Charles Hastings was joined by American author and meditation teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyal for a week in the beautiful lakeside setting of the Fraueninsel in Bavaria, as “contemplative fellows” at the Mind & Life Europe Summer Retreat Institute, meditating every day with this gathering of scientific researchers and philosophers. The theme was Kinship, Conflict and Compassion. 

Elizabeth emphasized the interdependence of all phenomena and its implications for our perceptions. Charles indicated the way in which, by drawing on our own innate capacity for empathy and compassion, we can come to see everyone as part of our own group, with whom we feel a natural sense of solidarity.