Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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Contents 1. Summary 4 2. Nagarjuna 9 3. Interpretation of MMK’s 25 chapters 31 4. Discussion of Nagarjuna’s work 33 5. The metaphysical foundations of quantum physics 34 6. Conclusion 46 Appendix 1 Meanings of pratityasamutpada 48 Appendix 2 What is quantum entanglement? 50 Appendix 3 A.N. Whitehead 51 Appendix 4 Albert Einstein 64 7.Notes 65 Bibliography 70 9. Short CV of the author 72
1.Summary The key terms. 1. Key term: ‘Emptiness’. The Indian philosopher Nagarjuna (2nd century Current Era) is known in the history of Buddhism mainly by his keyword ‘sunyata’. This word is translated into English by the word ‘emptiness’. The translation and the traditional interpretations create the impression that Nagarjuna declares the objects as empty or illusionary or not real or not existing. What is the assertion and concrete statement made by this interpretation? That nothing can be found, that there is nothing, that nothing exists? Was Nagarjuna denying the external world? Did he wish to refute that which evidently is? Did he want to call into question the world in which we live? Did he wish to deny the presence of things that somehow arise? My first point is the refutation of this traditional translation and interpretation. 2. Key terms: ‘Dependence’ or ‘relational view’. My second point consists in a transcription of the keyword of ‘sunyata’ by the word ‘dependence’. This is something that Nagarjuna himself has done. Now Nagarjuna’s central view can be named ‘dependence of things’. Nagarjuna is not looking for a material or immaterial object which can be declared as a fundamental reality of this world. His fundamental reality is not an object. It is a relation between objects. This is a relational view of reality. Reality is without foundation. Or: Reality has the wide open space as foundation. 3. Key terms: ‘Arm in arm’. But Nagarjuna did not stop there. He was not content to repeat this discovery of relational reality. He went on one step further indicating that what is happening between two things. He gave indications to the space between two things. He realized that not the
Page 1: Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysi
Page 5 and 6: ideas of substance or subject, two
Page 7 and 8: 2. Nagarjuna Preliminary note We sh
Page 9 and 10: distinction between two forms of be
Page 11 and 12: (4) Instrumentalism Instead of favo
Page 13 and 14: 19. “That which has arisen depend
Page 15: A brief review of the 25 chapters o
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2: A mover and the distance
Page 20 and 21: Chapter 10: Fire and fuel. Photogra
Page 22 and 23: Chapter 12: Suffering and the cause
Page 24 and 25: Chapter 13. A teenager and an aged
Page 26: Chapter 23. Pure and impure. Rio Ne
Page 29 and 30: A solar storm. Something is happeni
Page 31 and 32: sometimes three complementary bodie
Page 33 and 34: 5. The metaphysical foundations of
Page 35 and 36: Albert Einstein’s contribution to
Page 37 and 38: Niels Bohr’s contribution to the
Page 39 and 40: The atoms arrive in discrete lumps.
Page 41 and 42: Figure 1: In this Feynman diagram,
Page 43 and 44: centimeter) and are so weak that th
Page 45 and 46: philosophers and physicists have be
Page 47 and 48: What is reality? We have become acc
Page 49 and 50: 4. as an intermediate state by Roge
Page 51 and 52: Appendix 3: Alfred North Whitehead:
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of Miletus, alive at the date 600 B
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Christian scheme of salvation. Its
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accordance with his clear-cut intel
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seemingly obvious, are infected wit
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Of course in this action, and react
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temporal realization of ideas. The
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qualification not to be analyzed in
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Plato, the mathematician, for long
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now that it is dead, it is stone-de
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Italian Renaissance. In truth, they
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for the expression of high abstract
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particular observations. The other
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Greeks, Jews, and Muslims from such
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F.H. Bradley for instance, fall int
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merely that the equality of two and
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Alfred North Whitehead: Adventures
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occasions, can be validly used to s
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element shall have the character of
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that if there can be any intellectu
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The difference of ancients and mode
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course of such physical activities
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Section VIII. We have now reached t
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The common practice, interpreted by
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and in its forms. Thus we discover
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distinct meanings. It is to be reme
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This consideration is the basis of
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example consciousness, if it be pre
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together for common ends. Such unit
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monad can take account of another,
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facts and species are the product o
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adopted. Then the word Creativity e
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When a general idea has been obtain
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eality. The important invention of
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the correspondence between a model
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E. D. & Feldman, G. J. Quarkonium.
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8. Bibliography Bloom, E. D. & Feld
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'T Hooft, G. Symmetrien in der Phys
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Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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