By ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/19/07
As an inquisitive and sometimes restless boy with the run of a thousand rooms in an ancient Tibetan palace, the Dalai Lama stumbled on objects left by his predecessor: a pocket watch, a brass telescope, two hand-cranked film projectors.
In a world filled with prayer and meditation, the items, he says in one of his books, were a glimpse into the outside, "the telltale signs of a technological culture."
He remembers being fascinated with the inner workings of the watch and the three motorcars at the palace. There was a time, he wrote, when he would "rather fiddle with the objects than study philosophy or memorize a text."
His interest in science and technology never waned, and the Tibetan spiritual leader has met with dozens of scientists and philosophers in his travels around the world.
Now, professors at Emory University will take the Dalai Lama's desire to integrate modern sciences with monastic training to a new level, eventually educating thousands of monks and nuns in India in areas like neuroscience, cosmology and life sciences.
Creating a "cross fertilization" between science and spirituality has long been a goal for the Dalai Lama. He wrote a book on the subject called, "The Universe in a Single Atom," published in 2005.
"Bridging the sciences of the mind and the life sciences — His Holiness sees that as a really important mission, a way to tap into the most effective tools of both traditions," said Lobsang Tenzin Negi, the director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership.
Already, Emory's connection with the exile Tibetan community in Dharamsala has yielded results. Some Emory students now use contemplative meditation to combat the stresses of school. A handful of monks study on Emory's campus each year, learning subjects like quantum physics and biology.
Each spring, about two dozen Emory students make the trek to the foothills of the Himalayas to study Tibetan culture, language and philosophy. With colorful prayer flags flapping, they celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, and have an audience with the Dalai Lama.
Now, Emory scholars from various disciplines are coming together to create a comprehensive science curriculum for Tibetan monastics, admittedly a somewhat daunting task.
How do you teach a monk, who has likely never trained in traditional sciences, about a concept like evolution? Unlike western students, who come to college with twelve years of science and math training, Tibetan scholars will have to be taught from the ground up, said Preetha Ram, Emory's assistant dean of science.
Tibetan monastic training, a 16-year journey for those who choose the path, focuses on eastern philosophy, meditation and the teachings of Buddha. A group of Emory faculty have held meetings for more than a year, plotting pedagogy and figuring ways to unpack science in bite-sized chunks.
Ram and other faculty presented their plan for the science curriculum to the Dalai Lama Friday, his Holiness's first public engagement in Atlanta.
At the presentation, Ram said the program will "seek to connect the domains of knowledge between East and West."
During the first year of the program, 30 to 50 monks will get an intensive four-week course of training in science and math concepts. Emory will fund the initiative for the first five years, at a cost of about $280,000 a year.
In a ballroom at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, the Dalai Lama thumbed though the glossy 400 page "Handbook of Science" and said he is impressed with the work the Emory faculty had done.
"It's wonderful, just wonderful," he said.
The 72-year-old monk and Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he has no qualms about monastics learning about modern sciences.
"I don't think there is any negative impact."
With knowledge of the sciences, he has rejected the cosmology found in some Buddhists texts, he said, laughing about texts that said the world was flat.
"I feel positive if we get closer to reality," he said.
In turn, those educated in modern sciences, he said, can take a page from Buddhist science and benefit.
"As educated as a person is, he can still be unhappy inside."
Buddha, the Dalai Lama said, encouraged acceptance of concepts through experimentation and investigation.
"Through reasoning, that should be the reality," he said.
Monks should learn about the modern sciences, he said. Then he leaned over and spoke quickly to his translator.
"As long as it doesn't involve nightclubs... or music [clubs]," his translator said, as the Dalai Lama laughed.
In January, Emory faculty will gather again, this time in India, to announce the science initiative to more than 20,000 monks and nuns clad in maroon and saffron robes. Emory faculty will lecture to smaller groups.
"This is not about giving a small group of monks access to science, this is about changing the way monastic education is done," Ram said. Tsondue Samphel, a Tibetan monk who graduated from Emory with a degree in physics in May of 2006, has spent hours translating more than 400 pages of Emory readings and text into Tibetan. The textbook is filled with mathematics and science concepts, a road map to learning.
Samphel said there is some resistance to the science curriculum among senior monks, who fear the western teachings could distract from the rigorous eastern monastic training, based around the Four Noble Truths: Life Means suffering; The origin of suffering is attachment; The cessation of suffering is attainable; and, There is a path to the cessation of suffering.
The science itself isn't the problem, Samphel said, the time commitment is.
Unlike many western religions, including Christianity, which often find themselves at odds with science — think Evangelical Christians and evolution — Tibetan Buddhists embrace and accept verified modern concepts and theories.
The Dalai Lama, in particular, has brought open mindedness and pragmatism into practice.
"It is not necessary to cling dogmatically to the Buddha's every word," he has said.
Emory graduate Stephen Dominick said he saw firsthand on a recent trip to the monasteries just how eager the monks are to learn. The Kansas City native and Buddhist practitioner offered to teach a lecture about physics and math during his stay.
Expecting a chat with perhaps 100 monks, he dressed casually and prepared some quick notes. When a monk arrived to walk him to the lecture, he encouraged him to dress up. When Dominick entered the massive prayer hall, he understood why. Nearly 2,000 monks sat quietly in front of a lectern, anxious for a teaching. The talk stretched late into the night.
"It was phenomenal," Dominick said.
It's that kind of intellectual curiosity that excited Emory President James Wagner, who said the science initiative is just one more example of the university's vision and strategic plan to honor all forms of inquiry.
"We're in an era where people are really curious and being honest about that curiosity — from physicists to academics," he said.
Wagner said the partnership brings visibility to the melding of Western medicine and Eastern practices and will lead to dialogue that he believes could change the world.
He paused, then said, rather giddily: "Isn't this exactly what a university should be?"
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