Dalai Lama wins Templeton Prize

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was announced as the recipient of the 2012 Templeton Prize this morning.

In their citation, the John Templeton Foundation notes (among other things) that “[His Holiness] encourages serious scientific investigative reviews of the power of compassion and its broad potential to address the world’s fundamental problems — a theme at the core of his teachings and a cornerstone of his immense popularity.

Within that search, the ‘big questions’ he raises – such as ‘Can compassion be trained or taught?’ – reflect the deep interest of the founder of the Templeton Prize, the late Sir John Templeton, in seeking to bring scientific methods to the study of spiritual claims and thus foster the spiritual progress that the Prize has recognized for the past 40 years.”

Established in 1972 and named for the noted philanthropist, the Templeton Prize honors an individual who has “made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.” The Prize itself is worth about $1.7 million, making it “the world’s largest annual monetary award given to an individual and honors a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.”

His Holiness will receive the Templeton Prize at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 14th, following a news conference with the recipient. Both the award ceremony and the news conference will be webcast live at www.templetonprize.org.