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International
Shamatha Project
Endorsement by HH Dalai Lama
July 4, 2009
Dear Friends,
I'd like to share with you a correspondence I've had with
His Holiness the Dalai Lama about a proposal I made to him called the "International
Shamatha Project." I copy below my initial correspondence to him
and his endorsement of this project, which I'm delighted to receive on
this auspicious day, Independence Day.
With best wishes to you all,
Alan
Your Holiness,
I would like to propose the establishment of an international Buddhist
research project modeled after the Human Genome Project, which was one
of the most ambitious and successful scientific projects in recent history.
It entailed the collaboration of many scientific laboratories throughout
the world (including that of Eric Lander at M.I.T.) to map the human
genome. Throughout the years that this project was conducted, researchers
around the world shared their finding so that the project could be completed
most effectively for the benefit of all of humanity.
As I suggested at the Mind and Life meeting last April, I believe the
achievement of shamatha is essential for the preservation of Buddhism
as a true science of the mind. While many people devote themselves to
the practice of vipashyana and to Vajrayana, relatively few pay serious
attention to the practice of shamatha and far fewer, it seems, actually
achieve it.
Therefore, I would like to propose an International Shamatha Project,
modeled after the Human Genome Project, that would bring together dedicated
Buddhist teachers and meditators from both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism
to collaborate in exploring the most effective methods and conditions
for achieving shamatha in today's world. Individual retreat centers could
network with each other by way of the internet, sharing their experiences,
problems, remedies, and insights. We may also collaborate with psychologists
and neuroscientists conducting research on shamatha meditators to help
discover which methods of shamatha are most appropriate for which kinds
of people in the modern world. Scientists may also discover the objective
psychological and neurological signs corresponding to the nine stages
of development leading to shamatha, thus providing a scientific map of
the gradual achievement of shamatha. We have begun such collaboration
in the Shamatha Project, on which Dr. Clifford Saron reported during
the Mind and Life meeting in April, and I am proposing that this work
now be expanded worldwide, to include multiple teachers and traditions.
Once shamatha is accomplished, it becomes far more feasible to achieve
bodhicitta, vipashyana, and the stages of Vajrayana, and in this way,
the significance of Buddhist mind science may become evident to the scientific
community and to human society at large, including China.
If you agree that such an International Shamatha Project is worth establishing,
might I request you to write a brief endorsement for this project and
perhaps send me a list of Buddhist teachers who might be invited to join
in such collaborative research?
I pray that you continue to enjoy excellent health and vitality as well
as a very, very long life.
Your devoted student,
Alan
From: His Holiness The Dalai Lama:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Alan Wallace has devoted much of his professional life to the interface
between Buddhist meditation and science. Following on work already done
with Dr. Clifford Saron in the Shamatha Project, he is proposing the
establishment of an International Shamatha Project, modelled on the Human
Genome Project, that will bring together Buddhist teachers and meditators
to explore effective ways of achieving shamatha, which, sometimes translated
as calm abiding meditation, comprises concentration practices designed
to enhance sustained voluntary attention.
I am happy to support his suggestion to expand existing collaboration
amongst teachers and meditators worldwide to include multiple teachers
and traditions.
I am also encouraged by the prospect that the Project may collaborate
with psychologists and neuroscientists conducting research on shamatha
meditators to discover which methods are most appropriate for which people
to develop shamatha in the modern world. The prospect of Buddhist mind
science becoming better understood both in the scientific community and
in society at large is inspiring. I wish the Project every success.
July 3, 2009
His Holiness' Endorsement PDF
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