Shinzen Young

Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant. He is known for Unified Mindfulness, his systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation. The work has led to collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont in contemplative neuroscience. He is co-director of the Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness (SEMA) Lab at the University of Arizona.

His interest in Asia began at 14, when he chose to attend Japanese ethnic school in his native Los Angeles. He majored in Asian languages at UCLA and then entered a PhD program in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin. For his thesis research he lived for three years as a Shingon (Japanese Vajrayana) monk at Mount Koya, Japan, where he received the name Shinzen (真善). There he became friends with Father William Johnston, author of Christian Zen. Johnston helped broaden his interests to include comparative world mysticism and the scientific study of meditative states. Back in the United States, his academic focus turned to the dialogue between Eastern meditation and Western science.

Shinzen is known for an interactive, algorithmic approach to mindfulness, and he often uses mathematical metaphors to illustrate meditative phenomena. He has written The Science of Enlightenment and Natural Pain Relief, and has made numerous audio recordings. He has led residential retreats throughout North America. In 2006 he created the Home Practice Program, phone-based mini-retreats meant to make deep practice accessible wherever a person lives and whatever their health, time or financial circumstances.

His own summary: a "Jewish-American Buddhist-informed mindfulness teacher who got turned on to comparative mysticism by an Irish-Catholic priest and who has developed a Burmese-Japanese fusion practice inspired by the spirit of quantified science."