Registration Link: For HKU members / Non-HKU members
MH Conversations and Connections Series – Lunchtime Seminar
Title: Ethical Mindfulness – On Care and Response-Ability
Date: 2 July 2025 (Wed)
Time: 12:45-2:00 pm HKT
Venue: HKJC-S1B, G/F, Room G-02, The HKJC Bldg for Interdisciplinary Research, 5 Sassoon Road
Registration Link: For HKU members / Non-HKU members
Abstract:
Ethical mindfulness takes the practice of mindfulness beyond the meditation cushion and the relief of stress or cognitive therapy, to the way we conduct ourselves in our relationships with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and others, and to our engagement with broad social, political and environmental issues. Mindfulness based ethical living (MBEL) comes from a secular understanding of ancient Buddhist wisdom – to embrace life and its discontents as they come and go, to pause before reacting out of bad habit, and to open a space of choice to respond with care to the situation at hand. It invites us to bring mindfulness to the day-to-day; to face ageing, illness and death and the existential uncertainties of life; to rise above our self-centered preoccupations and open to the myriad ways in which we are interconnected; to appreciate the wonders and opportunities of life on this planet, and to do our best to make the world a better place. Ethical mindfulness is an ethic of care and response-ability.
Speaker:
Dr Carmel Shalev
– Independent expert in bioethics and human rights
– Member of the Secular Buddhist Network team that developed the online course on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL)
Biosketch of speaker:
Carmel received a doctoral degree from Yale Law School (1989) and led an academic and public interest career in Israel and internationally, focusing on bioethics and human rights from birth to death, from medically assisted reproduction to end-of-life care. She is the author of two books in this field – Birth Power: The Case for Surrogacy (Yale University Press, 1989) and Health and Human Rights in Israeli Law (Ramot, Tel Aviv University Press, 2003) [in Hebrew]. She also co-translated Stephen Batchelor’s Buddhism Without Beliefs into Hebrew (2015). Her own most recent book is In Praise of Ageing – Awakening to Old Age with Wisdom and Compassion (Watkins UK, 2020). She is a member of the Secular Buddhist Network team that developed the online course on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL), based on the teachings of Stephen Batchelor.
Moderator:
Prof Carl Hildebrand
Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics & Humanities Unit, SClinMed
Discussant:
Dr Pauline Luk
Lecturer, Medical Ethics & Humanities Unit, SClinMed
Welcome to join us!
Enquiry: Please contact Mr Edison Cheng (mehu@hku.hk).