Always and everywhere, humans have faced
two major life passages in which our habitual mind seems to dissolve and enter
a radically different realm. The first passage is sleep, humanity¼s constant
companion, transitory and filled with the dream life that has enchanted cultures
from the beginning of history. The second is death, the grand and gaping enigma,
the final event that organizes so much of individual existence and cultural
ritual. These are ego's shadow zones, where Western science is often ill at
ease, far from its familiar territory of the physical universe or physiological
causality. In contrast, the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is fully at home here;
in fact, it has accumulated remarkable knowledge in this area.
This book is an account of a week-long exploration of these two great realms
of radical transformation of the human body and mind. The exploration takes
the form of a unique exchange between the Dalai Lama, with a few of his colleagues
in the Tibetan tradition, and representatives of Western science and humanism.
The exchange was the fourth in a series of biennial meetings called Mind and
Life Conferences. It was a private, highly structured dialogue, that took place
over five consecutive days in October 1992 in Dharamsala, India.
On Monday morning, all the participants gathered in the Dalai Lama's living
room to begin our journey. His Holiness the Dalai Lama appeared promptly at
nine o'clock, as was his habit. He entered, beamed at everyone, and invited
us to sit down. The speakers were grouped in an inner circle of comfortable
couches, with observers and advisers in an outer circle. The atmosphere was
relaxed and informal: no television cameras, no high podium, no formal speeches.
The unique magic of the Mind and Life Conferences was being created once again.
The Dalai Lama opened with some friendly words. "Welcome to all of you!
There are many old friends among you, and perhaps you have the feeling that
coming to Dharamsala is like coming home. I am very happy to have another Mind
and Life Conference. I believe our previous conferences were of great benefit,
at least to me and to people interested in these issues."
He then turned to a more global perspective. "Since our last conference
there have been many changes on this planet. One of the most important is the
disappearance of the Berlin Wall. The threat of a nuclear holocaust is now more
or less gone. Although problems remain, the world is now more favorable for
genuine, lasting peace. Of course, killing continues here and there, but overall
the situation has improved. Everywhere people are talking about democracy and
freedom. That also is of great significance. I believe that the desire for happiness
is an essential part of human nature. Happiness comes from freedom. On the contrary,
dictatorship of any kind is very harmful for the development of the community.
In the old days, certain people had some enthusiasm for authoritarian regimes,
but nowadays this has changed. The younger generation is devoted to freedom
and democracy. We may change the world, at least in terms of social inequalities.
The strength of the human spirit again has the upper hand."
His Holiness went on to set the context for our meeting. "Now we have these
two fields, science and spirituality, in which we are supposedly involved,"
and as he said this he laughed wholeheartedly and contagiously. That laughter
was to be as present in the days to come as was the probing intelligence of
all the participants, and the group was never far from a sense of humor. "It
seems that scientific research reaches deeper and deeper. But it also seems
that more and more people, at least scientists, are beginning to realize that
the spiritual factor is important. I say 'spiritual' without meaning any particular
religion or faith, just simple warmhearted compassion, human affection, and
gentleness. It is as if such warmhearted people are a bit more humble, a little
bit more content. I consider spiritual values primary, and religion secondary.
As I see it, the various religions strengthen these basic human qualities. As
a practitioner of Buddhism, my practice of compassion and my practice of Buddhism
are actually one and the same. But the practice of compassion does not require
religious devotion or religious faith; it can be independent from the practice
of religion. Therefore, the ultimate source of happiness for human society very
much depends on the human spirit, on spiritual values. If we do not combine
science and these basic human values, then scientific knowledge may sometimes
create troubles, even disaster. I think the achievements of science and technology,
for all their awful destructive powers, are immense. But because they bring
us fear, suffering, and anxiety, some people consider them to be negative.
"Scientific knowledge can be seen as a faculty of human intelligenceãit
can be used either positively or negatively, but in itself it is morally neutral.
