GUESTS OF HONOUR: His Holiness the XIV. Dalai Lama
Prof. Dr. Richard R. Ernst
KEYNOTE LECTURE: Dr. phil. Tarab Tulku
Click on the names above for further introduction!
Humberto Maturana Romesin,
biologist, has done research in neuroanatomy, neurobiology and biological evolution. His interest has been in understanding perception and cognition as biological phenomena. This work has lead him to develop what he calls "The biology of cognition and the biology of love". Over the last two years he has developed with Ximena Davila Yanez what they call "the biological matrix of human existence". It is defined as an expression of the understanding of the interplay of the "biology of cognition" and the "biology of love" in the constitution and conservation of humanness. He has also created with Ximena Davila Yanez the "Instituto Matriztico" for the teaching of such an understanding.
Duality, the Origin of Unity
Unity and Duality are distinctions, that we human beings make in our domain of actions. At the same time, duality and unity are distinctions, that we make in our domain of experiences. That has consequences in our spiritual living, as they open for us a path that can lead either to well-being or to suffering, depending on how we live them. We create suffering in our lives and in the lives of others when we live dualities as oppositions. In this presentation I intend to show, that the path that frees us from this suffering is the path of living in the unity of mind and action, of living in the present, abandoning the attachment to certainty - that is "biology of love".
Trinh Xuan Thuan
is a native of Hanoi, Vietnam. He obtained his Bachelor of Sciences in Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1970 and his Ph.D. in Astrophysics at Princeton University in 1974. Since 1976 he has been a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia. He specializes in the study of galactic systems beyond the Milky Way and has written nearly 200 articles on the formation of elements in the Big Bang and galaxy formation and evolution. He has written several books destined for the general public, that are translated into 15 languages and are all best-sellers in France, in particular "The Secret Melody", 'The Birth of the Universe' and 'Chaos and Harmony'. In these books, he discusses the profound changes in world view brought about by modern scientific discoveries. His latest book, 'The Quantum and the Lotus', co-authored with French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, also a best-seller in France, has been translated in 10 languages. In it, Professor Thuan explores the many remarkable connections between the ancient teachings of Buddhism and the findings of modern science.
Science and Buddhism: a meeting of the minds
Did the Universe have a beginning? Or is our universe just one in an infinite series of universes, without beginning nor end? Is the stunning fine-tuning of the universe, which has produced just the right conditions for life and consciousness to evolve, a sign that a "principle of creation" is at work, or is that fine-tuning simply a consequence of interdependence? How does the radical interpretation of reality offered by quantum physics conform to or differ from the Buddhist concept of reality? I will discuss these and other questions in the light of both recent findings in science and the ancient teachings of Buddhism. I will point out the remarkable connections between these two very different ways of investigating reality. I will note that some of Buddhism's views are strikingly similar to modern physics' theories on quantum mechanics and relativity. Science and Buddhism are both windows, which allow us to peer at Reality. They complement rather than oppose each other.
Gerhard Fasching
was born in 1933 in Vienna. He habilitated in 1966 and from 1970 until his retirement this year he was Full Professor and Institute Chairman at the Technische Universität in Vienna. He lectures on the structure and characteristics of matter and on epistemological questions. One of his central objectives is a mode of thinking, which leads to a pluralism of realities. Our monocultural understanding of reality has already neglected many realities of our own culture and of others, and thereby lost them. Our humanistic world-view therefore requires a broader foundation. As a natural scientist and technician, he has been deeply critical of the carelessness and recklessness in our technical treatment of nature for many years.
The Kaleidoscope of Realities and Transcendent Unity
The standpoint of a natural scientist is one in which one first of all speaks about our contemporary understanding of reality and science. Then the question whether the reality of natural science is a "reliable" reality is examined; in order to award it a "Certificate of Priority". The answer to this question, however, is astonishing, at least from the standpoint of our understanding of science. The reality of the natural sciences is, to be precise, in a certain sense just a "prejudicially specific illusion". We find that we are not dealing with just one reality; and the result is a pluralism of realities. The mode of thinking of the natural sciences is merely one mode of thought among many others. The concept of "Unity in Duality" will be rendered strikingly clear on the basis of argumentation from within natural-scientific discourse on the split between subject and object. The creation of reality will be explicitly demonstrated by means of examples of phenomena as they are seen by natural science..
Marit Rullmann
M.A. phil., was trained as a book dealer, and worked for city and state libraries for many years. After completing her studies in Philosophy and Modern German Studies at the Ruhr-Universität in Bochum, she is Project Manager at the local Agenda 21, a university lecturer, and an independent philosopher and author. She runs "Philosophical Cafes" since 1989. She has published several works, including the two popular scholarly volumes, "Philosophinnen. Von der Antike bis zur Aufklärung" (1993), Engl. 'Women Philosophers. Antiquity to Enlightenment', and the second volume, "Von der Romantik bis zur Moderne" (1995), Engl. 'Romanticism to Modernism'. Both volumes were an unexpectedly great success with both critics and the public, and many readings and lectures followed. Her latest book, "Frauen denken anders. Philo-Sophias 1x1" (with Werner Schlegel), Engl. 'Women think differently. Philo-Sophia 101' was published by Suhrkamp Verlag in December 2000.
Women Think Differently - against the dualism in male philosophy
Western philosophy is primarily characterized by hierarchical thinking: Subject against object, mind against matter, active against passive, man against woman. These and other dichotomies form the basis of western conceptualization since Aristotle. Instead of correlation, fixed relations determine our thinking and actions up to the present. This leads to the devaluation and exploitation of nature and of women (as against culture and men), with all the well-known consequences; as well as leading to the split between "higher" mind and "lower" body . This results in the construction of abstract theoretical constructs, which have little or nothing to do with our daily lives. Women philosophers already criticized this long ago. The majority of them reject this typically patriarchal separation of theory and life. Instead of "timeless ideas" they advocate holistic ways of life.
TENDREL REPORT / CONTENTS:
1. Introduction 
2. The subject and idea of the conference
3. The conference - meeting its goal
4. Presentation of the speakers and their lectures
5. U.D. Introduced Through an Exposition of Tendrel
