I’ve been scarce this week because First Reader and I took a trip to Atlanta to hear the Dalai Lama give a talk at Emory University. He was there because there is a co-operative initiative between his monastery and the school in, of all things, the science department. Tibetan monks are being trained as science teachers at the university so they can go back to the monastery and teach classes in modern science within the Tibetan curriculum (said monastic program takes a mere twenty years to complete. And I thought Grad Students had it rough).

I don’t have a lot to say about the talk. You sort of had to be there. But I will note two things.  1) The Dalai Lama is an incredibly smart guy. You only had to hear him question one of the scientists present on a fine point of experimental methodology to pick up on that.  2) It was nice to hear someone who ought to know holding the opinion that a) religion isn’t enough for a full understanding of the universe and b) science and spirituality are not and should not be in conflict. Which has always been my own opinion on the subject.