Abstract

We are at a historic point in which scientists and Tibetan monastics are working together to investigate ancient questions of mind and matter, and to serve the best interests of humanity. To facilitate this collaboration, His Holiness the Dalai Lama supported the development of the Emory University-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), which reflects the first major change in the Tibetan monastic curriculum in six centuries. Over the course of a 6-year long curriculum, Tibetan monastics living in India have the opportunity to study science with experts in various disciplines. In 2019, ETSI graduated its first cohort of monastic students from a 6-year “implementation phase,” and now has entered the “sustainability phase.” A goal of the sustainability phase is to broaden the scope of ETSI and begin training monastics through research. The present paper provides an overview of a 3-year Research Training Program being developed for the sustainability phase. We first overview a pilot program that informed feasibility and potential structure for a broader Research Training Program at the monasteries and monastic universities in India. Next, we discuss the conceptual framework for the Research Training Program and four learning objectives that we hope to attain. We then discuss the specifics of the course design for the proposed 3-year research training curriculum, through which our goal is to transition from a more guided training experience to a less guided experience. Finally, we discuss challenges and opportunities that we expect to encounter in developing and implementing the program.

Highlights

  • For many years, the Dalai Lama has engaged in a conversation with scientists to examine how academic science and the time-honored wisdom of Indo-Tibetan traditions can work together to best serve the interests of humanity

  • The pilot program was designed for monastics to develop authentic research projects, building on both their own interests and on the training that they had received in the biological sciences through the Emory University-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) curriculum

  • The goal of the Research Training Program is to help actualize the Dalai Lama’s vision of integrating scientific knowledge and the wisdom of Indo-Tibetan traditions to serve the best interests of humanity

Read more

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The Dalai Lama has engaged in a conversation with scientists to examine how academic science and the time-honored wisdom of Indo-Tibetan traditions can work together to best serve the interests of humanity. Many scientists and Buddhist thinkers, including the Dalai Lama, believe that we are at a point in history where these two traditions can, and should, start working more closely together to help humanity meet its challenges (Davidson and Lutz, 2008; Eisen and Konchok, 2017) To facilitate this relationship, the Dalai Lama has been working with Emory University for over 20 years on initiatives to increase cross-talk between science and spirituality. One goal of the sustainability phase is to help Tibetan monastics develop an understanding of the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the scientific process by doing research This new direction in ETSI opens up a number of exciting opportunities for Tibetan monastics and academic scientists. We provide an overview of the conceptual foundations and planned structure of this training program

A RESEARCH TRAINING PILOT PROJECT
CONCLUSION

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.