15 February 2009

The Dalai Lama reconciles science and spirituality


The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality is the most recent book by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. This isn't a treatise on Buddhism per se, as some of his former publications have been. Instead here he tackles the broader question of how people of religion should view scientific data, and how scientists might broaden their views regarding spirituality and the unmeasureable.

The Dalai Lama is not a prophet, and his words are not scripture or received wisdom. He is, however, a remarkably well-educated and deep-thinking man who has had the opportunity during a remarkable career, of meeting and speaking at length with the leaders of the world's religions and with the world's most eminent scientists. In this book he offers his thoughts on the interface of these two disciplines. Herewith some excerpts with page notations:
"In Buddhism the highest spiritual ideal is to cultivate compassion for all sentient beings and to work for their welfare to the greatest possible extent." (10)

"I have noticed that many people hold an assumption that the scientific view of the world should be the basis for all knowledge and all that is knowable. This is scientific materialism… It assumes that the data being analyzed within an experiment are independent of the preconceptions, perceptions, and experience of the scientist analyzing them.

Underlying this view is the assumption that, in the final analysis, matter, as it can be described by physics and as it is governed by the laws of physics, is all there is… My concern here is not so much to argue against this reductionist position... but to draw attention to a vitally important point: that these ideas do not constitute scientific knowledge; rather they represent a philosophical, in fact a metaphysical, position. The view that all aspects of reality can be reduced to matter and its various particles is, to my mind, as much a metaphysical position as the view that an organizing intelligence created and controls reality." (12)

"Although Buddhism has come to evolve as a religion with a characteristic body of scriptures and rituals, strictly speaking, in Buddhism scriptural authority cannot outweigh an understanding based on reason and experience. In fact the Buddha himself, in a famous statement, undermines the scriptural authority of his own words when he exhorts his followers not to accept the validity of his teachings simply on the basis of reverence to him. … Therefore, when it comes to validating the truth of a claim, Buddhism accords greater authority to experience, with reason second and scripture last." (24)

"The twins paradox, in which if one twin were to fly aboard a spaceship at near the speed of light to a star say twenty light-years away and then return to earth, he will find his twin to be twenty years older than he is, reminds me of the story of how Asanga was taken to Maitreya’s Heavenly Realm, where he received the five scriptures of Maitreya, a significant set of Mahayana texts, all in the time frame of a tea break. But when he returned to earth, fifty years had passed.” (59)
This book quite obviously not be of interest to everyone. I hope the excerpts above will guide you as to whether you would enjoy venturing further into the book (it's short - 200 pgs - and not a difficult read).

Here is the one passage that absolutely blew me away:
My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims. (3)
I doubt the leader of any other religion would have enough trust in his own faith to make such an assertion.

About 50 more reviews at Amazon, most of them 5-star.

5 comments:

  1. Everything that I have read by the Dalai Lama has a a big effect on my life. His words are so simple, yet so wise. I will put this book on my long list of books I need to read!

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  2. I, too, find much wisdom in the words of the Dalai Lama. The basic tenets of Buddhism speak to me much more strongly than those of Western religions.

    I saw a chart of acceptance of evolution. Buddhists led all other religions.

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  3. Every religious fanatic w/ this much mass appeal is worth examining...especially a guy who's got his diplomat tongue down so pat...he could get Colin Powell to say whatever he wanted...

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  4. This is an wonderful article. The science deals only with materialistic aspects, purely based on the experiments observed on materials. Where as the spirituality even though it is also based on individuals approach but it is applicable to whole population. Spirituality combines the people across the world to a common base, which ethically and morally binds them. Where as science makes one more and more materialistic and egoistic, no ethics no morality. This is one of root cause of the down fall of the humanism and increasing terrorism and anti social activities in the entire world.

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  5. Fascinating. I haven't ever read any of the Dalai Lama's works, but I might just check this book out. I have never felt that religion, even Christianity, was incompatible with religion. There is a phenomenal book by Fred Hereen called Show Me God that goes pretty deeply into the science/religion aspects and shows how a religious person can still accept science. Even more importantly, it shows how science can enrich religion.

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