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28th out of 242 books
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The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality
Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world, and in their wake have left an uneasy coexistence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical inquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality?
After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientif...more
After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientif...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
September 12th 2006
by Morgan Road Books
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very few people are able to give me hope about mankind and our future as a species. the dalai lama delivers that and so much more in all his books, but this one stands out to me because of my interest in science, and especially my fascination with (if complete misunderstanding of) the universe and quantum physics, etc. this book contains all those big universe questions that are usually way too scary to ask (where did time begin? how big is space? what existed before the big bang?) but presents ...more
This was a pretty nice exploration of the intersection of Science and Buddhist religion. The Dalai Lama came at this material from a very humble standpoint and makes that his religion could be greatly improved by approaching it from the standpoint of science (e.g. he admits that Buddhist cosmology is hopelessly archaic and should be replaced with current models).
Interestingly, he also points to some current research where Buddhist monastic disciplines have made contributions to the ...more
Interestingly, he also points to some current research where Buddhist monastic disciplines have made contributions to the ...more
This is a brilliant book. The Dalai Lama's theme is that science's emphasis on non-personal, "third-person" study and religion's emphasis on "first person" experience and awareness could be complementary.
If you have heard the Dalai Lama speak in his non-native tongue (English), he is a fantastic personality and he smiles a lot, but his communication is limited. It is a pleasure to read his ideas written first and then translated into English. This book reveals ...more
If you have heard the Dalai Lama speak in his non-native tongue (English), he is a fantastic personality and he smiles a lot, but his communication is limited. It is a pleasure to read his ideas written first and then translated into English. This book reveals ...more
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With this book, the Dalai Lama shows that he is at once the most spiritual of persons, and the most practical. In
The Universe In A Single Atom, he shows one possible method for people living in the modern age of nuclear power, quantum physics and genetic engineering to combine the knowlege of science with the wisdom of spirituality. Just as Einstein thought that religion without science is blind and science without religion is lame, the Dalai Lama believes that "spirituality an...more
For all my introspection and soul-searching on the subject of how to integrate Western science into my philosophical views of the world, I wish that I had read this book years ago – it would have saved me a lot of hard thinking on my own. Ouch. As it turns out, the Dalai Lama has been on a decades-long campaign to import much of the Western science canon into the training of new Tibetan Buddhist monks. A large part of the book is spent discussing where science fails (reductionism/materialism...more
Anne
rated it
Recommends it for:
those interested in science and/or spirituality
Shelves:
spirituality
I enjoyed the book and probably would have given it a higher rating had I had more of a science background. Despite the fact that the Dalai Lama has had no offical science training, he is quite knowledgeable on the subject. I respect his attempt at tying in the spiritual world with the world of science. He believes it is important to extend science to the understanding of all humanity, whether, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. etc. The Dalai Lama is clearly highly intelectual....more
This is the first book I've read by HHDL. I was most interested in his descriptions, conceptions, and usages of quantum mechanics and metaphysics. HHDL starts off with a strong discussion of the people in his life, many of them being prominent religious and scientific scholars, that introduced him to scientific fields and theories leading to important philosophical paradigm shifts.
