Centre for Mindfulness-based Research and Practices

Faculty of Medical Sciences

Drawing its roots from the Satipattana Sutta, mindfulness is a form of mental training to cultivate the present moment awareness. This develops a person’s innate ability to organize thoughts and emotions as they arise. Over the past five decades the practice of mindfulness has been combined with modern scientific knowledge and developed into a subject of secular training of thousands of studies. Further, the benefits of mindfulness in the fields of health, education, workplace activities and criminal justice systems are well established.

Moreover, experiments in the realm of mindfulness happen to be on the increase with more and more institutes of higher education joining in. In this evolving situation it is appropriate for the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, founded on the bedrock of Buddhist scholarly studies, to be engaged in the study of mindfulness. The Centre for Mindfulness-based Research and Practices (CMRP) was established in 2018 to fulfill this need.

Driven by the mission ‘to provide a conducive environment for the conduct of research on contemplative practices and to provide services related to mindfulness-based meditation’,

The Centre has set for itself the following objectives:

• Designing and conducting clinical studies on contemplative practices.
• Establishing the ‘Mindful space’ that provides a platform to conduct research and promote mindfulness practices within and outside the University.
• Propagating mindfulness as a secular practice and contributing thereby to the National Mental Health Strategy.
• Providing learning opportunities on authentic mindfulness practices for the international community.

In its work CMRP collaborates with the Sathipasala Foundation, Sri Lanka.