Questions tagged [science]
A system of thought that organises the world through prediction, observation and experimentation. Scientific truths are provisional and can always be falsified.
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How can we know if a dharma teaching is really what the Buddha taught? Is there some sort of test?
It seems that there are different "versions" of Buddhism today, and many of the teachings from these different versions appear to be at odds with one another.
I'd like a way to tell which ...
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Can reincarnation be proved with using a mixture of logic, science, and philosophical belief?
Let's go through the logic first. The following statements are suppositions that must be chronologically accepted.
Matter is neither created nor destroyed.
Matter is made up of atoms.
I am made up of ...
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What is the Buddhist attitude towards cosmology?
In Majjhima Nikaya 63, the Buddha says
So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and what is declared by me as declared. And what is undeclared by me? 'The cosmos is eternal,...
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What is the best distance for kasina meditation between person and object?
Some websites show that it is ideal to get 1.5 m distance between the person and the kasina object.
Is there any science behind the recommendation to get that specific distance?
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Is rebirth scientifically proven?
I am from a Buddhist family, in which my parents believe in Buddhism a lot (100%).
But after learning tech, science, and IT in the last five years, what I feel is the idea of rebirth is nothing more ...
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What is meant by "divorcing the view and the action" and why is it considered so dangerous?
In Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara, there is a debate with the Charvakas (ancient materialists) about the existence or non-existence of past and future lives. In the commentary, Rinpoche compares and ...
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Buddhism: Morality & Biology
I have relapsed out of Buddhism two times in my past. Currently, I am between reconciling and rejecting it yet again. I decided to make this post to ask questions that I feel will help me either ...
user20570
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Did Buddha know the properties and behaviour of the matter fully?
How did Buddha fully understood the world and proclaimed it without the knowledge of all experiments of science? Was his knowledge about the properties and the behavior of matter limited?
Thanks.
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Science, the largest current religion, is it truth or does one follow actually on blind faith?
From a Dhammic perpective of truthfulness: wouldn't, isn't following science preaching totally based on blind faith with no personal prove?
And isn't the non changing of the truth of suffering, the ...
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How do we know attaining complete liberation from dukkha is possible?
How do we know attaining complete liberation from dukkha is possible?
This is a question I’ve made to myself in multiple oportunities, especially after having explained the basics of (what I ...
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Does Yogacara deny atoms exist or does it just say that atoms are just appearances?
Vasubandhu seems to make arguments in this article against the concept of atoms to prove all is appearance in consciousness. But doesn't this go against modern science,even if his arguments are ...
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Is better sati cause to better memory?
Did Lord Buddha tell something about this ? (Relationship between sati and memory)
There was a monk in Buddha's time who is enlightened but didn't have a strong memory. To be enlightened, some has ...
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A scientific error of the Buddha?
Is it a scientific error of the Buddha?
Sāriputta, there are these four kinds of reproduction. What four? Reproduction for creatures born from an egg, from a womb, from moisture, or spontaneously.
...
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Does the Buddha deny genetic differences?
In MN.98, the Buddha seems to deny the ethnic/racial/genetic differences between humans. He seems to indicate that differences in physical traits between individuals are not determined by birth as in ...
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Are probabilistic physics and pratitya samutpada compatible?
Can a physical theory be fundamentally probabilistic (such as the popular interpretations of quantum mechanics) without contradicting pratitya samutpada?
Clarification
Pratitya samutpada is about ...
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How come enlightened people don't have any laziness?
I just heard that enlightened people have zero laziness. How is it possible? What is "laziness" ? What is the connection between laziness and ego/desire?
Edit: Also that monk said: "Laziness is ...
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Eightfold path & gender dysphoria
Would the eightfold path help someone transcend gender dysphoria? Is gender dysphoria a matter of clinging or a matter of hardwired biology?
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Is there a scientific consensus on meditation?
Is there a scientific consensus on meditation? I've seen it said that different parts of the brain are activated during meditation. Is that true for all experienced meditators, all forms of meditation,...
user2512
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Permanent Matter?
My friend told this to me & now I am confused.
Isn't the amount of matter in the universe the same, no less, nor
more, because nothing is ever lost, nor created, everything causes everything,...
user16793
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Is the path of Zen compatible with computer science?
For example, software/code/algorithms themselves can be very complex, dense, cryptic (often without value), overly detailed, stressful to understand intent (sometimes), generation of new abstractions ...
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Justice through soul-reincarnation
A pure, almost metaphysical but from the inside of me:
How would it sound that there is an afterlife of the more that 00 billion people that ever lived on earth since the begging of our species (as ...
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Given that Buddhism could accommodate people's prior religious beliefs, why is Buddhism itself now described as a religion?
Read somewhere that Buddhism does not advocate to go away from the beliefs of a person. Or in a way accommodate one's rooted beliefs from childhood. The main objective of following the path of Buddha ...
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Are there any scientifically validated practices for Buddhists?
We know there are already hundreds of studies with promising results. State of enlightenment is already documented and can be measured.
So I am asking whether exists some resources or even a ...
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Memories of previous lives [closed]
I think I have to tolerate memories of previous lives. And I know many of which memories are combination of true and false memories.Part of the memories are scientifically superimposed by army or any ...
user14111
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The eternal universe
As far as I know, in Buddhism and Hinduism, the universe has birth and death, like the time of life. However, in Buddhism, as well as other Eastern religions, there are a lot of schools and movements. ...
