- Home
- FPMT Homepage
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
- Willkommen
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
- Bienvenidos
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
- Bienvenue
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
Visitez le site de notre Editions Mahayana pour les traductions, conseils et nouvelles du Bureau international en français.
Voici une liste de centres et de leurs sites dans votre langue préférée
- Benvenuto
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
- 欢迎 / 歡迎
简体中文
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称:FPMT。全名:Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻,思维,禅修,修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会,以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
我们全力创造和谐融洽的环境, 为人们提供解行并重的完整佛法教育,以便启发内在的环宇悲心及责任心,并开发内心所蕴藏的巨大潜能 — 无限的智慧与悲心 — 以便利益和服务一切有情。
FPMT的创办人是图腾耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。我们所修习的是由两位上师所教导的,西藏喀巴大师的佛法传承。
繁體中文
護持大乘法脈基金會”( 英文簡稱:FPMT。全名:Found
ation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ) 是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞, 思維,禪修,修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會,以便讓一切眾生都能 夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。 我們全力創造和諧融洽的環境,
為人們提供解行並重的完整佛法教育,以便啟發內在的環宇悲心及責 任心,並開發內心所蘊藏的巨大潛能 — 無限的智慧與悲心 – – 以便利益和服務一切有情。 FPMT的創辦人是圖騰耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。
我們所修習的是由兩位上師所教導的,西藏喀巴大師的佛法傳承。 察看道场信息:
- FPMT Homepage
- News/Media
-
- Study & Practice
-
-
- About FPMT Education Services
- Latest News
- Programs
- Online Learning Center
-
-
*If a menu item has a submenu clicking once will expand the menu clicking twice will open the page.
-
-
- Centers
-
- Teachers
-
- Projects
-
-
-
-
*If a menu item has a submenu clicking once will expand the menu clicking twice will open the page.
-
-
- FPMT
-
-
-
-
-
To put an end to our samsaric suffering, we must do two things: One is to purify the negative actions we’ve done every day of our lives and in our infinite previous lives as well. We also have to change our minds and actions and abstain from creating further negativities.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
-
-
-
- Shop
-
-
-
The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
-
-
28
Book Review: ‘Buddhist Biology’
Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science
By David P. Barash; Reviewed by Jacob Sky Lindsley
Some curious students of contemporary Buddhism will be familiar with the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and science. Events like the “Mind and Life” conferences put high-profile scientists in selfies with the Dalai Lama and other well-known Buddhists. While psychology, neurology, and physics have tended to be the disciplines most featured in such prestigious conferences, Dr. Barash’s Buddhist Biology attempts to add biology to this interesting discussion. Though many of the questions he asks are undeniably fascinating and profound, his overall approach seems ill suited to the task.
Before we go into a critique, Barash should be given credit where it is due. He is a buoyant, colorful and playful writer and doesn’t flinch when tackling complex questions. Additionally, his vocal call for human beings to take responsibility for their effect on the planet reveals his overwhelmingly positive motivation. He sees in Buddhism the potential to ground the insights of biology in a way that highlights human moral imperatives. He does a good job of highlighting the sheer wonder of our world and the reader can really feel how much he loves our Earth.
But as a rule, Barash does not entertain discussion on anything that falls outside the boundaries of his worldview. His downright ornery insistence on what he calls the “natural, the real, the material” makes it difficult for him to appreciate the methodology of the Buddhist tradition. While certainly understandable given his training, it nevertheless clouds his discernment and weakens his conclusions.
The book is roughly divided into two exercises: a discussion centered on the ways Barash sees Buddhist philosophy through the lens of contemporary biology, and, a moral argument for acting urgently on climate change. In his discussion of Buddhist philosophy, he comes across as mocking and dismissive of whatever parts of the tradition that do not conform to the philosophy of science. He uses the controversial work of Stephen Batchelor as the main justification for his method, interspersed with cherry-picked quotes from other popular Buddhist figures and Buddhist literature. I imagine that many of these authors would take issue with Barash’s approach – and he suspects as much, admitting that even Stephen Batchelor wouldn’t likely go as far as he does on some issues. It seems that for Barash, the story of biology and his vision of science necessarily have every answer, which makes his book a soliloquy rather than a true dialogue.
