• Author's Note
• Message from the Minister of Science, Technology and Energy
• Sponsor's Note
• Translator's Foreword
• List of Illustrations
• Introduction

On the 29th of May 1994, Mr. Mongkol Navikapol has passed away at the age of 85. His daughter, Dr. Ladavan Souvannakitti, wishes to make various meritorious gestures to honour the memory of her beloved father. Besides the traditional offerings in support of the Sangha, she has also undertaken the printing of Buddhist teachings to be distributed freely.

Beyond remembering a beloved one, such a gift of Dhamma is an act of great merit and highly regarded as it makes available the liberating teachings of the Buddha.

Toward Sustainable Science is a book that Dr. Ladavan Souvannakitti has personaily appreciated as a promising contribution to human development and wishes to make available to a wider public; she does this in memory of her late father. May this dedication symbolize the love and gratitude of her and all her relatives and friends.

May all these meritorious actions of Dr. Ladavan Souvannakitti bring her father greater happiness and peace and a prosperous future life according to her good wishes.

Bhikkhu P. A. Payatto June 8, 1994

I am very pleased that the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, and the Buddhadhamma Foundation have published the 1991 National Science Day Lecture, entitled Toward Sustainable Science - a Buddhist look at trends in scientific development, presented by the Venerable Phra Thepvedi (Prayudh, Payutto). This academic work is beneficial for scientists in at least two ways. Firstly, it enlarges the scope of scientific study and research in an unprejudiced way, which is the aim of pure science. Secondly, it encourages an attitude of leadership and participation based on freedom of mind, which will have a positive effect on the development of pure science and technology in the modern world.

On behalf of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Energy, I would like to express my support for study and research of such non-material resources, which are the intellectual heritage of mankind in quest of authentic prosperity.

Prof. Dr. Sanga Sabhasri February, 1992

ON THE OCCASION of its 30th anniversary, the Faculty of Science of Chiang Mai University has published this book, entitled Toward Sustainable Science, A Buddhist look at trends in scientific development, by Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto (Phra Thepvedi). First published in Thai, the book is gleaned from the National Science Day Lecture arranged by the Science Faculty on 16 August, 1991, given by the author.

It is interesting to note that although we often hear of scientists' views on the relationship between Science and Buddhism, including those of Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Oppenheimer and Capra, it is indeed rare that we hear about the same subject from those in direct contact with Buddhism. This is one of those rare occasions, a talk presented by an eminent Buddhist monk, who is regarded as one of the top Buddhist scholars Thailand has ever produced.

We would like to offer our grateful thanks to Bhikkhu Payutto for his penmission to publish this book, as well as for his dedicated assistance in correcting and reviewing the manuscript.

We are honoured by the approving message from Prof. Dr. Sanga Sabhasri, Minister of Science, Technology and Energy. A special appreciation goes to Mr. Bruce Evans for his dedication in translating the Thai manuscript into English, with full support from the Buddhadhamma Foundation and Mr. Yongyuth and Mrs. Chutima Thanapura. Thanks are also due to Phra Maha Insorn Cintapanno for organizing the work.

Our thanks to Mr. Pratuang Emjaroen for the cover-illustration. The Buddhadharma Meditation Centre in Chicago, the Fine Arts Department, and the following persons, viz. Mr. Yudhachai Poonpun, M.L. Aniwat Sooksawat are also appreciated for their permission to print the various illustrations in the book. In addition, appreciation is extended to Mr. Chatchawal Poonpun and the Committee for organizing the printing of this 30th Anniversary memorial volume, and Mr. Ramet Lertswasdivicha, who helped co-ordinate between Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

We would also like to extend our appreciation to those associations which contributed in the organization of the National Science Day Lecture for 1991, which included the Chiang Mai University Library, the Centre for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, the Department of Religion and Philosophy, and Mahachula Buddhist University, Chiang Mai Campus, who have also lent their support to the printing of this book.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the contribution of those scholars who, sensing the significance of this lecture, were motivated to make contributions toward the printing on a personal basis, such as Associate Professor Sathienpong Wannapok (Fellow of the Royal Institute, Bureau of Moral and Political Sciences in Religion).

