For talks and performances, scroll down.
Please also see Lunch Matters and Cabaret Cinema.

FINAL EVENTS

Bokara's Conversations On Consciousness

Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.
Artist and television host Bokara Legendre engages pianist Kenny Werner on the nature of music consciousness. $15

Reflections, Nine Circles Chamber Theatre

Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
A chamber music concert exploring the correlation between audiences' responses to music and their nervous systems. Can neuroscience help us understand reactions to consonance vs. dissonance, harmony vs. atonalism, predictable rhythms vs. seemingly arrhytthmic patterns? Featuring the music of Purcell, Pendercki, and Beethoven. With neuroscientist Robert Zatorre and artistic director and violinist Gil Morgenstern Includes a guided tour of the galleries prior to the concert. $20

Ramachandran/Kurzweil: Humanity Now/Humanity Next

Thursday, May 29, 5–7 p.m.
In this special presentation with the World Science Festival, two of the world’s great thinkers tackle the question of who we are and where we’re going. Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran investigates the origin of human abilities and whether certain brain structures are unique to humans or whether they evolved from structures originally designed for other functions. Then inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil examines what the human implications will be when artificial intelligence surpasses our own. Join us for this thought-provoking exploration of the past, present, and future of the human brain.

Ray Kurzweil is an inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. In several books for a general audience, he has laid out his vision of a merger of man and machine that he contends will shape the future of humankind.
Vilayanur Ramachandran investigates the nature of self and human consciousness. His work spans the causes and effects of synesthesia and phantom-limb pain to questions about visual perception and the brain. He is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego.

Explorers of the Infinite

Friday, May 30, 8 p.m.
Launch of Maria Coffey´s book Secret Spiritual Lives of Extreme Athletes and What They Reveal About Near-Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond. A talk in the galleries with Princeton neuroscientist Sam Wang (Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life) followed by a book signing. Free

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Saturday, May 31 – Sunday, June 1

Forty kids, ages 10–12 and roped together alpine-style, confront the challenges of climbing Mt. Everest. They discover the mountain's beauty, consider its perils, experience Himalayan culture, and practice team dynamics. The particular emphasis this year will be the science and medical components of mountaineering. Frostbite, oxygen and the brain, and why things feel heavier the higher you go will be issues they will confront. Together over the course of the evening, they share an astonishing experience: a fully simulated ascent of the highest mountain on earth. Part of the World Science Festival and presented in association with the American Alpine Club, New York Chapter. $108

Towards Silence by Sir John Tavener

The world premiere of this site-specific composition will now launch the start of BRAINWAVE 2009. It will be performed in the spiral staircase at RMA. The performance of the new work will be preceded by readings from relevant sacred texts, read by noted performers. Led by the Medici String Quartet and headed by violinist Paul Robertson, who is also visiting professor of music and medicine at the Peninsula Medical School.

PAST EVENTS

Bokara's Conversations on Consciousness

January 9 SOLD OUT
Ethologist Marc Bekoff on the consciousness of animals.

Dark Retreats and Sensory Deprivation

Saturday, January 12, 4 p.m. SOLD OUT
With Bon teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and R. Clay Reid, professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. $15

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Wednesday, January 16, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
John Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, discusses his latest book with adventurer, journalist, and explorer Richard Wiese.
Co-presented with Public Programs/American Museum of Natural History and the American Alpine Club of America, New York Chapter. $20

The Geography of Bliss

Wednesday, January 23, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
With Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World and neuroscientist Emma Seppala. $12

The Interfaith Experience: Spirituality, Science, and Consciousness: Wisdom from the Cutting Edge

Friday, January 25, 7 p.m.
With biologist Dr. Kurt Johnson and psychologist Loch Kelly. FREE

Mystic Fire

Saturday, January 26, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. SOLD OUT
Wim Hof attempts to break his current world record for immersion in an ice bath.
2 p.m. World Record Attempt. This event is outdoors. FREE
4 p.m. Discussion with Wim Hof and Dr. Kenneth Kamler. $25

Hudson River Wind Meditations

Wednesday, January 30, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
Lou Reed introduces his latest meditation compositions and discusses them with mind-science scholar Rob Hogendoorn. $25

Does Time Go By?

