A Buddhist View on Science

The Annual Academic Conference on Science and Mathematics is a good activity that should be conducted frequently in the “Era of Globalization”. Whereas the information has spread throughout the world so quickly, if all of you do not pursue the latest movement of scientific and mathematical fields of knowledge as the information for interchanging, you might become the teacher who falls behind. It is because Science and Mathematics disciplines have developed the new conception all at time. For example the knowledge and information of genetics discipline doubles every two years and accomplishes in cloning eventually. All of you who teach Science and Mathematics have to access the advancement of this educational filed by interacting as good fellows for exchanging opinion in seminar. If teachers failure to pursue academic activities in the field they taught, it is not only teachers but students may lost their benefits that ought to be gained. Therefore, regarding on the students’ benefit, all teachers need to seek disciplinary knowledge up to date all the time.

          Nevertheless, a follow up study of the movement of science and technology, we might raise the issue of questions into two forms: asking as internal and external questions.

The so-called “asking as internal questions” refers to questioning from the perspectives of educators in Science and technology such as “What is atom?”, “How is the procedures and stages to produce nuclear energy?”, etc. For “asking as external questions” refers to questioning from the perspectives of people outside science and technology fields such as “How many advantages or disadvantages of nuclear energy toward the world?” “How would the world be, if there had never been discovered the nuclear energy?” and so on.

Today, the questions concerned with science and technology from the perspective of Buddhism will be addressed. For example, “Does Science conflict with Buddhism?” “Does scientific knowledge proclaim the ultimate reality?” “What are the limitations of science and technology?” “If religion today proclaims the reality that disagrees with the scientific theory, most people will believe in which side?”

For the latter question we probably reply that if religious teaching is inconsistent with science, most people will believe in science. This is because now we are in the power of an age of science.