Considering Mahayana Buddhism for Process Philosophy Essay -- Philosop

Considering Mahayana Buddhism for Process Philosophy Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of concrete suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.Karl Marx (1844)Science frees us in many ways from the bodily menace which the savage feels. But she replaces that, in the minds of many, by a moral terror which is far more overwhelming. Charles Kingsley (1866)Classical sociological theory teaches that all friendly phenomenabe it intangible, like an idea or a belief or tangible, like institutions or a nations rights engraved into a indite constitutionare interrelated to some extent. Two domains of social life that exert a particularly strong influence on the lives of individuals are light and religion. As dominant forces, both have, throughout history, conflicted with each other in fascinating ways. This pape r will consider how the two might be corporate into a single mode of thought. My broad aim is to demonstrate how Mahayana Buddhism can be used to satisfy the primary goal of process philosophy, which combines the otherwise opposed spheres of science and religious life the integration of moral, aesthetic, and religious intuitions with the most general doctrines of the sciences into a self-consistent worldview. (I heretofore refer to this as a single worldview.) Doing so will first require an examination of the core tenets of Buddhism and the debunking of a popular misconception of the faiththe idea that Buddhism is an atheistic tradition. Next, I will consider how the tenets of Buddhism caput among them, the idea of emptines... ...and. Varieties of Postmodern Theology. (Albany State University of New York Press, 1989.)Marx, Karl. Selections from Contribution to the Critique of Hegels Philosophy of Right. February 1844. Available online at http//www3.baylor.edu/Scott_Moore/texts/Ma rx_Opium.html.Polkinghorne, John. Science and Theology An Introduction. (Minneapolis Fortress, 1998.Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. (Ithaca hoodwink Lion, 1995.)Raymo, Chet. Skeptics and True Believers The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. (New York Walker and Co., 1988.)Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse. The Excellent Path to Enlightenment Oral Teachings on the Root Text of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Trans. The Padmakara Group. (Ithaca Snow Lion, 1996.)Wuthnow, Robert. Sociology of Religion. In Handbook of Sociology. Ed. Neil Smelser. (London Sage, 1988.)