Science and Buddhism

By Melvin E. Klegerman
Washington, D.C.
The following article is based on a presentation made on August 2, 1996, at the 1996
Conference of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies at DePaul University in
Chicago. The presentation was part of a symposium that featured five SGI-USA
speakers under the theme, ”The Practice of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism in
Modern Society: The Soka Gakkai Approach to the Twenty-first Century.“ 

A CONCEPT that has caught the imaginations of many people in various disciplines
now is that of paradigms. Briefly defined, a paradigm is a world-view or a unifying,
overarching picture of reality governing an aspect of existence. In science, paradigms
are often considered to be universal laws, such as Newton’s laws of motion or the
Second Law of Thermodynamics. They are even referred to as theories, such as
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity or Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Through
Natural Selection, although they are generally accepted as the best descriptions of
phenomena within their purview at this time.

What determines whether a paradigm is accepted as a powerful, useful description
of reality? First, it must have explanatory power. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Through Natural Selection provides a plausible basis for the emergence of life’s
diversity from the laws of chemistry and physics. Second, it must have predictive
power. Newton’s laws of motion enable one to predict the locations of planets in the
distant future, to the advantage of astrophysicists and astrologers, alike. The history of
paradigms in science has been a progression toward greater explanatory and predictive
power, indicating a convergence with what can be considered to be absolute reality.
Science, by its own admission, however, can never achieve complete convergence with
absolute reality, since it utilizes inductive reasoning from individual cases to
generalities. The prevailing paradigm is tested by scientists using deductive reasoning
to predict the outcome of artificially created cases, or experiments, based on the
paradigm. Because the universe is infinite, all cases can never be examined and,
therefore, the paradigm cannot be proven with absolute certainty.

On the other hand, the systems of beliefs and practices central to a philosophy of
life, which can be considered religious paradigms, are not inferred from individual
cases, but instead are revealed and are, therefore, absolute. Viewed scientifically,
absolute paradigms only permit deductive reasoning. Since religious paradigms
generally govern life experiences, attitudes and conduct, testing them would lead one
to conclude that religions tend to be paradigms in crisis. The philosopher of science
Thomas Kuhn defined a paradigm in crisis as one that has suffered too many failed
tests or anomalies that cannot be resolved without making implausible adjustments to
the paradigm. This, then, is the problem of engaged religion in a scientific age: Why
does religion appear to be incompatible with practical reason?

BOTH theological and secular scholars, such as the mythologist Joseph Campbell, have
argued that mythic elements in religions constitute a set of metaphors that instruct
the spiritual and cultural development of human beings, but an absolute paradigm
must include phenomenal, as well as spiritual, reality. I will argue that two Buddhist
concepts exemplify how religious philosophy can serve as an absolute paradigm
Buddhism community philosophy religion science society values governing both the
 objective and subjective aspects of life.

The Buddhist concept of the oneness of life and its environment refers to the belief
that all life and the environment in which it exists are inseparable, or simply two
aspects of the same entity. Furthermore, the environment reflects the life-conditions
of the people that inhabit it and the three poisons of greed, anger and stupidity
inherent in people’s lives manifest the calamities of famine, warfare and pestilence.
The most immediate evidence for the truth of this concept is that humans increasingly
exert a direct influence on the environment. For instance, preoccupation with profit
has led to such effects as deforestation, the greenhouse effect and erosion of the
atmospheric ozone layer, all of which threaten to affect climate and agricultural
production disastrously.

Our age has witnessed a proliferation of wars, both international and civil, in which
intense hatreds have spawned nearly inconceivably brutal atrocities; Cambodia,
Rwanda and Bosnia immediately come to mind, not to mention the enduring lessons
of World War II. AIDS has signaled the reemergence of epidemic infectious diseases
after a brief generation-long hiatus in the West. Stupidities such as failure of
governments and populations to teach and observe safe sex practices, unleashing of
deadly viruses by shortsighted environmental disruptions, disregard of continuing
epidemics in the Third World, and viewing the need to refine antibiotic development
as unprofitable have all led to pestilence.

The whole world is discovering a deeper basis for the view that life and its
environment are one, what Buddhism has long known as dependent origination, the
elaborate interconnectedness of everything, so that every action somehow perturbs the
larger web of life that radiates throughout the entire universe. An example often used
to support chaos theory is that a butterfly fluttering its wings over West Africa can
initiate a cascade of events ultimately producing a hurricane in the Western
Hemisphere.

At the very frontiers of modern science is the field of quantum physics, which offers
the startling realization that even an objective observation made with instruments is
conditioned by the observer. For instance, light will appear to be made up of waves or
particles, depending on what you use to observe it. Likewise, Buddhism teaches that
life will appear to be the inner reaches of the human mind or a barren mountain,
depending upon how you look at it. The oneness of life and environment is also
appreciated in the biological and behavioral sciences, since it has been learned that
animals, including humans, structure the environment they perceive to enhance their
ability to adapt to it. We sense only a small portion of the sound and light spectrums,
apparently because that best suited our survival in the environment in which humans
arose—the Pleistocene Epoch of two million years ago.

