What happens when a Tibetan Buddhist monk becomes a scientist? In this episode of our With Compassion Podcast, talk with Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, who spent 27 years as a monk and earned the Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree in Tibetan monastic education, before completing a PhD at Emory University. Today he is Cofounder and Executive Director of Emory’s Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics.
Lobsang has spent his career bringing two great traditions of human understanding into conversation. From Buddhism he draws centuries of practice in training the mind and heart. From Western science he draws the tools to test whether that training works. The results are striking. His research shows that compassion training can lower markers of stress and depression. At the invitation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he led the creation of SEE Learning, which now teaches social, emotional and ethical skills to children and young people around the world.
We talk about why the Dalai Lama says a spiritual revolution is called for, and why investing in inner values matters as much as outer progress. We also cover how compassion can protect doctors, nurses and teachers from burnout, and what parents and communities can do to help. Lobsang also offers simple, practical tools for self-awareness and self-compassion. Above all, he reminds us that we are not alone in our vulnerabilities, and that recognising our shared humanity may be the surest path to peace.
Lobsang’s new book, Engaged Compassion: Seven Practices to Cultivate Resilience, Connection, and a Joyous Life, is out now.
In this episode
The integration of Buddhist principles with Western science
The impact of compassion training on stress and immune markers
The development and global implementation of SEE Learning (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning)
The role of compassion in reducing burnout among healthcare and education professionals
Practical tools for self-awareness, self-compassion and connection
The importance of understanding our interdependence and shared humanity
