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Science vs Faith

Rick O'Shez

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
Thief said:
dogma is a belief unsupported by evidence (religious)
a good science explanation is a belief.....when unsupported
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Most religious belief is unsupported by evidence.

An unsupported science explanation is not a good one.
 
Rick O'Shez

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
ben d said:
So how do you practice the Buddhist religion in a way that is not the Buddhist religion?
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People have different ideas about Buddhism. Some view it as a religion, some view it as a philosophy, some as something in between. Some say it is necessary to take on certain beliefs, others regards beliefs as counterproductive and view it as a path of exploration and discovery. And so on. In any case, Buddhism is pluralistic and diverse, there are many schools and many approaches.

In recent years I have focussed on satipatthana practice, based on the four frames of reference in the Satipatthana Sutta. This involves closely observing aspects of experience, and is effectively a phenomenological approach.
 
Ben Dhyan

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
Rick O'Shez said:
People have different ideas about Buddhism. Some view it as a religion, some view it as a philosophy, some as something in between. Some say it is necessary to take on certain beliefs, others regards beliefs as counterproductive and view it as a path of exploration and discovery. And so on. In any case, Buddhism is pluralistic and diverse, there are many schools and many approaches.

In recent years I have focussed on satipatthana practice, based on the four frames of reference in the Satipatthana Sutta. This involves closely observing aspects of experience, and is effectively a phenomenological approach.
Click to expand...
What is the goal of this practice?
 
ratikala

ratikala

Istha gosthi
Namaskaram Mr O'shez ji

Rick O'Shez said:
Ultimately insight into emptiness is said to be the basis for attaining Nirvana, as the Heart Sutra describes:
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please may I ask do you have proof that Nirvana is attainable or do you take these teachings in Good faith ?

"The Bodhisattva of Compassion,
When he meditated deeply,
Saw the emptiness of all five skandhas
And sundered the bonds that caused
him suffering."
http://www.fwbo-news.org/resources/heart_sutra.pdf
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Surely meditating thus and seeing the emptiness of all phenomena , what can be scientificaly proven becomes invalid as it relates only to material matter which is transient and illusuory , ....

in other words Science in all its briliance can only take one so far in the attainment of knowledge as it can only analise or identify matter , or lack of matter , .....therefore it can relate only to material existance , thus if we wish to attain knowledge of that which goes beyond material existance this surely requires Faith ?
 
Rick O'Shez

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
ratikala said:
Surely meditating thus and seeing the emptiness of all phenomena , what can be scientificaly proven becomes invalid as it relates only to material matter which is transient and illusuory , ....
in other words Science in all its briliance can only take one so far in the attainment of knowledge as it can only analise or identify matter , or lack of matter , .....therefore it can relate only to material existance , thus if we wish to attain knowledge of that which goes beyond material existance this surely requires Faith ?
Click to expand...

We are working to different assumptions. For me it is about exploration and observation, looking closely at the nature of experience and mind. I'm not too concerned with metaphysical theories and beliefs, they are mostly speculation and don't seem that relevant. Clinging to such beliefs can also distort perception, I would rather keep an open mind and see where the exploration actually leads.
 
`mud

`mud

Just old
Premium Member
Ahhhhh...Nirvana.....
what eternity cloaks your being,
and what infinity hides your depth.
~
I fear no one will attain such.
~
'mud
 
Rick O'Shez

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
Thief said:
you may have to validate that transient mind
and then explain why it's empty
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Close observation is the way to do it, aka mindfulness. It quickly becomes apparent that our experience is continually changing, and that it all arises in dependence on conditions.
 
ratikala

ratikala

Istha gosthi
Namaskaram ,

Rick O'Shez said:
We are working to different assumptions. For me it is about exploration and observation, looking closely at the nature of experience and mind. I'm not too concerned with metaphysical theories and beliefs, they are mostly speculation and don't seem that relevant. Clinging to such beliefs can also distort perception, I would rather keep an open mind and see where the exploration actually leads.
Click to expand...

by this measure you are calling other peoples observations and experience Speculation ?

similarly keeping an open mind surely would require us not to dismiss the experience and observations of others , ...?
 
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