Monks in the Laboratory

Directed by Delphine Morel, ARTE

Why are Western researchers turning to Eastern spiritual practitioners for illumination on the workings of the mind? Buddhists have studied the nature of the mind for 2500 years. Now scientists at Princeton, University of California, and University of Wisconsin are investigating what happens to the brain during the different stages of meditation. They want to learn how meditation affects attention and consciousness, how it controls the emotions, and how compassion develops. The Tibetan Buddhists involved in this project were pleased to participate in these studies.

In the early 1990’s the Mind and Life project was started at the University of California, Davis. With the support of the Dalai Lama, scientists were doing field research in India on yogis to discover ways of reducing stress. Psychologist Paul Eckman has made a study of facial movements, with regard to how they reflect emotion. He points out how unaware most people are of the emotional impulses that lead to action. Self awareness is one of the cornerstones of Buddhism; scientists feel that developing this would help people in their everyday lives.

At the University of Wisconsin scientists explore how to cultivate compassion.They have located the emotion in the networking between the pre-frontal and the parietal cortex. The hope is that the cooperation of the spiritual and scientific community can add to the understanding of human nature and the cultivation of positive life skills.

52 min. Video or DVD. Sale $350 Video rental $85.