PureInsight | February 18, 2002
The intrinsic goal of science lies in recognizing the true principles
Science is a word that covers a wide scope. Modern people have the notion in their minds that "What science says is right is right." However, the word science and its inner meanings are something that came to being in Western society only recently.
Actually, science is modern people's way of seeking to understand the truth. Before this period, in the West, people searched for the truth through philosophy, during the past few centuries, and theology, during the medieval time. In China, people tried to search for the truth by searching for the Dao, the cultivation of Buddhahood, and other ways. People have had their own ways of searching for the truth in different times and places. No matter whether it was through performing logical reasoning, summarizing experiences, direct observation, instant enlightenment, gradual enlightenment, analyzing the transformation of substances, or hints from Gods, there were various ways for humankind to look for the truth. The recent empirical science is only one of these many ways.
The problem of understanding in science
Yet, can modern science reveal the truth of the cosmos to people?
Current science reflects the efforts of a particular group of people who use empirical proof as the means to search for the truth. They are different from those medieval monks in Europe who claimed to have authoritative power over what was to be considered the "truth." But the understanding of modern people toward "truth" is simply the understanding developed by those famous mainstream scientists toward science. People are now rejecting any other means to search for the truth.
However, the "truth" reached by the scientists is not the real truth. It is simply a judgement based on past experiences or logical reasoning. Humankind has always had a continually changing understanding of the true principles within science. Each new generation of scientists' understandings of the true principles overturned that of the previous generation. Thus, no one could state with certainty what the true principles were.
Because of this, science must jump out of its rigid point of view and way of understanding true principles. It must break loose from its doctrines and its form of consciousness, embarking on a "quest for truth", returning to the way of "understanding true principles", and constructing a new science.
The basis of science
The goal of science is to "understand true principles." Because of this, scientists should not have any preconceived notions. Instead, they should explore the truth for the sake of truly searching for the truth, and share the true principles with people. But the advancement that today's science is making is very slow because it is being constrained by the methods that it uses. Compared to "understanding true principles," they still operate within the framework of the old theories.
If we jump out of the modern scientific view of the universe, life, and true principles, we will end up with a different picture. Only by returning to something similar to the ancient Chinese scientific methods and by walking on a fundamentally different path to understand true principles can humankind be free from the modern problems that current science has brought, such as environmental problems, war, and population problems.
The Buddha's Fa (Law) is the true science
In the eyes of humans, gods and Buddhas are capable of anything. Jesus Christ's display of compassion, power and wisdom was recorded in the Bible; Buddhist scriptures also recorded Sakiyamuni's display of Fa principles and mighty virtues. Isn't their display of wisdom and power the reflection of their understanding of even higher true principles? Aren't they the higher scientists? Can current science achieve that state? If it cannot achieve this state, it then will decide not to look into this area, forcibly closing the subject by calling it myth. This is not the attitude that one should have if he truly wants to search for the truth.
The historic accounts of miracles performed by divine beings are not fairy tales that the ancient people fabricated. Neither were they isolated incidents. They were systematically displayed in front of people. This is because ancient people believed in gods and Buddhas and paid attention to moral virtues. There were also genuine cultivators, walking on another path of understanding true principles. Their understanding of true principle was from making the connection between the phenomenon of the human body and the different dimensions of the universe. This understanding is totally different from the "Believe what you can see, but don't believe what you can't" empirical method.
What is this other kind of science? It's cultivation! The way of Lao Zi of the Taoist school recognized it as "Tao." Sakyamuni's method of understanding was called "Fa." Jesus Christ's teaching was also a kind of cultivation method. Every enlightened being had a different way, yet each was only teaching the Fa that he had enlightened to at his level in just one of the countless celestial bodies. The Buddha's Fa is the true principle, and cultivation is the best method to understand true principles.
Falun Dafa reveals the Fa of the Cosmos
Humankind has always thought that learning information and mastering skills are the ways to understand the truth. Yet using one's limited human life span to search for the endless true principle of the universe is very dangerous.
Then, what is the highest level of truth? How can one cultivate? How can one change one's distorted notions in order to understand the law of the universe, and to be truly aligned with different levels of true principles? Modern science has already blinded people to the point that they do not know a lot of things! The cultivation methods of Sakyamuni, Lao Zi, Jesus Christ that were passed on at that time have already turned into the cultural heritages and research fields of modern people.
Master Li Hongzhi has openly taught Falun Dafa, and has disclosed all of the principles of the cosmos, allowing sentient beings to return to their original birthplaces, and to return to their true, original selves. He has directly pointed out that Buddha's Fa is the characteristic of the universe, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance", and that different levels have different Fa. People can now use the characteristic of the universe, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" to cultivate their xinxing (mind/heart nature) and get rid of their bad thoughts and karma. He also pointed out unhealthy trends in the cultivation community, and given the best things to those people who can cultivate toward higher levels. This is showing the supreme compassion that the Buddha has toward human beings.
No matter what kind of notions or thinking that people had when they first started cultivation, all of them could see the side of Dafa that is harmonious and indestructible. Modern science is divided into many different fields and has achieved certain things. But when compared to the state that one reaches when he completes his cultivation, modern science is so insignificant. Dafa is not the product of human thinking, wisdom or research findings. Neither is it manifestation of supernatural phenomenon at a low level. Instead, it is the manifestation of the laws of the cosmos in the human world.
Falun Dafa is the true science. One cannot understand it using any human methods. Only cultivators can experience its different meanings at different levels during cultivation. But empirical science is a reason why modern people can't let go of their notions and attachments.
Falun Dafa is the true science. If people really want to understand the truth, the only way is to cultivate Dafa. Tens of thousands of words can't describe the profundity of the Buddha's Fa. It can only be experienced little by little. Nowadays, people have a chance to understand the truth again. If one can change his rigid notions, read Zhuan Falun with a calm mind, and cultivate himself by following the principles of the book, one can cultivate to the point of Consummation and attain the Righteous Attainment Status. It is the most fortunate thing for a person to be alive when the Dafa is being spread. Let us treasure this opportunity!
Translated on January 22, 2002 from
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/1/12/13294.html
