Mente, Vida y Sociedad is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of consciousness, ecology and social ethics.
Founders
Juan Manuel Cincunegui de la Vega
Juan Manuel Cincunegui de la Vega holds a BA and a PhD in Philosophy from Ramon Llull University (Spain) as well as a PhD in Citizenship and Human Rights from the University of Barcelona. He studied Buddhism in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk by H.H. Dalai Lama. He did extensive meditation practice in solitary retreat. Since 1998, he has been teaching courses in Buddhist meditation and philosophy, as well as university courses in ethics, political philosophy and contemporary philosophy at educational institutions in Asia, Latin America and Europe. He is the author of Miseria planificada. Derechos Humanos y Neoliberalismo (Planned Misery. Human Rights and Neoliberalism), Charles Taylor and Modern Identity and Dimensions of Experience. An Introduction to Contemplative Practices (forthcoming), as well as numerous academic articles.
Agustina Risolo
Agustina holds a BA in Business Administration and an MA in Marketing from the Universidad Católica Argentina. In 2005, after fifteen years working for multinational companies in executive positions in Latin America and Europe, she left her professional career to start a new life. She formed a family and in 2011 founded Mente, Vida y Sociedad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to organizing numerous courses within the framework of the center, Agustina was in charge of study circles focusing on Ethics organized by the Dalai Lama Foundation in Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
Collaborators
Francesc Bellaubi
(PhD, MSc) (Tortosa, 1971). Geologist and Mining Tech, Eng. with more than 24 years providing technical assistance to development organizations and international agencies, NGOs and research institutions from different countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific on natural resources management and climate change. PhD in Natural Sciences (Institute for Environmental Systems Research in University of Osnabrück, Germany), former research fellow at South Ural State University (Russia) and studies in theology (Institute for Religion Sciences Barcelona). Current research on geoethics and integrity at Institute for Environmental Research Xabier Gorostiaga SJ, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla (Mexico). Member of Silene.
Michael (Micky) Lichtenstein
(Israel, 1963) is a Neuropsychologist and expert mediator. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Psychology and an MA in Biopsychology from the Hebrew University (HUJI). As from 1994 – while practicing Clinical Neuropsychology in hospitals and private practice – he has added mediation and group leading skills to his professional toolbox, and had since been fusing these disciplines in an attempt to create and sustain a scientist-practitioner model of mediation. In 2002 he was nominated head of the department of training and professional development in the National Center of Mediation and conflict resolution in Israel’s ministry of Justice. He later became chief mediator and mediation supervisor in the administration of the courts and an international consultant and teacher. In 2018 he was nominated for five years as member of the mediation advisory committee to the ministry of Justice in Israel. Along the years, Micky has mediated and supervised hundreds of disputes, and has developed his unique style and approach. Throughout his career he has focused mainly on the foundations of empathy and compassion, and called for attention to the hidden contemplative practices embedded in the mediation process and their possible implications and benefits in a wider context than the resolution of conflicts per se. His current focus is on the foundations of the third party in social interactions, on deep listening and on the lived experiences of mediators and peace makers.
Diego Malquori
Diego holds a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Padova (Italy) as well as a PhD in Philosophy from the Ramon Llull University (Spain). He has worked for several years at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (New York, USA), where he has taught courses on ethics, philosophy of science, literature, and contemporary art. In addition to his scholarly writing, he has published a novel and has written and directed four documentary films on political and sociological themes, presented in numerous international film festivals.