[Buddha-l] Neural Science and Buddhism

[Peter D. Junger]

An interesting article in the Guardian at
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1536642,00.html>.

Here is the text of the article:

--BEGIN ARTICLE

   Plan for Dalai Lama lecture angers neuroscientists
   David Adam, science correspondent
   Wednesday July 27, 2005
   The Guardian
   The Dalai Lama is at the centre of an unholy row among scientists over
   his plans to deliver a lecture at a prominent neuroscience conference.

   His  talk stems from a growing interest in how Buddhist meditation may
   affect  the  brain, but researchers who dismiss such studies as little
   more   than   mumbo-jumbo  say  they  will  boycott  the  Society  for
   Neuroscience annual meeting in November if it goes ahead.

   Jianguo  Gu,  a  neuroscientist  at  the University of Florida who has
   helped  to organise a petition against the Dalai Lama's lecture, said:
   "I  don't  think it's appropriate to have a prominent religious leader
   at a scientific event.

   "The  Dalai Lama basically says the body and mind can be separated and
   passed  to  other  people.  There  are no scientific grounds for that.
   We'll  be  talking  about  cells  and molecules and he's going to talk
   about something that isn't there."

   Dr  Gu  and  many  of  the scientists who initiated the protest are of
   Chinese origin, but say their concern are not related to politics. The
   Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since he fled Chinese troops in
   Tibet in 1959.

   "I'm  not  against  Buddhism,"  said  Dr Gu, who has cancelled his own
   presentation  at  the meeting. "People believe what they believe but I
   think it will just confuse things."

   The  Dalai Lama has long had an interest in science and once said that
   if  he  had  not  been a monk he would have been an engineer. Over the
   past  decade  he  has  encouraged western neuroscientists to study the
   effects  of  Buddhist  meditation,  originally through meetings at his
   home   and   more  recently  by  attending  conferences  at  major  US
   universities.

   Buddhist  monks  typically  spend  hours  in  meditation  each  day, a
   practice they say enhances their powers of concentration.

   Trained  meditators  claim  to  be  able  to hold their attention on a
   single  object  for  hours  at a time without distraction, or to shift
   attention  as  many  as  17  times  in  the time it takes to snap your
   fingers.

   Both  claims  go  against  current  scientific  thinking,  which  says
   attention  cannot  be  held  as  long or switched so quickly, and some
   neuroscientists   have  started  investigating  whether  they  have  a
   biological  basis.  Some  believe  the  monks' skills could be down to
   plasticity, the ability of even fully formed adult mammalian brains to
   change and adapt.

   The  research  peaked in November last year when a team led by Richard
   Davidson,  a  psychologist  at  the  University of Wisconsin, Madison,
   published  research  in  the  US  journal  Proceedings of the National
   Academy of Sciences that suggested networks of brain cells were better
   coordinated in people who were trained in meditation.

   The  scientists  included  Matthieu  Ricard,  a  Buddhist  monk at the
   Shechenm  monastery  in Nepal, who has a PhD in molecular biology from
   the  Pasteur  Institute in Paris. They said the brain differences they
   observed might explain the heightened awareness reported by meditating
   monks.

   Mr   Davidson   helped  to  arrange  the  Dalai  Lama's  talk  at  the
   neuroscience  conference,  which  is  the  first in a series billed as
   dialogues between neuroscience and society.

   The  protesters  say the team's research is flawed because it compared
   monks in their 30s and 40s with much younger university students.

   Their   petition  reads:  "Inviting  the  Dalai  Lama  to  lecture  on
   neuroscience of meditation is of poor scientific taste because it will
   highlight  a  subject  with  hyperbolic  claims,  limited research and
   compromised scientific rigour."

   It  compares  the  lecture  to  inviting  the  Pope to talk about "the
   relationship  between  the  fear  of God and the amygdala [part of the
   brain]" and adds "it could be a slippery road if neuroscientists begin
   to blur the border between science and religious practices".

   Carol  Barnes,  the  president  of the Society for Neuroscience, said:
   "The  Dalai Lama has had a long interest in science and has maintained
   an  ongoing  dialogue  with  leading  neuroscientists for more than 15
   years,  which is the reason he was invited to speak at the meeting. It
   has been agreed that the talk will not be about religion or politics.

   "We  understand  that  not every member will agree with every decision
   and we respect their right to disagree."
--END ARTICLE

--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
 EMAIL: junger at samsara.law.cwru.edu    URL:  http://samsara.law.cwru.edu