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Where do theism and non-theism converge?

Alan Wallace

Leader

Alan Wallace

Alan Wallace is a prominent voice in the emerging discussion between contemporary Buddhist thinkers and scientists who question the materialist presumptions of their 20th-century paradigms. He left his college studies in 1971 and moved to Dharamsala, India to study Tibetan Buddhism, medicine and language. He was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama, and over fourteen years as a monk he studied with and translated for several of the generation’s greatest lamas. In 1984 he resumed his Western education at Amherst College where he studied physics and the philosophy of science. He then applied that background to his PhD research at Stanford on the interface between Buddhism and Western science and philosophy. Since 1987 he has been a frequent translator and contributor to meetings between the Dalai Lama and prominent scientists, and he has written and translated more than 40 books. Along with his scholarly work, Alan is regarded as one of the West’s preeminent meditation teachers and retreat guides. He is the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and is the motivating force behind the development of the Center for Contemplative Research in Tuscany, Italy.

The eighth session of Unified Consciousness series

Date

Oct 25 2022

Time

French time
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Location

Online

Conducted via Zoom or live-stream.

Trained in science, monastic discipline and scholarship in Buddhist thought, Dr. B. Alan Wallace has long opposed the false dogmatism of materialism.

In this lecture, he  will address the themes of theism and non-theism specifically with reference to Christianity and Buddhism. Just as there are many branches of Christianity, so is this true of Buddhism. 

Theravada Buddhism is widely regarded as non-theistic, for, while it affirms the existence of many “gods,” they are regarded simply as higher life-forms, but are not worshipped as the Creator of the Universe. Mahayana Buddhism similarly refutes the existence of such a Creator, but it adopts a quasi-theistic view that affirms the existence of a divine, omnipresent, omniscient consciousness that manifests in our world in myriad ways, who is worshipped and to whom prayers of supplication are offered. 

Within Vajrayana Buddhism, the meditative tradition of the Great Perfection, regarded by many Tibetan Buddhists as the culmination of Buddhism, asserts that this divine consciousness is the ultimate ground of being, from which all phenomena arise as its creative expressions. This view is akin to panentheism and bears a strong resemblance to the Catholic Neoplatonic Christian tradition tracing from John Scotus Eriugena (815-877) through Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), and this may be where the theism of Christianity and the non-theism of Buddhism converge.

He says that if we read the biblical account of Creation as a starting point of theism and the Buddhist presentation of samsara as generated by the karma of its inhabitants as showing the non-theism of a Buddhist worldview, a fundamental incompatibility between them seems obvious. But in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the Mahayana Buddhist doctrine of the omnipresent, divine consciousness of the Dharmakaya pervading the mind-streams of all sentient beings, then the opposition between Christian theism and Buddhist nontheism begins to fade.

Finally, when we encounter God ,as understood in Christian mysticism, and the Primordial Buddha, seen as the ultimate ground of being in the Great Perfection school of Tibetan Buddhism, we may discover a common ground that encompasses both traditions while still honoring their differences.

 

Register for the Full Series

£200
£ 140
  • Register for full series (get 10 talks for the price of 7))
  • All sessions include a led meditation
  • Time to interact with the speakers
  • Lifetime access to recordings (single sessions registrations give 1 year access)

The prices reflect the need to achieve self sufficiency. Therefore if you’re able to give a little more we would be very grateful. If you need a concession please let us know. We do not turn anybody away for lack of resource.

Alan Wallace

Leader

Alan Wallace

Alan Wallace is a prominent voice in the emerging discussion between contemporary Buddhist thinkers and scientists who question the materialist presumptions of their 20th-century paradigms. He left his college studies in 1971 and moved to Dharamsala, India to study Tibetan Buddhism, medicine and language. He was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama, and over fourteen years as a monk he studied with and translated for several of the generation’s greatest lamas. In 1984 he resumed his Western education at Amherst College where he studied physics and the philosophy of science. He then applied that background to his PhD research at Stanford on the interface between Buddhism and Western science and philosophy. Since 1987 he has been a frequent translator and contributor to meetings between the Dalai Lama and prominent scientists, and he has written and translated more than 40 books. Along with his scholarly work, Alan is regarded as one of the West’s preeminent meditation teachers and retreat guides. He is the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and is the motivating force behind the development of the Center for Contemplative Research in Tuscany, Italy.

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