Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics

Toward a Union of Love and Knowledge

Vic Mansfield

Narrated by Ralph Morocco

Available from Audible

Book published by Templeton Press

Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics: Toward a Union of Love and Knowledge addresses the complex issues of dialogue and collaboration between Buddhism and science, revealing connections and differences between the two. While assuming no technical background in Buddhism or physics, this book strongly responds to the Dalai Lama’s “heartfelt plea” for genuine collaboration between science and Buddhism. The Dalai Lama has written a foreword to the book and the Office of His Holiness will translate it into both Chinese and Tibetan.

In a clear and engaging way, this book shows how the principle of emptiness, the philosophic heart of Tibetan Buddhism, connects intimately to quantum nonlocality and other foundational features of quantum mechanics. Detailed connections between emptiness, modern relativity, and the nature of time are also explored. For Tibetan Buddhists, the profound interconnectedness implied by emptiness demands the practice of universal compassion. Because of the powerful connections between emptiness and modern physics, the book argues that the interconnected worldview of modern physics also encourages universal compassion. Along with these harmonies, the book explores a significant conflict between quantum mechanics and Tibetan Buddhism concerning the role of causality.

The book concludes with a response to the question: "How does this expedition through the heart of modern physics and Tibetan Buddhism—from quantum mechanics, relativity, and cosmology, to emptiness, compassion, and disintegratedness—apply to today's painfully polarized world?" Despite differences and questions raised, the book's central message is that there is a solid basis for uniting these worldviews. From this basis, the message of universal compassion can accompany the spread of the scientific worldview, stimulating compassionate action in the light of deep understanding—a true union of love and knowledge.

REVIEWS:

“Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics is a book that covers a lot of ground, such that a short review cannot do justice to the project that Mansfield has undertaken.”

—Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

“Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics doesn’t assume knowledge of either system, but takes the reader step by step from basic concepts to more complicated ones, such as the relationship of emptiness/interconnectedness to quantum nonlocality.”

—Shambhala Sun

“[A] readable book from which lay people (in either physics or Buddhism) will learn a great deal. Thus the book serves as a very good introduction to the field as a whole. Among the number of books on Buddhism and science, Mansfield’s Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics stands out for its lucid exposition of complex subjects and the author's sincerity in admitting areas of congruence as well as those that require further collaborative efforts.”

—The Global Spiral