Dalai Lama Bridges the Gap Between Science and Religion

By Rev. Carole Hallundbaek / PRN host, GODSPEED

The 19th century poet and artist William Blake once wrote,

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour...

In 2005, The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, invited us to see “The Universe in a Single Atom,” a book he wrote on the importance of science in the modern world. In it he shares his view that the studies of science and Buddhism have a similar goal: that of seeking truth.

Tibetan monks and nuns can spend up to 12 hours a day studying the ancient curriculum of Buddhist philosophy and scripture on karma, emptiness, logic, and the inner world of the mind. But the Dalai Lama has called for a new age of study -- the physical world of matter -- stressing that science is "especially important for monastics" who study the nature of the mind and the relationship between mind and brain.

At the behest of the Dalai Lama, The Emory-Tibet Partnership was born, a new program backed by Emory University, that introduces modern science into Tibetan monasteries in India with the help of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

The union of religion and science is manifest in the Partnership's

leadership:

Geshe (pronounced "geh-shay," the highest order of Tibetan monk) Lobsang Tenzin Negi is Senior Lecturer in Emory University's Department of Religion. He also serves as Director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, the multi-dimensional initiative founded to bring together the foremost contributions of the Western scholastic tradition and the Tibetan Buddhist sciences of mind and healing.  In that capacity, he serves as Co-Director of both the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative and the Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies.

Dr. Negi is currently working with Emory scientists as co-principal investigator on a major clinical research project funded by the NIH that is studying the effects of compassion meditation on the experience of depression. In the summer of 2009 he inaugurated the Tibetan Mind/Body Sciences Summer Study Abroad Program with Emory biologist, Dr. Arri Eisen.

Dr. Arri Eisen is a senior lecturer in biology and the institute for liberal arts, Director of the Program in Science & Society, and Associate Faculty in the Ethics Center at Emory, where he has been since 1990. He has taught research ethics for a decade and publishes in the basic science of gene regulation, and in science teaching, research ethics education, and interdisciplinary education. His science and religion columns appear frequently in ReligionDispatches.org.

His most recent projects include developing and teaching a comprehensive science curriculum to the Tibetan monks and nuns in exile in India; and editing, with Gary Laderman, a two-volume work: Historical and Contemporary Issues in Science and Religion due out later this year. He is currently working on textbooks for the Tibetan monk project.

The experience of teaching the Buddhist monks in India has been a revelation to all, so to speak. At first there was resistance from the older monks who feared this new blending of disciplines would taint the age-old and unchanged curriculum of the monasteries. There was also a language barrier, which was aided by interpreters.

There was the observation that the Buddhist faith may be 'at odds' with empirical science; for example, reincarnations of high Tibetan monks (even the Dalai Lama) are often identified through dreams, oracles, specific mystical events and other auspicious 'signs' that are open to interpretation.

Attendees also see similarities between science and Buddhism. In an article in the New York Times, one Tibetan scholar notes that like Buddhism, “the approach of science is generally based on unbiased findings through observation, analysis and finding the truth.”

So now in addition to their daily prayers and spiritual studies, the Tibetan monks will also be able to learn about the Big Bang, neutrinos, string theory and accelerated motion. It does offer balance, for both the students and the teachers.

In one of his posts on ReligiousDispatches.org, Dr. Eisen shares,

“Religion often has a hard time of it, especially among academics, and especially among scientists. Academics have no problem studying religion and raising big money to establish endowed chairs, centers, and institutes devoted to just that. But actually being religious or even discussing personal beliefs or spirituality is rare and, if anything, discouraged. To me this is an odd and disturbing social conundrum.”

But this program broadens the horizons of the science professors, too -- offering them the opportunity to explore and enjoy a part of themselves that has not been encouraged or even considered necessary in Western science thus far: empathy.

"Religion is rich and valuable," says Eisen, himself a tall Jewish man from North Carolina. "Science also has much to offer. Being human constructs, both of course have their failings and limitations, but both have given much and can give more.

"Dhondup, one of the monk students, had this pearl to offer when I asked him why he was participating in our science project, a statement that turned my worldview on its head and sums up how such cultural exchanges might just make a difference. He said, 'I am studying modern science because I believe it can help me understand my Buddhism better.'"