The following is a reprint of an article written on the following day in my blog. However, I have made comments at the end in this article.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Quotes from the Dalai Lama regarding Science and Spirituality
The following quotes are from: a Book called: "The Universe in a Single Atom" by the Dalai Lama:
begin quote (page unnamed at very beginning of book)
"in each atom of the realms of the universe,
There exist vast oceans of world systems."
From: The Great Flower Ornament
an ancient Buddhist Scripture.
end quote.
Begin quote on page 3 of prologue near top of page:
"---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."
"Because I am an internationalist at heart, one of the qualities that has moved me most about scientists is their amazing willingness to share knowledge with each other without regard to national boundaries.
Even during the Cold War, when the political world was polarized to a dangerous degree, I found scientists from the Eastern and Western blocs willing to communicate in ways the politicians could not even imagine. I felt an implicit recognition in this spirit of the oneness of humanity and a liberating absence of proprietorship in matters of knowledge.
The motivation for my interest in science is more than merely personal. Even before I came into exile, it was clear to me and others in the country that one of the underlying causes for Tibet's political tragedy was its failure to open itself to modernization. As soon as we arrived in India, we set up Tibetan schools for refugee children with a modern curriculum, which included scientific education for the first time. By then I had come to recognize that the essence of modernization lay in the introduction of modern education, and at the heart of modern education there must be a command of science and technology. " end quote.
next quote page 4:
"---The great benefit of science is that it can contribute tremendously to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level, but it is only through the cultivation of the qualities of the human heart and the transformation of our attitudes that we can begin to address and overcome our mental suffering. In other words, the enhancement of fundamental human values is indispensable to our basic quest for happiness. Therefore from the perspective of human well-being, science and spirituality are not unrelated. We need both, since the alleviation of suffering must take place at both the physical and psychological levels." end quote.
next quote top of page 5:
"The dialogue between science and spirituality has a long history--especially with respect to Christianity. In the case of my own tradition, Tibetan Buddhism, for various historical, social and political reasons, the full encounter with scientific worldview is still a novel process. The implications of what science has to offer are still not wholly clear. Regardless of different personal views about science, no credible understanding of the natural world or our human existence--what I am going to call in this book a worldview--can ignore the basic insights of theories as key as evolution, relativity, and quantum mechanics. It may be that science will learn from an engagement with spirituality, especially in its interface with wider human issues, from ethics to society, but certainly some specific aspects of Buddhist thought---such as its old cosmological theories and its rudimentary physics--- will have to be modified in the light of new scientific insights. I hope this book will be a contribution to the critical project of enlivening the dialogue between science and spirituality." end quote on page 5.
begin quote (page unnamed at very beginning of book)
"in each atom of the realms of the universe,
There exist vast oceans of world systems."
From: The Great Flower Ornament
an ancient Buddhist Scripture.
end quote.
Begin quote on page 3 of prologue near top of page:
"---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."
"Because I am an internationalist at heart, one of the qualities that has moved me most about scientists is their amazing willingness to share knowledge with each other without regard to national boundaries.
Even during the Cold War, when the political world was polarized to a dangerous degree, I found scientists from the Eastern and Western blocs willing to communicate in ways the politicians could not even imagine. I felt an implicit recognition in this spirit of the oneness of humanity and a liberating absence of proprietorship in matters of knowledge.
The motivation for my interest in science is more than merely personal. Even before I came into exile, it was clear to me and others in the country that one of the underlying causes for Tibet's political tragedy was its failure to open itself to modernization. As soon as we arrived in India, we set up Tibetan schools for refugee children with a modern curriculum, which included scientific education for the first time. By then I had come to recognize that the essence of modernization lay in the introduction of modern education, and at the heart of modern education there must be a command of science and technology. " end quote.
next quote page 4:
"---The great benefit of science is that it can contribute tremendously to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level, but it is only through the cultivation of the qualities of the human heart and the transformation of our attitudes that we can begin to address and overcome our mental suffering. In other words, the enhancement of fundamental human values is indispensable to our basic quest for happiness. Therefore from the perspective of human well-being, science and spirituality are not unrelated. We need both, since the alleviation of suffering must take place at both the physical and psychological levels." end quote.
next quote top of page 5:
"The dialogue between science and spirituality has a long history--especially with respect to Christianity. In the case of my own tradition, Tibetan Buddhism, for various historical, social and political reasons, the full encounter with scientific worldview is still a novel process. The implications of what science has to offer are still not wholly clear. Regardless of different personal views about science, no credible understanding of the natural world or our human existence--what I am going to call in this book a worldview--can ignore the basic insights of theories as key as evolution, relativity, and quantum mechanics. It may be that science will learn from an engagement with spirituality, especially in its interface with wider human issues, from ethics to society, but certainly some specific aspects of Buddhist thought---such as its old cosmological theories and its rudimentary physics--- will have to be modified in the light of new scientific insights. I hope this book will be a contribution to the critical project of enlivening the dialogue between science and spirituality." end quote on page 5.
