Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 1: The Physical World

by Dalai Lama (From an Idea by), Dalai Lama (Introduction), Thupten Jinpa (Editor), Ian Coghlan (Translator)

Overview

Explore the nature of our material world in a unique sourcebook, conceived by the Dalai Lama, collecting the scientific observations found in classical Buddhist treatises.

Under the visionary supervision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics brings together classical Buddhist explorations of the nature of our material world and the human mind and puts them into context for the modern reader. It is the Dalai Lama’s view that the explorations by the great masters of northern India in the first millennium CE still have much that is of interest today, whether we are Buddhist or not.

Volume 1, The Physical World, explores the nature of our material world—from the macroscopic to the microscopic. It begins with an overview of the many frameworks, such as the so-called five aggregates, that Buddhist thinkers have used to examine the nature and scope of reality. Topics include sources of knowledge, the scope of reason, the nature and constituents of the material world, theories of the atom, the nature of time, the formation of the universe, and the evolution of life, including a detailed explanation of the early Buddhist theories on fetal development. The volume even contains a brief presentation on early theories about the structure and function of the brain and the role of microorganisms inside the human body. The book weaves together passages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers such as Asanga, Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Dignaga, and Dharmakirti. Each of the major topics is introduced by Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s principal English-language translator and founder of the Institute of Tibetan Classics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614294726
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	11/07/2017
Series:	Science and Philosophy in the Indian Bud , #1
Pages:	552
Sales rank:	468,616
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: “My religion is kindness.”



His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: “My religion is kindness.”



Thupten Jinpa was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of geshe lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985 he has been the principal translator to the Dalai Lama, accompanying him to the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium.

Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the general series editor of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. And he also currently chairs the Mind & Life Institute and Compassion Institute.

Ian James Coghlan (Jampa Yigyen) trained as a monk at Sera Jé Monastic University, completing his studies in 1995, and holds a PhD in Asian studies from La Trobe University. Currently he is a research associate at the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, and a translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics, the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Wisdom Publications, the Khenpo Appey Foundation, and the Juniper Foundation.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama 1

Part 1 Overview and Methodology 33

1 Systems of Classification 47

2 Methods of Inquiry 51

3 Reasoning in the Collected Topics 63

Part 2 Knowable objects 71

4 Phenomena in General 83

5 The Essential Nature of Physical Entities 87

6 The Five Sense Objects 93

7 The Five Sense Faculties 113

8 Mental-Object Forms 119

9 The Causal Primary Elements 125

10 Nonassociated Formative Factors 141

11 Causes and Effects 151

12 Unconditioned Phenomena 159

13 Other Presentations of Ascertainable Objects 163

Part 3 Subtle Particles 195

14 How Subtle Particles Are Posited 207

15 How Coarse Matter Is Formed 217

16 Analyzing Whether Indivisible Particles Exist 225

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics

Part 4 Time 239

17 The Definition of Time 251

18 Positing the Three Times 259

19 The Shortest Unit of Time 267

20 Positing Subtle Impermanence 273

Part 5 The Cosmos and its Inhabitants 283

21 The Cosmos and Its Inhabitants in Abhidharma 293

22 The Development of the Cosmos in Kalacakra Texts 307

23 How Worlds End 313

24 Motion of the Celestial Bodies 319

25 Measurement and Enumeration 325

Part 6 Fetal development and the Channels, Winds, and Drops 337

26 The Birth Process 347

27 Fetal Development in the Sutras 355

28 Fetal Development in the Kalacakra Tantra 369

29 Fetal Development in Buddhist Medical Texts 375

30 The Subtle Body of the Channels, Winds, and Drops 381

31 Channels and Winds in Buddhist Medical Texts 395

32 The Brain in Buddhist Medical Texts 405

33 The Relation of Body and Mind 417

Appendix: The Eighteen Topics of Chapa Chökyi Sengé 429

Notes 435

Glossary 465

Bibliography 481

Index 491

About the Authors 531

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2018
The Dalai Lama offers the first entry in a four-volume series on the scientific and philosophical explorations of the nature of reality in Indian Buddhist classics. The complete compendium will cover scientific, philosophical, and religious topics; this first volume tackles the physical sciences of the material universe. The Dalai Lama argues that Western and Buddhist styles of scientific thinking are not contradictory: the Buddha emphasized a reason-based empirical testing of the validity of his teachings. Like the scientific method, Buddhism asserts that the evidence of direct perception must ultimately underpin critical inquiry and applies this principle to the practice of meditation: “In Buddhism, empirical observation is not confined to the five senses alone... study and contemplation is also recognized as part of the means of investigating reality.” This first volume connects teachings from classical Buddhist schools to topics of inquiry in modern science, including quantum particles, relativity, and fetal development. The Dalai Lama’s newest offering is a dense and rich compilation of teachings spanning the massive Tibetan canon that is ultimately more relevant for specialists than a general, uninitiated audience. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Situated in their rich contexts by a superb set of introductory essays, these classic texts reveal a breadth of original thought and observation that presents the modern reader with challenging concepts but rewards them with novel insights.

Kevan A. C. Martin

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics offers a rare gift of wisdom from the ancient world to the modern reader. The editors have curated a rich treasure of the philosophy and maps of the mind that have their origins in the early centuries of Indian thought, were preserved in translation for centuries in Tibet, and now are brought to all of us in this translation.

Daniel Goleman

The genesis of science that took place in South Asia was just as demanding in terms of empirical accuracy, explanatory standards, and theoretical ingenuity as science in the West. Unlike modern science, however, it included the experience of meditation among its basic sources of knowledge. This broadening of the empirical horizon promises to trigger a new Renaissance. We are fortunate that the editors here have offered us such a clear presentation of this exceptional resource.

Michel Bitbol

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics will quickly become an invaluable resource for all those interested in a cross-cultural understanding of science and the history of ideas. Volume 1 offers a comprehensive treatment of the physical world drawn from the writings of India’s greatest Buddhist philosophers, with an introduction by the Dalai Lama and contextual essays by the eminent scholar Thupten Jinpa. As we seek a multicultural and global perspective on the nature of reality, this volume and those to follow will certainly make a crucial contribution.

Arthur Zajonc

This remarkable set of volumes will be of great interest to any student, scholar, or scientist who wishes to better understand the depth and complexity of the Indian Buddhist tradition. Surprising in their detailed consideration of the senses, particles, time, cosmology, fetal development, and the brain, these volumes are destined to become the resource for cross-disciplinary dialogue between Buddhism and science for many years to come.

Richard J. Davidson