The beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear at an early stage of development, e.g., in many of the Psalms of David and in some of the Prophets. Buddhism, as we have learned especially from the wonderful writings of Schopenhauer, contains a much stronger element of this.
The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image;
On the other hand, I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.
It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.(Albert Einstein : The Development of Religion, New York Times Magazine dan Albert Einstein: The World as I See It)Perkataan di atas secara tidak langsung mengatakan bahwa Albert Einstein mengatakan bahwa agama Buddha sebagai agama kosmik yang tanpa dogma dan tanpa Tuhan, dan paling cocok bagi sains.
Schopenhauer's saying, that "a man can do as he will, but not will as he will," has been an inspiration to me since my youth up, and a continual consolation and unfailing well-spring of patience in the face of the hardships of life, my own and others'.Atau:
Schopenhauer's words: “Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills” accompany me in all situations throughout my life and reconcile me with the actions of others even if they are rather painful to me.(a speech by Albert Einstein to the German League of Human Rights, Berlin, in the autumn of 1932.)Einstein menganggap Schpenhauer sebagai orang yang menginspirasinya selama hidupnya. Apabila dihubungkan dengan perkataan Einstein bahwa ia mengetahui agama Buddha dari tulisan Schoipenhauer yang menakjubkan, maka dengan kata lain agama Buddha adalah salah satu agama yang menginspirasinya.
At first, then, instead of asking what religion is I should prefer to ask what characterizes the aspirations of a person who gives me the impression of being religious: a person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to which he clings because of their superpersonalvalue. It seems to me that what is important is the force of this superpersonal content and the depth of the conviction concerning its overpowering meaningfulness, regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities. Accordingly, a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance and loftiness of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist with the same necessity and matter-of-factness as he himself. In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect.(Albert Einstein: "Science and Religion" in The Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion)Einstein menyebut Buddha dan Spinoza secara bersama-sama, yaitu orang yang secara religius tercerahkan.
Ternyata Einstein meyakini konsep Spinoza:
I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.(Albert Einstein: "Science and Religion" in The Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion dan Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp)Sehingga tidak langsung ia juga meyakini konsep Buddha, yang ia sebutkan bersama-sama dengan Spinoza sebagai orang yang bagi dirinya religius.
Albert Einstein juga secara terang-terangan memuji Buddha, disamping Musa dan Yesus:
What humanity owes to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the enquiring and constructive mind.(Albert Einstein, The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press, 1954)Lalu bagaimanakah konsep Tuhan Personal menurut Einstein:
“I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar.”(Albert Einstein in an interview with Professor William Hermanns)"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.
"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions,"
"No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this"(a letter written by Albert Einstein on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind)About God, I cannot accept any concept based on the authority of the Church. As long as I can remember, I have resented mass indocrination. I do not believe in the fear of life, in the fear of death, in blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him, I would be a liar. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws.(W. Hermanns, Einstein and the Poet—In Search of the Cosmic Man) Einstein tidak mengakui adanya Tuhan Personal dan menganggap keyakinan akan Tuhan Personal sebagai sesuatu yang kekanak-kanakan.
Maka dari itu, kutipan perkataan Albert Einstein tentang agama Buddha itu sebenarnya adalah kesimpulan dan rangkuman dari perkataannya selama ini.
The Siddha Wanderer
Topic: Apakah benar Einstein berkata demikian?? (Read 9920 times)