Einstein on Buddhism
Dear friends around the world,
I came across this interesting article recently and thought that it’d be nice to share it on my blog.
People would often pick science over everything else, things that can’t be proven through science are considered as nothing or rather superstitious. In the olden days, technology wasn’t as advanced as nowadays, therefore these statements made by Albert Einstein are quite captivating.
I’m not trying to convince you of anything but rather found this article interesting. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do.
Tsem Rinpoche
“Religion of the Future”- Albert Einstein”
Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. As a child, Einstein revealed an extraordinary curiosity for understanding the mysteries of science. A typical child, Einstein took music lessons, playing both the violin and piano — a passion that followed him into adulthood. Moving first to Italy and then to Switzerland, the young prodigy graduated from high-school in 1896.
In 1905, while working as a patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, Einstein had what came to be known as his “Annus Mirabilis” — or “miracle year”. It was during this time that the young physicist obtained his Doctorate degree and published four of his most influential research papers, including the Special Theory of Relativity. In that, the now world famous equation “e = mc2″ unlocked mysteries of the Universe theretofore unknown.
Ten years later, in 1915, Einstein completed his General Theory of Relativity and in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. It also launched him to international superstardom and his name became a household word synonymous with genius all over the world.Einstein emigrated to the United States in the autumn of 1933 and took up residence in Princeton, New Jersey and a professorship at the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study.
Today, the practical applications of Einstein’s theories include the development of the television, remote control devices, automatic door openers, lasers, and DVD-players. Recognized as TIME magazine’s “Person of the Century” in 1999, Einstein’s intellect, coupled his strong passion for social justice and dedication to pacifism, left the world with infinite knowledge and pioneering moral leadership. So was his passion for Buddhism and its teachings. Today we present you Einstein’s world famous quotes on Buddhism that will be of a great value to understand how much the Buddhism was close to Einstein’s heart.
Albert Einstein’s quotes on Buddhism
1) “Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.
2) “If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.
3) “A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us.
4) “Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
5) “The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. (Albert Einstein)
6) ”Among the founders of all religions in this world, I respect only one man — the Buddha. The main reason was that the Buddha did not make statements regarding the origin of the world. The Buddha was the only teacher who realised the true nature of the world.” (Bertrand Russell)
7) “A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
Source: http://www.bbncommunity.com/einstein-on-buddhism/
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Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Famous for devising his theory of relativity, which revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity, and the universe .
Albert Einstein did said that Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion. Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism.
He is often cited as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. His work continues to help astronomers study everything from gravitational waves to Mercury’s orbit. It is universal truth….as it covers both the natural and the spiritual and Buddhism has the answers. Interesting read. Reading through this post tell Einstein truly tell his love for Buddhism.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Buddhism was close to Einstein’s heart and part of him from the many quotes he wrote . ( Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future ) He did not consider himself a Buddhist but it appears from his actual writings that he did have a favourable view of the Buddha and Buddhism. Interesting post which I do enjoyed.
Thank you Rinpoche.
Ancient Saints were not interested in technological advances but spiritual progress. This generation should not be blinded by gadgets that limit, atrophies the consciousness.
Like a true scientist in mind and heart, Einstein was more interested in seeking and discovering the truth and reality of the nature of the universe and of our existence than about our origin. He felt religion should transcend a personal god and dogma. His scientific mind took to the idea of cause and effect.
In the whole universe, Man should not be a separate entity, but a part of the whole.
As Einstein describes it: “Man experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us”. Thus Einstein is describing the limiting view of Man as he sees himself as a separate being, hence more important than others.
Man’s view of himself is ego-centric. But , Einstein sees this as a delusional view . Man must break free of this and in a widening circle of compassion “ embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty”. Such perceptions and insights from the scientist Einstein!
I think Albert Einstein without going into doctrines and teachings, was able to see how things really work, in fact he could be in meditation or contemplation as how Buddhist labels it, when he observed the nature of reality. As he was a physicist he naturally attempted to approximate reality using science and mathematics.
But it is very interesting to me he is aware that being a human being, in comparison to the universe is just one part of the cosmos, and to think that Earth or the humans is so important and so pivotal, is downplaying the unknown that lies within the limitless universe that we are in. Hence he will not be limited by notions that life and sentience is confined to only planet Earth.
