The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality by The Dalai Lama.

3/5 rating. 209 pages.

Book #21 of 2021. Read March 3, 2021.

This book shares some of the Dalai Lama’s thoughts and views on the future of science and Buddhism and what the two areas can learn from one another.

One of the most appealing parts of Buddhism to me is its willingness to not only engage in discussions of topics that may at first seem at odds with it, but even more so to accept where it may have been wrong in the past and learn. The Dalai Lama especially has been a huge proponent of Tibetan Buddhism working with scientists to better the world.

This book goes through many tenets of Buddhism and shows the parallels with scientific thought and the scientific method. It gets pretty deep at points into the canon and ideas espoused by Buddhists, but I think it does a great job of comparing and contrasting science and spirituality.

The Dalai Lama talks about the importance of faith groups to take what science has shown as true and to learn where there are better explanations for certain ideas. On the other hand, as he rightly says: “There is more to human existence and to reality itself than current science can ever give us access to.”

Science may one day be able to explain what goes through our minds while feeling awe in a Redwood forest or at a beautiful sunset, but this is not the most important thing to know about these experiences. Science is a necessity in our lives, but science also needs to learn how to engage our subjective experiences into it to fully grasp what it means to be human.

Quotes:

“[U]nderstanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.”

“The central question – central for the survival and well-being of our world – is how we can make the wonderful developments of science into something that offers altruistic and compassionate service for the needs of humanity and the other sentient beings with whom we share this earth.”

“Science and technology are powerful tools, but we must decide how best to use them. What matters above all is the motivation that governs the use of science and technology, in which ideally heart and mind are united.”

“Why does modern biology accept only competition to be the fundamental operating principle and only aggression to be the fundamental trait of living beings? Why does it reject cooperation as an operating principle, and why does it not see altruism and compassion as possible traits for the development of living beings as well?”

“However, I do believe that, as a society, we must accept a degree of humility toward the limits of our scientific knowledge of ourselves and the world we live in.”

“The idea of the ‘survival of the fittest’ has been misused to condone, and in some cases to justify, excesses of human greed and individualism and to ignore ethical models for relating to our fellow human beings in a more compassionate spirit.”

“Science’s power to affect the environment, indeed to change the course of the human species as a whole, has grown great. As a result, for the first time in history, our very survival demands that we consider ethical responsibility not just in the application of science but in the direction of research and development of new realities and technology as well. It is one thing to use the study of neurobiology, psychology, and even Buddhist theory of mind to try to become happier, to change our minds through deliberate cultivation of positive states of mind. But when we begin manipulating genetic codes, both of ourselves and of the natural world in which we live, how much is too much? This is a question that must be considered by scientists as well as the public at large.”

“All human beings have an equal value and an equal potential for goodness. To ground our appreciation of the value of a human being on genetic makeup is bound to impoverish humanity, because there is so much more to human beings than their genomes.”

“Education needs to provide not only training in the empirical facts of science but also an examination of the relationship between science and society at large, including the ethical questions raised by new technological possibilities.”

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