THE NEW
FrkMiy,Junr幾1934
why shibiiid any onV Wanf to ，ntertもi^e wはh tho death、 of Ya8uye,or: my brother, or the 自lrims who fell from the brldねe of SanLufs Rey?
iSodseeb the lはtle sparrQw fall, but He doesn't Interfere. Why should He, when death Is肪natural as giving blrth7
But again, If death is not the end but merely 8 passage from one狄lstence to another or Into the Kingdom of God, why do we make such a fuss or go Into blue funk?
The answer Is: because we're (Programmed that way. We have an Instinctive will to live, even after death. In addけlon， all of us are provided, even the born邻aln Christians, with a smidgen of doubt about the realけy of eternal lけe， perhaps to give our lives alけtle extra spice.
No amount of believing is going to make eternal fact a reaHty,けけis not a reaHty.
On the other hand, If there really Is eternal Hfe， why, thanks, that would be rather nice.
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By ROY SATO
Gautamaゅd ,dha« the founder of oui" religion, was a philosopher, scientist, His teachings onゅe |m-permanence and ev，r《hanglnoき ture of all thinga' the endl6ss coming Into being' the Inevitable decay and death of all creatures and things, the elemental nature of the unlyerse, the forces and energi", the volitions, the consclo"ness, the power of human love, truth, the salvation power of the Buddha's Compassion, the consequences of evil and hatred, of Nirvana — the uUlmate goal, are all Ideas much affirmed by today's philosophers, psychologists and scientists.
In the field of cosmology, the newest hypothesis confirm some of the Buddha's teachings of two and a half millenniums ago. Apparently, the Buddha came to know everything, all about natural phenomena, all about human nature, through his Incredible powers of observation, concentration and meditation.
It was not necessary for him to have the use of the complex tools of modern technology. By contemplating on the single grain of sand of the Ganges River, by seeing and grl':vlng at the death of an old man, or observing the melting snows of the Hゅa-layas, or mecMtatIng on the colours of the butterfly, or the tender love between mother and child, he came to know the truth about everything.
Frpm this one man's teaching have developed hundreds of schools of religious practices.はis steadily increasing Its influence and gaining new converts, especially in Europe.
When a person "discovers" Buddhism, one js attracted by the fact that the Tathagaはnever proclaimed himself to be the messenger of a supernatural beaing. He never made any prophecies. Instead, hQ taught about the true nature of things, but especially about the human mind and heart. He taught how one event, or CO ndはion, results from other evenはor condけiorts. His teachings banished superstはions.
Above all, he preached that we may attain Nirvana. In the course of his 45 years of tireless missions, he used many different methods and approaches, and covered almost every conceivable subject. One of the topics often commented upon is the field of science known today as cosmology. Throughout the thousands of volumes of sutras and commentaries are numerous statsmsnts and teachings which reveal the cosmos. Some' of the most important concepts are as follows.
When the present universe began, and whenけw…end; how the present universe began, and how It w川end:
Cosm0legists catculate that the universe, as we know it， began with a "big bang" at some point in time between 13 billion to 20 billion years ago. Starting from an infinけely tiny point, the universe has expanded at almost the speed of light. Perhaps it w川expand for another 20 billion years, then begin to contract. About 50 billion years from now, this universe may end in a "big stop", into a "Hnal black hole,', to reappear e,s6wh6r6.
The Buddha's hypothesis is a bit different. The Buddha's "Dust.Cloud Hypothesis" begins from Wank energy. "His eyewけness account of the untverse of energy wけh no planets and stars exはting Inけ；the manner In which energy consolidates form* log tinypa/tfcles floating about In space; the tiny particles coming together forming Into 'Dust Clouds' a!， over the unlvefM; and these dust cloud8 compfdssing in the formaUon of planet8 and s，ars; (]oes past the present stage of tr>e univerM Into the realms bf the dほtant future wtten
糾P画,幽纖濯
the universe devolves and breきup Into dust cloudvand tiny partk:lea, and when, lastiy, everything turns Into energy. TWs proc柳repeats itMlfwlthouUn加d.''
(Refeirencw "The Buddha's Explanation Of The Universe", by C.P. Ra* naslnghe, Lanka Bauddha Mandalaya Fund,lぉ,Turret Road, Colombo 7, Gey l加1957.)
Aはho ugh the Buddha did not mention a "big bang" or a "big stop", the two hypothesis at least seem to beIn the same "ball park". They do not seem to be IrreconcHat^e. This contrasts with Western experience, where Johannes Kepler, the great scientist, around1658 A.D.， set the date of creation at 3,877 B.C., Sun*ィ day, April 27, at": 00 a.m., and Archbishop Ussher vehemently argued that Creation took place on Sunday, October 23， at 8:00 a.m., 4004 B.C.
Are t"re other unlv0rs"7
Yes. There are an infinite number of universes, past, present' and future. The universe that we know shall have only five Buddhas. They areKakusan-da， Konsgama, Kasyapa， Gautama, and Metteyya (a future Buddha, the final one for this universe).
Shinran Shonin, the founder of our Jodo Shinshu Buddhism has declared: "Sakyamuni Buddha appeared In India solely to proclaim this boundless mercy of the Devine Promise." This promise is revealed in the Larger Sukhavativyuha-Sutra (dai Muryoju Kyo). Included in this sutra Is the Sanbutsuge: Praises-of the Buddha. The fourth stanza reads as follows:
"The virtues of the Tathagata are innumerable and broad. "His knowledge is deep; His majestic light川u-minates the thousand worlds. I (Dhar. makara Bodhisattva)， after attaining Buddhahood and becoming master of the Dharma， may I deliver mankind from birth and death."
The "thousand worlds" refers to every concievable universe. In Nけ-vana, every sentient being is forever saved.
Why the existence of a universe?
As a rule, cosmologists do not spend much time on the philosophical why's and wherefore's of the existence of our universe. However, even for scientists, there is a temptation to wonder about the meta-■ physical unknowables. Thus, in the "anthropにprinciple", co smolo gists have tried to explain the presence of Hfe in this universe, by arguing that the presence of life in this universe, may "explain'' the conditions existing in this universe which are favourable to the emergence of lけe on earth.
Aはho ugh there are numerous books and articles that explain the complex computations and ideas , the reader is dはected to the article, "The Anthropic Principle" by George Gale, in the Scientけic American, De^ cember1981.After one has read Pro fessor Gale's a巾cle, one may ask, "If the existence of life explains the existence of a universe, is there a Divine ft，ind that has willed this crea. tion? And for what purpose?
Happily, for the truly religious peO" pie,けdoes not matter at all when or how the universe started, or when or howけwill disappear.
The Dharma teaches us how to behave, think, act, speak, see, hear, medけate; tolove; to refrain from hatred: to redte the Onembutsu.
Through true religion one finds contentment, happiness, purposeful, ness, and eternal salvation. The mysteries of the unlverses~ are unexplained, but this very day, the reci. tat Ion of the OMmbuUu, In a splrU of thanWulMSS for HotoKe幼ma's Absolute Compassion, can bring great joy. Right now, an act of ap> precWion to a friend, a stranger, a
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