21 min

Was the Buddha a biologist‪?‬ Buddha-Sasana

    • Buddhism

“If consciousness were not to descend into the mother's womb, would name-and-form take shape in the womb?”
"No."
The most common traditional interpretation of this famous passage (from DN 15) is that consciousness travels into the womb to unify with the fetus of name-and-form at con­ception. I argue that this interpretation is untenable. (Rebroadcast 1/26/2024, originally broadcast 9/25/2020)

“If consciousness were not to descend into the mother's womb, would name-and-form take shape in the womb?”
"No."
The most common traditional interpretation of this famous passage (from DN 15) is that consciousness travels into the womb to unify with the fetus of name-and-form at con­ception. I argue that this interpretation is untenable. (Rebroadcast 1/26/2024, originally broadcast 9/25/2020)

21 min