Years ago, I read a powerful interview with the Dalai Lama where he was asked what he would do if science ever disproved a belief from Buddhism. His response was that Buddhism would have to change. I’ve never forgotten that.
I love the thought that spiritual practices can collaborate with scientific findings.
It wasn’t all that long ago that meditation was considered ‘far out there’ or ‘woo-woo nonsense.’ But now we have information from the realm of neuroscientific research to explain the amazing benefits for all brains, woo-woo or not.
For example, we can now look at a functional MRI and see what’s happening when a person meditates, so we not only know that those positive changes we’ve heard about for centuries, and experienced ourselves, are real, we also know why they happen.
Science brought meditation down to earth, simplified the common understanding of it, and hopefully continues to make it more accessible.
I’ve been thinking about this so much lately when considering how I want to continue to teach Reiki practices. I began teaching Reiki in the 90’s and so much has changed in my personal understanding, and in the field of integrative medicine itself.
What I love most about science is that it invites an attitude of curiosity. It allows for uncertainty to be a gateway into new possibility, for change, and even moments of awe and wonder.
The irony is that, at its core, the spiritual path offers the same. The spiritual path takes us deep into the heart of what it means to be human, it teaches us to breathe down into the simple moments to reveal their magic. It invites us to meet the present moment with a heart open to its wonder.
Perhaps what both paths have in common is courage to brave uncertainty, to look the unknown in the eyes and allow it to open us more fully to the mystery of life, to expand us into a greater sense of appreciation for life as it is, in this simple moment, with heart and eyes wide open.
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