Mind over matter: News on Science & Buddhism

Scientific studies on Buddhist monks who've meditated for at least five years show that they are able to override some of the brain's normal functions, according to a piece on today's BBC.

Australian scientists gave Buddhist monks vision tests, where each eye was concurrently shown a different image. Most people's attention would automatically fluctuate - but the monks were able to focus on just one image.

Scientists also say that Buddhists are happier and calmer than the average person and meditation boosts immune system responses in the brain but diminishes one's sense of time and space.

According to this strange profile in The Korean Times, Buddhist meditation practice has even influenced Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk, who was honored by Time Magazine last year for being "the first to clone human embryos capable of yielding viable stem cells."

"Cloning is a different way of thinking about the cycle of life and re-birth. It is a Buddhist way of thinking," he said in the U.S. a few days later unveiling the cloning performance.

Quite appropriately, MIT just hired its first Buddhist chaplain. He's also a physicist and he rollerblades. For those interested in learning more, the Mind and Life Institute is holding a conference this November on the science and clinical applications of meditation.