ULTIMATELY, this oneness of life and environment concept depends upon a second
Buddhist concept, that of the inseparability of body and mind. This concept is now
being actively elucidated by the emerging science of psychoneuroimmunology, which
has provided Depak Chopra with much of the basis for his system of mind-body
medicine. A deeper, more profound meaning of this term, however, is the oneness of
the spiritual and material aspects of life or the fundamental equality of the objective
and subjective realms. According to Buddhism, therefore, the subjective aspects of life
are dimensions just like the four objective dimensions of space-time. The three realms
expounded by the Chinese Buddhist sage Chih-i, or Chih-che, indicate that these
number six: form, perception, volition, cognition, consciousness and aggregates of
living beings, for a total of ten dimensions. Interestingly, the most recent attempts to
unify all phenomena in one principle, such as Superstring Theory, require ten
dimensions to make the mathematics come out right.

Here, religious philosophy can act as a true paradigm, leading and explaining
scientific inquiry. One of the most mind-boggling aspects of quantum physics derives
from the fact that light cannot behave as both a particle and a wave at the same time. If
light is shined through two slits in an opaque plate, it will project a wave pattern on a
screen behind it; but, if the experiment is rigged to provide information about which
slit each light particle, or photon, traveled through, the wave pattern will disappear.
One explanation for this finding would be that the photons somehow become
separated in another dimension that keeps them from interfering with each other to
produce the characteristic wave pattern. According to the Buddhist concepts of the
inseparability of body and mind and the three realms, these photons entered the
dimension of cognition when the observer became aware of their exact paths,
separating them and preventing their interference. Needless to say, this possibility
gives rise to exciting experimental prospects.

THE concept of religion as universal paradigm means that each person becomes a
scientist experimenting with his or her own life, over which he or she has total
control. Practice of such a religion would link a positive inner human reformation with
the healing and flourishing of the environment. The phenomenon of transforming the
land through an inner reformation of life is explained in a thesis by Nichiren titled
“On Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism.” In
keeping with this spirit, the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is dedicated to the
promotion of peace, culture and education throughout the world, based on the
influence of Nichiren’s teachings, both individually and collectively.

SCIENCE and technology, certainly, are central to the achievement of all three goals.
The devastation of two Japanese cities in 1945 by nuclear bombs developed by the
scientific enterprise known as the Manhattan Project is an enduring stain on the
integrity of science and all scientists. The second and third presidents of the Soka
Gakkai, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda, tirelessly excoriated the maintenance of nuclear
arsenals by nations and repeatedly identified this as the major threat to our planet.
This threat remains even now in the post-Soviet age and has acquired an ominous cast
in light of national destabilizations and the steady increase of terrorist activities
worldwide.

Added to the nuclear legacy of misguided science are the dangers of chemical and
biological warfare. The former is being appreciated in the aftermath of the Gulf War
and the latter is particularly chilling when considering that students from all over the
world are learning the relatively cheap and accessible, but extremely powerful,
recombinant DNA technology in Western universities, while viral epidemic diseases of
unprecedented virulence are emerging in the Developing Nations. The potential
threats of these developments are compellingly described by Laurie Garrett in her
book, The Coming Plague. The familiar retreat of scientists into the guiltless and
guileless world of pure science that has permitted dark technological applications to
emerge should become a badge of shame in future years.

Science and the philosophy of modern rationalism that underlies it have had an
indescribably profound impact on the course of Western culture and now all cultures.
The deleterious impact of this development on the human psyche and cultural values
have been described by detractors ranging from Pascal and Rousseau to Nietzsche and
a host of contemporary commentators, including Anthony Burgess and Jeremy Rifkin.
Now, the rise of popularized participatory cybernetics known as the computer age and
the Internet is likely to make even more pervasive the two-dimensionality of the
television age that has contributed so much to the dehumanization of modern society.

The potential benefits of these technologies, however, are undeniable and can
greatly enhance the quality of life if efforts are made to emphasize the supremacy of
penetrating life-to-life dialogue among people of diverse backgrounds. The Soka
Gakkai has done much to promote such dialogue in its own activities and forums such
as this one.

SGI President Ikeda has stated unequivocally that education is the most important
endeavor of the present age. To this end, he has established the Soka school and
university system in Japan and the United States, which is based on the value-creating
educational philosophy of the Soka Gakkai’s first president, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.
Science instruction especially can benefit from this approach. Youth today increasingly
shun science and mathematics, believing them to be cold, sterile and dehumanizing. In
fact, science, which often requires mathematics to be understood and practiced, is a
philosophy that was created by human beings for the benefit of other human beings. It
is an indispensable tool for teaching people how to think and function capably as
modern world citizens. Not least, it is interesting and a wonderful means for
expressing human creativity when taught properly. I look forward to the realization of
science’s pedagogical role in a humanistic educational setting.

