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buddhism
June 2009 
his holiness and the sciences
Posted on Apr 16th, 2007
by 
jhalifax
jhalifax
great blessing to have attended the mind and life meeting in dharamsala and to have spent such concentrated time in the presence of his holiness the dalai lama.
physicists, neuroscientists and philosophers gathered with geshes and lamas to explore the relationship between science and the buddhist perspective. although his holiness emphasizes secularism, his presence is hardly secular. he is a wise and profoundly ethical person who has brought great wisdom to bear on our world today.
ROSHI JOAN HAS JUST RETURNED from Dharamsala, India, where she attended the Mind And Life meeting with scientists and His Holiness on quantum physics, neuroscience and philosophy. In addition to being a scientific autobiography, the Dalai Lama's book The Universe in a Single Atom highlights those issues he feels are most important in the "convergence of science and spirituality." These issues and questions formed the focus of our Mind and Life XIV meeting, and became the foundation on which a group of scientists developed a deep dialogue with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist scholar-practitioners. (If you'd like to download different sizes of the photo above, please visit: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=460808601&size=m)
The meeting participants included: Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., Vilas Research Professor and William James Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison; John Dunne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Emory University; Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco; Consultant; Martha Farah, Ph.D., Walter H. Annenberg professor in the Natural Sciences, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania; George Greenstein, Ph.D., Sidney Dillon Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College; Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D., Author and Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu and French interpreter since 1989 for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Bennett M. Shapiro, M.D., Biotechnology Consultant; Wolf Singer, M.D., Ph.D., Director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and Founding Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS); Evan Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, York University, Toronto; Anton Zeilinger, Ph.D., Professor at the Physics Department of Vienna University and at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.; Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Andrew Mellon Professor of Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies, Amherst College; and Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., President and chief editor for The Classics of Tibet Series produced by the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal; Adjunct Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal.
physicists, neuroscientists and philosophers gathered with geshes and lamas to explore the relationship between science and the buddhist perspective. although his holiness emphasizes secularism, his presence is hardly secular. he is a wise and profoundly ethical person who has brought great wisdom to bear on our world today.
ROSHI JOAN HAS JUST RETURNED from Dharamsala, India, where she attended the Mind And Life meeting with scientists and His Holiness on quantum physics, neuroscience and philosophy. In addition to being a scientific autobiography, the Dalai Lama's book The Universe in a Single Atom highlights those issues he feels are most important in the "convergence of science and spirituality." These issues and questions formed the focus of our Mind and Life XIV meeting, and became the foundation on which a group of scientists developed a deep dialogue with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist scholar-practitioners. (If you'd like to download different sizes of the photo above, please visit: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=460808601&size=m)
The meeting participants included: Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., Vilas Research Professor and William James Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison; John Dunne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Emory University; Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco; Consultant; Martha Farah, Ph.D., Walter H. Annenberg professor in the Natural Sciences, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania; George Greenstein, Ph.D., Sidney Dillon Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College; Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D., Author and Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu and French interpreter since 1989 for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Bennett M. Shapiro, M.D., Biotechnology Consultant; Wolf Singer, M.D., Ph.D., Director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and Founding Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS); Evan Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, York University, Toronto; Anton Zeilinger, Ph.D., Professor at the Physics Department of Vienna University and at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.; Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Andrew Mellon Professor of Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies, Amherst College; and Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., President and chief editor for The Classics of Tibet Series produced by the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal; Adjunct Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal.
Access: PublicTagged with: roshi joan halifax, his holiness the dalai lama, science, buddhism, buddhist, spirituality, neuroscience, physics, upaya zen center
Oh my goodness! What a wonderful picture!
Jw beat met to it. Wow, I'm gonna keep this one.! Thanks so much Joan. His Holiness doesn't have anyone brave enough to get him into some new glasses huh? What a signature look that wonderful man has! This picture made my day already.
So glad you had such a wonderful time in Dharamsala and that it was worth the journey.
Much love to you!!
Joan, I hope you don't mind, but this picture did kick me up a bit, and I just couldn't stop myself from ignoring that hug with His Holiness. It touched me. Blogged here.