Sunday, February 3, 4 p.m. SOLD OUT
How do our minds process time? Georges B. J. Dreyfus, professor of religion at Williams College, was the first Westerner to complete the famous Geluk curriculum and achieve the distinguished title of geshe. He and NYU Professor of Philosophy J. David Velleman will compare Eastern and Western philosophical approaches to the notion of time. $15

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Saturday, February 9, 4 p.m.
What happens in our brains as we die? From the Tibetan Buddhist perspective. With Tibet scholar Dr. Ramon Prats and neurologist Dr. Kevin R. Nelson. $15

Escape: Out of Body, Out of Mind

Sunday, February 10, 4 p.m.
Experimental jazz composer and pianist Vijay Iyer and filmmaker Bill Morrison discuss a new collaborative work based on isolation and the out-of-body experience with neuroscientist Dr. Partha Mitra. Iyer then performs this work in progress. $20

Bokara's Conversations on Consciousness

February 13
Jean Houston, one of the principal founders of the Human Potential Movement.

The Interfaith Experience

Friday, February 22, 7 p.m.
With artist Alex Grey. FREE

You Must Remember This

Saturday, February 23, 4 p.m.
Jeff Watt, director of the Himalayan Art Resources and a curator of Bon: The Magic Word, talks with psychologist Lila Davachi about iconography in Himalayan art as a mnemonic device. $12; Free to RMA members

Welcome to Your Brain

Monday, March 10, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
Visionary film and theater director Julie Taymor joins Sam Wang, associate professor of neuroscience at Princeton University, and Sandra Aamodt, editor-in-chief of Nature Neuroscience, in an exploration of the workings of our brains to mark the publication of Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life. $15

Bokara's Conversations on Consciousness

March 12 SOLD OUT
With Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness.

The Groove Factor

Wednesday, March 26, 6:30 p.m.
Celebrated musician Moby discusses the feeling of being "in synch" while making music with Dr. Petr Janata, a scientist who has made a study of this mental state as assistant professor of psychology at the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California. Discussion to be followed by a sneak preview listening party for Moby’s new CD Last Night (due for release April 1). $25 (includes admission to the museum), cash bar

The Interfaith Experience: Spirituality, Science, and Consciousness: Exploring the Deepest Meeting Place

Friday, March 28, 7 p.m.
The second of a two-part presentation will explore current frontier studies in consciousness, science, and spirituality. With Dr. Kurt Johnson and Loch Kelly. Free

Fear Itself

Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m.
Choed teacher Tsultrim Allione meets with New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux to discuss the sources of fear and to explore how Buddhist practice seeks to master these deep-seated emotions. $15

The Satyagraha Synapse

Monday, April 7, 7 p.m.
With Mark Kurlansky, bestselling author of Cod and Salt and Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea and neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux. Marking the new production of Philip Glass's opera Satyagraha at the Metropolitan Opera.
Presented as part of The Satyagraha Forum. $18

Bokara's Conversations on Consciousness

April 9
Jeremy Narby, author of Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry into Knowledge, on plant consciousness.

Train to Happiness

Monday, April 14, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT
French biologist-turned-Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard in conversation with Mind and Life Institute pioneer Bennett Shapiro on their work with His Holiness The Dalai Lama on cognitive function. $25

Raghavan Iyer: 660 Curries

Wednesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m. SOLD OUT
What effect do spices have on the way we see and taste the world? The enterprising chef Raghavan Iyer engages in a tasting match with a neurobiologist Stuart Firestein to better understand the neurological effects of spices in our food. Followed by a tasting. $25

The Healing Voice: Chanting, Ritual and Resonance workshop

April 19–20, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. each day
With sound healing pioneer Jill Purce. Presented with the New York Open Center. $245 for the weekend

The Gundecha Brothers

Saturday, April 19, 8 p.m.
Dhrupad is the most ancient form of Hindustani classical music that survives today in its original form. Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are two of India's leading exponents of the style. $25

An American Book of the Dead*: The Game Show

Monday, April 21, 7 p.m.
A workshop production by The Subjective Theatre Company.
As BRAINWAVE's own reality show, this interactive play by Paul Mullin plucks three contestants from the audience to live and die their way through a myriad of American incarnations as they compete for the ultimate prize, perfect enlightenment.
Free to RMA Members