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The Berkeley Circle

UPCOMING EVENT

The Next Frontier Is Inner Space

Date : Aug 21, 2026 | Time : 6.30 – 8.30 PM PDT | Location : Dharma College (In-Person Event)

What Neuroscience Reveals about Consciousness, Meditation, and Human Flourishing

An Evening Conversation with Jay Sanguinetti & Sanjay Manchanda

Can consciousness ever be fully explained by science? Can technology genuinely support inner transformation? Are there dimensions of wisdom that lie beyond measurement? As artificial intelligence and neurotechnology continue to reshape our world, what does it mean to cultivate a sound mind, a compassionate heart, and a meaningful life? Join neuroscientist Jay Sanguinetti and Integrative Psychotherapist Sanjay Manchanda for a thought-provoking conversation exploring the intersection of neuroscience, contemplative practice, and the future of human flourishing. Together, we will examine how ancient wisdom and modern science may illuminate one another and what this convergence might mean for the next chapter of human development.

A gathering place for conversations at the intersection of wisdom, science, innovation, and what it means to be fully human.

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Speaker's Profile

Jay Sanguinetti

Jay Sanguinetti (https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/) is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, contemplative researcher, and environmentalist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Sanmai, a Public Benefit Corporation which is creating a clinical ultrasound neuromodulation platform guided by individualized beam modeling for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The Lotus transcranial ultrasound system delivers precise deep-brain stimulation without surgery. The goal is to open a new path for low-intensity ultrasound neurotherapeutics, starting with Parkinson’s disease. Based in Sunnyvale, California, the company is actively pursuing FDA clearance. 
 
He co-directs the Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness (SEMA) Lab at the University of Arizona with meditation teacher and scholar Shinzen Young and Distinguished Professor John J.B. Allen. The lab studies the neural basis of mindfulness and turns that science into tools that help more people experience the benefits of meditation. SEMA has pioneered causal brain mapping in the young field of contemplative neuroscience, and was among the first to combine low-intensity neuromodulation with mindfulness training to study how capacities like equanimity may underlie the benefits of contemplative practice. 
 
Sanguinetti trained as a psychophysiologist, with expertise spanning EEG, fMRI, and eyetracking. He was an early researcher of transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation and has published widely across visual perception, emotion, mindfulness meditation, and the neural basis of depression, anxiety, and Parkinson’s disease, working with collaborators that include Google, the BrainMind Institute, and research labs worldwide. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and has contributed to consciousness science through his work with the Center for Consciousness Studies. Long-term, he is building human-centered technologies that help people live better lives.

Sanjay Manchanda

Sanjay Manchanda PhD (https://neuromatrix.health/pages/about-neuromatrix) has been a psychotherapist and wisdom teacher for over thirty years. Prior to that he was an Electrical Engineer and Computer Scientist. He left his job as a Computer Science professor in response to an inner spiritual calling.
 
Following a major spiritual awakening, he trained in various spiritual mystical traditions, particularly different forms of Buddhism and Hinduism as well as in various forms of body and mind therapeutic work. He has a highly integrated approach to teaching and working with people that includes the body, mind and spirit. He teaches courses and runs an ongoing group on psycho-spiritual integration. His teaching is a confluence of the wisdom streams of Eastern and Western knowledge. He is the Director of Psychedelic Studies at the California Institute of Human Science in San Diego. He also teaches for the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and the Fundamental Well-being Foundation.
 
Twenty years ago, he became interested in biofeedback, particularly neurofeedback for helping people access different mind-body states and improve mood and attention. Since then, he has also specialized in various forms of brain stimulation using low levels of energy transfer to the brain for accessing useful states of mind (for example, tDCS and PEMF, and photo-biomodulation).
 
He is the CEO of Firelight Technologies, a photobiomodulation company that sells the Neuromatrix, an infrared light device that promotes brain recovery, and peak cognitive performance. They also specialize in creating devices for accessing deep meditation states. They have an ambitious research and product development program that aims to improve access to meditation for the wider population using technology as a catalyst.
 
In his private practice and coaching, he assists people with non-dual awakening, shadow work, psycho-spiritual integration, meditation, improved performance and life flow, and in dealing with brain injuries and cognitive issues. The overall goal of his work is to support human flourishing and the evolution of human consciousness using a variety of approaches and tools.

Past Events

What Is the Mind?

A Dialogue Between Neuroscience and Buddhist Insight

Date : July 3, 2026

David E. Presti

Khenpo Choying Dorjee

View Full Article

Mission of the Berkeley Circle

The Berkeley Circle is designed as an intimate gathering of no more than 45 participants. By keeping the circle small, we create the conditions for genuine dialogue, meaningful exchange, and the depth of reflection that large audiences cannot easily sustain. These evenings are not simply lectures, but living conversations at the crossroads of science, innovation, and wisdom.

The Berkeley Circle is an invitation-only forum hosted by Dharma College in our historic downtown Berkeley building. Conceived as a living space for sustained inquiry and dialogue, the Circle brings together invited voices from contemplative traditions, science, philosophy, the arts, and public life to explore the deeper questions shaping our time.

Created with the support of an initial grant from the Lenz Foundation, the Berkeley Circle was born from a recognition that knowledge alone is no longer enough. We live in a world of accelerating technological change, social fragmentation, ecological uncertainty, and profound questions around consciousness, ethics, and human meaning. The Circle exists to cultivate something equally necessary: wisdom, discernment, reflection, and the capacity to meet complexity with clarity and care.

Rather than a lecture series or academic panel, the Berkeley Circle is a practice of dialogue. Participants gather in an intimate setting to think together, listen deeply, question assumptions, and explore how contemplative insight, scientific understanding, ethical responsibility, and lived experience can inform the future of culture and human life.

Rooted in Dharma College’s commitment to wisdom as a living curriculum, the Circle extends the college’s larger mission of integrating contemplative practice into everyday life. Through conversation, reflection, and shared inquiry, we hope these gatherings become places where genuine encounter can occur and where new understanding can emerge in service of a more compassionate and awake world.

The Purpose of the Berkeley Circle

The Berkeley Circle was created to cultivate thoughtful dialogue across disciplines and lived experience, bringing contemplative insight into conversation with the pressing questions of our time.

Its mission is to:

      • Foster meaningful exchange between contemplative traditions, science, philosophy, the arts, and public life
      • Create a trusted environment for deep listening, reflection, and inquiry
      • Explore wisdom as a practical and developable human capacity
      • Encourage forms of knowledge grounded in responsibility, compassion, and care
      • Support conversations that can positively inform culture, education, leadership, and community life

The Berkeley Circle is not a lecture series, but an ongoing practice of dialogue where invited participants gather as equals in a shared commitment to inquiry and understanding.

As the Circle evolves, Dharma College welcomes collaboration with patrons and partners who value contemplative inquiry, ethical reflection, and the cultivation of wisdom alongside innovation.

Our hope is that these gatherings generate insights and relationships that extend beyond the room and into the wider world.

For More Information

Contact us

Wangmo Dixey

wdixey@dharma-college.com

510-847-2966

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