Stories about science
11 Buddhist wisdom stories about science from Buddhist teachers, each linked to the original talk.
- Alex the African grey parrotStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Psychologists adapting methods for children with learning disabilities teach African grey parrot Alex not party tricks but intelligent vocabulary — Brahm first saw the video…
Read full story
Alex the parrot, A L E X, and parrot is an African grey parrot who was a subject of an experiment, and a kind experiment. Some uh psychologist who had uh knowledge of a way of teaching those with intellectual disabili- disabilities, learning disabilities, how to talk. You know, sometimes kids, it's not they're naughty, but just they have some blockages about learning how to speak the local language. And of course, some of these psychologists have worked out very good techniques in order to teach kids how to speak. Not maybe the normal lessons which other kids have in school, but specialized for them. So, these couple of psychologists over in the United States, they uh tried to teach a parrot how to talk. I don't mean like pieces of eight or uh naughty language. I mean, how to have enough of a vocabulary to be able to use these words intelligently
- Bernard Carr, the first Buddhist he metStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At 16 Ajahn Brahm wins his first school maths prize, is sent to Foyles for maths books, and instead buys Buddhism paperbacks from the attic annex. He recognises himself as a…
Read full story
Bernard was a very close friend because he was the first Buddhist I ever met. And the story is this. As a young man, we're going to school and about 16 years of age, I started to come good at the at the um secondary school where I was studying and I won my first school prize at 16 for maths. So they I asked, "What do I do?" Never had a school prize before. And my teacher said, "You go off to the bookshop and get books on mathematics so you could go even further in that field." So being obedient, I went to this bookstore in Charing Cross Road in London, Foils Bookshop. And I went in there the mathematics section and I looked at all these books on mathematics and I said to myself, I'm not going to waste my first school prize on that rubbish. I want something a bit more interesting. And I noticed on the opposite side of the road in the annex, annex is always interesting. In the very top floor, the attic, that is where they had books on the weird stuff, psychic powers. All the different religions were up there as well. And so I brought a whole mass of paperbacks and the teacher, you're not supposed to get paperbacks, but it's good value for money instead of getting a hardback. But we got to present something to you. Oh, present. That's good enough. So I think the book which was presented to me I think was absolutely true was the third eye by lob sang ramper the guy I think some celebrity or some important person I said what is this book this guy's getting but that was only one of them the rest of them was all these books on Buddhism that's actually where I became a Buddhist I read them I thought wow that's what I am that's how I think that's you know my personality And it was only when I went to university that they had all these clubs and societies and I just my eyes went wide when I saw there was a Buddhist club in university and I was just so excited. What you mean there's other Buddhists? I can actually, you know, join something. This was in 1969 I think. And so I went to the counter and there's this another student is on the other end of the counter. I said I want to join. He said no this is Buddhism. You don't need to join. Just come and test it out. I said I'm already a Buddhist. I want to join. No just after a few talks if you want to. And I slammed a£1 note which was a joining 518 on the table. Join me now. And he became you know a lifelong friend. That was Bernard Bernard Khr.
- Brian Josephson found it in meditationStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Physicist Brian Josephson (quantum tunnelling / supercomputers) won a Nobel; as Ajahn Brahm tells it, the breakthrough came not from more thinking but from meditating.
Read full story
briyan Josephson won a Nobel Prize in physics for understanding the essential thing which supercomputers now rely upon similar thing to a a transistor but working at close to absolute zero temperatures Innovative incredibly remunerative supercomputers and he got a Nobel Prize as well in physics he discovered that not through thinking about it through meditating
- Darwin crows only die under trucksJoke · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: On the Darwin highway the only roadkill noticed is crows — and only under trucks and buses, never sedans. The rumour checks out as true.
Read full story
Northern Territory in Darwin, they're investigating a very weird phenomena because on the big highway, you know, going up to Darwin, they noticed the only road kill they saw on there was actually crows, the crows being killed, they were only killed by by trucks and buses, never by sedans. They look there and so and that was a rumor, the myth and I actually checked that it was absolutely true weird but the crows would only be wiped out by the truc
- Half of what we teach you is wrongStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: A doctor driving Ajahn Brahm to a retreat recalls the welcome speech at his Sydney medical school: the head of the school told the new students that 50% of what they would be…
Read full story
he was the head of warp in Salford Hospital in Sydney head of the Medical School and I heard this from one of the the doctors who's taking me driving me to a retreat who said there are the beginning of his years as a as in medical school the head of the department giving the welcome speech to everybody who was gonna spend the next four years in war pins half-wit Hospital Medical School who said 50% of what we're going to teach you in the next four years is wrong this was the professor saying what we're gonna teach him next for you is 50% of it is wrong the problem is he said we're not quite sure which 50% it is
- 'Never mind, we'll get another one'Story · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: When Ajahn Brahm was at university, another student in his lab blew up an expensive piece of equipment — a big bang and smoke. Ajahn Brahm expected him to be in serious trouble,…
Read full story
I remember being in a lab and one of the other students in the lab. There was a big bang. He blew up one of the piece of equipment, expensive piece of equipment. And I forget exactly what it was, but when bang and all the smoke came out and I thought that he could really get in trouble for that, wasting expensive equipment, but all the the lab technicians and the other professors, they said, "No, no, no, never mind. We get another one.
