Film Review: The Dalai Lama: Scientist

 Science meets Buddhism

The current Dalai Lama, born 85 years ago into a poor farming family, reports with a twinkle in his eye that he probably would have become an engineer had he not been tapped to lead the Buddhist community.

“I always want to know how, why” he reports. “I didn’t want to study, I wanted to play. I took things apart, with a 50-50 chance of reassembly.”

Six-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee/activist filmmaker Dawn Gifford Engle profiles the 14th Dalai Lama in “The Dalai Lama: Scientist,” as part of her series of films about Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Religion and politics are often uneasy neighbors, and when the Chinese Army invaded Tibet in 1950, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee. He escaped to India, where Prime Minister Nehru gave him some land on which to establish the Tibetan Buddhist community-in-exile. But he never gave up his interest in science.

Much of modern science (and most of history) is about change, and the Dalai Lama is fascinated when told that research shows that change is always motivated by internal, not external factors.

This film introduces us to a parade of world-renowned scientists who have visited the Dalai Lama (at his invitation) to discuss their work. Among them are psychologist Paul Ekman, neuroscientists Christof Koch and Francisco Varela and astrophysicist George Greenstein.

This is both a strength and a drawback, the latter for those (like me) who aren’t up to snuff on topics like quantum physics, neurobiology and molecular genetics. Still, it’s fascinating to listen, and especially to see the delight in the
Dalai Lama’s face at the chance to talk about these topics.

And speaking of change, it’s also good to know that The Dalai Lama, who calls himself “half Buddhist monk, half scientist,” has established science as a required course of study for Buddhist monks.

This film will be best enjoyed by the science literati, but also has it charms as an introduction to the engaging personality of the Dalai Lama.