Whether it becomes beneficial or harmful depends on one's motivation. With proper
motivation scientific knowledge becomes constructive. But if the motivation
is negative, then the knowledge becomes destructive. These conferences will
eventually demonstrate ways for science and spirituality to work together more
closely. I think each of us has already made some contribution in this respect,
and I'm quite sure this conference will as well. We may contribute something,
and if not, at least there will be no harm." This sentence was followed
by a good laugh from everyone. His Holiness concluded with a beaming smile,
"So that's good. For these reasons, with these feelings, I welcome you
all to my home."
It was my turn, as chairman and scientific coordinator, to reply to his welcoming
words. By then, it was easy to say that we were all quite moved to be there
and to have the opportunity to be part of this singular adventure.
Charting Ego's Shadow Zones
I went on briefly to set the stage for the week's agenda. Basically, we would
focus on areas of mind that are essential for human existence, yet difficult
for Westerners to understand: sleeping, dreaming, and dying. In keeping with
the spirit of these meetings, we wanted to address these topics in the widest
possible sense, so that broad surveys of what is happening in the West would
be presented by researchers involved in their respective fields. The first three
days would be devoted to sleep and dreaming, and the last two days to dying.
I will briefly describe the reasons for these thematic choices, and introduce
the invited speakers. Detailed biographical sketches of participants can be
found at the end of this book. The first day on the topic of sleep and dreams
was devoted to neuroscience, which studies the brain's involvement in sleep
as a biological process. It was essential to have on hand some basic results
of one of neuroscience's most active fields: sleep research. This first morning
presentation had been entrusted to a specialist in the field, Michael Chase
(University of California at Los Angeles), who had to cancel at the last minute.
Fortunately we had a distinguished group of neurobiologists present in Dharamsala:
Clifford Saron (University of California at San Francisco), Richard Davidson
(University of Wisconsin at Madison), Gregory Simpson (Albert Einstein School
of Medicine), Robert Livingstone (University of California at San Diego), and
myself (Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris). Collectively
we prepared a presentation on basic sleep mechanisms, and it was decided that
I should present it to His Holiness.
The second day would address dream work in psychoanalysis, which is somewhere
between a scientific psychology and a humanist practice. It is a tradition that
has left a deep mark on Western views of the structure of mind and the role
of dreams. Although some readers might prefer that another psychotherapeutic
school had taken its place at the conference, it seemed to me that the Freudian
tradition was the most influential and pervasive. The point was not to champion
contemporary Freudian schools, but to bring to the discussion a sense of how
dream work has become part of Western thinking and culture. Joyce McDougall,
a well-known and respected figure in contemporary psychoanalysis in both Europe
and in the larger English-speaking world, was chosen as the presenter.
During the third day we would move to a more recent and controversial area within
the study of dreams: the phenomenon of lucid dreaming. We chose this topic because
on the one hand it has received some scientific attention in the West, and on
the other hand it has been a very active field of study in the Buddhist tradition.
We hoped that some connections with Tibetan Buddhism would emerge. Jayne Gackenbach,
a psychologist at the University of Alberta who had been active in this field
for some years, would be the presenter.
On the fourth and fifth days we were to cover the issue of dying. We reduced
this enormous topic to two main themes. On the fourth day we wanted to cover
the biomedical understanding of the process of dying. Although medicine pervades
our lives, once a person is considered over the threshold, the entire observational
and experimental machine of modern biomedicine grinds to a halt. Little is known
about death's intimate, final stages. We called on Jerome ("Pete")
Engel to fulfill this difficult task. As a member of a large biomedical facility
at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a world-renowned neurologist,
he seemed better prepared than other professionals to explore this uncharted
ground.
Finally, we would close on the fifth day with our second death-related theme,
a view of recent research on how humans have traditionally grappled with death
through so-called near-death experiences. These were, again, controversial waters
for established science, but they are areas that are clearly evoking a huge
interest in the West. We hoped to find links between this research and one of
the most original areas of experiential and philosophical importance in the
Tibetan tradition, the human encounter with death. As the day's speaker, we
chose Joan Halifax, a medical anthropologist who had been a pioneer in this
field in the sixties and seventies, and had extended her observations to shamanic
traditions.
