The Origin of Life in the Universe: The Buddhist
Perspective
The origin of life has been a subject of speculation in all
known cultures. In the modern era, this question has been considered in terms
of a scientific framework. Lord Buddha's explanation of the origin of the
Universe, compatible with the modern scientific explanation. How ever this
article explains what Lord Buddha saw from his supreme unsurpassed wisdom 2603
years ago with out any modern scientific equipments and how modern day
scientists through various experiments are corroborating the Buddha's doctrine
mentioned in Tripitaka. This article have no means of comparing Buddhism with
science as buddhism which is supramundane can never be compared to a some thing
mundane.How ever the sole purpose of this article is to shed light to people
who are always seeking answers from scientific means.
The Lord Buddha described the origin of the Universe and
life in the Aganna Sutta in Digha Nikaya 2600 years ago. According to Buddha's
explanation the universe being destroyed and then re-evolving into its present form over a
period of millions of years. The Buddha did not believe in the existence of a
supreme god or creator of the universe. The Lord Buddha presented a model of
cosmology wherein the universe expands and contracts over extremely long
periods of time, this description has been found by some to be consistent with
the expanding universe model and Big Bang Theory. The Buddha explained that the
universe expands outward, reaches a stabilizing point, and then reverts its
motion back toward a central point resulting in its destruction, this process again
to be repeated infinitely.
The Big Bang Theory
Sir Fred Hoyle – a renowned British astronomer coined the
term “Big Bang. Big Bang Theory explains the beginning of the
universe. The big bang theory proposes that the universe was once extremely
compact, dense, and hot. Some original event, a cosmic explosion called the big
bang, occurred about 13.7 billion years ago, and the universe has since been
expanding and cooling. The theory is based on the mathematical equations, known
as the field equations, of the general theory of relativity set forth in 1915
by Albert Einstein. The Agganna Sutta, found in the Pali Canon, in which the
Buddha, speaking to the monk Vasettha, a former Brahmin, states the following:
“Now there comes a time, Vasettha, when after a long period of time this world
expands". In this stanza the term world has a wider understanding. Here
the Buddha refers to the Universe. The Buddha said “Space has no end, and there
are endless numbers of worlds.” This means that the universe has no limit, and
has an endless number of stars and planets. The big bang was initially
suggested because it explains why distant galaxies are traveling away from us
at great speeds. The theory also predicts the existence of cosmic background
radiation. The Big Bang Theory received its strongest confirmation when this
radiation was discovered in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who later
won the Nobel Prize for this discovery.
Origin of Species
The scientific evolution is in complete agreement with the
facts mentioned in Agganna Sutta. The Agganna Sutta presents water as
pre-existent to earthlike planets, with the planet forming with water and the
life moving from the water onto the earth. The first life formed on the surface
of the water and again, over countless millions of years, evolved from simple
into complex organisms. According to Buddhism, world systems
always appear and disappear in the universe. The Buddha further says,"There comes a time, Vasettha, when, after the lapse of
a long, long period, this world died. And when this happens, beings have mostly
been reborn into the Realm of Radiance [as devas]; and there they dwell, made
of mind, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, traversing the air, continuing in
glory; and thus they remain for a long, long period of time. There comes also a
time, Vasettha, when sooner or later this world begins to re-evolve. When this
happens, beings who had deceased from the World of Radiance usually come to
life as humans…now at that time, all had become one world of water, dark, and
of darkness that makes blind. No moon nor sun appeared, no stars were seen, nor
constellations, neither was night manifest nor day, neither months nor
half-months, neither years nor seasons, neither female nor male. Beings were
reckoned just as beings only. And to those beings, Vasettha, sooner or later
after a long time, earth with its savours was spread out in the waters, even as
a scum forms on the surface of boiled milky rice that is cooling, so did the
earth appear.” “Now there comes a time, Vasettha, when after a long period
of time this world expands. When the world expands beings for the most part
fall from the realm of Radiance and come here; and they exist made of mind,
feeding on joy, self luminous, moving through the air, constantly beautiful;
thus they remain for a long, long time. Now at that time, all had become one
world of water dark, and of darkness that makes blind. No moon nor sun appeared
no stars were seen, nor constellations, neither was night manifest nor day,
neither months nor half-months, neither years nor seasons, neither female nor
male. Beings were reckoned just as beings only. And to those beings, Vasettha,
sooner or later after a long time, earth with its savors was spread out in the
waters. Even as a scum forms on the surface of boiled milky rice that is
cooling, so did the earth appear".
The “beings” that The Buddha he described in this sutta are
attached to an earthlike planet, get reborn there, and remain there
for the duration of the life. As a result of this, physical characteristics
change and evolutionary changes take place. This is could be interpreted as a
form of evolution. Modern science says that some millions of years ago, life
originated in the ocean which evolved from simple into complex organisms. All
these processes are without beginning or end, and are set in motion by natural
causes. World came into existence by nature and that nature is not an
intelligent force. For centuries the origin of Life was thought to be the
result of Abiogenesis .The doctrine of Spontaneous Generation holds that organic life could and does arise from inorganic
matter. Louis Pasteur disproved Spontaneous Generation. Buddhism never claimed
that the world, life, sun, moon, stars, wind, water, days and nights were
created by a powerful god.
The Theory of Evolution
Darwin believed all the life on Earth developed gradually
over millions of years from a few common ancestors. Darwin’s general theory
presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely
naturalistic (undirected) “descent with modification”. That is, complex creatures evolve from
more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. In a nutshell, as random genetic
mutations occur within an organism’s genetic code, the beneficial mutations are
preserved because they aid survival — a process known as “natural selection.”
These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation.
Primordial Soup Theory
Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin developed one of the first modern
theories about the origin of life on Earth .The theory which in 1924 made
Oparin famous concerns abiogenesis, the spontaneous generation of life from
non-living chemical substances. Oparin believed that conditions on primitive
Earth were different to those of the present. He suggested that the ancient
seas were like a ‘primeval soup’ which contained many organic compounds. These
were created when sunlight, a virtually limitless source of energy, reacted
with chemicals in the water. These organic compounds formed the basis of life.
They combined, becoming increasingly complex, until living cells were formed.
The Primordial Soup Theory suggest that life began in a pond or ocean as a
result of the combination of chemicals from the atmosphere and some form of
energy to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, which would then
evolve into all the species. The Primordial Soup Theory states that Life began
in a warm pond/ocean from a combination of chemicals that forms amino acids,
which then make proteins. This is supposed to happen at least 3.8 billion to
3.55 billion years ago. Definition of life Living beings are protein-made
bodies formed by one or more cells that communicate with the environment
through information transfer carried out by electric impulses or chemical substances,
and capable of morpholigical evolution and metabolism, growth and reproduction.
Life is a chemical system able to replicate itself through autocatalysis and to
make mistakes that gradually increase the efficiency of the autocatalysis.
DNA and Life
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in
humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person's body has
the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus. DNA is the genetic
material of all cells, containing coded information about cellular molecules
and processes. DNA consists of two polynucleotide strands twisted around each
other in a double helix.
Dr. Ponnamperuma's Research
Dr.Cyril Ponnamperuma, an eminent researcher at the
University of Maryland, whose career focused on explorations into the origin of
life and the “primordial soup” that contained the precursors of life. Dr
Ponnamperuma began to delve into this primordial soup and set up variations of
Miller and Urey’s original experiment. The classic experiment was conducted in
1953 by Dr. Harold C. Urey and Dr. Stanley L. Miller. They assumed the early
atmosphere was rich in hydrogen, as that is the most abundant element in the
universe. And so they mixed methane and ammonia, which contain hydrogen atoms,
with molecular hydrogen and water vapor in a flask. They introduced a
continuous electric spark, to provide the energy that might have come from
lightning. Out of the resulting chemical reactions came a residue of more
complex molecules including some amino acids. These molecules collected in the
water in a lower flask, which simulated the early oceans, and suggested what
might have been the hypothetical primordial soup in which living molecules came
together. Having changed the proportions of the elements from the original
Miller-Urey specifications slightly, Ponnamperuma and his team sent first
high-energy electrons, then ultraviolet light through the mixture, attempting
to recreate the original conditions of the earth before life. They succeeded in
creating large amounts of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an amino acid that
fuels cells. In later experiments with the same concoction of primordial soup,
the team was able to create the nucleotides that make up nucleic acid, the building blocks
of DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA).
Theory of Panspermia
Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe – Professor of Applied
Mathematics and Astronomy, School of Mathematics, Cardiff University, UK
asserted: “Life did not start here on earth but in space . Theory known as
panspermia- the science that teaches earth and other planets in the universe
may have been seeded for life by microorganisms carrying comets. Life did not
start in a primordial soup spontaneously here on earth as believed earlier but
it started 4000 million years ago on comets and traveled through space to earth
and countless other planets. He played a key role in establishing a connection
between astronomy and biology. His work in the 1980′s showed for the first time
that cosmic dust had properties that resembled the properties of living
material and their degradation products. The concept of life being a cosmic
phenomenon supported by space science, geology and biology. In this context
life on Earth resulted from the introduction of bacteria from comets, and the
subsequent evolution of life required the continuing input of genes from
comets. Viable bacteria are of cosmic origin. They were present already in the
material from which the solar system condensed and their number was then topped
up substantially by replication in cometary material. Thus the impacts of
cometary material would have brought them to Earth.The idea of life being a
cosmic phenomenon is fully in tune with Buddhist as well as Vedic philosophy.
Conclusion Buddhism teaches that every man in the universe is his own lord,
controls his own destiny, and is not controlled by any other man or any supernatural God.
In Malunkyaputta sutta's story, the Buddha explained the
debate of origin of the universe is a waste of time. According to the Lord
Buddha man’s instantaneous problem is his own suffering and his task is to
liberate himself from the Sansara (Life flux). To exemplify this, the Buddha
explains the tale of a man who was shot by a poisoned arrow. This unwise man
refused to have the arrow removed until he was told who shot the arrow, what he
looks like, his cast , names of his parents ,the kind of wood the arrow was
made of and so forth. The Buddha said that before the man could achieve
complete information, he would be dead. Although science corroborate the
teachings of the lord buddha, our immediate mission should be to attain
enlightenment (Arahantship), not to speculate about the metaphysical.
May all beings be well & happy and attain
the fruits of Nibbana.
Suranda Weediyage
BA, Tripitakachariya, Dip in Pali/ Buddhism (Pali & Buddhist University of Sri Lanka), HNDBF,
surandalk@gmail.com
http://www.thebuddhadhamma.wordpress.com