The Faculty of Science of Chiang Mai University is an advanced educational institute that has continuously undertaken teaching and research in science and technology ever since its inception in 1964. Now approaching its third decade in the year 1994, the Faculty takes pride in presenting the present work, in the hope that it may serve as a treasury of knowledge for all who are interested in this held. It is hoped that the ideas presented in this book will act as a spring-board from which we can systematically integrate ourselves and our science with the Buddha's teaching, as the foundation-stone of Truth. With such an insight, we will be able to march into scientific and technological progress in a manner that offers a harmonious relationship between man, nature and society, with a goal of balance and perfection for all concerned.

Associate Professor Dr. Garune Klunklin Dean August 18,1993 Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai Universiry, 50200, Thailand

WHEN TRANSMITTING any set of ideas from one culture to another, we are confronted not only with a difference of language, but a disparity of backgrounds and cultural values. This is particularly so when the ideas stem from an examination of one culture through the eyes of another. This book is one such examination: a collection of reflections and suggestions on a traditionally Western domain - science - from a traditionally Eastern point of view - that of a Buddhist monk.

Many of the ideas and concepts presented here may seem strange to the Western reader unitiated into traditional Buddhist thinking, which necessitates some initial guidance. I advise the reader to open up to a new set of values - not necessarily agreeing with or denying them, but trying to see the meaning within them.

The contents of the book are taken from the National Science Day Lecture given by Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto at the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, in August 1991, which was recorded and later printed in the Thai language as Buddhasasana ny Thana Pen Rahk Than Korng Wityasaht (published by the Science Faculty, Chiang Mai University, 1992). I was asked to translate it into English by the Buddhadhamma Foundation, with the aim of disseminating it in Western countries. Considering the short time taken to complete it, I can only hope that the translation does justice to the original.

It may be helpful to appreciate the vast disparity between the cultural context in which the talk was given and that in which the book will be received. The talks were given at one of Thailand's major universities to an audience of highly educated, modernized Thais. Like many people in modern times, many members of the audience had drifted away from their native religion, Buddhism, because of the unscientific stigma attached to religion from the West. Venerable Payutto takes the position of a concerned father chiding his children, pointing out to them the great value of that which they have left behind. In the process he gives us as Westerners some invaluable insights into our own ways of thinking and confronts our whole cultural development with questions that, particularly at this time, demand answers.

Essentially, then, the talk was given to Thai Buddhists. Now, in book form, it is being presented to Westerners. I hope the reader will be open and at the same time discerning, taking heed of those teachings which are relevant to our situation (not just agreeing with those that we like or disagreeing with those that we don't like) and making a sincere effort to benefit from them. In the final analysis, the teachings here lead only to benefit, not to harm. The question is, are we ready to benefit from them?

B. G. Evans

IN THIS MODERN, SCIENTIFIC AGE the sciences and technology have enjoyed remarkable progress, leading to the rapid and exciting changes we see around us. One of the most important factors in this progress is the expertise resulting from specialization, which has enabled human beings to utilize profound and highly detailed stores of knowledge. This knowledge has in turn been used to answer mankind's needs on a practical level, which is a concrete and tangible fruit of scientific research. Science is at the vanguard of this specialized approach to research, and the exciting developments of technology are a concrete manifestation of it.

Before embarking on this quest for specialization, human beings lived surrounded by innumerable natural forces, all of which had a great effect on human life. Human beings were ignorant of the causes for these natural phenomena, how they affected human lives, or how they were related to each other - all of nature was a mysterious enigma.

In order to know and understand the natural world, human beings were motivated to begin searching for answers, with a variety of different people searching in a variety of ways, amassing knowledge on an ever-increasing scale of detail. But the more they learned, the more there was to learn, and the search for knowledge went deeper and deeper into these specialized channels. The world has long been absorbed in this specialized search for knowledge, penetrating deeper into these specialized paths, delighting in the knowledge found. Now we find ourselves immersed in a mass of minutiae, and we tend to think, speak, act and try to solve problems in a specialized way.

We seem to have forgotten that the original objective of this meticulous and compartmentalized search for knowledge was an understanding of the relationship which natural phenomena have on human life, both from a specialized perspective and from a holistic one. With researchers drowning in the data of their own isolated fields of research, human knowledge becomes fragmented and disjointed. We have till now concerned ourselves mainly with the wonders that all this knowledge has enabled us to produce, to the neglect of the fundamental problems with which humanity is still faced.

