and that this was (we're in late 70's) going to a recurrent problem for Western students. The late Kalu Rinpoché remarked that Tibet had an extremely poor record in terms of worldy knoweldge, and that the West had a complete supremacy in science, technical knowledge etc. HH the Dalai Lama made interseting comments on this. To people making objections on the world description (Meru, etc.), the present Tai Situ incarnation remarked that the main goal of the Buddha was not to be a geography teacher. It makes no sense.īuddhism is not exactly a question a belief. Why don't Buddhists believe in Buddhist cosmology? Given that they believe in all other aspects of the Buddhadharma. ![]() Sorry, I know that’s going to piss some folks off. ![]() “Really! …I see…” the lama answered, surprised to learn that the moon doesn’t produce its own light (I’m not sure if he understood the moon wasn’t really a ‘disc’ as it appears in visualization practice).Īlthough he seemed a bit perplexed, as the night went on, the lama was very eager to learn all sorts of new things he’d never been taught growing up in a monastery.Īs lovely as Buddhist cosmology is, with the universe having directions like East and West for example, and as useful as Buddhist astrology might be for offering a unified theory of everything, it all pales compared to even the limited scientific knowledge we have of the known universe so far. “We see it because it reflects the light from the Sun.” “Really!” Remarked the lama, who paused and then asked, “how many moons goes the Earth have?” The host mentioned that Saturn has seven moons. On this particular night, there was a spectacular view of Saturn, visible through this cylinder which was about a foot wide and 3 or for feet long, balanced at an angle on a tripod, with an eyepiece extending upwards from the lower end. ![]() I was once acquainted with a lama who had been raised in Tibet, and on one summer evening we met an astronomer working for the (U.S) park service had a very telescope set up at the parking lot which led to trails on a mountain in upstate New York.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |