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From: David
Category: Category 1
Date: 15/11/05
Time: 14:11:49
Remote Name: 222.152.196.81
Ex Maori ,
If Science abused it`s credo, which is by definition free of dogma , and tended towards Fixism ( Fundamentalism ) there would be a cry of outrage . It has already built in conservatism in how it functions without putting the brakes on totally . The alternative is regression to Dark Ages thinking and function .
With respect to the Dalai Lama , in particular , and Buddhism in general , tolerance and simplicity appear to be a unique feature in their calling . I was impressed on trips to Asia at the way Society and the Bhuddist Monasteries co-function . Young men enter the monastery at intervals throughout their life for let us say "moral re-armament" and spiritual teachings . They then re-enter the outside (secular) life . And somehow society takes this flux or dislocation in it`s stride . Even though these monks are destined to return to the Monasteries at later times . I was highly impressed as was one of my children who became a Buddhist , after spending 6 months in meditation in a monastery in Thailand . Although he later became a Doctor . But I have no doubt that Buddhism is fundamental to how he appoaches the practice of medicine in a holistic sense . That is probably why he has specialised in psychiatry as a natural progression of what he holds as important . Interestingly his psychiatrist wife was a devout catholic before meeting him . But she now describes herself as a Buddhist Catholic . Perhaps that is an example of ecumenism in practice .
Let us not isolate Buddhism in it`s attitude to science . The previous Pope also acknowledged Evolution as a feature of human origins and development . With that Churches history that was some forthright statement and volt face .
I don`t know whether you have read books by the Dalai Lama but they are well worth reading . Beneath that benign and so good-natured exterior lies an enquiring and active mind . He writes about the Quantum World in a fascinating way that you can see some people are capable of finding a way to link the metaphysical with the scientific worlds . While others simply ghettoise their progression through life .