The Dalai Lama and Neuroscience

   This month's issue of "Discover" magazine has an article on page 9 titled "The Dalai Lama Speaks the Language of Science". In it the reader is told that the wise man "endorses both research and religion as equally valid paths to truth". Because of his open-mindedness, and of course, the respect in which so many hold him, he was invited to speak in November 2005 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C., an event that drew more than 30,000 researchers.
   The announcement that he would be present and would address the gathering drew immediate response. An online petition was started to demand the cancellation of his speech, and six planned presenters withdrew their posters. Others championed the address as an attempt to break down the barriers that divide religion and science. The Dalai Lama addressed these divisions and called for harmony between religion and science.
   If the man was espousing open-mindedness, I fail to see any reason for the supposedly open and inquiring mind to object to his presence at the meeting. Perhaps those that do, object from a basis of arrogance. The scientific mind may someday have to acknowledge that human science is not omniscient; that there is a limit to our ability to know and explain. Perhaps there will always be a tiny grey area where religion and science would do well to tolerate each other in the better service of humankind.