enhances compassion and well-being. For more information, visit www.effortlessmindfulness.org.