Science & Philosophy In Indian Buddhist Classics
To make classical Buddhist scientific and philosophical thought on the nature of reality cessible to modern readers, the XIV llama-who considers the dialogue religion and science a crucial compost of humanity's future-conceptuality five-part book on the subject. The ysical World is the first volume, edited Thupten Janna and brought out by some publications. The volume solidities understanding of the mystical world as found in the Tibetan admits tradition under such headings knowable objects, subtle particles, me, the cosmos and its inhabitants, and cal development. It is a pioneering work, brilliantly adapted for promoting edialogue between religion and science. According to the Dalai Lama, assical Buddhist treatises refer to three mains: a scientific one, which would ver the empirical description ofthe outer world of matter and the inner world of the mind; a philosophical one, which would cover the efforts to ascertain the nature of ultimate reality; and a religious one, which would refer to the practices of the Buddhist tradition. The present volume, covers the scientific dimension; so, too, the second. The third and fourth volumes will focus on the philosophical dimension while the fifth will cover the religious dimension. The material of the first two volumes is taken from the Tangier, which consists of Buddhist treatises translated into Tibetan. The interaction between science and religion in the characterised by a measure of hostility, because there, religion is based on revealed dogmatic truth and science on reason and experimentation. This, however, need not necessarily apply in the case of science and Buddhism, as in this case, one witnesses a broad methodological convergence. The reason is that while the ultimate goal of religious life in Christianity can only be achieved after death, the fruit of religious life in Buddhism can be experienced inthis very life. Thus the conclusions of Buddhism become as falsifiable and verifiable as those of science. This endows the encounter between science and Buddhism with unforeseen possibilities of maturity. The Enlightenment view of reason, treated the rational as representing the antithesis of the irrational so that this binary grid of the rational and the irrational has become the dominant trope of modernity. Life, however, may be said to consist not just of the rational and the irrational, but also of the non-rational. This category would cover such aspects of life as relate to our emotional attachment to our near and dear ones, to the appreciation of the world of art, musicand literature and humanity's urge for transcendence. There is also a subtler issue involved Science perse is not interested in humawell-being but rather in the search for truth. Any benefit accrued is a foreseeable effect of science but not its intendeone, whereas the intended goal of Buddhism is to save humanity from sufferinHence science, in view of its neutralityterms of value, may be harnessed for either good or evil. By contrast, the sole goal of Buddhism is the alleviation of human suffering which means that eveits "truths" are meant to ensure humarwell-being and therefore are a means toan end and not an end in themselves. In science, inthe strict sense, truthalone is the end. Science can explain thhow of things but not their why, whereatheraison d'etre of Buddhism is the whof suffering.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Arvind Sharma kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Arvind Sharma Speaking Tree,Times of India
Science & Philosophy In Indian Buddhist Classics
To make classical Buddhist scientific and philosophical thought on the nature of reality cessible to modern readers, the XIV llama-who considers the dialogue religion and science a crucial compost of humanity's future-conceptuality five-part book on the subject. The ysical World is the first volume, edited Thupten Janna and brought out by some publications. The volume solidities understanding of the mystical world as found in the Tibetan admits tradition under such headings knowable objects, subtle particles, me, the cosmos and its inhabitants, and cal development. It is a pioneering work, brilliantly adapted for promoting edialogue between religion and science. According to the Dalai Lama, assical Buddhist treatises refer to three mains: a scientific one, which would ver the empirical description ofthe outer world of matter and the inner world of the mind; a philosophical one, which would cover the efforts to ascertain the nature of ultimate reality; and a religious one, which would refer to the practices of the Buddhist tradition. The present volume, covers the scientific dimension; so, too, the second. The third and fourth volumes will focus on the philosophical dimension while the fifth will cover the religious dimension. The material of the first two volumes is taken from the Tangier, which consists of Buddhist treatises translated into Tibetan. The interaction between science and religion in the characterised by a measure of hostility, because there, religion is based on revealed dogmatic truth and science on reason and experimentation. This, however, need not necessarily apply in the case of science and Buddhism, as in this case, one witnesses a broad methodological convergence. The reason is that while the ultimate goal of religious life in Christianity can only be achieved after death, the fruit of religious life in Buddhism can be experienced inthis very life. Thus the conclusions of Buddhism become as falsifiable and verifiable as those of science. This endows the encounter between science and Buddhism with unforeseen possibilities of maturity. The Enlightenment view of reason, treated the rational as representing the antithesis of the irrational so that this binary grid of the rational and the irrational has become the dominant trope of modernity. Life, however, may be said to consist not just of the rational and the irrational, but also of the non-rational. This category would cover such aspects of life as relate to our emotional attachment to our near and dear ones, to the appreciation of the world of art, musicand literature and humanity's urge for transcendence. There is also a subtler issue involved Science perse is not interested in humawell-being but rather in the search for truth. Any benefit accrued is a foreseeable effect of science but not its intendeone, whereas the intended goal of Buddhism is to save humanity from sufferinHence science, in view of its neutralityterms of value, may be harnessed for either good or evil. By contrast, the sole goal of Buddhism is the alleviation of human suffering which means that eveits "truths" are meant to ensure humarwell-being and therefore are a means toan end and not an end in themselves. In science, inthe strict sense, truthalone is the end. Science can explain thhow of things but not their why, whereatheraison d'etre of Buddhism is the whof suffering.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Arvind Sharma kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Arvind Sharma Speaking Tree,Times of India