Heraclitus, Confucius, Newton and Einstein recommended to Buddhism
Myoma
MyintKywe
More
consistent with the scientific method than traditional,
faith-based religion, the Kalama Sutta insists on a proper
assessment of evidence, rather than a reliance on faith, hearsay or
speculation:
"Yes,
Kalamas, it is proper that you have doubt, that you have perplexity, for a
doubt has arisen in a matter which is doubtful. Now, look you Kalamas, do not
be led by reports, or tradition, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of
religious texts, not by mere logic or inference, nor by considering
appearances, nor by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming
possibilities, nor by the idea: 'this is our teacher'. But, O Kalamas, when you
know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome (akusala), and
wrong, and bad, then give them up...And when you know for yourselves that
certain things are wholesome (kusala) and good, then accept them and
follow them."
Buddhist
meditation master Sayagyi S.N. Goenka describes Buddha-dharma
as a 'pure science of mind and matter'. He claims Buddhism uses precise,
analytical philosophical and psychological terminology and reasoning. Just a look into oneself", Sayagyi U Ba Khin of
Burma wrote, "and there it is-anicca."
(Sayagyi U Ba Khin was a student of Saya Thetgyi, and was the
first Accountant General of Burma. Sayagyi U Ba Khin was a notable teacher of
Vipassana meditation. One of his most prominent students was Sayagyi S.N. Goenka. Sayagyi U Ba
Khin was a famous student of Webu Sayadaw. U Ba Khin had a close relationship
with Ven.
Webu Sayadaw.)
What
is generally accepted in Buddhism is that effects arise from causation. From
his very first discourse onwards, the Buddha explains the reality of
things in terms of cause
and effect.
The existence of misery and suffering in any given individual is due to the
presence of causes.
Anicca is a word-indicator that points to a fact of reality beyond
any concept: the ceaseless transformation of all material in the universe.
Nothing is solid, permanent, and immutable. Every "thing" is really
an "event."
The Buddha (BC 623-BC 543) said, sabbe sankhara anicca-the
entire universe is fluid. For the practitioner of Vipassana, anicca is a direct
experience of the nature of one's own mind and body, a plunge into universal
reality directly within oneself. "
Anicca means that everything changes and nothing remains the same
in any consecutive moment. And although things change every moment, they still
cannot be accurately described as the same or as different from what they were
a moment ago.
Renowned
Greek philosopher Heraclitus (BC
535- BC 475) said “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for
it's not the same river and he's not the same man”. “Not even the same man
can step in the same river twice”.
Heraclitus
recommended to Buddha's doctrine of impermanence (Anicca).
Impermanence
means that everything changes and nothing remains the same in any consecutive
moment. And although things change every moment, they still cannot be
accurately described as the same or as different from what they were a moment
ago.
When
we bathe in the river today that we bathed in yesterday, is it the same river?
Heraclitus said that we couldn’t step into the same river twice. He was right.
The water in the river today is completely different from the water we bathed
in yesterday. Yet it is the same river. When Confucius was standing on
the bank of a river watching it flow by he said, “Oh, it flows like that day
and night, never ending.”
The
great master Confucius (BC 551- BC 479) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and greatest philosopher. Confucius's
principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed
strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders
by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as
a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do
not do to others what you do not want done to yourself", an early
version of the Golden Rule. Confucius wants to say sympathy each
other mutually.
This
is a thorough textual study of the Buddha’s teachings on pure love and sympathy
recommended for Vipassana meditators since BC 588.
Sympathetic
compassion (Karuṇa)
is the aspiration to find a way to be truly helpful to oneself and others.
In Theravada Buddhism, karuṇa is one of the four
"divine abodes" (brahmavihara), along with loving kindness (metta).
Confucius
recommended to Buddha's doctrine of sympathetic compassion (karuṇa).
When we bathe in the river today
that we bathed in yesterday, is it the same river? Heraclitus said that
we couldn’t step into the same river twice. He was right. The water in the
river today is completely different from the water we bathed in yesterday. Yet
it is the same river. When Confucius was standing on the bank of a river
watching it flow by he said, “Oh, it flows like that day and night, never
ending.”
The essence of Dharma (the insider)
comes from the fact that Buddha always taught to look inside the mind
for the solution to all external problems.
