| |
REVIEWS
& COMMENTS
"Robin Cooper's new book
makes a significant contribution by providing an example of the
issues and priorities that arise when a non-Western religion
engages with the findings of modern science. As one might expect,
the resonances and tensions that emerge from the juxtaposition of
Buddhism and modern science differ markedly from those that arise
from the current struggles to position science within a Christian
theological framework.
"Robin
Cooper appears well qualified to comment on Darwinism and
Buddhism. ...
"Cooper
imputes a Buddhistic valence to the biological processes of
natural selection, and a scientific valence to Buddhist practice.
When biological evolution is "self-transcendence" and
Buddhist cultivation is "higher evolution," then the
task of joining the two into a single sequence of events heading
toward the final goal of enlightenment becomes much easier. ...
"This book ... represents the latest, and perhaps most
sophisticated to date, example of the trend in Western (or
Westernized) Buddhism to present Gautama's teachings as fully
modern and wholly compatible with the scientific outlook.
... It is another attempt at constructing a Buddhism suitable for
modern culture with its predominantly scientific worldview. This
makes it a valuable document for tracing the history of modern
Buddhist thought in the West, and a very useful example of how
religion and science interact outside of monotheism."
Extracts from a review by
Charles B. Jones (Catholic University of America), in
Journal
of Buddhist Ethics,
Vol. 4, 1997.
"Dangerous Books
There are a
handful of books that have literally changed my life,
by changing my understanding of the world.
They could change your life as well.
Approach them with caution.
No. 1: The Evolving Mind, by
Robin Cooper."
'Dangerous Books' site, Darryl
Hamson
"In The
Evolving Mind,
Robin Cooper discusses the distinctions and continuities between "lower
evolution," culminating in self-reflective beings, and "higher
evolution," which can include an effective "spiritual
dimension," or program for raising one's consciousness beyond
the average human level. This book is a good introduction to
general Darwinian and post-Darwinian evolutionary theory, and
places such theories in a conversation with Buddhism. This is a
welcome addition to the corpus of books engaging Buddhism in
dialog with contemporary science."
Snow
Lion.
In the West , the conversation
between evolutionary biologists and religionists has not always
been friendly. One of the major obstacles to dialogue has been the
issue of the evolution of human consciousness. As Buddhist teacher
Robin Cooper demonstrates in his book, however, Buddhist religious
thought is thoroughly compatible with the idea of a biological
evolution of human consciousness. Cooper, who is a scientist as
well as a revered Buddhist teacher, explores the process of
evolutionary development from the lowest organism to the highest
form of Enlightened Being (Buddha). Convinced that limiting the
idea of evolution merely to a physical and biological
understanding is a mistake, Cooper then proceeds to demonstrate
that evolution, like the tenets of Buddhism, is rather a continual
process of self-transcendence. The author draws upon sources as
diverse as Darwin's Origin of Species and the Dhammapada to
illustrate his thesis. In an age when science and religion seem to
be closer than ever before, Cooper's sparkling prose will
encourage ongoing dialogue between the two camps.
E. Findly, Publishers Weekly, Vol.243, No.22, May 27,
1996. COPYRIGHT Reed Publishing USA 1996. |
|