That was, in a nutshell, the agenda of the meeting in regard to its scientific
content. However, as in the previous Mind and Life Conferences, we found it
essential to include an overview of the philosophical underpinnings of the Western
perspective on these topics. This was crucial, though it might at first glance
seem surprising. Clarifying the conceptual basis of a discipline or a history
of ideas lays out fertile terrain on which to build discussion. The Tibetans,
masters in the art of conceptual clarity, were always very receptive to this
dimension of our previous discussions. We had asked Charles Taylor from McGill
University to fulfill this role now, since he was known for his perceptive studies
on the modern self and its historical roots.
By Dalai Lama
Brothers and sisters, I am very happy to be here and to meet people who are
taking a keen interest in the Buddhadharma. I can see many familiar faces in
the audience and am very glad to have this opportunity to spend some time with
you once more.
During the next three days, I will be speaking on Buddhist thought and practice
according to the Tibetan tradition. My talks here will follow two main themes.
As to the first [Parts 1 and 3], I will be giving a general introduction to
the Buddhist path, a broad outline of the theories and practices of Tibetan
Buddhism. I usually explain that the Buddhism of Tibet is perhaps the most complete
form of Buddhism. It includes all the essential teachings of the various traditions
of Buddhism that exist in different parts of the world today. Since many of
you have received a number of tantric initiations and teachings, I think an
overview of Tibetan Buddhism for the purpose of providing a comprehensive framework
of the Buddhist path may prove helpful in deepening your understanding and practice
of Dharma.
The second theme [Part 2] concerns the altruistic attitude that characterizes
a bodhisattva. In drawing from Santideva's Bodhi-caryavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's
Way of Life), I will offer some comments on important sections of the text,
concentrating mainly on the practices of love, kindness, and compassion. Intimately
related to these practices are the issues of how to cultivate tolerance as well
as the appropriate attitudes one should adopt towards one's enemy.
During these first three days, instead of being the Dalai Lama or Bhiksu Tenzin
Gyatso, I am Professor Tenzin Gyatso. On the fourth day, however, there will
be a Green Tara initiation, and on that day I will become Guru Bhiksu Tenzin
Gyatso!
As I mentioned earlier, a number of us here already know each other. Since our
last meeting, many of us have led very busy lives. Whether we are doing something
good and worthwhile with our lives or not, time never waits but keeps flowing.
Not only does time flow unhindered, but correspondingly our life too keeps moving
onward all the time. If something has gone wrong, we cannot turn back time and
try again. In that sense, there is no genuine second chance. Hence, it is crucial
for a spiritual practitioner constantly to examine his or her attitudes and
actions. If we examine ourselves every day with mindfulness and mental alertness,
checking our thoughts, motivations, and their manifestations in external behavior,
a possibility for change and self-improvement can open within us. Although I
myself cannot claim with confidence to have made any remarkable progress over
the years, my desire and determination to change and improve is always firm.
From early morning until I go to bed and in all situations of life, I always
try to check my motivation and be mindful and present in the moment. Personally,
I find this to be very helpful in my own life.
Over the three days we spend together, I shall be discussing various methods
that we can employ as tools to examine ourselves, enabling us to embark upon
a path of self-discovery and development. Taking your own body and mind as the
laboratory, see if you can use these different techniques: that is to say, engage
in some thorough-going research on your own mental functioning, and examine
the possibility of making some positive changes within yourself. This is how
a practicing Buddhist should perceive all the essential elements of the Buddha's
teaching. There are also people here who, although not considering themselves
practicing Buddhists, have a genuine desire to learn more about Buddhism in
general, and the Buddhism of Tibet in particular. This also includes those who,
while practicing their own religion, take a keen interest in other spiritual
traditions. I am certain that they can find within the Buddhist teachings various
common concerns, such as meditation or contemplation on love and compassion,
that can be incorporated into their own tradition and practice. Hence, such
an ecumenical pursuit has great potential for benefit. Finally, there might
be some people here who do not have any particularly strong feeling for spirituality
but have come with honest curiosity and openness. These people can just sit
and listen to my talks as one listens to a lecture. If, in the course of listening,
you find something interesting, you can pay closer attention. Similarly, if
there is nothing of much interest and value, you can take the session as a time
for rest. However, if you do use it as rest time, please do so discreetly. Especially
if you happen to doze off, do not start snoring, for you might disturb your
neighbors!