What part of the universe, that the Buddah gained insight from to discover morality, is not the subject of science?
The spiritual part. Moral law operates in a spiritual realm connecting events in the material realm that have no material connection.
Where is this non-natural part of the universe located and how did it get there?
Your question is not relevant. All that I need to know is that moral law works and how it operates. To quote the Buddha on irrelevant questions:[The Buddha said:]'It is as if, Malunkyaputta, a man is shot with an arrow thickly smeared with poison, … and the wounded man were to say “I will not have the arrow taken out until I know the caste of the man who shot it, … his tribe … his clan … his village … his height etc.” [many questions omitted here] That man would die Malunkyaputta, before he learned all that he wanted to know.
'In exactly the same way, Malunkyaputta, any one who says “I will not lead the religious life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One explains to me whether the universe is eternal, whether the universe is not eternal, whether the universe is finite, whether the universe is infinite etc.” [many questions omitted here] That person would die Malunkyaputta, before I had ever explained all this to that person.
‘The religious life, Malunkyaputta, does not depend on the dogma that the universe is eternal, nor does it depend on the dogma that the universe is not eternal etc. [many dogmas omitted here] Whatever dogma obtains there is still birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief and despair, of which I declare the extinction in the present life.’
Cula-Malunkyovada sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 63
I do not need to know every detail of who made my computer and the factory in which they made it in order to be able to operate it. If I tried to find out all those details then I would have less time to actually use the computer, which is the point of having one.
Buddhism is not something to believe, it is something to do. As long as I know how to operate correctly both in the world and with my computer then the details of how they originated are not particularly relevant. They are the equivalent of discussing how many angels can fit on a pinhead.
What influence have your gods and angels had on material nature, if any? Where do they exist and how do they communicate their existence to human beings? Do they have any role in the development of moral laws?
In most Buddhist countries the local gods/spirits are prayed to for small material things - winning the lottery, recovering from disease, the sex of a child etc. From what I can see it does not really matter which god(s) you pray to, the results are pretty much the same everywhere.
The gods have no role in the development of moral laws; they are living beings and are just as subject to moral law as all other living beings. If we live a very good life we may ourselves be reborn as gods in one of the heavens for a long (but not infinite) time.
What effect does gahdhabba have on the evolution of human beings?
None; evolution is concerned with the material body, gandhabbas aren’t. Gandhabbas apply to more than just human beings, every living thing has gandhabbas. You can be reborn as a god, as a human, as an animal or in hell. Every time you are reborn your current gandhabba transfers with you.
You seem to be saying that evolution is only responsible for some parts of a human being. Where in the scientific literature does it state that there are any aspects of human life that are not the result of evolutionary processes?
Nowhere. I do not get that part from the scientific literature, I get it from the Buddhist literature. I am not a philosophical materialist. While doing science I am a methodological materialist, but only for the purposes of science. Away from science I am Buddhist. Science is an excellent source of knowledge within the boundaries it sets for itself. Outside those boundaries I use other sources.
rossum
