Cosmology and Buddhist Thought is the result of a conversation with astrophysicist and television celebrity, Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson, that took place in New York at the end of May, 2011. While cosmologists look at the outer space with massive instruments and difficult calculations using mathematics, Buddhists look at inner space with mindfulness and concentration. Both paths lead to insights about fundamental questions about why and how we got here, what we are doing here, what are our connections and interactions with the universe, and what is our destiny. Cosmologists study life on earth from an objective point of view and examine its causes. Buddhists study life on earth with regard to understanding its challenges and how to resolve them. Both Buddhism and cosmology recognize that we live in an emerging, evolving, and impermanent universe – everything is changing. Dr. Tyson’s insights into the origins of life on earth, time scales, ecology, and religion are inspiring, to say the least, and extremely wise to read and contemplate. His responsiveness to Buddhist ideas of co-dependent arising, interbeing (interconnectedness), impermanence, the self, nirvana, and consciousness demonstrates much more than a “Reader’s Digest knowledge of Buddhism.” A close reading of the conversation reveals that Buddhist thought does not have much to contribute to cosmology. Cosmology, on the other hand, has a lot to contribute to Buddhism. Excerpts from Cosmology and Buddhist Thought recently appeared on the Lion’s Roar Blog.
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CONTENTS
DEDICATION III
CONTENTS I
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS III
PREFACE V
1 INTRODUCTION 7
2 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE COSMOS 13
THE BIG BANG 13
THE SOLAR SYSTEM 14
THE EARTH 14
LIFE 15
3 FOUNDATIONS OF BUDDHIST THOUGHT 17
INTRODUCTION 17
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS 18
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH 19
Right View 20
Right Speech 21
Right Thought 21
Right Action 22
Right Livelihood 22
Right Diligence 22
Right Mindfulness 23
Right Concentration 23
CO-DEPENDENT ORIGINATION 24
INTERBEING 25
EMPTINESS AND NON-SELF 25
4 THE STORIES WE TELL 27
5 ORIGINS AND THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE 31
6 EXOPLANETS 35
7 CO-DEPENDENT ARISING, INTERBEING, AND IMPERMANENCE 39
8 TIME SCALES 45
9 BUDDHIST THOUGHT AND THE SELF 51
10 NIRVANA 55
11 ECOLOGY 59
12 CONSCIOUSNESS 61
13 RELIGION 65
14 MINDLESS CONSUMPTION 71
15 DON’T DISPAIR – TAKE ACTION 79
16 CLOSING REMARKS 81
17 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 83
Also by Dr. Freedman 84
Guided Meditation Recordings 84
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