- Newton's plague year was his most fruitfulStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Cambridge email during COVID notes the college last fully shut for plague in 1665–66. Isaac Newton left for Lincolnshire to isolate — and later called it one of the most fruitful…
Read full story
the previous time they'd shut down totally because of pandemics was during the plagues in the 17th century in 1665 and 1666. That plague just destroyed so many livelihoods. So they had to shut down the college and at that time one of the people at Emanuel no not at Emanuel he was at Trinity College but up at Cambridge University was a gentleman called Sir Isaac Newton and he had to leave the college and go up to Lincolnshire somewhere uh just uh to what we'd call these days socially isolate and that while he was there in his his notes He said this was one of the most fruitful intellectual times of his life. Many of his great discoveries would obviously have happened there when he was away by himself alone
- Omega equals one — from a T-shirtStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: Science talk of Omega equals one (nothing excess; coming from nothing and going back) — Brahm notes how such insights arrive in unexpected places, including a T-shirt.
Read full story
Omega equals one." In science they always have these numbers and figures, and symbols for stuff so that is the case. There is nothing here, no universal life energy, but that is just a device of division. Then coming from nothing and going back to nothing, wow, I think that is really cool. One of the reasons why it's amazing just the insights and understandings which you get in the most unexpected places. This one I got from a T-shirt
- Professor Blair and the zero-sum universeStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: At a UWA event with physicist David Blair he asks where the universe's mass-energy came from if it cannot be created. From silence he suggests total negative energy equals total…
Read full story
I was doing a presentation with with uh David Blair you know he's still the professor of physics at uwa still a good friend and I remember this little um interchange we had you know at an event there and when I said you know about where does the universe come from you know because there's a basic law of science I'm sure everybody knows this one that you cannot create mass energy you cannot destroy it energy Mass it just changes from one to the other but energy cannot be created nor destroyed I'm sure you've heard that so the question comes where did this energy called you know the universe come from where did the planets the dark energy everything where did it all come from because it cannot be created cannot be destroyed was a beginning of this universe a just a time when the laws of physics just didn't hold or is the laws of physics which is basically logic reason was it always there so in that uh little part of the discussion just you know just thinking from Silence I said well look I know from the physics which I remember there is a physical quantity called negative energy now to explain that to you that is like if you remember your high school physics science what they called potential energy that if something is in a gravitational field this clock to take this free from the Earth's gravitational field it takes up a lot of energy that's why they have to have these huge Rockets basically putting an explosion you know up the astronauts bump I think that was uh who said that one of the great astronauts he said that's like going off into outer space you know fortunately got lots of metal between you and the explosion but that's basically what it is a big bomb under your ass T to propel you up into space and please excuse me for using the language which you use so anyway that's what it's like that's the energy you need just to free this from a gravitational field so being in a gravitational field is a form of negative energy that's one and there's many others so just thinking outside the box you know because you know how to be silent so what would it be like Professor Blair if the total amount the sum total of negative energy negative mass energy in this universe equaled the amount of positive mass energy in this universe that's a a valid concept so if all the the planet solar systems everything and the energy Fields all came together they totally balance so mass energy vanishes you cannot create mass energy we don't need to because the sum total is zero so go back that's where it came from if you add everything together it's zero sum universe is a zero sum game and when I said that he looked at me and I still remember the expression on his face actually bro I never realized you are so up toate Omega equals 1 I don't know what omega mean but it was a ratio to negative and positive energy said wow where did you get that from Easy from silence and that's in the world the wisdom born of Silence
- Saturn's rings after 2001: A Space OdysseyStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: After watching 2001: A Space Odyssey as a student, he cycles with friends to an old Astronomical Society observatory; the dome opens and through the huge telescope they see…
Read full story
2001 A Space Odyssey is a really freaky film. And after seeing 2001 A Space Odyssey, then I was a member of the Astronomical Society. And they had all these old observatories, just like you see in the movies, these big domes with incredible powerful telescopes. And because I was a member, I told my friends, "Hey, we can just go and have a look." That was no part of being a member. So we cycled and cycled. I was very healthy in those days. Cycled out outside to the observatory. And that was the thing they found Pluto, Uranus on that observatory, but it was just out of date now. But anyway, we got in there, we uh somebody said, "Oh, yes, a really good time." This is 11:00, 12:00 at night after the movie. And they said that you can see Saturn was up there. And so you could go in this this chair and this huge long telescope and just the the hemisphere dome of the observatory would open. And it just had atmosphere. I know there's some people have these tiny telescopes, you can see much more, but that's got no atmosphere. This was like something out of a science fiction movie. You could actually see Saturn with its rings in huge magnification
- The Cavendish warrenStory · Ajahn Brahm
In brief: As a young Cambridge student he enters the Cavendish Laboratory warren — alleys, rooms, history including J.J. Thomson discovering the electron.
Read full story
Caendish laboratory, and it was just an amazing experience going in this this old laboratory where so much stuff had happened. It was a warren of alleys and little rooms where someone in one of those rooms was inventing the time machine and no one knew what they were doing. These old professors no one had seen someone was inventing a laser or and had all this incredible history behind it. JJ Thompson had discovered the electron