Barash’s main issue seems to be that he has difficulty seeing Buddhism as itself, switching between what José Cabezón calls the “identity” and “conflict” models of scientific engagement with Buddhism. In the first model, scientific concepts are “identical” with Buddhist ones, or vice versa. For example, early on Barash regards “Buddha Nature” as a teaching about “biological continuity among all living things” through time. While there is a possibly interesting convergence between the two, there is a highly significant gap between them that he leaves unexplored. In the second model, the two traditions are seen as inherently incompatible or even in “conflict.” We need only refer to the sections where he takes an insulting tone, using terms like “hocus-pocus” and “poppycock,” to refer to scriptural Buddhist ideas such as the knowledge of previous lives.
For a real dialogue to occur, one must be open to putting differences, as well as convergences, into conversation. This third, more responsible approach is what Cabezón calls the “complementarity” model. Complementarity acknowledges that each view (scientific and Buddhist) has something unique to contribute to the pursuit of knowledge. They may have different objects or different methods, but each contributes equally to a valid view of a more holistic reality. Barash doesn’t seem aware of the possibility that Buddhism might have some interesting criticism of his own assumptions. Instead, he seems to instinctively dismiss the strange or unknown as garbage in the name of Buddhist Modernism. This could be because he has not taken the time to thoroughly understand these areas of difference.
At times, Barash seems to have a confused – if not frustratingly wrong – understanding of some Buddhist concepts. For example, in one of the more interesting parts of the book, he asks how the theories of evolution and karma might inform each other. However, rather than examine the merits or weaknesses in the ideas of karma and reincarnation, he simply reduces what can be said about it to the “recycling of atoms and molecules” and proceeds to lament the fact that Buddhism insists on a “soul.” The Buddhist notion of reincarnation is not an easy subject, but to frame karma through the “mind/body” duality of Renaissance Europe is simply a mischaracterization. It doesn’t take much research to know that atman – as the soul and primordial self – was one of the main targets of Buddha’s critique of his Vedic contemporaries. A nuanced appreciation of this point should be basic to any discussion of karma or rebirth. There are too many places in the book where he makes blunders like this, undermining his credibility.
In addition, his monistic materialist reduction makes it difficult for him to rally the reader to his main point. When he attempts to move the discussion to ethical implications, the portrait of a world where free will is impossible and our genes rule behavior fails to inspire. We humans, understood as lumbering biological robots bent on self-preservation, can only encounter his pleas as one more thing to be consumed on our road to procreation and meaningless death. I really wanted Barash to succeed here, but the impersonal limitations of his appeal made it feel stale. One has to wonder whether it really matters if the world destroys itself. What makes one configuration of molecules better than another one?
Barash’s Buddhist Biology is a book about biology, but it has little to do with Buddhism. A more accurate title would be: What Biological Ideas Buddhism Has Too. There is certainly a lot of good information and interesting questions in his work, but readers looking for a conversation between Buddhism and science would do well to find books that engage these questions more maturely and with less speculation, such as the many that have been based on the Mind and Life dialogues. A good start might be Varela and Hayward’s Gentle Bridges. Barash is certainly less than gentle in his treatment of this complex and delicate topic, and his “bridge” looks more like a fortress. For Barash or any author wanting to have a place in these nascent explorations of the intersection of the Buddha and the boson, he or she will need to raise the portcullis and open the gate a bit more.
Published by Oxford University Press
Hardcover US$29.95
http://global.oup.com
- Tagged: book review, mandala, science
- 0
- Home
- News/Media
- Study & Practice
- About FPMT Education Services
- Latest News
- Programs
- New to Buddhism?
- Buddhist Mind Science: Activating Your Potential
- Heart Advice for Death and Dying
- Discovering Buddhism
- Living in the Path
- Exploring Buddhism
- FPMT Basic Program
- FPMT Masters Program
- Maitripa College
- Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program
- Universal Education for Compassion & Wisdom
- Online Learning Center
- Prayers & Practice Materials
- Translation Services
- Publishing Services
- Teachings and Advice
- Ways to Offer Support
- Centers
- Teachers
- Projects
- Charitable Projects
- Make a Donation
- Applying for Grants
- News about Projects
- Other Projects within FPMT
- Support International Office
- Projects Photo Galleries
- Give Where Most Needed
- FPMT
- Shop
Subscribe to FPMT News
Translate*
*powered by Google TranslateTranslation of pages on fpmt.org is performed by Google Translate, a third party service which FPMT has no control over. The service provides automated computer translations that are only an approximation of the websites' original content. The translations should not be considered exact and only used as a rough guide.It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to not harm them.