Rebirth and the Western Buddhist - Khamkoo

7 Conclusions
We have shown that it is important for a would-be
practitioner of the Dharma to understand that rebirth
exists, that it is nonsense to claim the Buddha did not
teach it, and that there is much evidence, some of it of a
high scientific standard, that it is a fact. Reviewing the
attempts to prove the existence of rebirth by Buddhist
scholastic logic, we found that some rested on superstitious
beliefs disproved by modern observations, and
others on sweeping, dogmatic assumptions that must
appear doubtful to many and are denied by materialists.
Materialism is now very strong and by no means easy
to rebut. Modem materialism is founded on the mechanistic
ideas of nineteenth-century Science, which although
superseded in the most fundamental of sciences,
Physics, yet thrive at the heart of Biology and also linger
on in scientistic ideologies such as Marxism. It is urged
that Western Buddhists should neither ignore Science
nor beat a headlong retreat before it, but work towards a
new synthesis. In the past, whenever the Buddhadharma
has been newly introduced to a country, it has been
adapted by a judicious assimilation of indigenous traditions.
In Tibet, for example, elements of the Bon religion
were absorbed and Bon in tum was transformed in
response to the Buddhist critique. It cannot be claimed
that the Dharma has been established in the West until it
is possible for anyone to accept Buddhist teachings without
feeling that they conflict with scientific truth. At
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