"I believe that it is possible for buddhism and modern science to engage in collaborative research in the understanding of consciousness while leaving aside the philosophical question of whether consciousness is ultimately physical. By bringing together these two modes of inquiry, both disciplines may be enriched. Such collaborative study will contribute not only to greater human understanding of consciousness but also to a better understanding of the dynamics of the human mind and its relation to suffering. This is a precious gateway into the alleviation of suffering, which I believe to be our principal task on this earth."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
"The Universe in a Single Atom"

Over the last few decades there has been growing interest in discussions between Western science and Buddhism. Scientists, Buddhist scholars and meditation practitioners engage in this dialog between Western and Eastern sciences of mind for different reasons and with different expectations.

Western science has avoided introspective methods in the investigation of mind since the unsuccessful efforts of early introspectionist schools 100 years ago. It has primarily focused on external sources of modification of behavior such as drugs or changes in environment rather than individual mental training. Recent study and research on Buddhist psychology contradicts these traditional approaches. Buddhist techniques of mind training seem to be efficient in stress reduction, stabilization of attention, emotion regulation and training of other mental faculties. Moreover, over hundreds of years Buddhist contemplatives developed refined methods of introspection for exploration of human experience that Western science lacks. Therefore, Western scientists seek ways to explore Buddhist techniques of mind training that can shed light on the human ability to train the mind and on fundamental issues about the nature of subjective experience.

But why should Buddhist scholars and practitioners be interested in a dialog with Western science? During the last few decades there has been a lot of interest in Buddhist meditation among Western people. However, many Westerners find the exposure to traditional Buddhist teachings challenging. This is to large extent caused by cultural differences in approaches and methods of teaching in the East and the West. In this situation Western science might be able to provide the bridge between the traditional Buddhist psychology and Western culture. Science can help translate Buddhist teachings into a format and language that will be more accessible to Western practitioners. This might be a way to preserve the original content of teaching and make it more suitable for Western practitioners at the same time.

Dharmakirti College Research Institute wants to contribute to these efforts on both sides: by conducting research on different aspect of meditation and by providing Buddhist practitioners with information that will make the teachings more accessible. We want to accomplish these goals by:

• Conducting rigorous and systematic research into changes in cognitive abilities such as attention or emotion as a result of meditation training;
  
  
• Developing research based tools for direct support of meditation practice such as modeling complex visualization;
  
  
• Organizing public lectures by prominent Western scientists that are meditation practitioners or have conducted research on meditation;
  
  
• Providing interested public with current developments in meditation research via newsletter, popular press articles, links and references to relevant information.