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Tibetan monks meet in Dehradun for conference on science
Editorial

Nov 14 -- DHARAMSHALA: Around twenty-five Tibetan religious and educational leaders from various monastery and nunneries will be attending the ‘International Conference on Knowing - Cosmology and Consciousness II' at Songtsen Library in Dehradun from November 15 to 17.

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Phayul photo/Passang Tsering

The three day-long conference is an initiative of the Science for monks program under the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and it will promote the integration of spiritual values and scientific investigations.

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A monk participant poses as Einstein, phayul photo/ Passang Tsering

“I trust that the purpose of both science and Buddhism is to enrich and ennoble life. This is possible only if the truth and wisdom obtained from them are lived and practiced. How can we do this is the real issue at hand. This is much more then something to just talk about,” said Geshe Lhakdor, Director of Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. 

The conference is an exploration of how science, technology and wisdom come together “to address the challenges of the future, and specifically the ethical issues that have emerged in the field of neuroscience.” The conference will see presentations and panel discussions from top Indian and Western scientists and senior Tibetan Buddhist scholars.

“Science is a powerful way of knowing about the natural world, but the scientific perspective is enriched by insights from the Buddhist tradition,” said Dr Chris Impey from University of Arizona. 

Eric Chudler, Executive Director of Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering said, “Science can move at an incredible speed. Sometimes our technical ability to do something progresses without asking questions about how or even should we proceed down a particular scientific pathway.” 

The first conference ‘Cosmology and Consciousness – a Dialogue between Buddhist Scholars and Scientists on Mind and Matter’ was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Dharamshala in 2011. 

The conference aims to develop the leadership needed to grow and sustain science learning that engages Buddhism with science, and to disseminate the work of the monastics and their unique perspective on science and spirituality. 

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