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NUS Lunchtime Forum – Featuring Dr Alan Wallace: Mental Resilience in Times of Crisis
10 December 2008
From left to right: Dr Frank C T Voon, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, NUS; Dr Alan Wallace, Founding President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies; Prof Kua Ee Heok, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, NUH and Head of Psychological Medicine, NUS; and Dr Jonathan Marshall, Psychologist, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
In these challenging times, how can we build up mental resilience to counter stress?
On 10 December 2008, three experts from various disciplines shared with the NUS community their perspectives on this question, in a forum presented by the NUS Development Office and the Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. The forum was chaired by the department's Head, Prof Kua Ee Heok.
Our guest speaker was Dr Alan Wallace, renowned scholar of Buddhism and Founding President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, who shared the Buddhist way to building mental resilience. On the panel with him were NUS professors Dr Jonathan Marshall, a psychologist who presented a case study of a patient grappling with stress, and Dr Frank C T Voon, an anatomist and psychotherapist who spoke on the neurological processes that take place when we encounter stress.
A video presentation of their talks is available to subscribers of Giving Matters, our quarterly e-newsletter. Sign up now for a free subscription!
About the speaker
Dr Alan Wallace
Founding President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
Dr Wallace has a bachelor's degree in physics and philosophy of science from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Stanford University. He is Founder and President of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies.
His life's work focuses on a deep engagement between Buddhist philosophical and contemplative inquiry, modern science and philosophy, with a special emphasis on exploring the workings of the mind in a radically empirical manner, free from the dogmas of religion and materialism.
Dr Wallace has been a practitioner and scholar of Buddhism since 1970, including 14 years as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Born in Pasadena, California in 1950, Alan was raised and educated in the United States, Scotland and Switzerland. He has translated numerous Tibetan Buddhist texts, interpreted for many Tibetan Lamas, including the Dalai Lama, and taught Buddhist philosophy and meditation worldwide. He now lives in Santa Barbara where he teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation throughout Europe and North America.
Among the many books he has edited, translated and authored are Embracing Mind: The Common Ground of Science & Spirituality (Shambhala, 2008); Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003); The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), and Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1989).
About the panelists
Prof Kua Ee Heok
Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, NUH
Head of Psychological Medicine, NUS
Dr Kua has a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and a postgraduate degree in Psychiatry from Oxford University in the UK.
He was a recipient of the Oxford Health Authority Scholarship, as well as the China Medical Board Scholarship to pursue postgraduate training in geriatric psychiatry at Harvard University in the US.
Dr Kua has published over 180 scientific papers and 19 books on ageing, stress and addiction. He has won awards for his work, including first prize in ASEAN Psychiatry Research and the Sandoz Research Award for Gerontology. Furthermore, Dr Kua has been an invited lecturer at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the UN World Forum for Mental Health in New York. He is the President-elect of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists.
Dr Jonathan Marshall
Psychologist
Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
He received his basic and graduate degrees from Stanford University where he conducted research on the clinical application of Eastern and Western methods to elevate individuals’ mood and increase their achievements.
His postdoctoral work was at Harvard where he was the psychotherapist for Harvard Business School. His responsibilities were to counsel and coach elite professionals. Jonathan's current work focuses on bridging Eastern and Western psychology to improve professional performance, personal growth and overall well-being.
Dr Frank C T Voon
Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy
National University of Singapore
Dr Frank C T Voon teaches medical and dental students, doctors, dentists and surgeons at the National University of Singapore.
He is a medical doctor, anatomist, embryologist, information technologist and psychotherapist with twin interlinked interests in the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual growth of human beings from gestation to old age and the technological evolution of human civilisation. These have now converged on the foundational basis of neuroanatomy, cognition and the mind in relation to attention, attunement, awareness and awakening.