The Force for Good

Does it surprise you that the Dalai Lama routinely meets Nobel Prize-winning scientists, discussing intricate theories with the likes of Bob Livingston, David Bohm, Wolf Singer and Paul Ekman? Well, it shouldn’t. The Dalai Lama acknowledges the strength of both science and religion, and we should too!

Despite what we might think, spirituality and science are not mutually exclusive. They’re merely alternative strategies in the quest for reality. So why not bring them together?

Science can connect with individuals on a larger scale than any religious faith, as it is not marked by the divisions and conflicts of differing religious denominations.

However, science still hasn’t revealed everything to us about how the world functions. To better understand our minds, for instance, we need to meld ancient Buddhist sources with contemporary scientific findings.

Science can even give religious thinking greater credibility, even among skeptics. Though most people tend to dismiss the Dalai Lama’s buddhist methods as “just religion,” these methods have been scientifically proven to be effective in a number of contexts.

For instance, Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s interpreter, developed Compassion Cultivation Training, or CCT, a variation of classical Tibetan methods suitable for anyone. An evaluation of CCT by researchers at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University found that it lessened people’s anxiety and increased happiness, even in those suffering from acute social phobia. In patients suffering from chronic pain, the sensitivity to pain decreased after nine weeks.

This is just one example of how religion and science can come together to complement each other’s strengths and support each other’s weaknesses.

But science and religion aren’t the only facets of contemporary society that need a more compassionate and cooperative character. The economy needs them too, and urgently. Find out why in the next blink.