Dalai Lama Visits Boston

September 14, 2003

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/09/14/the_buddha_of_suburbia/

On September 14, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "this weekend, and unusual encounter is taking place at MIT: The Dalai Lama meets the human brain. Along with the Dalai Lama, prominent Tibetan and western Buddhists are joining neuroscientists, psychologists, and other academics in a conference called 'Investigating the Mind,' where topics ranging from consciousness to the emotions are being brought under the group's collective microscope. From a scientific standpoint, the conference promises to 'identify the common ground between two powerful empirical traditionsTibetan Buddhism and behavioral science.'...tonight a reported 13,000 people will attend the Dalai Lama's sold-out talk at the FleetCenter. In the United States, Buddhism is doubling its numbers faster than any other religion, with Tibetan Buddhism growing fastest of all. The Boston area alone boasts more than 40 Buddhist centers, and two major Buddhist presses -- Wisdom Publications and Shambhala (the latter has published over 600 titles) -- are headquartered here. How, in a mere generation, did we get from Tibetan Buddhism's near-extinction in its homeland to its remarkable flowering in America?..."