“Buddhism and Science”

Under this title, a book exhibition has opened these days in the library of the Central Khurul of Kalmykia. It presents many works reflecting the convergence of the scientific and Buddhist worlds. As the 14th Dalai Lama believes, Buddhism and modern science must go hand in hand. The spiritual leader of Buddhists has become the organizer of and a participant in meetings with representatives of modern science: physicists, geneticists, psychologists, and he strives to find as many points of contact as possible. One of the works presented at this exhibition, “Sleep, Dreaming, and Death: An Exploration of Consciousness,” tells of the historically significant dialogue between leading Western scientists and the Dalai Lama. The joint conference was devoted to three key states: sleep, dreaming, and death, which the renowned neuroscientist Francisco J. Varela called “the shadow zones of the ego.” The book-report on this event was translated by the head of the literary and translation department of the Central Khurul of Kalmykia, Chagdyr Sandzhiev. In a conversation with us, Chagdyr Arslanovich noted that this is a mutually enriching process: today Buddhism not only has much to offer modern science for study, but also much to take from it. This is precisely why the Dalai Lama introduced the mandatory study of modern sciences in major Buddhist monasteries. There they study philosophy, medicine, anthropology, and take part in logical debates among themselves. With each passing year, science and Buddhism grow ever closer to each other. And this cannot but bring joy, for human development is not conceivable without the combination of both.