Relativity, quantum mechanics, and Buddhism!
Modern physics has never been this detailed before.
There was no book that incorporated Buddhism.

“If there is a religion that meets the demands of modern science, it will be Buddhism.” These are the words of Albert Einstein, the greatest physicist of the 20th century.
Einstein, the genius physicist who discovered that even time, which was thought to be absolute, flows differently depending on conditions, likened religion and science to the two wheels of a cart.
He also said that for religion to be paired with science like a pair of wheels, it must be scientifically proven and be able to inspire scientists and artists.
Einstein called this inspiring religion 'cosmic religion'.
Cosmic religion is a religion based on 'cosmic religious feeling', which refers to 'the feeling of realizing an inexplicable truth'.
It is also a feeling of realizing wrong desires and vanity and feeling the mystery and grandeur of order that appears in both the spiritual and material aspects.
Einstein chose Buddhism as the religion closest to the universal religion he spoke of.


This is because there are many similarities between the worldview that modern physics seeks to elucidate and the teachings of Buddhism, and they provide deep inspiration to physicists.
"Einstein's Cosmic Religion and Buddhism" is a book that verifies Einstein's claims while exploring the intersection between cutting-edge modern physics and Buddhism.
The author of this book, Professor Emeritus Kim Seong-gu of the Department of Physics at Ewha Womans University, thoroughly analyzed why Buddhism cannot but be a cosmic religion, based on his extensive knowledge of physics and Buddhist doctrine.
It explains the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, which are at the forefront of physics, and examines physics theories through the Buddhist ideas of dependent origination, emptiness, and one mind.
Covering a wide range of topics, from classical to modern physics, to an introduction to Buddhist doctrine, this book will instantly change your preconceived notions about religion and science.
The author, who holds a PhD in physics and has long been immersed in Buddhist studies, offers us new intellectual inspiration through his profound insight.

It is not the case that the shape of space-time or the distribution of matter is determined first and then the other is determined accordingly.
The shape of space-time and the distribution of matter together determine each other.
The two are interdependent.
If we interpret this from a Buddhist perspective, it becomes the law of dependent origination.
The core concept of Buddhist doctrine, dependent origination, states that all things are interdependent, that no thing can exist independently of other things, and that it only has meaning through its relationship with other things.
--- p.9

From the perspective of modern physics, it is more natural to view the world as event-centered.
The incident may seem like a one-time thing, but it isn't.
This is like the waves in the sea never ending.
A wave in the ocean is a momentary event, but this event is not a one-time event.
The wave that occurs in one moment is caused by the wave that occurred in the previous moment, and the wave in this moment becomes the cause of the wave that will occur in the next moment.
--- p.27

Because of the words anitya (impermanence), anatta (no-self), and emptiness (emptiness), many people misunderstand Buddhism as nihilism or pessimism.
However, in Buddhism, when we talk about anatta and emptiness, we are only referring to the fact that nothing in the world has substance, and this does not mean that there is nothing in the world.
The word entity can refer to something that exists independently of other things, or it can mean an individual property that maintains identity.
--- p.29

Physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) compared religion and science to the two wheels of a cart.
He believed that the search for truth was not through rational thought but through religious feeling, and that human reason was to organize the truth thus found in a way that humans could understand.
Einstein believed that the religion of the future would have to have scientifically supported doctrines and be able to inspire scientists and artists, and he called the religion of the future that met these conditions a cosmic religion.
--- p.63

Duality means that one thing has properties that are logically incompatible.
The pair 'youth-old' is logically the same as the pair 'life-death' and is no different from the pair 'on-off' of an electric switch.
--- p.69

Just as the artistry of Nam June Paik's video art cannot be understood by scientists and engineers simply by analyzing the operating principles of their devices, we cannot properly represent the true nature of things in the world by simply representing them with symbols or letters and logically connecting these symbols or letters to explain them.
If we acknowledge this fact, we can understand to some extent why Zen Buddhism says, “By directly facing the mind, one can see one’s nature and become a Buddha.”
And it will also help us understand why Einstein said that religion and science are like two wheels of a cart in the search for truth.
--- p.73

A simpler explanation of Gödel's incompleteness theorem is as follows.
Let's assume that humans have a knowledge system that is free of contradictions.
And let's assume that people use well-defined words and grammar without any ambiguity.
Even if people use this knowledge system and language, Gödel's first incompleteness theorem means that there will inevitably be problems within this knowledge system that cannot be judged as right or wrong by human rational thinking [discernment] alone.
And what the second incompleteness theorem says is that to confirm that what is judged by the discerning mind is correct, greater wisdom is needed, and what this greater wisdom judges must also require greater wisdom.
However, since we cannot continue to progress indefinitely like this, we can never know whether the knowledge system that humans possess is perfect or not.
--- pp.77-78

If there were no common ground between Buddhism and science, it would be impossible or meaningless to illuminate Buddhism scientifically.
Also, if there were only commonalities between the two and no differences, then one of them would not be needed.
--- p.79

Physicists also have difficulty understanding quantum phenomena.
That's why Bohr said, "Anyone who isn't shocked by quantum theory when they first hear it doesn't understand it," and Einstein said to his students after lecturing on quantum mechanics, "If you understood what I said, I didn't speak correctly," and Feynman said, "It's not wrong to say that no one understands quantum mechanics."
--- pp.173-174

Particles have mass and make up the matter around us.
And in classical mechanics, particles are objective entities that exist independently of observers.
In contrast, a wave is a name that refers to the phenomenon of a medium made of particles vibrating.
Good examples of particle-wave relationships include the relationships between water and water waves, and air and sound waves.
Water waves are a phenomenon in which a medium such as water vibrates, and sound is a phenomenon in which an object such as air, water, or a solid vibrates.
--- p.179

Quantum mechanics has achieved remarkable success as a physical theory.
In particular, relativistic quantum mechanics is said to be the most perfect theory of nature created by humans, as it explains physical phenomena in the microscopic world so well.
To put it in terms of the sophistication of the theory, when the distance between the moon and the Earth is predicted by the theory and measured experimentally, the difference between the predicted value and the experimental value is only a few centimeters, which is how accurately the theory describes the physical phenomenon.
--- p.231

There are many religions and ethical and moral codes in the world, but if there is one that is in harmony with scientific truth and does not conflict at all, it is the Buddhist law of dependent origination.
The law of acting is a universal truth realized by Buddha through right samadhi, and can be said to be a science in itself.

--- p.379