07/02/2019
The advances in molecular biology (genetics) and its implication for Buddhism
We should be always cautious when comparing hardcore science with religion and when it is about molecular biology, which unravels the secret and the logic of life, we have to be doubly cautious. In any case, we should not even attempt to compare religion with the science. In this small exposition, we will not try to compare two seemingly disparate ways of dealing with human understanding, but try to sketch how Buddhism is affected (or not affected) by the secret and logic of life that is laid bare to us by science.
Applying method peculiar to understanding one subject matter to another is surely going to cause epistemological error, but then many vantage points to understand something might broaden the deeper understanding of "that" something. In this case, Buddhism.
The basic secrets of life are now available to us, starting with the Darwin's understanding of evolution of life which is further sharpened, made clear, corrected by the advancements in science and technology. We begin to understand that all life on the earth is "created" the same way with the basic structural genes, and the "working genes" that creates proteins which are made up of amino acids. This sharpened understanding of logic owes it to great genius like Watson, Crick, Monod, Jacob, to name a few.
However, the philosophical implications of these "secret" and "logic" of life were explored by two geniuses Jacques Monod and Francois Jacob who won the Noble Prize for their pathbreaking research in understanding the process of life. Both of them were not only scientists, but also played active part in the resistance when France was occupied by Germany durning the World War II. While Monod wrote "Chance and Necessity", Jacob wrote "The Logic of Life": two important books. The fascinating story of this is narrated fascinatingly by Sean Carroll in equally fascination book "Brave Genius".
It is now established that the life is chance, it is an accident, and to use the term used by Stephen Jay Gould, a contingency. Monod derived his philosophical foundation from this understanding of life in his great book "Chance and Necessity" in which he detailed out the implications for the humans and their role of new findings. A life long friend of Albert Camus, Monod was a revolutionary and scientist combined, but he was also a great humanist.
If the human life is chance and not a pre-ordained plan of some higher "being", then what is the destiny of human being. Carroll summarised Monod's essential points as under:
1. Biology has revealed that the emergence of humans is the result of chance, and therefore not a matter of any preordained plan.
2. All belief systems that are established on the latter notion are no longer tenable.
3. All ethics and value systems based on such traditional beliefs have no foundation, and create intolerable contradictions within modern societies.
4. Humans must decide how we should live and how we should act. A society that valued knowledge, creativity, and freedom above all would best serve human potential.”
Excerpt From: Sean B. Carroll. “Brave Genius.”
The four essential points of Monod can be easily compared with what the Buddha taught.
1. Anicca, which is often translated as impermanence, is also uncertainty, a chance, in the word of Suzuki Roshi "Not Always So". The Buddha denied the role of god in the affairs of the world with his great teachings known as Paticca Samuppad" which means everything arises depending on the causes and conditions.
2. The Buddha challenges all the notions of belief systems. His way of looking at efficacy of any belief system is based on its "utility to the humans" and "utility to society of humans".
3. The Buddha did not advocate a sacrosanct ethical system, but he advocated what John Dewey called "Reflective Morality". In Buddhist scheme of ethics, it can never be separated from the understanding and vice versa.
4. The Buddha lays clear emphasis on the agency of human beings, particularly the possibility and potential of human consciousness to attain to its optimum level. The creativity and freedom are the central values in Buddhism, with a sense of beauty and stunning wonder for what surrounds the human beings.
