An Introduction

I guess it’s finally time that I begin utilizing this blog to keep all of my thoughts straight, but first, why am I here? As a rising senior in high school, I am given the privilege of executing a mentorship. A mentorship, as defined by my institution of learning is the opportunity for me “to pursue a special academic interest through guided independent study”. So here I am, ready to pursue.

While I knew I wanted to study Buddhism, I couldn’t exactly figure out how I could take that further. In comes my mentor, who suggests to me that there is a relationship between Buddhism and Physics, a field of study I didn’t even know existed, and thus, my fascination was born.

Growing up in a Vietnamese household, I’ve considered myself as a Buddhist my entire life. While this may be true, I have recently realized that the knowledge I had of my own religion was very much limited. We can blame my lack of knowledge on a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, a language barrier, and a simple lack of interest as a child. Although I don’t feel this journey will make me a devoted Buddhist, I might feel better having a foundation in the fundamental components of Buddhism.

The Plan:

In order to catch me up on the basics, here are two books I will be reading.

• Buddha by Karen Armstrong
• The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh

Now the Physics:

• The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav
• The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
• The Quantum and the Lotus by Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Xuan Thuan

Just because:

• Zen Among the Magnolias by Benjamin Lee Wren 

Updated: 30 September 2013