Just as the light of a candle has the power to dispel darkness in a room, so also the
light developed in one man can help dispel darkness in several others. As
in the days of the Buddha (BC 623-BC 543), one should work hard to maintain the
awareness of anicca, and if one can do so he will surely get himself rid
of many troubles.
Impermanence is one of the essential
doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism.
Everything is impermanent.
Hatred is also impermanent.
Position is also impermanent.
Happiness is impermanent.
Material happiness is also
impermanent.
Wealth is also impermanent.
Poorness is also impermanent.
In Buddhism, the three marks of
existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa) shared by all sentient
beings, namely impermanence (anicca), suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha),
and non-self (anatta).
In
science, a theory should be tested in several ways before it can be accepted by
the scientific community. The Buddha also recommended, in the Kalama Sutra1,
that any teaching and insight given by any practitioner should be tested by our
own experience before it can be accepted as the truth. Real insight, or right
view, has the capacity to liberate, and to bring peace and happiness. The
findings of science are also insight; they can be applied in technology, but
can be applied also to our daily behavior to improve the quality of our life
and happiness. Buddhists and scientists can share with each other their ways of
studying and practice and can profit from each other’s insights and experience.
The
practice of mindfulness and concentration always brings insight. It can help
both Buddhists and scientists. Insights transmitted by realized practitioners
like the Buddha and bodhisattvas can be a source of inspiration and support for
both Buddhist practitioners and scientists, and scientific tests can help
Buddhist practitioners understand better and have more confidence in the
insight they receive from their ancestral teachers. It is our belief that in
this 21st Century, Buddhism and science can go hand in hand to promote more
insight for us all and bring more liberation, reducing discrimination,
separation, fear, anger, and despair in the world."
(1
Aṅguttara Nikaya 3.65)
Buddhism shares the understanding of
relativity since 588. All
things are emptiness (sunyata),
without inherent existence. The Heart Sutra explains that: "Form is
emptiness, Emptiness is form", which fits closely Nottale's theory
of quantum physics, which proves that matter and space are not different. This
is Buddha's "principle of relativity"(the emptiness of
self-being), which is to say that everything is relative (and nothing absolute).
Sir
Isaac Newton’s
Third Law of Motion states mentioned for
every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. As a
starting point, the Law of Karma (Kamma) of Buddhism is merely an
extension of Newton’s Law from the physical to the spiritual plane. Thus, it
may be reasonably argued that the forces of cause and effect as applied to
inert objects likewise apply to thoughts, words, and deeds. If happiness
is given, happiness will be returned; if sorrow is given, sorrow will be
returned.
Literally,
Karma means "action", "to do".
There
are Good Karma (Kushala)
and Bad Karma (Akushala). Buddhism is based on verifiable
cause-and-effect relationships. Karma is the great
law of "cause and effect", of "action and reaction", which controls
the destiny of all living entities. This great law functions on the principle,
that any action performed produces an equal and opposite reaction, which
directly influences our very existence. Buddhists believe that the totality of
one’s actions and the results of those actions determine one’s fate in coming
rebirth. In Buddhism, this process is called karma (as known as kamma).
Every
action must have a reaction, i.e. an effect. The truth applies both to physical
world (expressed by the great physicist Newton,
1642 –1726) and to the moral world. Law of Karma in Buddhism is an important application of the Principle of Cause and Effect in morality. The denial of the Law will destroy all moral responsibility.
1642 –1726) and to the moral world. Law of Karma in Buddhism is an important application of the Principle of Cause and Effect in morality. The denial of the Law will destroy all moral responsibility.
Every
cause has its effect. However, there must be conditions that are ripe for the
effect. Karma, be it good or bad, can be affected by the conditions under which
the actions are performed.
"As
you sow, so shall you reap” This is also known as the "Law of Cause and
Effect".
Karma,
for these reasons, naturally implies rebirth since thoughts and deeds in past
lives will affect one's current situation. As gravity governs the motions of
heavenly bodies and objects on the surface of the earth, karma governs the motions
and happenings of life, both inanimate and animate, unconscious and conscious,
in the cosmic realm.
Thus,
what certain philosophical viewpoints may term "destiny" or
"fate" is in actuality, according to the laws of karma, the simple
and neutral working out of karma. Many have likened karma to a moral banking
system, a credit and debit of good and bad. This samsaric karma
comes in two 'flavours' - good karma, which leads to high rebirth (as a deva, god,
or human), and bad karma which leads to low rebirth (as a hell-sufferer, as a
preta (peta/ the hungry ghost),
as an asura (the jealous god) or as an animal).
