The Dalai Lama’s presence at last November’s meeting of the Society for Neuroscience may have been controversial, but it was also monumental. The spiritual leader succeeded in

The Dalai Lama tells how hugging your kids makes the world a better place.

Dalai Lama controversy or not, scientists at last week's Society for Neuroscience meeting presented findings from a new study that shows that the brains of those who meditate regularly are shaped differently.

It's all about the cerebral cortex. Parts of this outer layer of the brain are thicker in those with a regular meditation practice, which may be why meditation leads to less stress and better overall health.

Reports about scientific studies that provide clues to links between the brain, the mind, and meditation are surfacing around the web, spawned in particular by the Dalai Lama’s appearance this past weekend at Investigating the Mind, a round of talks on the science and clinical application of meditation. Here’s a survey of the top stories on the subject:

Until now, what is commonly referred to in English as the Tibetan Book of the Dead was actually just an excerpt, or chapter, called the Bardo Thodol or The Great Liberation by Hearing. The entire 1,300 year old funerary text, credited to Padmasambhava, the great yogi who brought Buddhism to Tibet, is actually a much larger book.