“A bold opening to a new _ _e . Hint = A (x) p mc area of investigation...” e 2 + _ . 2mc2 A A DHAMMA ABOARD EVOLUTION A Canonical Study of Agga¤¤a Sutta in relation to Science Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri, PhD “...he writes very well.” DHAMMA ABOARD EVOLUTION Dhamma Aboard Evolution DHAMMA ABOARD EVOLUTION Dhamma Aboard Evolution seeks to establish that segment # 10-16 of the Aggañña Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya is no ‘satire’ or ‘parody’, as seen by scholars. Drawing upon Cosmology, Darwinism, Psychology (e.g., Freud, Piaget) and Linguistics, it paints a historically and scientifically accurate picture of Devolution and Evolution, going beyond the Big Bang, in which sentient beings emerge, defilements from craving to passion in tow, nourished by an evolving plant life. Compatible with Western Science, the breakthrough comes when âbhassara Beings are taken to be Photons, taking ‘âbhassara’ in a literal etymological sense of ‘Hither-come-shining-arrow’. Accurate as the picture may be, the Buddha’s point, however, is that knowledge of the Dhamma overrides it all, explaining the title. Resolved in the study are a ‘Chronological Paradox’ relating to ‘lingua’ appearing in Beings before ‘linga’ and a ‘Spiritual Paradox’ of Jhānic level âbhassara Beings indulging in sex. Among other topics treated are the Vedic Creation Myth, the intended audience and the structure of the total Sutta – not Jātaka but the Beast fable of Pañcatantra fame. The Appendix shows the Buddha as Originator of this Story Within Story literary genre. Going beyond the Sutta is an invitation to an ‘Academically Engaged Buddhism’, taking ‘Trust in the Buddha’ as a methodological imperative, just as Trust in God was for Western Science from the Greek times right up until Einstein. Dhamma Aboard Evolution By the same Author Buddhism (selected) Arahant Mahinda - Redactor of the Buddhapåjàva in Sinhala Buddhism, 2012, Toronto, Nalanda Publishing Canada (online: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/33767). “‘Asoulity’ as Translation of Anattà: Absence, not Negation”, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (7), 2011, 101-134. Rebirth as Empirical Basis for the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, Sumeru, 2010. “‘Against Belief’: Mindfulness Meditation (satipaññàna bhàvanà) as Empirical Method”, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (5), 2009, 59 - 96. “Inherited Buddhists and Acquired Buddhists”, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (2), 2006, 103 - 141. Embryo as Person: Buddhism, Bioethics and Society, 2005, Toronto: Nalanda Publishing Canada. You’re What You Sense: Buddha on Mindbody, 2001, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Cultural Centre. (online: <http://hdl.handle. net/1807/4328>). “Whole Body, not Heart, the Seat of Consciousness: the Buddha’s View,” Philosophy East and West, 45: 3 (1995): 409 - 430. ‘Buddhist View of the Dead Body’, in Proceedings of the Transplantation Society, 22:3, 1990. ‘Buddhism in Metropolitan Toronto: a preliminary survey’, Canadian Ethnic Studies, xxi:2, 1989. DHAMMA ABOARD EVOLUTION A Canonical Study of Aggañña Sutta, in Relation to Science Suwanda H J Sugunasiri, Ph.D Dhamma Aboard Evolution Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Sugunasiri, Suwanda H. J., author Dhamma aboard evolution : a canonical study of Aggañña sutta in relation to science / Suwanda H.J. Sugunasiri, PhD, Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada. Includes translation of Aggañña sutta #10-16. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-9867198-5-1 (pbk.) 1. Tipitaka Suttapitaka.Dīghanikāya. Aggaññasutta-- Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Buddhism and science. I. Title. BQ1300.A357S94 2014 294.3’823 C2014-901115-6 COVER Concept: Suwanda H J Sugunasiri Design: Johnny Osorio ©Suwanda H J Sugunasiri, 2014 All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for reviewor scholarly analysis, no part of this book may be copied or translated or use for electronic information and retrieval by any means, without the permission of the Author and Nalanda Publishing Canada. Thank you. 809 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M6J 1V2 Tel: 416-203-6203 www.jtprinting.com DEDICATION To the Pioneers in Pali Buddhism and Science --------------------------------------------------------- Dr W F Jayasuriya Author of The Psychology and Philosophy of Buddhism, 1963, Colombo, Sri Lanka: YMBA Press. Prof. Buddhadasa P. Kirtisinghe Editor, Buddhism and Science, Motilal Banarsidass, 1984, and Interdisciplnary Biologist and Evolutionary Scientist. Prof. K N Jayatilleke Author of Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1963 To my ‘beautiful friends’ (kalyāõa mitta), for help in my Sanskrit Studies: ---------------------------------------------------- Prof. Sumana Lal Kekulawala Vice Chancellor, Vidyalankara