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If the self is scientifically measured, what is the Buddhist view on this?
The concept of self is important in social psychology: self-concept, self-esteem, self-control, self-awareness, etc. As a science, these concepts are measured under scientific methods, and there are ...
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Is Scientific Realism/Materialism and/or Historicity compatible with Mahayana?
In my estimation the answer is decidedly no, but I am interested to hear what others think from a Mahayana or Madhyamaka perspective.
First, to try and clarify terms I am using scientific realism/...
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How can we make sense of the Universe from the Buddhist perspective?
I know this is the kind of the question Buddha discouraged to ponder upon with the example of the poisonous arrow.
But after 25 centuries, after what Newton and Einstien and Astronomers and ...
user13135
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Can meditation heal physical diseases?
I recently read the Discourse to Girimananda Thera. In it, the Venerable Girimananda was "afflicted with a disease, was suffering there from, and was gravely ill". The Blessed One was petitioned by ...
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Is there a source that Dalai Lama wants scientists to invent a "meditation machine"?
The 14th Dalai Lama have known to actively support scientific explanation on Buddhism. For example his investment in the Mind and Life Institute. But I remember that I've read somewhere that he ...
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Does Buddhism uphold/advocate the theory of Evolution [Nichirenism]?
Does Buddhism uphold and/or advocate the theory of Evolution, the theory of Charles Darwin?
Does Buddhism believes that our ancestors were monkeys and apes?
I as a Christian don't believe in ...
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How to reconcile non-attachment in a Type-A, North American culture where work is life?
I've been meditating on-and-off for years.
However, the non-attachment preached by the Buddha conflicts with the environment around me. I'm in a large urban center in North America.
Achievement is ...
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Showing anatta from modern psychology or neuroscience?
I have heard Ajahn Brahm say in a talk, if I recall, that modern science or psychology has demonstrated anatta in some way.
It seems unnecessary to invoke science to validate any of Buddhism, but ...
user8619
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The four great elements and scientific equivalent
Science categorize physical world in to solid,liquid,gas and energy(thermal,kinetic,nuclear,radiation etc....) when it analyze, prove that nothing more than those three state of material and energy ...
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Relationship between karma and science
How can science support or challenge the concept of Karma?
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Buddhism and theory of relativity
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious ...
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Reincarnation and stem cell research
How do we apply reincarnation to phenomena such as reproduction by binary fission (amoeba) and creating animals like Dolly the sheep from a single cell? Also, why the population is rising in the ...
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Biology, Brain tumours and mental disorders, behaviour and Budhism
The biologic construction of our brains leads to diferent behaviour and personalities. Like different antennas or generators, we can process signals diferent ways or receive them diferent ways.
Our ...
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Cosmic expansion and cosmic contraction
DN2 talks of many aeons of cosmic expansion and cosmic contraction.
What does this mean in Buddhist cosmology?
Is this similar to Big Bounce in physics?
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During body-scan ('sweeping') meditation, what does brain-imaging (e.g. fMRI) look like?
I do not know how extensively body scans have been studied with brain-imaging techniques, e.g. fMRI.
Body scan is a meditation technique developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It was derived from a meditation ...
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Hungry ghosts and food offerings to the dead
One of the four lowest realms of the 31 planes of existence is the realm of the hungry ghosts or hungry shades or petas or pretas.
These cannot be souls or spirits, because in Buddhism, there is no ...
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Is it the EARTH only Place that can give birth to a Buddha?
is it the EARTH only Place that can give birth to a Buddha? isn't their any other Universes or worlds beside than Earth that Previously born Buddha or in the Future?
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Consciousness, death and reincarnation
First of all, I'd like to say I'm a scientist. This means fact will always come before faith, even if it hurts. In general, one's opinion doesn't mean much if the question itself has no meaning, but ...
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Is Buddhism against scientific attitude?
According to Buddhism, the cause of all suffering is desire and liberation from desire would lead to the cessation of suffering.
But isn’t curiosity a desire? Is Buddhism against scientific attitude? ...
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Buddhism and Science
Science is capable of helping living beings flourish, or of generating suffering for living beings.
Either of these two capacities are the result of trial and error as well as research and ...
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Is the principle of rebirth falsifiable?
When the Buddha searched for truth in the world he used a method of empiricism. Empiricism is the precursor for modern science and although I believe that rebirth can be verified empirically I am not ...
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Buddha's knowledge of prior births
Did Budhdha really got to know his previous births
....or was it just mind hallucinating because of hunger, thirst?
I don't mean any disrespect
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Animals and humans in Science vs. Buddhism
About the doctrine of the 31 realms of existence. I have a few questions, because science, especially the theory of evolution, makes a good argument for categorizing humans as animals.
Is this list ...
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What is the buddhist conception of light?
How do buddhists regard light? In their statues the eyes of Buddha are most times closed. Do they consider light a low worthy thing or something else. Newton showed gravity to be a powerful competitor ...
user8267
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How did Buddha Explain the Creation Of the World?
I have heard that Buddha explained how the world is recreated after a destruction, in Aggan̄n̄a Sutta.
One tale told by the Buddha in the Aggan̄n̄a Sutta describes the process of recreation on this ...