Incredible picture! I sent a copy of Universe in a Single Atom to Ken a few weeks ago…haven't heard any specific feedback he might have about it….”profoundly ethical” in relationship to Dalai Lama…that's part of what it is about him that touches one's heart, isn't it?
Hard to know what to say in response to a picture like this…perhaps a prayer: may I let go of my own silliness, pettiness and self-preoccupation!
his holiness is profoundly consistent in his lack of self-centeredness, his personal behaviors and his views on ethics. it is not to make an archetype of him but for a man in his early seventies, he has done so much good in the world, as a person and role model for all of us that it is hard not to deeply admire him as a unique individual in a world badly divided by self interests.
again and again in this very high level discourse during the mind and life meeting, he turned to the concerns of ethics and the need for more compassion and less theory, even though he obviously was very tuned in to quantum mechanics, neuroscience and the rest. what does all this matter if we do not have a view based on compassion and a commitment to genuine altruism.
Wow I would love to be in the presence of all of these great people who where there. Will this happen again? Does it happen every year?
yes, it does but the meetings are closed.
That makes sense, but it is still my goal to someday be in the presence of some of these people. I'll do my best to make that happen. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
This picture made my day. The energy is palpable. I am calm.
Thanks for sharing!
Aley
Here is the question I really want to ask the Dalai Lama – as a man, how has he learned to deal with his sexual desire? That is what I really want to know…and what does do the Buddhist tantric traditions really have to say about this…what is authentic tantra and how can I access it…
I guess 3 hours of practice each morning can't hurt :), but how do I do this when I have young children? And how do I do this in such a way that I am not pushing away uncomfortable emotions but actually owning them?
Ok…I have officially entered seeking mind!
This comment is in response to Durwin's question about how a man deals with his sexual desire. I am certainly not an expert on Tibetan Buddhism, but remember reading that as young monks, men/boys are taught to visualize the female body as if dissecting it, thus rendering it in a less than erotic light. Instead of seeing an attractive young female body, they are taught to see intestines, internal organs, bones, gristle and such.
My question for HHDL might be, “Would you consider choosing a female for your next reincarnation?” I must admit that this is more of a suggestion and my intent comes from my fierce feminism. It would probably be very inappropriate to actually voice this, although I have heard some pretty bizarre questions asked. As I understand it, until just recently, it was largely felt in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, that in order to attain full enlightenment, one had to be in possession of a male body. Hopefully, these sexist attitudes are fading away with good work by female practitioners like Ani Tenzin Palmo, who spent 12 years living in a cave with the idea of meditating on this topic, and has since taken on the cause of equal rights and opportunities for Buddhist nuns.
For me, being able to ask His Holiness a question, would necessitate examining my motivation very closely.
in the recent meeting, his holiness' returned again and again to altruism and ethics. so your comment regarding motivation is a very relevant one. and from the buddhist point of view, altruism is a motivation not only of value but of deep practicality for it points us away from selfishness and self-centeredness, and in the end, toward depth and meaning in our lives. in working with dying people for these many years, i have learned that people are most concerned about the value of their lives in terms of have they been of use to the world, have they helped others be relieved of suffering, have they had a life of meaning,
with regards to feminism and buddhism, we all have a lot to learn. buddhism is hardly free from misguided misogyny. at the recent meeting, there were lamas and geshes, but not one bikkshuni. when we had a small meeting with his holiness, i brought this up and requested that nuns be at our next meeting. i also talked to one of his assistants about this. to his credit, earlier he had indicated that there should be female and lay geshes, but the proof of the pudding was clearly demonstrated by who was in our meeting room, and not one ordained woman was there save for myself.
with regards to sexual issues and needs, i don't really think it makes much sense to engage his holiness with this kind of question. he is well aware of how much suffering is evoked through deluded and desire-based sexuality, and as well how tantra is misinterpreted not only by westerners but by confused asians. long ago, i heard him say that before one engaged in transformative trantric union, it takes at least thirty years to stabilize the mind. i sense he would refer us back to motivation and ethics if we asked the question that durwin asked, so i would suggest that our friend durwin explore these two domains with regards to his concerns in this area at least as a beginning.