Seminar on Communities of Care

The second session in the Consultative Seminar Series ‘Buddha’s Teachings and Mental Well-Being: A Dialogue’, organised by Atish Dipankar Dhyan Kendra’s Mental Health team, explored the theme of Communities of Care. Building on the first session’s focus on therapeutic care, the discussion broadened to examine how well-being is nurtured through relationships, community, nature and collective responsibility.

The seminar brought together three panellists: Tashi Choedup, a Buddhist monastic and social justice practitioner; Sophia Ani Dolkar, a counsellor and Kagyu Buddhist nun; and Nitin Das, filmmaker and founder of the Healing Forest initiative. Through panel discussions, breakout-room dialogues and guided meditation, participants explored how contemplative practice can contribute to both personal and collective transformation.

Sophia Ani Dolkar reflected on mindfulness as an embodied, everyday practice that fosters self-awareness, compassionate action and meaningful relationships. Nitin Das highlighted the importance of reconnecting with nature, sharing how nature-based mindfulness practices can support creativity, mental health and community connection. Tashi Choedup explored the relationship between activism and contemplative practice, emphasising that sustainable social change requires compassion, self-reflection, and communities capable of holding difference and vulnerability with care. The discussion also included reflections on the Four Immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.

Breakout-room discussions focused on community, belonging, mindfulness, nature and the challenges of sustaining practice amid modern life. Participants explored questions relating to self-care, community care, equanimity, and the practical application of contemplative principles within personal and professional settings.

The session concluded that meaningful well-being emerges through ongoing practice, community support, compassion and connection. The panellists collectively emphasised that mindfulness is not simply an individual endeavour but a relational and communal practice that can support both personal flourishing and collective care. The session wrapped up with a guided meditation by Dr Anindya Chatterjee.

To read the Executive Summary of the Proceedings of CSS-2, please click here