Univesity, Sri Lanka, my High School teacher who gave extra time. K D Somaratna (B A Hons.) Colleague, and Sanskrit scholar, teaching at Ananda College. Dhamma Aboard Evolution Thank you I thank Prof. Victor Bruce Matthews (of Acadia University, Nova Scotia), Ven. Ajahn Punnadhammo Mahathero (of the Arrow River Forest Meditation Centre, Thunder Bay) and Ven. Mahathera Madawela Punnaji (former Abbot of Toronto Mahavihara), for their kind consent to write a Foreword. They provide the reader a taste of what to expect. While Prof. Matthews seeks to place the research in the context of western scholarship, Mahathero Punnadhammo places it squarely against the issues raised by the Agganna Sutta, showing the inadequacy of both materialistic and theistic positions on the issue of the origins of the universe. Pointing out how many a scholar have erroneously thought that the Buddha was ignorant about the origin of the world, or at least avoided the subject, Punnaji Mahathera notes how this study shows that the Buddha was not only discussing the important subject of genesis, but also how he was ahead of modern science. So we respectfully invite the reader to go through their Forewords by way of preparing oneself for the long haul. My thanks also go to Prof. Lily de Silva (of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka) and Dr. Rupert Sheldrake (British biologist), for their kind comments (see back cover) on Part I of this work, originally published in the Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (No. 9, 2013). And to those others who have commented as well, supportively or otherwise. They have all served as an encouragement in my humble efforts. I thank my wife Swarna for the many hours lost in companionship, and also for her help with the Index. It is to Johnny Osorio of JTPrinting that my thanks go to for setting the text into book as well as translating my concepts into a cover design. I thank Tai and Jonathan, both of JT Printing, for an expeditious job in printing the book, and for their continuing support for my work in the area of Dhamma. Hope you will enjoy my study as much as I have getting it into your hands. Wishing you the best in health and happiness! Suwanda H J Sugunasiri Toronto, Canada August 2014 CONTENTS PREFACE .......................................................................................ix FOREWORD I: Prof. Victor Bruce Mathews. ......................... xxi FOREWORD II: Ven. Ajahn Punnadhammo Mahathero ..........xxiii FOREWORD III: Ven. Mahathera Madawela Punnaji’ .............. xxxi INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................1 PART I ......................................................................................7 AGGA¥¥A SUTTA, # 10-16, AS COSMOLOGY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN RELATION TO WESTERN SCIENCE PART II ..................................................................................123 AGGA¥¥A SUTTA: TOTAL TEXT PART III ..................................................................................201 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS APPENDIX ..................................................................................225 BUDDHA AS ORIGINATOR OF THE EMBEDDED STORY GENRE ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................242 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................243 INDEX ..................................................................................249 Dhamma Aboard Evolution DETAILED CONTENTS PART I AGGA¥¥A SUTTA, # 10-16, AS COSMOLOGY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN RELATION TO WESTERN SCIENCE 2. Outline of the Discourse. ................................................ 9 3. Translation of AS # 10-16: Devolution and Evolution ..............................................15 4. Notes to the Translation .................................................19 5. AS # 10-21 as Cosmic Narrative ...................................41 6. Two Seeming Chronological Paradoxes ........................73 6.1 Fingers, Food, Humans and Earth 6.2 Lingua Precedes Linga 7. Going Traditional: âbhassara Beings ...........................91 Finding a Footing on Earth 8. A Seeming Spiritual Paradox? Kàma-taõhà-jettisoned âbhassara Beings Engage in Sex!. ..............................................................97 8.1 âbhassara Beings: A Heretical View 8.2 Two Types of âbhassara Beings 8.3 Beings Reckoned Just as ‘Beings’ as New Strand of Sentience 8.4 Why Introduce âbhassara Beings? 8.5 Ride on a Straw Horse 9. Finding a Footing on Earth Revisited .........................107 in Relation to Western Science 10. A Concluding Overview. .............................................. 117 PART II AGGA¥¥A SUTTA: TOTAL TEXT 11. Cutting through the Vedic Myth ..................................125 12. Intended Audience .......................................................143