Albert Einstein is an extremely intelligent man that has IQ 160. His pattern of thinking is very different from the rest of us and hence he is able to discover or to understand things that an average human being would not.
His explanation of Buddhism is very accurate considered that he is not a Buddhist. He foresees that in the future, humans need a religion that is not based on theories or blind faith. The religion must be able to explain the true nature of the universe without having any conflicts in its own teachings. Lastly, the religion must go hand in hand with the scientific needs of the human as well. Only Buddhism can full fill the above characteristics.
Buddhism is not about blind faith on who created the universe. It is about how the universe works and how do we release ourselves from all our delusion on the true nature of the universe. Since its the truth, it applies to everyone. No one is exempted, no one is spared. Everything can be explained and everyone experience the same truth. This is why, only Buddhism can survive the change of paradigm in the human’s society over the centuries.
Chris
Beside science, Albert Einstein also has very good theory and insight into religion.
Scientist uses logic and always challenge the findings until a logical conclusion was found. Albert Einstein found that Buddhism is the only religion that is logical and can survive into the future. Buddha is a good scientist too because his teaching is very logical and make a lot of sense.
There are some other findings by Albert Einstein which i have found on the internet:-
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature. (Albert Einstein, The World as I See It)
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own — a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms. (Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955)
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Theology-Albert-Einstein.htm
Well he isn’t called a genius for no reason 🙂 It is nice to know that a man of science and a genius like Einstein finds Buddhism is the only religion that could cope with science. I believe this is simply because the Buddha speaks not of an external source that is responsible for everything that happens but rather we ourselves the one responsible for everything.
Buddha’s teachings which uses a lot of logic, encourages and challenges people to “think” and accept things only after experimenting it via one’s own experience is in itself very similar to science, and how things are concluded. Everything that happens has a reason, a cause and that creates an effect which is why Buddhism matches with science in a lot of sense.
Buddhism especially the Gelug school of learning is very fitting for thinkers as it stresses a lot on logic so that people would understand better the reasons behind things, answering the “why” in people’s mind help built a more convincing faith than of one based on fear and supernatural forces beyond one’s control. This is what makes Buddhism to attractive to modern people who do not believe in a “God” because Buddhism puts the “God” back on us. Meaning we are the ones who will determine our result, our happiness, our future and even our future lives…
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.
Einstein is definitely wise because he was able to realise that “our task must be to free ourselves from this prison (which he means our own deluded limited duality mind set) by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty (exactly what Buddha taught us to love all sentient beings).”
“Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.” This is so true and profound for the very path we are on and the very reason we practice each day, brings us one step closer to liberation as we gain bits of realisations and become more and more aware of true phenomena.
At the end of the day Buddha is still the best scientist, doctor, psychologist in the world not because He wanted to be one, but because He was simply conveying the truth based on His own experience, realisation and omniscient mind which has awakened. Hence there are 84,000 teachings to suit 84,000 different minds, each with antidotes to counter the illness. Reading this has made me appreciate Buddhism even more, how fortunate I am to encounter Buddha’s teachings, now it’s time to apply or rather experiment and experience it for myself 🙂
I wonder whether Einstein’s reincarnation is back in the human realm… it’ll be awesome if he is and someone recognises him and he’d study Buddhism even further, I’m sure he’d be able to benefit millions more as he did in his previous life.
Einstein stood out not just because of his brilliant scientific invention/discovery but also because of his intuitive conviction that “Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.” We may not be able to fathom the breadth of this realization from a scientific point of view, but it is close to heart from a spiritual point of view.
Thank You Rinpoche for sharing this wonderful blogpost.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang
Einstein had the wisdom and intelligence to observe the phenomena of existence without being tainted with bias. Einstein’s investigation and study of how the universe works led to technological breakthroughs that are still being used today. The comments below from Einstein show how insightful he was in understanding Buddhist teachings.
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us.”
“Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”
When we investigate and question our perception of the truth of existence, we begin to gain a deeper understanding of our role in this existence and to liberate ourselves from wrong views. Compassion and kindness arise in our mind stream as a result because this is the true nature of our mind. They can only arise when we correct our wrong views. As Buddhism promotes peace, harmony and loving kindness through study, understanding and practice, it is not a surprise that it is coined by Einstein as “the religion of the future”. Without these attributes, we are very capable of self annihilation.
I’m studying all Your words, in this article I found point 5 and 7 double write respect at general contest, this is what I believe to read in english; am I wrong?
