Since "the liberal arts are meant to instruct and inspire", its education pedagogy should then entail "both formal study and self-discovery, shared inquiry and self-understanding" for the whole person.
These practices provide opportunities to develop attention and focus, increase awareness and understanding, listen and speak across difference, support creative approaches to problem solving, and consider the impacts of our actions on the world at large.
It is very difficult to provide exact numbers; however, recent reviews have clearly depicted this as a historical change in which primary, secondary and higher public (not only alternative) educational institutions are becoming far more receptive to these practices.
[6] Contemplative studies can be applied in many disciplines, and are already used in not only wisdom traditions, but in branches of scientific thought, social sciences, humanities, and business, to enhance intelligence and well-being.
Peter Schneider, a renowned architecture professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder and Barbara Dilley, a former president of Naropa and an accomplished dancer, choreographer and educator, spoke at the launch of RMCHEN.
[14] The depth of insight and concentration reached through students’ disciplined engagement with contemplative practices alters the landscape of learning and teaching at Naropa University[15] (Boulder, Colorado) founded by Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1974.
A balanced education cultivates abilities beyond the verbal and conceptual to include matters of heart, character, creativity, self-knowledge, concentration, openness and mental flexibility."