Buddhism: Science and Secularism

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Buddhism Science and Secularism

• By Joséphine Tan-Yan and Dany Wolf

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Secularism

• The concept of secularism is vague and Im going
  to define what kind of secularism I intend to
  present.
• In term of politic secularism can be define as
  the separation of the religion and the state.
  Essentially that religion should not interfere
  with national and civil law.
• In general, political thought of classical
  Buddhists believe that there should be an
  intimate relation between the state and the
  Buddhist church. The King is suppose to be the
  protector of Buddhism.
• To talk about secularism in Buddhism we must
  first see the spread of the religion through the
  Asian continent.

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The spread of Buddhism

• The spread of Buddhism in the south east
  continent of Asia took place around the 3rd
  century B.C.E. by Kind Ashoka
• After he made Buddhism the state religion, Ashoka
  decided to spread the religion by sending out
  monks to the countries he knew.

Because of King Ashoka, Buddhism spread from
Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal and from the
Himalayan foothills to the island of Ceylon ( Sri
Lanka). His reign ended in 232 and his empire
collapsed a short period later.
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The Sangha and Monastery

• The Sangha is a monastery in which monks, nuns
  and devout followers establish faith in
  localities. To help the Sangha to survive,
  buddhist around the world make donations to the
  sangha, which in turn earns them merits, to
  improve their karma and gather worldy blessings
  for themselves, their families and their
  communities.
• To ease the establishment of new sangha into
  uncovert region, the monks created a network of
  mother-daughter monasteries, that means that a
  well settled sangha would help providing for all
  the needs of a new sangha until the new one get
  settled.
• Because of the acceptance of all ethnicities and
  classes/casts, for the sangha and for the
  economic contribution, Buddhism gained support
  from the poeple and established a position and an
  influence in regional governments.

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South Asia

• With the decline of the Gupta dynasty in North
  India around 650 CE, Buddhism only survived
  because of the imperial patronage, but Buddhism
  was largely confined to monasteries.
• By the end of the 13th century a large quantity
  of monasteries had been abandoned. The main
  reason for the fall of Buddhism in this area is
  the arising of Hinduism and the arrival of Islam
  in the region.
• Buddhisms dominant region then shifted to East
  Asia.

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Ceylon

• After the Gangetic plains were ravaged, Ceylon
  became the centre of Theravada discipline.
• The island embraced Buddhism quickly and by 100
  B.C.E. sangha started to gain support from the
  kings and influenced the politics.
• Because of this support, monks from Ceylon were
  able to institute reforms in various countries
  that ensured the survival of Theravada Buddhism
  (in countries like Burma, Thailand, Laos and
  Cambodia)

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China

• Through the dispersion of the sangha, Buddhism
  had its biggest growth by the 1st century B.C.E.
• By the late 4th century Buddhism was well
  established in China, with the aristocracy as
  well as the masses.
• Buddhist scholars in China developed their own
  interpretation of texts to make Buddhism
  compatible with other indigenous gods and
  religions.
• The major problem for Buddhists in China was that
  part of their support came from the reigning
  emperor and their influence rise or decrease
  depending on the ruler.
• Around the middle of the 9th century
  anti-Buddhist sentiment and persecution pushed a
  lot of people to abandon Buddhism.
• However, during the Mongolian reign of China, at
  the end of the 13th century to the end of the
  14th century, Tibetan Buddhism (Mahayana-Vajrayana
  ) became the state religion and gained a strong
  support across the country.
• With the return of Chinese rule under the Ming
  dynasty, Mahayana Buddhism was once again
  embraced, but only because of the new customs
  inserted in local Buddhism such as the appearance
  of merit account books and simple rituals to earn
  merits.

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Southeast Asia and Japan

• As I explained before, because of the help
  brought by Ceylon, the majority of Southeast Asia
  was under the influence of Theravada Buddhism.
  Because of that influence, leaders were able to
  impose a Buddhist order that made the people
  following the Dharma on their territories and the
  building of stupa.
• This form of Buddhist state survived until the
  modern era when new ideas and political systems
  emerged.

• Mahayana Buddhism reached Japan in the 6th
  century and progressed slowly.
• In the 12th and 13th century accommodation with
  the local beliefs were made, and two schools
  erupted the Rinzai Zen school (under monk Eisai)
  and the Soto Zen school (under monk Dogen). Both
  views grew quickly among the aristocracy and the
  warriors who at the time controlled Japanese
  society.
• Still during this period a prophetic and
  charismatic monk named Nichiren created a new
  school, which was very popular for its simplicity
  and low demands.

