Drepung Losel Ling
Center for Meditation & Science
Dedicated to advancing His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s vision
for the convergence of science and spirituality
DREPUNG LOSELING MONASTERY  •  MUNGOD, INDIA
 

“In the 21st century, science and spirituality have the potential to be
closer than ever, and to embark upon
a collaborative endeavor that has
far-reaching potential to help humanity meet the challenges before us.”

H.H. the Dalai Lama

  
     
  Click here to read a complete message from
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
   
The Drepung Losel Ling Center for Meditation and Science is the response to both His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s vision for continued collaboration around the intersection of science and Buddhism, and to the mission of promoting well-being through training in ancient wisdom practices. As the burgeoning field of contemplative science provides evidence about the benefits of meditation, interest in the practice of meditation is steadily growing across the world.
 
This Center will be a nexus for these two worlds. A place where ideas and friendship can flourish, the new center will provide generous facilities where scientists and monastic scholars can deliberate concepts and engage in research face to face. And for others around the world, the center will offer a place to engage in study and practice at the heart of a thriving Tibetan Buddhist center of learning.
Please help support The Center and the convergence of science and spirituality.


 
Set on eleven acres and with a magnificent view of the monastery’s Main Prayer Hall, Phase One will include a welcome center with a community lounge, a digital media center, five classrooms for up to 125 students, four science labs, 50 faculty suites, dorm rooms for 40 students, eight guest cottages, and a spacious dining hall with indoor and porch seating. Walking paths will wind through the orchards and botanical gardens full of native plants, and there will be many outdoor meeting areas to promote informal scholarly and cultural exchange.
For more than thirty years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has engaged in an on-going exchange with scientists to explore how the interface between modern scientific knowledge and the time-honored science of mind embodied in the Tibetan tradition can work together to address the problems faced by humanity—not only on a material level, but also on a psychological and emotional level. He has encouraged and facilitated scholars from both traditions as they work to bridge these two complementary systems of knowledge for mutual enrichment and the benefit of many.
 
Tibetan nuns and monks studying biology with Professor Arri Eisen.  
Students from Emory University’s Summer Study Abroad Program practicing meditation with Drepung Loseling monks.
This endeavor has resulted in an unprecedented change in Tibetan Buddhist monastic education. A six-year comprehensive science curriculum comprised of neuroscience, biology, physics, and the philosophy of science was developed by Emory University at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It has been introduced into the core curriculum at the major Tibetan monastic universities including Drepung Loseling Monastery.
New Center for Science & Meditation classroom.
Phase One includes 65,000 square feet of new construction plus landscaping.
Estimated cost is $3.9 million US dollars.
 
Photograph of construction in progress with view of the Main Prayer Hall.
  
Photograph of a new classroom building under construction.
 
 
Dormitory building under construction.
  
Classroom building under construction.
 
Please help support The Center and the convergence of science and spirituality.


New Center for Meditation and Science.
 
 
 
New Center for Meditation and Science.
Drepung Loseling monks in front of the Main Prayer Hall, within sight of the new Center for Meditation and Science.
 
 
Drepung Monastery was founded on a hillside outside of Lhasa, Tibet, in 1416 by Jamyang Choeje, one of the four principal disciples of the great Tibetan scholar and adept, Je Tsongkhapa. Drepung grew into a grand monastic university and at its zenith housed over 10,000 monks and was comprised of seven colleges - much like early European universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Known as Khemang Losel Jewai Ling Dratsang, the “Monastic College of a Million Brilliant Scholars,” Drepung Loseling became the largest of Drepung’s colleges and the one most renowned for its academic excellence. Today, re-established in exile in south India, Drepung Loseling continues to maintain that legacy with over 3,000 monks in residence.
For more information about Drepung Loseling Science and Meditation Center, visit: