05/02/2010 09:43 (GMT+7)
Buddhism, that oldest world religion, is generally
misconceived to be a blind faith. As seen from its outward appearance, really
it is painted with a strong religious color. To a non-Buddhist, who sees the
golden image of Buddha, and hears the chanting of Sanscrit Sutras and the
clinking of the bell, Buddhism is nothing but idolatry; in view of their
passive life, Buddhists of the Order are said to be "social
parasites". However, on the contrary, whatever is expounded in Buddhism,
down to every minor matter, is based on the Teaching of Buddha |
05/02/2010 09:40 (GMT+7)
I want to begin to write
this essay with mentioning Prof. Seonglae Park, who is the famous scholar in
the history of science. Prof. Park carefully explained in his heading remarks
of the quarterly journal, Gwahak Sasang(The Thought of Science) how the
West occupied the East, and how the moral civilization of the East has been
changed by the Western mechanic civilization and anticipated the situation of
the coming 21st century world as follows: |
05/02/2010 09:29 (GMT+7)
Most
religions use emotion as the driving force for attaining their goals. Emotion
arouses belief and obedience to the teachings, and emotions, particularly those
which produce faith, are a necessary part of most religions. In other words,
because faith is so crucial to them, emotion is encouraged. In contrast to
other religions, Buddhism stresses wisdom, giving faith a place of importance
only in the initial stages. Even then, faith is used with reservation, as
wisdom is considered to be the prime factor in attaining the goal. |
05/02/2010 09:20 (GMT+7)
To talk of Buddhism we must first talk about its
origins. I have suggested that the origin of religion was the fear of danger,
but this is not true of Buddhism, which arose from the fear of suffering.
Please note this distinction. Dealing with the origins of religion we talk
about danger, but when dealing with Buddhism we talk about suffering, which has
a more specific meaning. The fear of danger has its object in external factors,
such as floods, earthquakes, and so on, but suffering includes all the problems
experienced in life, including those within the mind. |
05/02/2010 09:13 (GMT+7)
Buddhism
goes beyond modern science in its acceptance of a wider field of knowledge than
is allowed by the scientific mind. Buddhism admits knowledge arising from the
sense organs as well as personal experiences gained though mental culture. By
training and developing a highly concentrated mind, religious experience can be
understood and verified. Religious experience is not something which can be
understood by conducting experiments in a test-tube or examined under a
microscope. |
05/02/2010 09:13 (GMT+7)
I would like to suggest some areas in which science could
be improved upon, beginning with a discussion of "insufficiency."
Science is not sufficient to remedy the problems of the modern day world. To
illustrate, let us look at the situation in the environment. The problem of
conservation is one of the major issues of our time, and science must play a
leading role in dealing with this problem, especially in terms of research and
proposals for solutions. |
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