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Himalayan region

• In Tibet, Mongolia and Nepal the Mahayana school
  found supremacy. Across the highland frontiers,
  Vajrayana tradition came to be seen as the
  Buddhas highest teaching.
• By the middle of the 13th century, the incarnate
  lineage of divinities become leader of the both
  the religious and the political power.
• Until the political modernisation of Asia through
  the European influence and colonization, the
  major interpretation of Buddhism tends to be
  non-secular. Buddhists have always looked at the
  Legend of Ashoka to define their exemplary
  relationship with the rulers as protectors and
  patrons with a strong influence of Buddhism for
  the acts of the ruler.

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Pre-modern era

• With the arrival of Christians and colonialism,
  Buddhists were forced to find new protection and
  adapt to the changes of the new era. In general,
  in most countries where Buddhism was strong,
  colonial and postcolonial governments sought to
  eliminate sources of political dissent by
  imposing on the sangha regulation and
  restriction.

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In Ceylon
In Japan

• The solution was increasing the involvement of
  the lay society in Buddhist institutions and
  spiritual practice, this motivated some laity to
  take the place of former royal patrons. The lay
  reformers insisted that monks respect the sangha
  rules and help the start of schools.
• As well as in Thailand new interpretations of
  True Buddhism was made by lay reformers,
  insisting that the genuine centre of faith was a
  quest for mind salvation which swayed Buddhism
  away from politics.

• During the modernization of Japan, during which
  the Shinto was promoted as national faith,
  nationalist movements tried to destroy Buddhism
  in Japan. Despite its 1400 years in Japan,
  Buddhism was criticized as foreign religion and
  unnatural.
• In response of those criticisms, Buddhists
  instated reforms. For example the Zen school
  pronounced themselves in favour for nationalism
  and militarism in hopes of survival.

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Buddhism in the postcolonial world

• After the Second World War, a wave of
  decolonisation took place in Asia and countries
  start to regain independence. The place of
  Buddhism is these new societies differed
  regarding the situation.
• There are mainly three ideas of the role of
  Buddhism in the modern society.
• The first concept is the rejection of modernity
  and a return to original practice that havent
  been corrupted by colonial era.
• The second concept on the opposite want to move
  Buddhism to a new level, better adapted for
  modernity and postcolonial world.
• The third concept is to keep the essence of
  Buddhism while using modern technologies to help
  Buddhism to rise among all the nations.
• But despite all the effort of the Buddhist to
  remain solid in many countries as possible, they
  remain really strong only in a few regions
  Himalayan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

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Buddhism in the postcolonial world contd

• With the decolonisation, shifts in the political
  and socio-economic spheres have changed
  individuals and caused Buddhism to adapt their
  beliefs and practice in countries where they are
  the majority.
• But what kind of administration should Buddhist
  adopt? Should they go back to a military
  authoritarianism on the model of Ashoka or a
  representative democracy on the model of sanghas
  democratic norms?
• The result of that debate differed from place to
  place
• In modern China, Myanmar and Vietnam Buddhist
  monk have been called upon to withdraw, study and
  meditation.
• However, in modern India, Sri Lanka and Thailand
  monks have become leaders in political reform
  movements and in the implementation of economic
  development projects.
• Even if most Buddhist movement inclined for a
  democratic system based on equality some as in
  Sri Lanka have tried to rebuild a pure Buddhist
  state and start conflict with non-Buddhist
  minorities.

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Conclusion
Secularism

• For the majority of its history, Buddhism has
  been trying to interact with state power and
  government. The Ashoka system has been seen as
  the best system in the Buddhist tradition until
  the modernization period during which new
  ideology of the relation between Buddhism and
  power emerged. Those new doctrines are based on
  the adaptation of Buddhism with modernity and
  refer to the attitude of monks depending on their
  regional situation. Today scholars and monks try
  to redefine what relationship Buddhism should
  have with power, either a democratic, equal and
  tolerant system, a Buddhist state in which the
  Dharma would be the national law, or a military
  authoritarianism.

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Science

• Knowledge acquired by study acquaintance with or
  mastery of any department of learning. Also pl.
  (a person's) various kinds of knowledge.
• In a more restricted sense A branch of study
  which is concerned either with a connected body
  of demonstrated truths or with observed facts
  systematically classified and more or less
  colligated by being brought under general laws,
  and which includes trustworthy methods for the
  discovery of new truth within its own domain.
• Oxford English Dictionary.
• Science is a vast domain with different
  categories, in which case, for this presentation
  I will focus on Evolutionary biology and
  Buddhism, as well as the laws of cause and effect
  of physics with Buddhism.

