Buddhism goes beyond modern science in its acceptance of a wider field of knowledge than is allowed by the scientific mind. Buddhism admits knowledge arising from the sense organs as well as personal experiences gained though mental culture. By training and developing a highly concentrated mind, religious experience can be understood and verified. Religious experience is not something which can be understood by conducting experiments in a test-tube or examined under a microscope.

To talk of Buddhism we must first talk about its origins. I have suggested that the origin of religion was the fear of danger, but this is not true of Buddhism, which arose from the fear of suffering. Please note this distinction. Dealing with the origins of religion we talk about danger, but when dealing with Buddhism we talk about suffering, which has a more specific meaning. The fear of danger has its object in external factors, such as floods, earthquakes, and so on, but suffering includes all the problems experienced in life, including those within the mind.

I want to begin to write this essay with mentioning Prof. Seonglae Park, who is the famous scholar in the history of science. Prof. Park carefully explained in his heading remarks of the quarterly journal, Gwahak Sasang(The Thought of Science) how the West occupied the East, and how the moral civilization of the East has been changed by the Western mechanic civilization and anticipated the situation of the coming 21st century world as follows:

It is commonly asserted that religion arose from the fear of danger, particularly natural dangers, such as lightning, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes. These dangers have threatened human beings throughout the ages. Ancient man, ignorant of the workings of nature, could not understand the causes of these natural forces. Terrified at the threat they presented, he began to search for answers.

At the outset we must acknowledge the innumerable blessings bestowed on us by science. Nobody will dispute the enormous value science has for us. In order to be able to give this lecture, I have travelled all the way from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in only one hour. Back in the days of King Rama I, you would have had to wait three months for me to get here, and for that matter I probably wouldn't have come at all. For this we must acknowledge science's contribution to travel.

Western interest in Eastern religions, especially Buddhism, historically coincided with the rise of modern science and the corresponding perceived decline of religious orthodoxy in the West. Put simply: Modern science initiated a deep spiritual crisis that led to an unfortunate split between faith and reason—a split yet to be reconciled. Buddhism was seen as an "alternative altar," a bridge that could reunite the estranged worlds of matter and spirit.

 The coming 21st century will begin in a chaotic condition with the fever of capitalism and individualism. we tend to interpret the word 'ism' as an expression of will of human beings....However, capitalism and individualism are not 'isms' by which we, human beings, consciously remake our world.

First of all, please let me express my deepest thanks to the organisers of the 2m World Buddhist Forum especially the Most Ven. Yi Cheng President of the Buddhist Association of China, the Most Ven. Hsing Yun President of the Buddha's Life International Association, the Most Ven. Kok Kwong President of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, H.E.Mr.Ye Xiaowen Chairman of the China Religious Culture Communication Association, who have allowed me to participate in this prestigious conference.

Can Buddhist practice liberate us from the prison of physical pain? How can meditation help when medicine falls short? Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph. D., professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, speaks to these questions as a longtime practitioner of Buddhist meditation and hatha yoga, and as a pioneer in the use of mindfulness to treat chronic pain and illness. More than 13,000 people have visited the world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic that Kabat-Zinn established in 1979 at the UMass Medical Center, and the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program—described in Kabat-Zinn's bestseller Full Catastrophe Living—is now also offered at some two hundred other medical facilities worldwide. 

Mundgod, Karnataka, India: - The spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama arrived at Mundgod for Mind & Life meeting today, 21 January, his shoulders draped with a green shawl that he explained he had been given by people who had just met him seeking his support for the local polio vaccination campaign. His Holiness laughed to see that the day's first presenter, Sona Dimidjian, was wearing almost exactly the same colour.