On a personal note, I can say that, as a scientist who practices this Buddhism and as
a member of the SGI, I have become impressed with the importance of fortune in
science, which is so important to the discovery process. Conducting research science is
a good way to monitor the ability of a religion to generate good fortune, from the
behavior of temperamental instrumentation to the progress of the research process
and, most important, contribution to the well-being of people. I can attest that actual
proof can proceed from documentary and theoretical foundations in religion, as it does in science, provided the underlying paradigm is sound and robust.


Melvin Klegerman received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Loyola University of
Chicago in 1984. At the time of this presentation, he was associate director of the
Institute for Tuberculosis Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he
continues to serve as adjunct assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy. He is
now involved in starting a contract research organization, the Mid-Atlantic
Biomedical Research Laboratories, in the Washington, D.C. area. His current
activities focus on the development of anti-cancer drugs that stimulate the immune
system.


 Science and Buddhism
Klegerman
Living Buddhism 03/01/1997 p.16

The Buddha and the Law of Everything

by

Richard  Moorman

The purpose of science is to seek the truth and to understand the workings of everything. Scientists want to know not only what goes on at subatomic level but also how the universe itself operates. They observe the phenomena around them and develop theories to explain them. Theories are nothing more than possible explanations of things until such time as they can be tested and proved by rigorous experiment.

The purpose of religion is to seek the truth and to understand the workings of everything. Religions have developed in response to mankind’s yearning to know the answers to big questions such as “Why is the universe there? – How does it work? – What is the meaning of life? – How do I fit in? – What am I?” Added to these philosophical questions are those expressing deeply felt concerns such as, “Why is there so much suffering in the world? – How can I be happy? – What happens when I die?  Theories and philosophies have been developed to answer these big questions. Often it is accepted that we can never fully understand everything and that faith is required in order to accept these theories and therefore be happy. Faith might, for example, be in the existence of the supernatural, or of a being or beings living in a realm that is inaccessible to ordinary humans and who have created things the way they are. By their very definition, the existence of such beings cannot be proved by experiment.

These two approaches have traditionally been quite separate and even totally incompatible. Scientific proof is fundamentally different from “blind” religious faith. Modern civilisation, especially in the West, has become increasingly based on Science, which has contributed enormous benefits to mankind, and religion has therefore been in decline.

            The burning desire to understand everything is still the driving force of Science. When Isaac Newton observed an apple falling to the ground, he asked himself why this should happen. He did not rest until he had discovered the force of gravity. His great discovery, together with his deep understanding of other phenomena, such as expressed in his Laws of Motion, are still the basis of the intricate calculations that enable astronomers to predict the orbits of planets and their satellites and military scientists to work out the ballistics of their weapons.

            The scientific world was revolutionised when Albert Einstein showed how matter and energy are related and how the effect of gravity is dependent on time, now seen as a fourth dimension. He explained that gravity can be considered as “curved space” a concept that has enabled astronomers to understand such things as how the earth actually manages to stay in orbit around the sun. Everyone knows of his famous equation e = mc², where e is energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light. Knowledge of this relationship is not the same as really understanding it and only physicists can form a concept of it in their minds.

            Other scientists studying matter at subatomic level have developed theories that seem to explain what is happening there. At this level matter does not really seem to exist at all. Everything seems to boil down to minute particles constantly in motion and related to each other in ways that depend on energy and time and on the probability of certain events occurring. These laws, described in quantum physics, do not seem to tally with Einstein’s theories. And so there is a search for a set of scientific principles that really do explain everything -  a “Law of Everything”. The best modern contender is the “string theory” which postulates that everything in the entire universe is made up of minute “strings” of energy, constantly in motion and relating to each other in different ways to produce different kinds of matter and everything else.

            About 2500 years ago, a man named Siddhartha Gautama sat under a tree in Northern India and started meditating. He had decided not to rise until he had answered those same big questions that have always  bothered mankind. He wanted to understand everything as it really was and not as it appeared to be. After a prolonged period he came to a perfect understanding of what reality was. This great event is known as his “enlightenment” and he was thereafter known to all as the “Buddha”, meaning “the enlightened one”.

The Buddha developed theories to explain his understanding. He typically looked at reality from various viewpoints. In examining the nature of existence he said that there is in fact no inherent existence in anything at all. Nothing in the entire universe has existence in its own right. Everything depends upon something else for its own existence which can therefore only ever be “relative” existence. Another of his findings was that even this relative existence is not permanent in any way. It is constantly changing and the prime reason for change is the law  of cause and effect (Karma). The basic “content” of everything is therefore “nothingness” (Shunyata) and only manifests as “something” when a temporary set of conditions, or “energies”, are present. So everything in the universe is the result of a cosmic interplay between the unseen (energy) and the seen (matter). None of these results is constant because the causes themselves are always changing.

