Dalai Lama will speak at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting
According to Nature,
The Dalai Lama is due to speak at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC on 12 November, and some neuroscientists don’t like it (see Nature 436, 452; 2005). But the Buddhist leader’s talk is part of a lecture series that the society is laudably conducting on the science and society — and it should go ahead as planned.
The title of the Editorial is “Science and religion in harmony”. It seems there is a trend of entangling science and religion, especially in US. Charles Townes, the inventor of the laser predicted meeting of science and religion. President Bush invigorated proponents of teaching alternatives to evolution in public schools with remarks saying that schoolchildren should be taught about “intelligent design,” a view of creation that challenges established scientific thinking and promotes the idea that an unseen force is behind the development of humanity. This fuels wide debate.
Back to the Dalai Lama story, the reason why many neuroscientists don’t like it.
Critics counter that the talk threatens to “entangle the Society for Neuroscience with religious activities”. The invitation for the Dalai Lama to speak will give him a chance to sell his religious beliefs in the guise of neuroscience, they claim. Their petition opposing the lecture even draws comparisons between the Dalai Lama, with his belief in reincarnation, and creationists.
I can understand the Neuroscientists since I am a scientist also. Personally, I am quite surprised that Dalai Lama is so popular in western world, who just visited Germany.
Excepts from Neuroscience Quarterly:
A new feature of the annual meeting, starting in 2005, will be a lecture series titled "Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society." The first speakers will be the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, at the 2005 meeting, and Frank Gehry, the architect, in 2006...
The Dalai Lama, the 2005 speaker, has had a long interest in science and has maintained an ongoing dialogue with leading neuroscientists for more than 15 years. His talk is expected to focus on the study of empathy and compassion and how meditation affects brain activity. "As the cover of the March National Geographic indicates, he has already had an influence on the design of experiments of great interest to neuroscientists, and to the public at large..."
The Dalai Lama is the winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace and is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He has long had a keen personal interest in the sciences, and has said that if he were not a monk, he would have liked to have been an engineer.
The Dalai Lama has enjoyed relationships with many scientists, including long friendships with the late renowned philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper, and with physicists Carl von Weizsäcker and the late David Bohm. He has participated in many conferences on science and spirituality. At the Alpbach Symposia on Consciousness in 1983, the Dalai Lama met Francisco Varela who, in partnership with Adam Engle, later created the unique form of in-depth dialogue between Buddhism and science that has grown into the Mind and Life Institute, of which he is honorary chairman (www.mindandlife.org). Since the first Mind and Life meeting in 1987, the Dalai Lama has regularly dedicated a full week of his busy schedule to these biennial meetings. To date, there have been 12 Mind and Life dialogues on subjects ranging from emotions and neuroplasticity to quantum mechanics. Mind and Life XIII will take place just prior to this year’s SfN annual meeting in Washington, DC, and is on the topic of "Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation."
A new feature of the annual meeting, starting in 2005, will be a lecture series titled "Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society." The first speakers will be the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, at the 2005 meeting, and Frank Gehry, the architect, in 2006...
The Dalai Lama, the 2005 speaker, has had a long interest in science and has maintained an ongoing dialogue with leading neuroscientists for more than 15 years. His talk is expected to focus on the study of empathy and compassion and how meditation affects brain activity. "As the cover of the March National Geographic indicates, he has already had an influence on the design of experiments of great interest to neuroscientists, and to the public at large..."
The Dalai Lama is the winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace and is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He has long had a keen personal interest in the sciences, and has said that if he were not a monk, he would have liked to have been an engineer.
The Dalai Lama has enjoyed relationships with many scientists, including long friendships with the late renowned philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper, and with physicists Carl von Weizsäcker and the late David Bohm. He has participated in many conferences on science and spirituality. At the Alpbach Symposia on Consciousness in 1983, the Dalai Lama met Francisco Varela who, in partnership with Adam Engle, later created the unique form of in-depth dialogue between Buddhism and science that has grown into the Mind and Life Institute, of which he is honorary chairman (www.mindandlife.org). Since the first Mind and Life meeting in 1987, the Dalai Lama has regularly dedicated a full week of his busy schedule to these biennial meetings. To date, there have been 12 Mind and Life dialogues on subjects ranging from emotions and neuroplasticity to quantum mechanics. Mind and Life XIII will take place just prior to this year’s SfN annual meeting in Washington, DC, and is on the topic of "Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation."
Sounds like he is tapping into some of the historical interest generated by Fludd and other alchelmists of old.
Entangling the two that is!
I attended the Dalai Lama talk at the Neuroscience 2005 conference in Washington DC.
It was the most well-attended talk of the conference (perhaps 5,000 or 10,000 people attended it?).
Prior to the conference, the talk was controversial. It was rumored that 500 researchers from China threatened to boycott the conference because they saw his presence there as a political statement on Tibet/China relations.
The Dalai Lama talked mostly about meditation and also about the relationship between understanding the mind via contemplative practice and understanding the mind via science (e.g. neuroscience).
He got some interesting questions from the audience:
Q. If a drug could give people instant access to meditative states, would he approve?
A. He wasn't sure that was possible. But if there was a brain surgery that would remove suffering and help with detachment without compromising anything else, he would be "first in line" to get the procedure.
Q. What was his opinion on the ethics of animal research?
A. He said "this is a very tricky subject." Then added jokingly "not all buddhists are vegetarian". He concluded that it is important not to cause suffering to another conscious being. That said, if there is no cruelty, and the cause serves the larger benefit of other conscious beings in the world, then it is more acceptable.
Q. What if science and religion contradict each other, e.g. what does he think of Intelligent Design?
A. If science has empirical evidence for something, and the evidence is solid, and it is in conflict with certain buddhist teachings, then those teachings need to be re-examined or discontinued.
It was the most well-attended talk of the conference (perhaps 5,000 or 10,000 people attended it?).
Prior to the conference, the talk was controversial. It was rumored that 500 researchers from China threatened to boycott the conference because they saw his presence there as a political statement on Tibet/China relations.
The Dalai Lama talked mostly about meditation and also about the relationship between understanding the mind via contemplative practice and understanding the mind via science (e.g. neuroscience).
He got some interesting questions from the audience:
Q. If a drug could give people instant access to meditative states, would he approve?
A. He wasn't sure that was possible. But if there was a brain surgery that would remove suffering and help with detachment without compromising anything else, he would be "first in line" to get the procedure.
Q. What was his opinion on the ethics of animal research?
A. He said "this is a very tricky subject." Then added jokingly "not all buddhists are vegetarian". He concluded that it is important not to cause suffering to another conscious being. That said, if there is no cruelty, and the cause serves the larger benefit of other conscious beings in the world, then it is more acceptable.
Q. What if science and religion contradict each other, e.g. what does he think of Intelligent Design?
A. If science has empirical evidence for something, and the evidence is solid, and it is in conflict with certain buddhist teachings, then those teachings need to be re-examined or discontinued.
excellent update, Paul. The Dalai Lama talk was definitely worthwhile but was devoid of content. Much of his talk came across as childish and simplistic, which is to be expected, since it's for the masses. I went to his talk, along with 7500 other people, with high hopes and walked away somewhat disappointed that he didn't speak more about the human condition and consciousness, and its relation to the brain.
For more information theres a great article in scientific american mind.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID...A&ref=sciammind
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID...A&ref=sciammind
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