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Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

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created; indeed, he appears these days to exist<br />

precariously only in the scientifically uneducated<br />

reaches of his "creation." (God's creation of the world is<br />

a view which <strong>Buddhist</strong>s recognize to be delusive, as the<br />

world is "created" by avidya [ignorance] <strong>and</strong> trsna<br />

[craving], not by an omniscient deity.)<br />

A recent theory has also opposed the static ideas of<br />

Christianity: the dynamic concept of matter-energy<br />

propounded in the theory of relativity. With this<br />

teaching, Einstein has not only destroyed all notions of<br />

an eternally unchanging absolute creator, but has also<br />

prepared the way for the Buddhadharma with its stress<br />

on impermanence <strong>and</strong> a spiritual, dynamic relativity.<br />

Here, a story came to Mr. Chen's mind <strong>and</strong> this<br />

he told us at some length:<br />

A Chinese professor of no strong religious faith, Dr.<br />

Tian-Gen Peng, studied this theory personally with<br />

Einstein. When he returned to China, he chanced to read<br />

the Heart Sutra, where the Buddha has clearly preached<br />

relativity, though in a spiritual sense, much deeper than<br />

the scientific theory. He at once recognized the<br />

similarity between the two <strong>and</strong> so gained belief in the<br />

Buddha's teachings on relativity, but still he could not<br />

underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> believe in rebirth. Hearing of me, the<br />

professor tried several times to make contact, but at that<br />

time I was dwelling alone in a cave near Xi Kang <strong>and</strong><br />

my friend <strong>and</strong> protector, the Provincial Governor,<br />

38

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