The Tibetan Monks Who Surprised Scientists

Herbert Benson was a cardiologist and an acclaimed professor of medicine at Harvard University. He spent a lot of time studying Eastern cultures in the 60s. It was here that the subject was a source of fear to some people. That is why  he waited until after midnight to infiltrate 36 Tibetan monks in his laboratory. 

Benson wanted to see with his own eyes how much myth and truth there was in the stories people told about Tibetan monks. Bruce Lee was the last scream on television these days. But beyond this, transcendental meditators were perceived as people with supernatural qualities.

After all, Benson was a scientist, and he did not believe in anything that science could not prove.

What he discovered that night changed his life forever. In fact, he wrote a book three years later that later became a bestseller: The Relaxation Response . Not only this, but it also created an alternative form of medicine. One who claims that faith can heal, just as the placebo effect has a great therapeutic power.

Tibetan monks from Benson

What Herbert Benson and his team found out was that Tibetan monks certainly had abilities that contradicted scientific claims. 

For example, a group of these monks who practiced yoga using the Tummo technique could reduce the temperature in their hands and feet by up to 17 degrees. Until now, there is no scientific explanation for this phenomenon, but the Harvard Gazette reviewed this experiment and subsequently of its kind.

Allegedly, Tibetan monks can raise their body temperature to the point that they can dry wet sheets with their bodies. That was not the only thing. Benson also found that advanced meditators using the Sikkim technique could also lower their metabolism by up to 64%.

Some theoretical approaches

The article, “Ciencia y Meditación” (in Danish: “Science and meditation”), is written by Professor Ana María Krohn from Antonio Nariño University.

It claims that so far there are about 500 studies on the physiological, psychological and sociological effects of transcendental meditation, inspired by the traditions of the Tibetan monks.

In addition, she mentions that the first study was published in the journal, Science , in the 70s. In this, the authors indicate that they found a different stage of consciousness in monks.

Science talks about dreams, deep dreams and awake consciousness. There was apparently a fourth stage that combines sleep and alertness at the same time in the monks.

In 1971, Daniel Goleman, the creator of the concept of multiple intelligence, wrote an article entitled “Unstressing”. In this he postulates the existence of a fifth state of consciousness. One in which there is not only simultaneous sleep and alertness, but also action. 

Swami Rama

The matter of superior abilities of Tibetan monks and other transcendent meditators is one of the things that always borders on what separates facts from fiction. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find verified information along with myths and legends. However, it is not always easy to distinguish one from the other.

An example of this is the case with Swami Rama. He is the author of Living with the Himalayan Masters: Spiritual Experiences of Swami Rama. This study claims that Tibetan yogis and monks can remain silent for several hours and soar.

However, there is no evidence that this is true. But there are some studies that the Menninger Foundation has conducted on him.

The doctors, Elmer and Alyce Green, studied his “powers.” Their results indicated that Rama could produce the same brain waves from sleep in its waking state. Moreover, he had voluntarily stopped pumping his heart for 17 seconds without making it stop beating.

Although this medium published the phenomenon at this time, it did not follow up on it. In any case, the results were published in Beyond Biofeedback  by Elmer and Alyce Green.

Maybe it’s nothing more than a scam, a rather sophisticated and inventive one. Or maybe the mind is absolutely wonderful and people have only just begun to explore it.