Zhang-Zhung Group
Menri (Bon) Monastery
Group Members:
Yundrung Konchok
Dhondup GyaltsenPhoto Gallery of Science Exhibitions:
Zhang Zhung Science Group Videos
“What is light and where does colour come from?” presented by Zhang Zhung group (Bon Monastery) at the 1st Science Exhibition by Tibetan Monastics, Dharamshala, June 22-24, 2009
Group Project Links:
Projects:
The group launch a new section of the monasteries library dedicated to science. Yungdrung, one of the group members, is also the monasteries librarian, making the library a natural home for the new science room. In preparation for opening the room, they organized books and materials received from their western supports and set-up furniture to make a comfortable working room. On days where the monks are free from traditional studies, the group opens the room and hosts open houses where members from the monastery stop by to read articles and books on science. They also screen science movies that have been translated into Tibetan language.
Visitors are allowed to borrow written works, and they have set-up a borrowing system that allows monks to check out books and articles to be read in their rooms at leisure. Sometimes the visitors ask difficult and profound questions and the group helps them get the answer from the science teachers in the nearby school.
During their bi-monthly meetings the group meets to discuss the work they have done individually and to complete group assignments.
Tashi continues to explore and develop his creation of a Buddhist periodic table of elements. The Buddhist elements include mental factors and phenomena that describe our conscious experiences, and offer an alternate paradigm to the typical western approach to mental phenomena. Inspired by the chemical periodic table of elements, Tashi thought that a similar organizational structure would help draw comparisons between Buddhism and science, and help younger monks better understand the Buddhist elements. Since returning from the Science Exhibition in Dsala (June 2009), Tashi continued to refine the table. By working towards a periodic table of Buddhist elements – he has become increasingly interested in quantum physics, especially understanding fundamental particles.
The Zhung-Zhang group started meeting together with two more monks that recently started attending workshops organized by the Emory Tibet Science Initiative, doubling the group size to 4.