David P. Barash PDF
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buddhist biology DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd i 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM This page intentionally left blank Buddhist Biology ancient eastern wisdom meets modern western science David P. Barash 1 DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd iii 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barash, David P. Buddhist biology : ancient Eastern wisdom meets modern Western science / David P. Barash. pages cm ISBN 978–0–19–998556–2 (alk. paper) 1. Biology—Philosophy. 2. Biology—Religious aspects. 3. Buddhism and science. 4. Philosophy and science. I. Title. QH331.B244 2013 570.1—dc23 2013007312 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd iv 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM To Noa Bogaisky DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd v 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM “If we had a keen vision and feeling for all that is ordinary in life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.” —George Eliot DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd vi 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 . A Science Sutra 1 2 . Not-Self (Anatman) 2 9 3 . Impermanence ( Anitya) 5 8 4 . Connectedness ( Pratitya-Samutpada) 8 4 5 . Engagement, Part 1 ( Dukkha ) 1 12 6. Engagement, Part 2 ( Karma ) 1 36 7 . Meaning (Existential Bio-Buddhism?) 1 54 Appendix 187 Notes 189 Glossary 195 Index 197 DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd vii 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments there are so many people (and more than a few animals) who contributed in var- ious ways to this book—not just the writing, but even more, its conceptual founda- tions—that I’m tempted to thank everyone by thanking no one. Th us, my gratitude is literally unending to a panoply of biologists, Buddhists, philosophers, naturalists, students, and teachers, some long gone and others still fl ourishing. Special apprecia- tion, however, goes to my agent, Howard Morhaim; to Jeremy Lewis, acquisitions editor at Oxford University Press as well as to eagle-eyed yet light-fi ngered copy edi- tor, Barbara Norton; and to Tom Kusel, Aditya Ganapathiraju, and James Woelfel, plus a hard-working group of beta-test readers from my Psychology 480 (Ideas of Human Nature) class at the University of Washington. Much of this book was writ- ten while on two sabbatical leaves in Costa Rica, for which I thank the Department of Psychology and administration of the University of Washington. I also wish to note that several diff erent paragraphs, scattered throughout this book, appeared earlier in various essays of mine that were published in Th e Chronicle of Higher Education Review. I am grateful to Th e Chronicle for permission to reprint this material. Similarly, selections from a piece titled “Only Connect,” and posted in aeon magazine (www.aeonmagazine.com) on Nov. 5, 2012, are incorporated into the present book; I appreciate the kindness of a eon’s editors in permitting its republication. DavidPBarash230213OUS.indd ix 8/19/2013 3:59:18 PM
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