[Buddha-l] Article: The Death of the Scientific Buddha

[Franz Metcalf]

@Erik: You must mean Gary Zukav, not Gary Snyder. I don't think Snyder would let himself get trapped in the ephemera of the soul.

@Dan: Ah, that elusive middle way! Are you going to (taped) discussion with HHDL, Richard Davidson, and John Templeton at the AAR on the topic of "Spiritual Progress through Scientific Research on Compassion"?

I've been in dialogue with Charles Tart, who's recent book _The End of Materialism_ takes scientistic types to task for ignoring what he sees as convincing scientific evidence for non-material things. I'm not sure I agree with him, but I think he's quite right in his overall point: that materialists are out of integrity in avoiding experiments that might prove or disprove the existence of non-material things. I should add that I think non-materialists are also out of integrity in simply *assuming* the existence of non-material things.

Mandatory Buddhist content: This reminds me of the great couplet in "The Jewel Ornament of Liberation":
 
Believers in being are dumb as cows.
Non-believers are even dumber.

Franz