最后，我们既然知道了佛教是科学且又超越科学的，那我们就要摆正对科学的态度，首先我们作为学佛、信佛的人在思想就不要反对科学，或者不接受科学，如果反对，或不接受那就是错误的思想，这里我就想起98年，在南京栖霞山护送佛牙到缅甸去，我经常听一个给我们翻译的少校讲，他们国家落后，他们永远骂几个佛教长老，原因是在五六十年代，他们国家就准备向法国引进制造玻璃的先进技术，可是他们在河边试验，因为一爆炸就炸死许多鱼，于是，几位长老就向国家强烈要求，不许引进这种技术，它是杀生的，于是他们国家就不引进这个科学方面的技术，使他们国家比先进国家落后近百年。你说这不接受科学，给国家带来损失多大，我们不管他是什么，他还是人为的，看我们怎样利用。其次我们对科学和佛教之间也要摆明态度，佛教是科学的，但不一定科学都是佛学的，佛教是释迦牟尼悟到了宇宙人生的真理，证得的实相，而科学呢，却还是在不断摸索前进的东西，有的是后一个理论推翻前一个论断，将来的理论或许会推翻现在的论断，而我们佛教的理论，从来不会变，佛陀时代是这样提，2500多年过去了，现在还是这样提，并且还没人能推翻，将来还是这样提，故佛教和科学原则上冲突的，我们要依佛教的。第三，我们作为佛教徒都应有责任，把科学发明的一切引导善的一方面来福利众生，科学本身不坏，要看我们怎样利用。我们有责任向国家、向人民、向专家劝导，不要用科学来害人。现在科学对人类或社会带来许多的不利因素，我们看以后怎样引导。总之，我要用科学来福利社会、人类，抑制不利于社会人类的因素，即我们要用科学的武器在菩提道上添砖加瓦，又要用他来斩妖降魔，为庄严国土，利乐有情，早日将娑婆世界(地球)变为极乐世界而努力。

Buddhism is science and more than science

TongRui

It is ages that science are high development,being well used and researched.At the same time ,some people have question that Buddhism will meet the biggest challenge and concussion---and thought that never talk about Buddhism and science together, they are just incompatible as fire and water.,taking both of them as confilict things.it’s pale that especially at the time of our Buddhist talking about science.However,don’t you know our Buddhism is a science,not only a science and more than science.

How to show the idea of the problem?

First,both of them have the same aim.In order to look for the truth,Buddhism look for the truth since Sayka prince gave up kingship and turned over the wall of King-city,and later awakened under Buddha’s tree,finally he got the truth of the universe and life.and science is still trying to reveal the secrets of the universe and discover the truth of universe life.The same of their aims are benefiting human beings ,reducing the disasters and pains of people.Also many different religions researched the universe and life,truth of the world,the concept of science was resulted from the western and had a history which is shorter than religion.In some western countries,they have some religions gave explaination to universe and life,such as:God created human beings” and Jesue Allah can save human beings.Due to the western’s disagreement on the thinking,so they have borned a science which called Antitheism under the fundation of taking consideration from the reality,analysising and solving problems from objective terms.such as Einstein said:no matter due to fear or needs of morality,though they may have limit between good ones and bad ones if it had conflicted with religion.they have a common feature which is personate of God,however what a coincidence is that Buddhism never agree it,and Buddha also never take himself as a demiurge.Buddhism think that they can only tell buddhist ways of being away from pains and getting happiness.Buddhism is an educator of religione but not a magician.it never promoted that he can take responsibility for others,but to persuade people to be brave to take responsibilty for themselves,Buddhism disagree that there is no God which can master all the world,everything is belongs to the world,everybody’s life belongs to themseleves.also opposing to believe any ghosts and gods.and this is difficult for the religions which require their believer believing ghosts and gods to compare with.If we must take Buddhism as a religion,it must be religion which promoted antitheism,and the thinking meet with science very well.

Second,theories of Buddhism,ways of life,and rules of Buddhism ,certainly they are some science theories.In the hand of theory,Buddhism is not for research,but for the pains of people,then look back for the truth of the universe and essence of life.In the process，they found some theoies such as ; the universe is so large and it has no space limited,numbers in the world are too much to account,consequently it could be just described as dust in sky or sand in Ganges?Of course,nobody really knows how many dust and sand does sky and Ganges exactly have .In the worlds,not only does the earth have life(all flesh in Buddhism) but many other worlds(Buddhism means other- worldly)do.such as Eastern Glazed World,Hierach YaoShi Buddha,Western Pure Land, Hierarch Amitabha,meanwhile it also has Arya Avalokiteshvara,DaShiZhi Buddhisattava and countless Buddhist took lessons on Amitabha,also described Western Pure Land as follows: It’s ten thousand million metres far away from the western earth,there is a place named Pure Land,but the worlds are not always the same and it was changing all the time,some born ,some dead,some borning ,some dieing.some will born,some will die.they were constant cause and effect.In the terms of time,there is no beginning or end in the universe,this was the theory promoted by Buddhism 2500 years ago.and till now it had proved to be right,However now scientist think that the earth and sun will be disappeared for some certain years later.,but without an anwser what a new world willl turn up.As well as the discovery of microcosmic,Buddhism had a deep research,A book of Buddhist’rules said ,Buddhist watch a bowl of water,finding eighty –four thousand germs,I had eaten meat if I wouldn’t speak incantation when I drink water.6th B.C ago,our Buddha knew there were countless germs just by eyes.(eighty-four thousand germs in Buddhism means countless germs).But till the invention of high developed microscope ,people can prove that Buddhism is ahead of high-tech ages 2500 years ago.

