Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Buddhism and science

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For me Buddhism is religion, faith, salvation from birth and death, devotion, saying of Amida Buddha's Holy Name, bowing, prostration, circumambulation, making offerings in the name of all beings, etc. I am very, very different from those who say that Buddhism is some kind of science or just a philosophy.  

I really "hate" it when people compare the most beautiful religion in the world with the science or philosophy of unenlightened human beings. Buddhas are the smartest guys in the universe and you compare them with scientists who contradict each other every year?

Nobody should ever use the word science when referring to the Holy Dharma! If one's appreciation for science is higher than the Dharma then that person is not a true spiritual friend. The Dharma is the medicine offered by the Buddhas and no philosophy or so-called science is superior to it.

There is no need to accommodate Dharma with science, but on the contrary, scientists should humbly bow down to the Dharma and admit their limitations. Buddhist teachers who think they need to justify Dharmic truths through science should also repent for their lack of appreciation for the Buddha Dharma.

A Buddha knows what happens in every cell of any sentient being in the ten directions of the universe in the same time! He sees everything, hears everything, knows everything and some still compare His Teaching with the science of unenlightened people? I can't understand such fake Buddhists!

A person asked me: do you think that Buddhism should take into account scientific discoveries, and even change to accommodate science?

I answered: Hell no! Many people nowadays bow to science like to an all-powerful and supreme god. But in samsara, and especially now in this dark (mappo) age, nothing is supreme and all-knowing, including what nowadays people call, "science". Whenever somebody wants to argue about something, he says, "it was proven by science".... But what some scientists agree upon, others may disagree, so I don't see the point in praising a transitory "truth". 

I do not deny the benefits brought by science in various fields, but I am against using science as a standard for religious truths. No matter the immediate, material benefits it brings, we must never forget that science is the product of unenlightened minds, and so it doesn't have the supreme authority of a Buddha who is perfectly Enlightened, nor it has any authority over the Path that leads to Enlightenment and freedom from the repeated births and deaths.

So, let's use science in worldly matters and Buddha Dharma in religious matters. We must never attempt to modify the Buddha Dharma to accommodate it with various scientific theories.

I especially like these words of Chamtrul Rinpoche:

"If you took all of the knowledge that this world has ever produced, and compared it to the knowledge of an omniscient mind of a Buddha, it would be like comparing a single drop of water to the entire ocean."

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