10,000 earnest intellectuals vs the Buddha

neutral_onliner SG

A group of over 10,000 earnest intellectuals once requested the Buddha to explain the manner and incidence of life and the Universe. This was followed by a series of daily lectures and demonstrations lasting three months. The Buddha's explanations were given to the complete satisfaction of everyone present.

It is most remarkable that when reduced to basic principles, many statements in the Buddhist scriptures are in line with modern scientific discoveries. Buddhism is scientific in that it combines objective observation, experiment and analysis in the spirit of free inquiry.

Buddhism is beyond Science as it can contribute to modern life by providing the moral and spiritual guide for the individual in our increasingly technological and materialistic age, showing us the path to True Happiness.

YOU ARE SHOT!

In reality, the Buddha never wished to spend time on speculative (or metaphysical) issues of the Universe as they have little value for spiritual development towards True Happiness. He only taught them out of Compassion - either to bring out an underlying teaching, or to satisfy the curiosity of those who would otherwise not hear His actual Enlightenment, all speculative questions will be answered, and that we have no need to ask them now.

The Buddha compared one who keeps asking speculative questions to a man shot by a poisoned arrow, who refuses to remove it till he knows who shot it, how it was shot, from where was it shot... By the time these were answered, he would be dead. Likewise, we are "shot" by the arrow of impending death and constant dissatisfaction, and should never forget our aim of attaining Enlightenment.

MATTER

The Buddhist teaching, "Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is Form. Form is not different from Emptiness; Emptiness is not different from Form" refers to the fact that matter is neither truly solid nor ultimately different from the "emptiness" of energy, as the material can become immaterial with no "solid" core and vice versa. It is the Buddhist version of the famous law E=mc2 (E=energy, m=mass, c=speed of light). The atomic bomb is an example of how a little matter can be converted into tremendous energy.

MIND

The Buddha declared that the primary factor and most powerful force of the Universe is the Mind. Scientists today are seeing this Truth - realising that the Mind of a person can create reality in what is perceived. Mind energy is not yet fully understood by Science. The Buddha however, teaches us in great detail about the dynamics of the Mind. The mastery of the Mind is of the greatest importance as it is the key to True Happiness and liberation.

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RELATIVITY

The Buddha, like Einstein, discovered the truth of relativity - that space and time are not absolute but relative, functioning interdependently. Space and time are experienced differently by individuals in different worlds and mindstates. The world experienced in the state of Enlightenment is the vivid awareness of the interpenetration of space and time.

TIME

The Buddha defined time as "the measurement of change." This is scientific as time is linked with the motion of matter (or energy) in space, which creates force. The concept of time is meaningless when there is no change. Time has no beginning or end in Buddhism as all things (except the state of Enlightenment) undergo constant change. There is only the present central moment of "now" that is meaningful to our existence.

SPACE

In Buddhism, space is defined as the voidness in between matter which allows motion and interaction. As it extends infinitely in all directions, any point in the Universe can be considered central. Likewise, scientists look into outer space and discover our position in the Universe to be just like any other point in space. There is no special position in the Universe as it is filled homogeneously with other world-systems. There is only the present central place of "here" that is meaningful to our existence.

ATOM

As the atom (pre-supposed to be indivisible) is recently proven to be divisible indefinitely, it is therefore not the basic unit of matter. Thus, an atom is not really an atom; it is called so for convenience. Likewise, the Buddha says that when He speaks of the "Universe" (made up of energy and atoms), He does not really mean "Universe" - He calls it so only nominally

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QUANTUM PHYSICS

Scientists discovered in quantum physics that atoms and subatomic particles do not have definite locations or "meaningful" motion, appearing random and unpredictable. This led them to conclude that the "building blocks of reality" are "imaginary ghosts". The way an observer chooses to view an experiment determines the part of the observed phenomena to be manifested. The manifested properties are nothing but intersection and interaction of the observer's Mind with the phenomena. The theory also suggests that reality is not merely constructed by the Mind of the observer, but that there are countless realities constructed by countless Mind - each equally real or equally unreal. They may be very much resemble each other, or be virtually opposite in nature.

Likewise, in Buddhism, it is the Mind that constructs the indeterminate nature of the manifestation of ultimate reality in a particular way. Given particular conditions, the Mind constructs reality in a determinate way, generally in terms of existence or non-existence and more specifically in the form of the six realms of existence or the thirty-one planes of existence.

INTERDEPENDENCE

The constituents of the material and mental Universe interact with one another and are inseparable such that nothing (no single thing) exists individually, each being equally important. The Buddha taught this as the interdependent origination of all phenomena.

