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Buddhism and evolution
''An opinion is given on the first paragraph of this article with the phrase in parentheses, (No primary source is needed). I plan to either find a source or replace the sentence. There are also a few grammatical errors that need to be corrected. The article has not seen any active discussion on the talk page for over four years.''

In the third paragraph, a citation is needed after a brief statement of the Dalai Lama's view on evolution is given.

In the fourth paragraph, the parentheses after the word "Rebirth" should be shortened to say "...any kind of living creature and several types of supernatural being"

Buddhist views
Under the subtopic Buddhist views, the first sentence is to introduce a quote, but no further description is given.

Directly after, the Majjhima Nikaya is quoted but with no description of the book itself, I could help make this piece better by first allowing the reader to have a general understanding of the book.

Albert Low is mentioned but and only a very short discussion is written of one of his ideas.

Agañña Sutta
No description of the Agañña Sutta is given.

It is stated that "Buddha presents a model of cosmology wherein the..." but no information about this is given.

Fix: Aganna Sutta > Agañña Sutta.

Add more to the last portion of the section.

= Edits =

Buddhism and evolution
Evolution is not explicitly mentioned in the Tipitaka. As no major principles of Buddhism contradict it, many Buddhists tacitly accept the theory of evolution. Questions about the eternity or infinity of the universe at large are counted among the 14 unanswerable questions which the Buddha maintained were counterproductive areas of speculation. As such, many Buddhists do not think about these kinds of questions as meaningful for the Buddhist goal of relieving oneself and others from suffering.

In his book titled, "The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science And Spirituality" the Dalai Lama dismisses the element of randomness in the theory of evolution based on natural selection:

From the Buddhist's perspective, the idea of these mutations being random events is deeply unsatisfying for a theory that purports to explain the origin of life.

Donald S. Lopez, a renowned Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies explains in his book "Buddhism and Science: a Guide for the Perplexed" that in Buddhism, the process of Rebirth (into any of a large number of states of being including a human, any kind of animal and several types of supernatural being) is conditioned by karma (action of consciousness), which explains Dalai Lama's view.

Buddhists believe the beginning of this world and of life is inconceivable since they have neither beginning nor end, that the world was not created once upon a time, but that the world is constantly being created millions of times every second and that it will always continue to do so.

Buddhist Views
Albert Low, a Zen master and author of The Origin of Human Nature: A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution, (2008) opposes neo-Darwinism and the selfish gene theory as he claims they are materialistic. He also opposes creationism for being dogmatic and instead advocates spiritual evolution. The Buddhist writer Anagarika Dharmapala even once stated that "the theory of evolution was one of the ancient teachings of the Buddha." However, it has long been taught that indifference to certain matters regarding life and its origins should be practiced. This Parable of the arrow has often been used to illustrate the Buddha's teachings that "practitioners who concern themselves with the origins of the universe and other topics are missing the point of their religious practice."

Stephen T. Asma has noted that the Buddha himself largely avoided answering questions about the origins of the universe. The Buddha argued that there is no apparent rational necessity for the existence of a creator god because everything ultimately is created by mind. Belief in a creator is not necessarily addressed by a religion based on phenomenology, and Buddhism is generally accepting of modern scientific theories about the formation of the universe. This can be argued either from the standpoint that it simply does not matter, or from an interpretation of the Agañña Sutta favoring the notion that it describes the basic concept of evolution.

Agañña Sutta
In the Aggañña Sutta, the 27th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya collection that can be found in the Pali Canon, the Buddha gives a highly detailed answer to this question of evolution. The Buddha, speaking to the monk Vasettha, a former Brahmin, states the following:

‘There comes a time, Vasetha, when, sooner or later after a long period this world contracts. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born in the Abhasara Brahma          w  orld. And there they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self luminous, moving through the space, glorious—and they stay like that for a very long time. But sooner or    l.   ater, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again. At a time of expansion, the beings from the Abhasara Brahma world, having passed away from there,   a.  re m  ostly reborn in this world. Here they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious— and they stay like that for a very long t.  ime.

At that period, Vasetha, there was just one mass of water, and all was darkness, blinding darkness. Neither moon nor sun appeared, no constellations or stars  a.    p. p.  eared, night and day were not yet distinguished, nor months and fortnights, nor years and seasons; there was no male and female, beings being reckoned just as   b.   e.  ings. And sooner or later, after a very long period of time, savory earth spread itself over the waters where those beings were. It looked just like the skin that forms itself o.  ver hot milk as it cools. It was endowed with color, smell, and taste. It was the color of fine ghee or butter and it was very sweet, like pure wild honey.

B. ecause the Buddha seems to present a model of cosmology wherein the universe expands and contracts over extremely long periods of time, this description has b.  e.  en found by some to be consistent with the expanding universe model and Big Bang.

According to the Aggañña Sutta, it is clear that animals must have been present before humans could complete their completed their "devolution".