Buddhist and Philosopher

Author: Jean-Louis Levi-Strauss (France) / Mathieu Ricard (France) / Lu Yuanchang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Jean-Louis Levi-Strauss, a contemporary French intellectual master and a member of the French Academy, along with his son Mathieu Ricard, who converted to Buddhism, engaged in a dialogue between Buddhism and Western thought in a quiet place on a mountain overlooking Kathmandu in Nepal. The monk said: Buddhism proposes a spiritual science that discusses the basic functions of happiness and suffering. From morning to evening, at every moment of our lives, we are in communication with our minds, and even the smallest transformation of this mind can have a profound impact on our existence and our perception of the world. The philosopher said: What lessons did I take from these conversations? What did they bring me? They inspired me with increasing admiration for Buddhism as wisdom and increasing skepticism about Buddhism as metaphysics. They also gave me a vague glimpse of some explanations for the current appeal of this doctrine in the West. This is primarily because Buddhism fills a vacuum created by the escape of Western philosophy in the fields of the art of life and morality.