Ultimately, an impasse has been reached, and we are beginning to see warning signals. This impasse can been seen on two levels:

1. In the search for knowledge: some of the branches of learning, especially physics, which is leading the race for knowledge, seem to have reached the limits that depth and detail can take them. They are incapable of understanding the basic truths of nature, because such an understanding demands an awareness of other fields of learning. This has forced researchers to look for ways to transcend their self-imposed specialized limitations and integrate their knowledge with other fields. At the very least, they are beginning to realize that research in any one specialized field will not lead to realization of the truth.

2. In the application of knowledge: the practical application of specialized knowledge has been geared mostly to responding to human needs and desires. This has led to many problems, which the funnel vision arising from specialization prevented us from foreseeing. These problems are becoming increasingly urgent, threatening the destruction of the human race. The most obvious and urgent of them currently is the destruction of the environment, which is forcing human beings to search for a solution based on a more integrated approach to knowledge.

One of the most important indications of the extent to which the specialized approach to knowledge has developed is the human ability to synthesize both knowledge and new products. Such developments have caused many scientists to delude themselves into believing that they have penetrated reality and conquered nature.

But in fact such knowledge of causal factors and relationships is still limited to the confines of specialization. Beyond these confines, in the whole natural order, such knowledge is no longer sufficient, and the practical application of it leads to problems. It has led to an impasse, one that has awakened humanity to its limitations. The realization of this impasse and its implications is itself one of the most recent advances of human research.

From this realization and awareness of the insufficiency of human knowledge, movements have begun to try to integrate the knowledge of these various specialized fields in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the natural order, one which includes both mankind and the natural environment, both the physical world and the mental. This step beyond the confines of specialization and the attempts to integrate diverse bodies of knowledge is a change in direction for mankind, one which has been very difficult to make.

In the context of a holistic understanding of the natural order, the human position within it, and the development of a beneficial human society, the extremely detailed knowledge of specialization has in effect led nowhere, and human beings are still very much in the dark. Science, as the major actor in this scenario, the leader of the quest for knowledge and specialization, is in a most opportune position in which to help the world in this regard, by integrating its research and knowledge with other fields of learning in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the natural order.

That the Science Faculty of Chiang Mai University invited me to present a lecture, which is the source material for this book, and organized the printing of the book in both Thai and English, is a beginning in this direction. At least it is a gesture of open-mindedness and willingness to consider ideas about the field of science in the eyes of a field which is traditionally regarded as directly opposed to science -- religion, the field which specializes in human nature or the mind.

It is worth mentioning here that Buddhism has never seen science as an antagonist. Buddhism welcomes scientific knowledge, recognizing it as another branch of learning about the natural order. Many Buddhists are in fact hopeful that the truths unearthed by science will serve to support and verify the timeless teachings given by the Buddha thousands of years ago. At the very least scientific knowledge may reveal the truths of the physical world, which can only help to improve our understanding of life and mankind's place in the natural order, especially when such knowledge is incorporated with knowledge about the mental world or human world as explained through the teachings of Buddhism.

From the perspective of academic research, this book represents a step toward a more integrated approach to academic learning, broadening the fields of research by recognizing that religion is one branch of the humanities. It is not only academic learning which stands to gain, but human civilization, society and the whole human race.

I would like to extend my appreciation to Ajahn Chatchawal Poonpun, of the Science Faculty of Chiang Mai University, who diligently took upon himself the task of helping the Science Faculty realize its objective, and also saw to the subsequent extension of that first initiative into the printed page. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Khun Yongyuth Dhanapura, the Director of the Buddhadhamma Foundation, who tirelessly dedicates himself to the task of spreading the Buddha's teachings.

I would like to express my thanks to Venerable Phra Kru Palat Insom (Cintapanno), who has given of his time and energy in the preparation through the Desk-Top Publishing process of the original Thai text, which was the source from which the English translation was taken.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my appreciation to Mr. Bruce Evans, who brought to the English translation of the Thai book not only a fluency in both the Thai and English languages, but an understanding of the Buddha's teachings and a dedication to the work, resulting in this admirable English version of the talk in book form. For any inaccuracies which may be remaining in the text, I myself take responsibility.

Bhikkhu P.A. Payutto November 30, 1993