In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha said that his teachings should be accepted only if they agree with reason, common sense, and are found to lead to “benefit and happiness” after they are experienced (Rahula, 1974: page 2). The Buddha used this method when questioned by people in the village of Kalama why his teachings should be followed rather than the teachings of other spiritual teachers who visited the village. Science is based on making observations of the world, forming hypotheses which explain those observations, and finally testing those hypotheses with empirical data. Both science and Zen are based on empirically verified observations I do this by addressing the following three points:Ģ.1. My overall objective in this paper is to unite the sciences of ecology and evolution with the spiritual practice of Zen in order to inspire actions to address the extinction crisis that we are currently facing. In the rest of this paper, I generally use the term Buddhism to reflect the teachings of the Buddha as presented by Rahula ( 1974). Other major religions have contemplative traditions that are similar to the practice of Zen in Buddhism (e.g., Sufism in Islam). Finally, I emphasize the Zen teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh ( 1998), which are based on the Buddha's teachings of mindfulness, awareness, and meditation to live in the present moment (Rahula, 1974: page 72). I also have relied considerably on the writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, because of his interest in the relationship between science and Buddhism (e.g., Dalai Lama, 2005). In this paper, I have used Rahula ( 1974) as my primary source for the teachings of the Buddha because he presents the original teachings, rather than the interpretations by any of the major schools of Buddhism. Zen provides the deeper “knowing,” or awareness, that we need to motivate action on these problems.īuddhism is a major global religion with many complex systems of differing beliefs. However, the environmental problems underlying extinction generally do not result from a lack of scientific understanding but rather result from an unwillingness to take the needed action. Ecology and evolution provide us with the scientific background that we need to address these problems. We know from evolution that everything is connected by genealogy and that everything is constantly changing. Ecology teaches that everything is connected through both biotic and abiotic interactions. These fundamental observations of the world are shared by ecology and evolution. The Buddha taught that everything is connected and that everything is constantly changing.
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