With regard to human happiness the Buddha taught that we must learn not to cling onto “things” such as possessions or relationships as sources of happiness because there is no permanent substance or reality to these things. He taught us to regard ourselves as an integral part of everything and everyone in the entire universe. Because we are essentially “one” with everything and everyone we can only be truly happy when we realise that we cannot be so on our own. To be truly happy we have to strive to make everyone happy and we must work on our own minds so that we can see things clearly. The great Buddhist qualities of loving-kindness and compassion are a  natural result of this kind of thinking.

“Oneness” with everything is easy to say but difficult to grasp. It is useful to resort to analogies to help us understand. Analogies can form part of our contemplation of life, part of our meditation. The following is an example of how we may contemplate our oneness with everything.

Imagine that you are a wave, a single wave on the surface of the vast ocean. The ocean represents the universe. You have a separate identity in that you have movement and form and an apparent life of your own. You may be a small ripple or you may be a giant tidal wave with terrible power at your disposal. There are many other waves each having its own characteristics - these represent all the other living beings in the universe. You are not the ocean and yet you only exist because of it. You are made of it and you cannot really distinguish the difference between the water making you up and the water forming the vast ocean itself. You cannot exist without the ocean and the ocean cannot exist without you because it is impossible to distinguish where you end and the ocean begins.

            The Buddha instructed his disciples not to accept anything as true simply because they heard it from a  respected person or simply because it was written in holy scripture. He said that they should test every theory in the laboratory of life and in the light of reason and logic. A teaching should only be accepted it can be proved in this way. This thinking should be applied to the whole of the Buddha’s teaching, collectively referred to as the “Buddha Dharma”. He went on to say that we should base our very lives on the Dharma and not on him as a person.

            The Buddha left behind a huge volume of teachings, recorded in the Buddhist Sutras, and Buddhists of various schools have developed many approaches to “living the Buddha Dharma”. Some of these approaches became so complex over time that only a monastic existence provided any hope of success in following them. Other schools over-simplified the teachings and even brought in an element of “blind faith” to make things simpler for ordinary people.

            In thirteenth century Japan, a reforming monk named Nichiren really wanted to find the Buddhist equivalent of what our present day Scientist’s are seeking – the “Law of Everything”. He wanted to find a way in which ordinary people could follow the Dharma in the midst of their everyday life and achieve the absolute kind of happiness that the Buddha himself had achieved.   After many years of study and contemplation, Nichiren concluded that the culmination of the Buddha’s teachings was to be found in the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra teaches that everyone has the potential to be a Buddha, irrespective of education, social class or gender. All one has to do is to practice the sutra or teachings. The Sutra does not however go on to tell us how this should be done. Nichiren’s enormous contribution to Buddhism was to give the world a method of following the Buddha’s instructions to the letter. He defined his “Law of Everything” as “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo”.

            “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo” can be translated as “I take refuge in the wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra”. Nichiren taught his followers to recite or chant this phrase over and over again, like a mantra, as a way of concentrating the mind whilst contemplating a special scroll, or “mandala”, upon which is a calligraphic representation of enlightened human life . This practice can be thought of as a “holistic” form of meditation in which attention is paid to sound, sight, breath and posture. Nichiren taught that this practice must be backed up by study of Buddhist philosophy and by right living or self-transformation. A new school of Buddhism evolved from his teachings and is becoming known in the West largely through the efforts of the lay Buddhist society known as the “Soka Gakkai International”, which is striving for world peace based on the propagation of Nichiren’s teachings.

            Nichiren Buddhism, along with other schools like Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, is part of an amazing growth in the number of people practising Buddhism today. One reason for this upsurge in interest is that the mind-training techniques of Buddhism provide a perfect antidote to the stresses of modern living. Everyone wants peace of mind. Other techniques and therapies can provide this of course, but people are still seeking answers to the big questions and Buddhism’s basic “scientific” approach strikes a chord with people who are no longer prepared to take a “leap of faith” in order to make sense of life.  There is no conflict between Buddhism and Science. Both are seeking the truth. Indeed many Buddhists consider Scientific truth as a part of the Dharma.

            At an audience with the Dalai Lama, the respected leader of Tibetan Buddhism, a western student asked him how he would react if science could prove without doubt that a teaching based on Buddhist scripture was untrue. The Dalai Lama thought quietly for a moment and then replied that if this were to be proved then Buddhism would simply have to accept it.

           

            The following words of Einstein, the father of modern physics, will provide a fitting final thought:

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal god, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."