His discussion of ramifications of these shifts was the most profound and thought-provoking aspect of the ...more
His discussion of ramifications of these shifts was the most profound and thought-provoking aspect of the ...more
Donna
is currently reading it
modern science has moved away from reductionism as end in itself. It first required reductionism as a means of understanding the pieces that made up reality. Understanding these pieces has made things like environmental justice practices flourish, for example, while some got caught up in the weeds of this research seeing the trees for the forest and assuming that all human experiences were reduceable and therefore drained of meaning. Science currently teaches, now, what is called a systems appro...more
I have listened to this in audiobook format easily a dozen times or more. It's read by Richard Gere, one of Dalai Lama's (DL) close friends and devotees, which makes for easy listening. What I love about the book is the DL's unprejudiced open-minded search for truth in the sciences. He exhibits the Zen teaching (yes, I know he himself is not a practioner of Zen, but the point holds) of having a "beginner's mind" as he sat at the feet of many intellectuals and high-profile scientists...more
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I can't remember the last book I read that so far exceeded my expectations. As soon as I finished the book I flipped right back to the first page and started all over again. I'm about half-way through the second read now, and I still find myself jotting down notes, re-reading passages, and taking long moments to pause and contemplate the profound ideas put forth in this text. I've never read a book by the Dalai Lama before, and to be honest I wasn't expecting him to be all that skilled of a writ...more
This was a fascinating look at modern science as it relates to religion, particularly Buddhism, from the perspective of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama knew much more about science than I ever expected, and he discusses in detail concepts like quantum mechanics, special relativity, the space-time continuum, the Human Genome Project, and genetics. His assertion is that science and religion, kept separate for so long, could greatly benefit by coming together. He uses specific examples of traditi...more
Fresh off of reading books by the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, this was an interesting change of scenery.
The Dalai Lama draws comparisons between the disciplines of science and Buddhism. Buddhism, he notes, has many schools of thought and is comfortable with the idea that there can be competing viewpoints and no exclusive claim to the final truth. If one is compelled to engage with spirituality, this seems to be the only sensible mindset.
Less convi...more
The Dalai Lama draws comparisons between the disciplines of science and Buddhism. Buddhism, he notes, has many schools of thought and is comfortable with the idea that there can be competing viewpoints and no exclusive claim to the final truth. If one is compelled to engage with spirituality, this seems to be the only sensible mindset.
Less convi...more
This is a fascinating book, in which the Dalai Lama put ideas gleaned from modern science - including quantum physics, neurobiology, and theories of evolution - into play with ideas drawn from Buddhism. Immensely readable, it gets only three stars from me because science is not my strongest suit, and there were moments, down among the quarks, when I completely lost track of what was happening. If you're better at science than I am, you'll probably like this book even more - feel free to pin mo...more
Favorite Quotes:
“My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding 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.” (3)
"One of the most important philosophical insights in Buddhism comes from what is known as the theory o...more
“My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding 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.” (3)
"One of the most important philosophical insights in Buddhism comes from what is known as the theory o...more
Very complicated and tedious to read through at times. It jumps around, is repetitive, and self aggrandizing at times with constant name dropping. But I don't feel any of it was intentional. So, if you can persevere, you'll get some thought provoking reading. It reads like a stream of consciousness and it's all very abstract, hard to wrap your mind around. The best part was the last chapter and its discussion on the need for ethics and morality in science, for the need to draw the line some...more
Kudos to the Dalai Lama for attempting to write such a book. The Dalai Lama deserves credit on opening a dialogue, and putting himself out there with his views. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama demonstrates some fundamental misunderstandings about science and the scientific method. For example, the buddhist doctrine of emptiness has nothing to do with quantum mechanics. (This is just the tip of the magical-thinking iceberg.) It seems that a sequel should be written "Atom in a Universe: the con...more
I find it encouraging that the Dalai Lama is so open to new scientific ideas. Our world is changing at such a rapid rate. The ideas exploding into the field of physics are absolutely revolutionizing the way we view reality. It is interesting to hear some Buddhist commentary on the advancements of our age. I really enjoyed the last bit where he talked about some of the ethical consequences of bio genetic engineering, and was proud that he addressed this issue with such a strong stance for both pl...more
I almost gave it a four because of the Lama's scientific name dropping but it does such a good job of dealing with the importance of incorporating science into religion(or religion into science if you are so inclined). I would love to talk to this man and you can be sure that I'd drop his name everywhere I went.