CHANGE

The existence of any object is an illusion as the Universe is simply a complex process of unceasing interconnected activities in which nothing moves independently of the others. The Buddha taught this as the constant fluctuation and transient nature of all conditioned things - even to the level of minuest atomic matter.

MICROORGANISMS

The Buddha once held up a cup and remarked that there were 84,000 (a number to denote "many" or "countless" ) beings in it. No one understood what He meant. Today, we use a microscope and see that He referred to invisible microorganisms.

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EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE

The Buddha taught that the Universe undergoes two major periods of change that repeat endlessly - expansion and contraction. This is like the model of the Oscillating Universe, which says that the Universe began with a Big Bang, when all explodes and expands, forming galaxies. When the force of expansion is depleted, the Universe closes in on itself through gravity with a Big Crunch, before expanding once more. Thus, it is likely that there have been, and will be, infinite Universes. The evolution of the Universe is a closed cycle - not unlike the water cycle where water evaporates to form clouds before falling as rain and evaporating again. Thus, the existence of water (and all other phenomena) does not require a creator as it is a natural self-contained process.

UNIVERSE STRUCTURE

According to the Buddha, the Universe exists in tiers, the smallest being the Thousand-fold Minor World System - this describes a galaxy (eg. the Milky Way), which contains millions of stars and planets. The next tier is called a Twice-a-Thousand Middling World System - this describes galactic clusters (eg. Coma Berenices). The Middling World System consists of up to a hundred or thousand galactic clusters. Next is the Major World System, formed by clusters of Middling World Systems - this describes a Metagalaxy (eg.the Big Dipper that "frames" at least a million galaxies). Though this is the farthest that modern scientific instruments can observe only recently, the Buddha taught this cosmic view long before the invention of the telescope.

GALAXIES

The Buddhist scriptures described that there are "worlds shaped like flowers" - this corresponds to billowy intergalactic gas clouds (that contain billions of stars) observed by radio-telescopes. "Some are vast as the ocean, spinning like a turning wheel. Some are slender (eg. galaxies observable in Cetus, Pegasus and Hercules). Some are small. For they have countless forms. (Galaxies have countless shapes.) And they spin in various ways (Galaxies revolve around their nuclei.)... Some worlds are like a glowing wheel (Some galaxies have strong luminosity)."

QUASARS

Some world systems (galaxies) are described in the Buddhist scriptures to erupt violently like volcanoes. This corresponds to quasars that actively explode, ejecting incredible amounts of matter from the nuclei of galaxies.

BLACK HOLES

Some cosmic worlds are described in the Buddhist scriptures to be like the "Lion's mouth" which eat everything - this corresponds to Black Holes that devour everything within its gravitational reach.

PLANETS

The Buddhist scriptures describe that, "Many world-systems are full of rock-torn earth - dangerous and destroying." While this may be true of planets of other star-systems, it is proven for our Solar System's planets such as Mars and Venus. The Earth was also described to have formed out of a mass of heavy thick matter that gradually hardened to solidify - this is agreed by Science.

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EVOLUTION

The Buddha's teaching agree with Darwin's theory of Evolution and Natural Selection to a certain extent.
The Buddha's account of how life arose and developed in out world is startlingly similar to parts of the theory of evolution as proposed by Charles Darwin. In the Aganna Sutta, the Buddha relates the becoming and re-becoming of the Universe over a period of countless millions of years in relation to the evolution of Human Beings, the arising of good and evil in society, and how such a society progressed. The Buddha also taught on how the first life formed on the surface of the water of the Earth, and again, over countless millions of years, evolved from simple to complex organisms. All these processes are without beginning or end, and are set in motion by natural causes.

ENERGY

Buddhism believes in the indestructibility or preservation of energy. This is in line with the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another. The teaching of rebirth, is an example of the transfer of imperishable Mind or mental energy from one body into another.

CAUSALITY

The Buddha taught that all physical and mental phenomena are brought about by the combination of causes and conditions. The law of Karma (the Buddhist law of cause and effect) is equivalent to the law of causality (causation) in Science. It is the belief that there is a cause for every single thing (effect) that occurs or exists. With the right conditions, every effect can in turn be the cause of another effect. There are no unexplainable, random or supernatural phenomena in Buddhism. The supernatural is only nature yet understood by the unenlightened.

PSYCHOLOGY

The Buddha was the first to look in depth into the human psyche and its experience. His teaching is a radical cure for mental dissatisfaction. The West is discovering that modern psychology is but a recent extension of Buddhism. Buddhist meditation undeniably offers the most timeless yet advanced methods for self-healing and psycho-therapy.