The Dharma in DNA: Insights at the Intersection of Biology and Buddhism

There are more connections between spirituality and science than you might think…In 2004, biologist Dee Denver heard the Dalai Lama speak in Bloomington, Indiana. The famous Tibetan monk’s speech that day exposed him to the centrality of impermanence in Buddhist thinking, a topic that directly connected to his mutation research in evolutionary biology. He left the event shocked and startled by the unexpected parallels between Buddhism and biology. This experience is not wholly unique to Denver. Spirituality and science are two inherently humane ways to approach our world. Why shouldn’t more people look at them in tandem? In this book, Denver shares Buddhist ideas and the tradition’s colonial and more recent interactions with biology. He then applies the scientific method to Buddhist principles and draws connections between Buddhist ideas and current research in biology. In doing this, he proposes a new approach to science, Bodhi science, that integrates Buddhist teachings and ethical frameworks. Denver’s research supports a connected synergy between biological and Buddhist thinking. This scientific approach to Buddhism offers strong evidence supporting the validity of fundamentally Buddhist principles and logic. The book builds on historical evidence from Sri Lanka, Japan, and Tibetan Buddhism to illustrate these connections.