Dalai Lama on Scientific Proof of Benefits of Meditation

By Terry Reis Kennedy

According to His Holiness, he has always enjoyed science. He had a telescope when he was a boy living at Norbulingka, his summer palace in Tibet, and he would look out from a rooftop perch staring at the “specimens” below, trying to understand them. 

At the time he did not know that he was revered as a “living god” by his people. His observations of birds and the nature that surrounded him, taught him about the impermanence of life, the renewal of what appeared lost, and he later came to see that the contemplative life often led to the same conclusions as the scientific life.

In 2005 when he spoke at the Mind and Life Institute in Boulder, Colorado, USA, he shared how meditation was a benefit to many, not just to people practicing the spiritual life.  

He said, “Another area where a critical perspective is required on the part of the scientists is the ability to distinguish between the empirical aspects of Buddhist thought and contemplative practice on the one hand and the philosophical and metaphysical assumptions associated with these meditative practices.

“In other words, just as we must distinguish within the scientific approach between theoretical suppositions, empirical observations based on experiments, and subsequent interpretations, in the same manner it is critical to distinguish theoretical suppositions, experientially verifiable features of mental states, and subsequent philosophical interpretations in Buddhism. This way, both parties in the dialogue can find the common ground of empirical observable facts of the human mind, while not falling into the temptation of reducing the framework of one discipline into that of the other.”

As a child I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by nature. I enjoyed four distinct seasons, bright starry nights when I could observe the movement of the moon across the sky and winter days when I could watch the clothes on the line stiffen into icy ghosts.  In my little way I learned about “Science” and loved it. 

I find Buddhism as broad and diverse in its interpretation of meditative states, as is science in its observations of functions of the mind..

Kundun, the Presence of the Buddha, said, “I believe, a close cooperation between these two investigative traditions can truly contribute toward expanding the human understanding of the complex world of inner subjective experience that we call the mind.”

Based on our own experiences with meditation, most of us who practice going deeply within and listening to the inner guidance, report that our lives improve.  We have better relationships and peace of mind, for instance.

“Already the benefits of such collaborations are beginning to be demonstrated,” the Compassionate One reported, “By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call "secular ethics" that embrace the key ethical principles, such as compassion, tolerance, a sense of caring, consideration of others, and the responsible use of knowledge and power—principles that transcend the barriers between religious believers and non-believers, and followers of this religion or that religion.”