Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

Madhyamika scholar, Nagarjuna (2 nd to 3 rd century), that intellectual discourse is a “word play in
diversity” (Brück and Lai, 1997, p. 443). [6]
Further, the Yogachara school ("everything is awareness”) is presented as a Buddhist witness for the
“quantum theory” of Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976). The German nuclear physicist introduced the
dependence of “objective” physical processes upon the status of an (observing) subject into the
scientific epistemological debate. Depending upon the experimental arrangement, for example, the
same physical process can be seen as the movement of non-material waves or as the motion of
subatomic particles (uncertainty principle). Occult schools of all manner of orientations welcomed
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle as a confirmation of their proposed spiritualization
(subjectification) of all being and celebrated his observations as a “scientific” confirmation of their
“just spirit” theories. ("Reality is dependent on the observing subject”).
Even the Fourteenth Dalai Lama speaks nonchalantly about Heisenberg’s theory and the subjectivity
of atomic worlds: „Thus certain phenomena in physics”, we hear from the man himself, „are
sometimes described as electromagnetic waves and on other occasions as particles. The description of
the phenomenon thus seems to be very dependent upon the describer. Thus, in science we also find
this concrete relationship to spirit, to the observing spirit which attempts to describe the phenomenon.
Buddhism is very rich regarding the description of the spirit ... „ (Dalai Lama XIV, 1995, p. 52).
Surprisingly, such epistemological statements by the Kundun, which have in the meantime been taken
up by every esoteric, are taken seriously in scientific circles. Even eminent authorities in their subject
like the German particle physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker who was one of the
leading theoretical founding fathers of the atomic bomb are enthusiastic about the self-assurance with
which the god-king from Tibet chats about topics in quantum theory, and come to a far-reaching
conclusion: „I [von Weizsäcker] therefore believe that modern physics is in fact compatible with
Buddhism, to a higher degree than one may have earlier imagined” (Dalai Lama XIV, 1995, 11).
On the other hand, in a charming return gesture the Kundun describes himself as the „pupil of
Professor von Weizsäcker. ... I myself regard ... him as my teacher, my guru” (Dalai Lama XIV, 1995,
p. 13), and at another point adds, “The fact is that the concepts of atoms and elementary particles is
nothing new for Buddhism. Since the earliest times our texts speak of these and mention even more
subtle particles. ... After numerous conversations with various researchers I have realized that there is
an almost total correspondence between that which I from a Buddhist standpoint refer to as the subtle
insubstantiality of material phenomena, and that which the physicists express in terms of constant flux
and levels of fluctuation” (Levenson, 1992, pp. 246-247). In the cosmogony of the Kalachakra Tantra
there is talk of “space particles” that contain the core of a new world after the destruction of a
universe. One could see a parallel to the atomic structure of matter here.
It is somewhat bold of the Dalai Lama to describe a passage from the Kalachakra Tantra, where one
can read that after the fiery downfall of the Buddhist universe “galactic seeds” remain, as an
anticipation of western nuclear science. This would imply that centuries ago Buddhism had
formulated what is now said by the elite of western science. The atomic theory of the Greek
philosopher Democritus (around 460–370 B.C.E.), who lived 1500 years before the Kalachakra
Tantra was written, has much more right to this status. At any rate such retrospective statements by
the Kundun have the job of presenting his own (Buddhist) system as earlier, superior and more
comprehensive than western culture. They are made with the power-political intention of anchoring