[Luojia Forum] Zen Master Bernard Faure Explains Science and Buddhism

On May 4th, Professor Bernard Faure from Columbia University made a guest lecture at the 234^thLuojia Forum. He brought a lecture entitled "The Relationship between Science and Buddhism in Modern Society".

Faure first elaborated on the relationship between Buddhism and science. He believes that the core of spirituality and philosophy contained in Buddhism is different from the material world.

From the perspective of the development of neuroscience, Faure believes that neurobiology usually uses reductionism to explain consciousness. And consciousness, emotion, and poetry creation belong to conscious level and cannot be restored by the connection of brain neurons, the essence of which has surpassed brain and brain neurons themselves.

Faure said that he uses the Buddhist spirit to treat the symptoms of anxiety for Western individuals, which should be distinguished from the forms of Buddhism that exist in Asian societies such as China, Japan, and South Korea.

Faure is a member of International Zen Studies and Japanese Religious Studies. He is the director of the Center for Japanese Religious Studies at Columbia University and chairman of the Buddhist Joint Research Center. His research results were introduced to China in the early 21st century and exerted a great influence on the study of Buddhism and Zen studies (especially in the early Zen domain) in the Mainland China.