My best whishes Gianni from TRANI in South Italy (HOPE SOME DAY I’LL COME TO VISIT KECHARA RESORT)
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing.
Our delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely. Buddha is. Buddhas achieve this completely.
‘Thank you
With folded hands
Pee Bee Chong
Einstein put science and spirituality into a new perspective, Einstein is a brilliant Scientist who looks not only on physics of science, but also the relativity of Spirituality with Science, he decipher existing matters with logic, especially on Buddhism.
2500 years ago Lord Buddha has taught about life, cosmic and matters that Scientific research slowly reveal in this turn of decade. There is definitely an intimate link between Buddhism and science.
People would often pick science over everything else, citing science is something that can be proven as a reason. There are of course experimental science that are proven with test results but many of the greatest discovery in history of science are based on theories.
A theory is a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
Albert Einstein is a theoretical physicist, not a science who spent his time in a lab testing and proving science. His theories are thoughts based on observation.
Einstein theory of relativity has withstood the test of time for almost a 100 years now. Many have attempted to find flaws and debunk Einstein theory over the decades.
Einstein’s theory of relativity is almost like the religion of science. It cannot conclusively be proven in a lab environment and yet it cannot be debunked. While it cannot be proven directly, it’s application is the foundation of numerous technological products in today’s modern world.
Much like any religion, we are skeptic due to the lack of direct proof but one cannot deny the results from application of the teachings of these religions.
Einstein’s observation of the law of nature brought about his theory of relativity. This same mind observed the religions of the world and come to conclude about Buddhism. This conclusion is not based on the study of Buddhism but from a logical thought process.
Science and religion is not separate. It co-exist in the same frame of space and time. It does not need to conflict, it can complement.
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
“If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.” ~ Albert Einstein
This is a very interesting article, thank You for sharing Rinpoche. It is very rare to read about things like this, especially during Einstein’s time when most of the people are religious, not that it’s a bad thing. It’s very uncommon for a westerner to talk about Buddhism at that time I’m sure, and what Einstein has said is quite impactful I must say. Who’d ever thought that Buddhism and science are actually interconnected? Actually in my opinion, with Buddhism, we can explain everything about science but not vice versa. Science is definitely very important and plays a very important role in our daily lives, but science is not everything, there are a lot of things that are still left unsolved or rather unexplained like where does our sub conscious come from etc. Therefore, I feel that it’s “weird” in a sense for such a profound scientist to talk about religion especially Buddhism, but I’m also glad to read about these statements because I think that it’s definitely something to hear/ read all these from such a well known scientist.
Although this is not a very long article, I think it has helped to make clear what Buddhism is all about.
The focus is not theology as there is no theos or creator God, but rather the nature of human suffering and liberation from this suffering.
It is a religion that would cope with modern scientific needs as Buddhists believe in the reliance on causality and empiricism, not just faith alone.
Delusion and interdependence were summarised well, that it is delusion that causes us to not experience the interconnectedness. The world out there and “others” were not as separate and distinct from the individual as what we thought and there is interconnectedness among all phenomena.
Buddhism shares with science the understanding of relativity.However, what is interesting is that Buddhism recognised this interdependency of all phenomena long before modern science does.
I like the fact that the benefits of the “means” to the end (enlightenment) were also mentioned, that even while in progress to achieve liberation through widening our circle of compassion, that itself is part of the liberation. One does not have to “wait” until one achieves enlightenment to benefit from Buddhism.
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us.
“Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
In the above paragraphs, Albert Einstein clearly explains to us how our delusions create the prison walls of our mind.Yes, our delusions are the worst prison of all. We are trapped by our own desires and our so-called love , which is so selective that it is only confined to a few people who are close to us. The walls of this prison are built by our illusory self-grasping.
To break away from it, we have to widen the circle of our compassion.Only in compassion do the walls disappear and dualism is blurred.
This is a spurious quote. He did not say this. Please research your information before putting this on a website. He was a non-religious Jew who was influenced by Spinoza. From Wikipedia
“As a Buddhist and physicist myself, I’d be delighted if this very widely-cited quote really could be attributed to Einstein, but regrettably there is no evidence that it can. It sometimes appears with a reference to Albert Einstein: The Human Side (Princeton University Press, 1954),
“but there is never a page reference – for the simple reason that the quote does not appear anywhere in that book.”