Last Updated on March 7, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying of Soygal Rhinpoche is wonderful:
but unfortunately, it s statements are not proven scientifically, nor disproven, and it is difficult to prove or disprove it.
But Soygal Rhinpoche teaches us also about the essence of the teachings Buddha, which is also wonderful. He said in one of his talks that the teachings of the Buddha are very vast, and include 200 volumes:
But at the beginning of this talk, Soygal Rhinpoche says:
“The teachings of the Buddha are very vast, but what is wonderful about it, it can be essentialized.
When Buddha was asked, what is the essence of the teachings, he said:
“Commit not a single unwholesome action.
Cultivate a wealth of virtues.
To taim, to conquer, to transform this mind of us.”
Do we need more from Buddhism as this essence of the teachings for a secular mind training? Yes, we need to know the causes of mental suffering, how it can be eliminated. This has also been described in the Buddhist teachings, and has been reproduced. But has it been reproduced scientifically?
A further question is: what is the definition of unwholesome? The questions is similar to the question, what is the definition of happiness.? There was some controversy about this definition with Matthieu Ricards book “Happiness”. Some use the word “happiness” some use the word “well being” .Ask a philosopher about these definitions, he knows better about these defintions, than we do.