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Quotes about science and Buddhism

• "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."
• Buddha

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Quotes contd

• Suppose that something is definitely proven
  through scientific investigation, that a certain
  hypothesis is verified or a certain hypothesis is
  verified or a certain fact emerges as a result of
  scientific investigation. And suppose,
  furthermore, that that act is incompatible with
  Buddhist theory. There is no doubt that we must
  accept the result of the scientific research.
• The 14th Dalai Lama, from A policy of kindness,
  p. 67

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Modern science and religion

• Modern science initiated a deep spiritual crisis
  that led to an unfortunate split between faith
  and reason. Buddhism was seen as an "alternative
  altar," a bridge that could reunite the estranged
  worlds of matter and spirit. Thus, to a large
  extent Buddhism's flowering in the West during
  the last century came about to satisfy
  post-Darwinian needs to have religious beliefs
  grounded in new scientific truth.

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What makes Buddhism compatible with science

• Buddhism does not assert nor depend upon the
  existence of a God
• Buddhism is a superstition-free moral ideal it
  conforms to the scientific view of an ordered
  universe ruled by law (Dharma) a system both
  moral and physical where everything seems to work
  itself out inexorable over vast periods of time
  without divine intervention (karma)
• Buddhism assumes no belief in gods who could
  alter the workings of this natural law

• Buddhism is a religion of self-help with all
  depending on the individual working out his/her
  own salvation
• original Buddhism was seen as the
  Protestantism of Asia and Buddha as another
  Luther who swept away the superstitions and
  rituals of an older, corrupted form and took
  religion back to its pure and simple origins
• Buddhism presents an attractive personal founder
  who led life of great self-sacrifice

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Evolution and Buddhism

• Darwins theory of evolution was also compatible
  with karma from Buddhism, Natural selection is
  the survival of the fittest, where the stronger,
  smarter and more able survive, whereas the weaker
  and less capable die. In Buddhism, karma is
  based on the things one does in his present life
  reflect what life they will have for their
  re-birth. Therefore, if a being is very good and
  generous and does as much as possible to abide by
  the rules of Buddhism, his re-birth may bring a
  better position in life. Therefore, evolution
  seemed to match nicely with the notion of
  karmathe cyclical unfolding of events governed
  by the law of cause and effect.

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Quantum Physics

• It is important to emphasize that the
  mathematical equations of quantum physics do not
  describe actual existence - they describe
  potential for existence. Working out the
  equations of quantum mechanics for a system
  composed of fundamental particles produces a
  range of potential locations, values and
  attributes of the particles which evolve and
  change with time. But for any system only one of
  these potential states can become real, and -
  this is the revolutionary finding of quantum
  physics - what forces the range of the potentials
  to assume one value is the act of observation.
  Matter and energy are not in themselves
  phenomena, and do not become phenomena until they
  interact with the mind.

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Quantum Physics contd

• Kadampa Buddhists, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism,
  states that everything is void of any defining
  essence. Consequently nothing has a fixed
  identity and are in a state of impermanence
  constantly becoming and decaying. Not only are
  all things constantly changing, but also if we
  analyze any phenomenon in enough detail the
  conclusion may be that it is ultimately not
  findable, and exists purely by definitions in
  terms of other things defined by the mind which
  generates those definitions.
• Kadampa Buddhism regards the persistent delusion
  of 'inherent existence' as a major obstacle to
  spiritual development, and the root of many other
  damaging delusions. One of these delusions is the
  materialist belief in an objective reality
  existing independently of mind. By asserting that
  the universe exists inherently as a brute fact,
  materialism denies that subjective experience has
  any relevance to or influence on the universe, or
  indeed any existence at all.

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Science
Conclusion

• Buddhism is one of the few world religions which
  can relate to scientific findings, because in no
  where does this religion counter argue with
  science. Mahayana Buddhism has even allowed
  itself to participate in discussions about
  science and is open to discussions on the
  subject, and have an open-mind for possible
  conclusions.
• Although Buddhist contemplative tradition and
  modern science have evolved from different
  historical, intellectual and cultural roots, I
  believe that at heart they share significant
  commonalities, especially in their basic
  philosophical outlook and methodology.
• Dalai Lama at the annual meeting of the Society
  for Neuroscience on November 12 2005, in
  Washington, DC.