Buddhism is science not only on its theory but also the ways of life.First,Buddhism take a scientific attitude towards the ill of human beings,it can be divided into three kinds,1.if patient got sick by doing something unmoral,it can be get well by chanting sutra and Buddha-work.2.if one got illed naturely,it must to use medicine,in Buddha ages,Buddha himself embrocated a bhikkhu and so on.3.if someone got illed by doing so many bad actions and this was never be saved.Consequently,Buddhism is not the same as other relogion which promoted not to use medicine when got illed.The Buddhism first analysised the life from objective science,which tols us everybody can just have born, old and died onlyi once.Second,it’s also scientific at the details on eating. as a human being,eating is important to us,Buddha requires bhikkhu quantity and time under control,this quite siuts our contemporary medicine rules:living and eating under some certain rules,avoiding eating without any limitation(regarding the rule :no eating after noon,it also has certain reason ,and now here I won’t plan to explain more ).also reading from the scripture,you can see a Chinese sentence reading “Fan Shi Jing Xing” which means one shuould have a walk after meals.so there is also a common saying,hundred walks after meals ,ninty-nine years old you may live.2500 years ago Buddhist had a habit of gargling,eating a branch of a tree named Yang Branch (as there was no toothpaste),Buddhism strongly promoted to be a vegetarian,and now many books are discussing that be a vegetarian is healthy for human beings and can avoid getting illed.In a word,the theory on the way of Buddhism’s life is scientific,though there is no science befor Buddhism setting up.its advanced theory and sense had already meet with science with no question,and a sure thing that there may be sense of science in Buddhism’s living way.Rules of Buddhism also has certain scientificity,such as Buddhist Karma,it’s a domocratic and scientific rule,now political consultative conference,congress and so on have been found in the rule,if you want to decide something ,you must have a certaim number of people or it will not work.

I will not to talk more on the topic that Buddhism is science,this had been admitted even by the scientist,such as famous scientist Einstein once said:if there may be a religion which can meet modern science’s requirements and also may exsit with scientist together,it must be Buddhism”also as Dr Shen Jia Zhen said I am a scientist ,but I am very intrested on Buddhism,I think Buddhism and science exsited with each other.

However,Buddhism is not only science but more than science.

Since Sakyamuni awakened the way under the tree of Buddha,he got the truth of the universe and life,knowing well to the truth of the universe.He can know people’s past and future clearly,this was named absolutely reality,it beyond all the language and logic. Meanings can not be expressed by language and by thinking.It was well knowed in Buddhism.Buddha is a sophist,Buddha,and know all about the life in the universe.and nobody or other ninty-six religions cann’t compare,this had been completely beyond people’s thinking and sense.and now technology can’t achieve.Meanwhile science is a unclear matter as well as the problem that when some Buddhist were been fired after death there may be found Buddha’s relics,some Buddhist may be welcomed with light by Buddha after died.lucky phenomenon,physci power,and meditation and so on.these were never be answered,if science want to research these problems and there is no idea that how many years shall we get the answer.,or it’s a problem that whether science can make it clear or not.The science group even can’t realize that Buddhist theory had been beyond all the languages and logic.the reasons were that science must take equipment and sense organ,its development and research may also limited in knowing appearance,namely it can just use phenomena to explain phenomena,can not do research into the essence,and have no idea on knowing absolutely reality of “Yuan Qi Wu Zi Xing”,just do research by using man’s sense organ,this as if the smoke moving up from the fire,and being more and more far away from the fire and finally disappeared.it does not know the essece of things.So scientist Qian Xue Seng said,once we just know to research the matters outside of our bodies,and never do research on the inner construction of our bodies,actually our inner body is a top science,we can’t deny the exsistence of soul. the greatest scientist Eistain said: without science,religion is just like a lame man,and if there is no religion,science is even like a blind man .Our forthrunner of revolutionary Sun Zhong Shan had also said,Buddhism is monther of philosophy,do research on Buddhism can make up the shortage of science and law.Consequently,Buddhism has feature of science,but more than science,it includes more subjects than science such asphilosophy,education,nedicine,art,construction，literature，and language，it had completely beyond the sense of science.

At last ,though we know that Buddhism is science and more than science,we should take a right attitude on science.First,as our Buddhist don’t refuse science,or oppose science,if so ,it’s a wrong idea.Here it remind me of that in 1998,we escort Buddha’s tooth from Buddhist Collegue of Xixia Mountain in Nanjing to Burma,A major interpreter always told us,as their country were out of time,they blamed the Buddhist elder for refusing to introduce a technology of producing glass from France into Burma ,but when they were having a test at the side of a river,it blasted many small fishes,so the Buddhist persuade their country not introducing the technology due to it killed so many lives.and this made their country fall behind other counties hundreds of years.What a lost did it bring to their country.so no matter what it is or it was made by man,the key point is how we make use of it.Second,we should take a right attitude to treat science and Buddhism,Buddhism is science,but not all the science is Buddhism,Buddhism had got the truth of the universe after Sakyamuni got and proved the truth.But science is still developing by groping the ways,and some new theories cancel the old ones.and future ones cancel existing ones.However Buddhism theory never be changed since ages of Buddha for 2500 years ,nobody can cancel it,today it will not be changed and future won’t either,Consequently if there is a conflict between Buddhism and science,we should follow Buddhism’s theory.Third,as a Buddhist,we should be responsible for bringing benefit to our human beings by making good use of science,we are responsible for persuading country ,experts and people not to use science to hurt human beings.Now science had brought us so many bad effects,we should give it a right direction of guiding.In a word ,we should make good use of science to benefit society and human beings,refuse the bad effect,that’s to say,we should make science as our arms to make our Buddhism better，aslo use it to kill bogey and belial.in order to make our earth to a pure land as early as we can.

作者简介：

通睿，贵州省佛教协会常务理事、安顺市西城区东林寺住持。