Science and Buddhism
Join us for our Last Sundays Science & Buddhism discussion from the nexus of Science and Buddhism as it applies to us, and to all sentient beings. This month, our discussion will be reflections on Death and related topics, e.g., enlightenment, happiness and joy. No prior experience with science, Buddhism, or meditation is necessary.
Death as a topic also reflects the ending of our weekend sesshin honoring the memory and legacy of Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi. Many of Kobun’s sayings about death, from his talks. may be mentioned. Death in general, and Kobun's death in particular, are difficult to contemplate or discuss. Perhaps for this reason we seldom consider the ultimate fate of every living being.
This Discussion will be open, leaderless, and without necessary preparation; instead just a Discussion of our various theories and opinions about Death in relation to the facts. Nevertheless, for those who prefer background, some follows.
The most common theories are of an afterlife (e.g., Heaven/Hell) or another life (Reincarnation, or Paranirvana for a Buddha). In Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, Shunryu Suzuki likens life and death to the experiences of the water droplets in a Yosemite waterfall; death is like coming home on reaching the bottom, again fully belonging, after the prolonged chaotic waterfall. The Tibetan Book of the Dead or Bardo Thodol is a classic in Tibetan Buddhism.
From Wikipedia: Death is the permanent cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living, physical organism. Death may refer to the end of life as either an event or condition. In many cultures and in the arts, death is considered a being or otherwise personified, wherein it is usually capitalized as "Death". Of the roughly 50 million people who die each year across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes. Worldwide, the average life expectancy at birth was 71.5 years (68 years and 4 months for males and 72 years and 8 months for females) over the period 2010–2015 according to United Nations World Population Prospects 2015 Revision.