Shirari Industries
rated it
Recommends it for:
buddhists, scientists, philosophers
Recommended to Shirari by:
isaac
I'm a humanistic skeptic and an anarchist, so I have an uneasy relationship with organized religion. And yet, many people who are dear to me care deeply about and believe in one religion or another, and I really dig certain aspects of many religions. So I try to keep an open mind. A Buddhist friend loaned this book to me and it was just what I needed. It made me love the Dalai Lama. He's a smart guy, a science lover, who's changing the way that Buddhism is taught (he hosts science and spirituali...more
Wonderful clear exposition of likely the most important issue facing scientifically minded western Buddhists recently written. His Holiness is, however, seriously mistaken regarding the status of the opportunities to find a useful methodology to study consiousness. He criticizes both behaviorism and cognitive neuroscience as inadequate for vastly different reasons. He needs to go back and take a look at the satisfactory nature of current radical behaviorism in order to find a suitable nexus for ...more
I was just too confused with the concepts and details in this book. I really gave it an honest effort and read as much as I could. This is probably the first book in 8 years that I have started and not finished. I just didn't have it in me.
Theology and science? Where does Buddhism stand, according to the Dalai Lama? If science disproves their beliefs, they change their beliefs. Wish everyone did that. Was recommended by a mentor of mine.
Read by Richard Gere.
Read by Richard Gere.
A book as much about the Buddhist tradition of falsifiable meditative subjective introspection as the scientific tradition of falsifiable quantifiable objective inquiry, and makes a convincing case that both together constitute a wholesome and extremely relevant complete system for understanding the cosmos in which we find ourselves. For if we look always but never find compassion, we've looked in vain. The Dalai Lama namedrops sub atomic physicists, Buddhist philosophers, and Western thinkers...more
J. Benjamin
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in physics, metaphysics, and how it relates to Budhism.
I thought this audiobook was ok, though I kept forgetting from time to time that I wasn't listening to a book written by Richard Gere. Guess I'm just not used to listening to my books.
This is a captivatingly personal account of the Dalai Lama's fascination with science as an expression of the wonder of the world. He's conversed with some of the foremost scientific minds of his generation, and related those conversations to his own (somewhat unorthodox) interpretation of Buddhist thought. What I like best about this book is the insight it gave me into the mind of a man who is not only a religious leader but a curious and insightful mind, and who is unafraid to challenge eith...more
Interesting in concept, but it felt a little too broad for me. While it gave a good general outline and was fairly easy to grasp, I strongly wished for more explanation and details on several points. HH the Dalai Lama did do a wonderful job explaining his ideas, if only he would have gone a bit more in depth. I felt that most of the chapters and the ideas within could easily have been expanded into their own books. Trying to fit so much into such a brief book caused some of the points to suffer ...more
This was just another in a series of interesting sets of ideas I've been reading about the questions of how we define reality and "mind." I enjoyed the book and I came to like the author himself through it. His humility ("I didn't understand xyz") was refreshing.
The questions he posed were great, too. He pointed out that if science refuses to add the 1st person experience into their studies of mind/conscious thought/feelings that they will be doing a disservice to...more
The questions he posed were great, too. He pointed out that if science refuses to add the 1st person experience into their studies of mind/conscious thought/feelings that they will be doing a disservice to...more
This was the first book by the Dali Lama I've ever read, so I did find it interesting. But to be truthful, it was a bit over my head. I really enjoyed some of the more personal side of the Lama. It was cool to see another portrayal of him, than what I always assumed, or expected. I just felt sort of lost in certain parts. I will definitely read it once or twice more and that may, or may not change my opinion. I would recommend this book for people who are genuinely interested in an insider peak ...more
Filosofia ciencia y politica .... los tres mas fuertes ingredientes de todos los acontecimientos sociales del siglo XX y ahora XXI contados por este elegido de BUDA .... no chinguen leanlo jajjaja .... aclara que ninguna de las 3 es la verdad absoluta, y que ninguna puede prescindir de ninguna de las otras dos . Pa que se den un quemon, algunos titulos de capitulos
El vacío budista , la relatividad y la fisica cuantica . Cap 3
El Big Bang y el universo sin comienzo de...more
El vacío budista , la relatividad y la fisica cuantica . Cap 3
El Big Bang y el universo sin comienzo de...more
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“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.”
—
32 people liked it
“...unless the direction of science is guided by a consciously ethical motivation, especially compassion, its effects may fail to bring benefit. They may indeed cause great harm.”
—
2 people liked it
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