Jeffrey C. Fracher, Ph.D., a retired Clinical Psychologist, was in practice as a clinical psychologist for 45 years in New Jersey and Virginia. He has practiced Buddhism since 1992 when he took the lay precepts, committing to the Buddhist path, in the Sangha of the late Thich Nhat Hanh. Upon being exposed to Stephen Batchelor, a strong shift to secular Buddhism quickly occurred.

In 2013 he completed a 2-year Buddhist teacher training program at the Meditation Teacher Training Institute in Washington, D.C. He was a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville for 10 years, where he was also president of the IMCC Board of Directors, before his retirement in early 2022.

In 2022, he founded Serenity Sangha of Charlottesville, a far-reaching virtual community of Buddhist practitioners which emphasizes Practical Dharma, the synthesis of modern psychology and ancient Buddhist wisdom.

Jeff, a native Virginian, lives in Charlottesville, VA, with his wife of 53 years, Kay, and his two beloved rescued Golden Retrievers, Kaiya and Khema. He has two adult sons, Eli and Luke. In addition to leading Serenity Sangha, he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He is a volunteer bereavement group facilitator at the Hospice of the Piedmont. He also serves on the City of Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board. He is the founder and Chair of the Charlottesville Parks Foundation.

Link to Substack: https://jeffreyfracher.substack.com

Link to YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SerenitySanghaofCharlott-oi3ze

Link to Sangha: https://www.serenitysangha.org/home

Joining us today is a brilliant philosopher of cognition and cognitive scientist: Dr. Mark Miller.

Mark earned his PhD and Master’s degrees in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh under the legendary cognitive philosopher Andy Clark, focusing heavily on the embodied and predictive brain. Today, his work spans across multiple prestigious global institutions. He serves as a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University’s Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies in Australia, is an Instructor and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto within their Psychology and Cognitive Science departments, and acts as a Visiting Researcher at Hokkaido University’s Centre for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience in Japan. He is also the Lab Manager for U of T’s Consciousness and Wisdom Lab.

Alongside his frequent collaborator, Dr. John Vervaeke, Mark works directly at the bleeding edge of 4E Cognition and Predictive Processing—exploring how our brains act as active, prediction-generating engines rather than passive observers. Whether he is breaking down the rigid cognitive loops of addiction and despair, hosting The Contemplative Science Podcast, or leading his groundbreaking 8-week course, Generations of Joy on The Lectern, Mark is dedicated to bridging rigorous computational neuroscience with ancient contemplative wisdom.

https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/

https://www.markdmiller.live/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-john-vervaeke/id1680606350?i=1000755047363

Mitch Takefman has spent more than fifty years in contemplative practice, drawing from dharma, mindfulness, ethics, and the wisdom traditions of multiple lineages. He is the author of six books, including Authentic Connection: The Art of Communicative Mindfulness, and the creator of the Tailored Mindfulness Experience, a structured curriculum that guides students into progressively deeper practice.

Mitch is also the founder of Wisdom Path Press, a cooperative publishing house dedicated to transformational literature, where he works personally with authors to bring books on mindfulness, wellness, and personal growth into the world. His teaching is practical, honest, and rooted in decades of lived experience rather than theory. He believes the most important thing a person can do is learn to pause before they react, and he has built both his teaching and his publishing work around that conviction.

When he is not writing or teaching, you will find him cheering loudly for the Montreal Canadiens and enjoying every moment with his two grandchildren.

The best place to find me is wisdompathpress.com. There's information about our authors and books there, and if anything we talked about today resonates with you, you can reach out to me directly through the site.

https://www.wisdompathpress.com/