Time and the Universe

A Q&A with Dr. Berzin and his students about the relationship between Buddhism and science, with specific examples of points that they share in common.

How the topic of karma is to be understood in relation to the issue of free will versus determinism.

Only the omniscient awareness of a Buddha can cognize all the causal factors that affect which specific “presently-happening result” arises from a karmic tendency.

The evolution of a universe is intimately connected with the karma of the limited beings that will be reborn into it.

The first and second of the five inclusive features of a Tibetan calendar are the lunar weekday and the date of the lunar month. These are involved in the mech­anism through which the lunar and solar calendars are brought into harmony.

Details about Kalachakra, its history and relation with the Dalai Lamas.

The Yoga school of Indian philosophy shares the basic assertions of the Samkhya system, such as concerning primal matter, the self and liberation, but adds to the system the supreme god Ishvara, equivalent to Shiva.

The Dalai Lama’s view of a 21st-century Buddhist means having fuller knowledge about modern education and modern science, while having full conviction about Buddha’s teachings about limitless altruism, bodhichitta and the view of dependent arising.

A survey of the different types of mandalas used for many different purposes, both in sutra and tantra.

The Buddhist abhidharma and Kalachakra literatures provide two distinct presentations of cosmology, each for a different purpose.