Buddhists: can you explain how you reconcile Buddhism and science concerning evolution and creation?

Question

I feel like I could write a book of questions. I was actually intending to write a lot in additional details, but I'm wondering if I found the answer as I was writing...

There is no "need" for anything to achieve enlightenment/realize itself or its lack of self. Oneness will continue with or without its "components" realizing it. Evolution and creation, whatever they may be, can fit into Buddhism perfectly because Buddhism does not make claims about what is true or isn't true, and its notion of oneness does not collapse when confronted with science. Am I correct in this thinking?

Please, no personal koans or anything of that sort. I don't pretend to be enlightened and I'm not even a Buddhist - yet. I'm trying to understand if Buddhism is as incredibly "open" as it seems to me to be.

Answer 1

Pretty much. Buddhism generally regards metaphysical questions as irrelevant to enlightenment. While you may be curious as to the life forms that originated around you and how they came to be, the answer, either way, is of no interest to a Buddhist proper. Likewise, questions on the nature of the soul, on the relationship between soul and body, etc... that have plagued the west are generally viewed by Buddhists as being of little importance. The teachings of the Buddha actually discouraged such metaphysical exploration as potentially detrimental.

One story illustrates it this way:
A man was attacked by bandits. People came to his help as he lay wounded with arrows in his body. A physician comes to his help. But imagine now that this man, instead of giving the physician all the assistance needed to be helped, instead kept asking questions like: What kind of wood are the arrows made of? How many bandits were there? What angle did the arrow enter my body from? Etc...

The story aims to illustrate the silliness of men who seem more interested in such questions than liberating one's self from the sorrows of this world.

Answer 2

Buddhism does not need to reconcile these things, at least not in the traditional sense. Becoming a Buddha is the capability of any individual. Evolution and creation, are merely delusions that we maintain to satisfy a number of emotional states. Buddhist methodology isn't necessarily concerned with the same questions that theology and various religions would consider such as the origins of life in the universe.

Whether you choose to believe in evolution or creation, that is a choice that you make for a variety of reasons. Enlightenment to the Buddhist does not include needing to answer such questions.

The objectives of the Buddhist are different than the objectives of science or various religions. The Buddhist philosophy address issues of human suffering. How we evolved or were created is unnecessary to that objective.

Some science is in conflict with Buddhist philosophy. The Western medical model, for example, is a direct conflict with how science treats issues such as anxiety or depression. It is interesting to note that Western physicians though have been adapting the notion of "mindfulness" from the Buddhist tradition. The techniques are being used in variety of treatment situations to assist people in their suffering.

Answer 3

I asked this question, or one close to it, on the bswa.org forums and was told basically what others have already said, Buddhism doesn't really care where it all came from, just how to get out of the suffering, although it was stipulated that the Buddha said the start of the situation we are in now had to do with ignorance.

Just last night I was watching an hour special on the Mandelbrot Set and fractals on google video and at the end they quoted Sri Aurobindo, a 18th century Hindu politician and mystic and, although Hinduism and Buddhism differ in many many ways, I thought this was an interesting quote and might pertain.

"And it is this....Existence that multiplied itself for the sheer delight of being and plunged into numberless trillions of forms so that it might find itself innumerably"

But you are right about Buddhism being flexible to science. Ajahn Brahm once said that Buddhism bends the faith to fit the facts as opposed to many religions view to bend the facts to fit the faith.

Answer 4

It should be noted that while Buddhist monks contribute little directly to a given society, their advice is taken as sage in cultures, such as the Confucian Age in old China.

Soceities inspired by Buddhist thought tend to be more scientific, yet less driven by preconcieved notions. Buddhism has never been able to completely shed itself of the tribal Gods and Goddesses of the cultures of its ancient ancestry (Neither has Christianty, inspired by Mithras, Judiasm and Zoroastriansim).

However, Buddhism already embraces spiritual and philosophical evolution as fact. The mechanics that Darwin theorised about can be seen as uneccesary details by some, and ho-hummed as an "interesting elaboration" by others. And to more dogma oriented Buddhists, evolution is either embraced or is denied out-right.

Answer 5

I looked into Buddhism for awhile, now I'm just against organized religion but find myself very spiritual, but from what I remember:

Buddhism doesn't really care how the universe was created, it is found irrelevent on the path on enlightenment and nirvana. Buddhism does not say that there is a god or a creator, but nor do they say that there is not a god or a creator.

Answer 6

Buddhism is all wishful thinking. . .and laziness.

The general idea is that nothing matters except enlightenment, which comes from within. Unlike science, which is concerned with studying what exists and solving problems.