I completely agree that it is yet to be known what value science is within the quest for spirituality within all beings. The way I see it finding your way to understanding your own spirit and mind while also understanding the Scientific method is one of the many paths to enlightenment.
I was raised to believe in Jesus but also in reincarnation like early Christians did before organized State religion changed on pain of death the beliefs of thousands of Christians who either gave up reincarnation publicly or privately in order to stay alive. If they didn't they died.
So, at this point I find that the scientific method and compassion seem to be the most important elements to true spirituality that I have presently found in life. Common sense is also a part of spirituality. Humanism also can be a part of spirituality whether one believes in God or not. Though I do believe in God there are many who do not and it is easy for me to understand why they do not.
However, my personal experience was that "There are no atheists in foxholes". My 16 year old daughter said to me recently, "What does that really mean?" and I couldn't really relate to the fact that it wasn't obvious what it meant. So, this must be another generational difference.
Basically, the main reason that I believe in God is that there is no doubt in my mind that I would presently be dead if I didn't believe in God starting at age 14 or 15. However, I also realize that one can be spiritual without believing in God. I have experienced this with many Tibetan Lamas. However, because of Tibetan Buddhist Concepts like Vajrasattva and Nyema (The God and Goddess of the Physical Universe)(To actually not offend worldwide Buddhist teachers I likely need to say this differently. The word God and Goddess has a completely different meaning in Buddhism and is a temporary state caused by the inherent problems of dualism. So, it might be more useful to say that in the hierarchy of Buddhas there are two Buddhas who have vowed to stay in the physical universe and not go out into the formless realms until all beings in the physical universe have become enlightened and have permanently ended their suffering. Suffering to Buddhists is not about physical things as much as it is an incorrect state of mind. So to end suffering one must perceive things correctly). So in regard Vajrasattva and Nyema this made me think that even for Tibetan Buddhists to say that there is no God is mostly semantics. However, if an atheist was compassionate and spiritual in helping his fellow man and all beings including himself or herself shouldn't he or she become enlightened and be allowed into heaven too if he or she wanted to go if he or she realized at some point that there really are heavens? I believe the answer to that question has to be "Yes!". So, are science and spirituality compatible in the end? Yes! But if you ask me are religion and science compatible? I would have to say that it depends upon the religion and how one interprets that religion. So, science and spirituality are definitely compatible but science and religion may or may not be compatible depending upon the person and the religion. So, given this in the scientific world we presently live in it likely is more useful to be spiritual than it is to be religious. This is just pure logic. However, we all have to live with the consequences of whatever decisions we make regarding all this don't we?
Because if your religion and your science are in conflict how will you reconcile this? Everyone chooses a different path. My path was to have to reconcile science and evolution and my parents believing a creationist point of view. In fact, I wound up dropping out of college when I was 18 because I could not reconcile Social Science and Evolution with what I had been taught in my parents religion. It took me until I was about 20 or 21 to realize that evolution and creationism were two different languages of thought and that it didn't really matter what language was right or correct. It was more important since I grew up in a Christian country that I could speak both languages than if I believed in what either language believed in. Once I had done that I was free. I had been liberated. The other thing I discovered in the 1970s at Palomar College which was one of the colleges I was attending then was to find Psychology Today Magazines in their library. I had never before been exposed to psychology in any popular or learned form. Just from reading hundreds of articles over the next few years from Psychology Today in the 1970s I found that I was free from a lot of the confusion in my life. I saw how damaged literally everyone I knew growing up had become from what had happened in the Great Depression and World War II. And I knew I could heal myself because I hadn't been exposed to the 20 years of torture that the Great Depression and World War II had brought to the world. Once I discovered this I was on my way to freedom both spiritually and psychologically.
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