In
its most basic sense, the Law of Karma in the moral sphere teaches that similar
actions will lead to similar results. Let us take an example. If we plant a mango
seed, the plant that springs up will be a mango tree, and eventually
it will bear a mango fruit. Alternatively, if we plant an orange seed,
the tree that will spring up will be an orange tree and the fruit an orange.
As someone sows, so shall someone reap. According to one’s action, so
shall be the fruit. Similarly, in the Law of Karma, if we do a wholesome
action, eventually we will get a wholesome fruit, and if we do an unwholesome
action eventually we will get an unwholesome, painful result. This is what we
mean when we say that causes bring about effects that are similar to the
causes.
The Buddha says:
"I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma. Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought." (Anguttara Nikaya)
Every volitional action of individuals, save those of Buddhas and Arahants, is called Karma. The exception made in their case is because they are delivered from both good and evil; they have eradicated ignorance and craving, the roots of Karma.
This we will see very clearly when we come to specific examples of
wholesome and unwholesome actions. The Buddha says:
"I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma. Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought." (Anguttara Nikaya)
Every volitional action of individuals, save those of Buddhas and Arahants, is called Karma. The exception made in their case is because they are delivered from both good and evil; they have eradicated ignorance and craving, the roots of Karma.
This
does not mean that the Buddha and Arahantas are passive. They are tirelessly
active in working for the real well being and happiness of all. Their deeds
ordinarily accepted as good or moral, lack creative power as regards
themselves. Understanding things as they truly are, they have finally shattered
their cosmic fetters – the chain of cause and effect.
Karma
does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both past and present
deeds. Hence in one sense, we are the result of what we were; we will be the
result of what we are. In another sense, it should be added, we are not totally
the result of what we were; we will not absolutely be the result of what we
are. The present is no doubt the offspring of the past and is the present of
the future, but the present is not always a true index of either the past or
the future; so complex is the working of Karma.
It
is this doctrine of Karma that the mother teaches her child when she says
"Be good and you will be happy and we will love you; but if you are bad,
you will be unhappy and we will not love you." In short, Karma is the law
of cause and effect in the ethical realm.
Kamma
(Karma) and Vipaka
Karma
is action, and Vipaka, fruit or result, is its reaction.
Einstein on Buddhism
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2 (which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation"). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "services to theoretical physics", in particular his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, a pivotal step in the evolution of quantum theory.
He
said that Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a
cosmic religion for the future:
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic
religion. It should transcend (go above or beyond) a personal God and
avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual,
it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all
things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers
this description.” …..”
If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it
would be Buddhism”.
-Albert Einstein (1879 –1955)
Teaching of Buddha is more many
years earlier than discoveries famous scientists. Teaching of Buddha is more supreme than
science and most supernatural powers abilities. Buddhism is certainly more
scientific than any other religion.
The Buddhism is more scientific
verifiable than other religions.
BUT, all religion is good. All
religion has good teaching accordingly.
Buddhists
reject violence. Buddhism is clearly pacifist in its teaching.
We don't believe in God because we
believe in humanity. We believe that each human being is precious and
important, that all have the potential to develop into a Buddha - a perfected
human being. We believe that humans can outgrow ignorance and irrationality
and see things as they really are. We believe that hatred, anger, spite and
jealousy can be replaced by love, patience, generosity and kindness. We
believe that all this is within the grasp of each person if they make the
effort, guided and supported by fellow Buddhists and inspired by the example
of the Buddha
As
Lord Buddha said;
“No
one can save us but ourselves,
No
one can and no one may.
We
ourselves must walk the path,
But
Buddha clearly shows the way. "
(Dhp
V 165)
|
http://www.vridhamma.org/Teachers-1
http://www.pariyatti.org/FreeResources/Treasures/VenWebuSayadaw/tabid/81/Default.aspx
http://www.scribd.com/doc/88330608/Relativity-and-Emptiness-by-Laurent-Nottale-Oxford-4-3-10#scribd
http://www.buddhanet.net/budintel/buddhism/cosmic.htm
https://vimeo.com/51766922
http://www.simonbkenny.com/do-we-really-have-free-will/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmT4YdFjgvQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__d0WyN0HE
