clw_uk wrote:Then isnt this clinging to a teaching?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you should cling to the teaching until you arrive at a certain point of your path before nibbana where you're ready to let go of the teaching. If you let go of the teaching before that point, you probably won't arrive at nibbana. If you throw away the raft before getting to the other end of the river, you're going to drown.
clw_uk wrote:i mean if science shows that without a doubt it isnt so, then to hold that it is would be to deny what is real would it not?
As I said before, Science can
never make a claim with 100% certainty - there's always an element of doubt:
Ravana wrote:Science can only get closer and closer to a hypothetical 'ultimate truth', because there is always the possibility that new evidence might be uncovered that doesn't conform to the present explanations.
clw_uk wrote:Which is why for me to believe fully in rebirth is just as silly as disbelieving it since there is no evidence either way via science or ones own experience (unless one has some memory of it)
So are you also similarly agnostic about the celestial teapot, the flying spaghetti monster, the invisible pink unicorn, the great jelly bean, purple elephants, leprechauns, fairies, and Yahweh? Because there is no evidence to prove/disprove the existence of these.
If you take refuge in the Dhamma, then you must give primacy to the Dhamma, not Science. Those who want to change the Dhamma according to whether it agrees with science or not, are giving primacy to science over the Dhamma.
As I pointed out with the celestial teapot analogy, it is irrational to believe in things such as kamma or rebirth until you can back it up with evidence. I have no problem holding such irrational beliefs because I do not give primacy to science - I give primacy to the Dhamma. Once again
Ravana wrote:And in the Kalama Sutta the Buddha does not ask the Kalama's to accept a doctrine because it seems logical - he did not say "accept what seems to best conform to empirical evidence".
Remember, the Kalamas were not Buddhists - the Kalama Sutta shows how one who hasn't taken refuge in the Dhamma should look at the different doctrines available.