he ecological movement as sharing the Buddhist idea that all life is interdependent. Bioethics also arises from Buddhist philosophy. The Christian and Jewish worldview tends to see man at the top of the natural order, dominating and imposing his will on nature. Buddhists see human life as interdependent with nature. Buddhist beliefs in medicine agree with the modern view that mind and body are one, and more and more physicians accept the idea that a healing mind can be a powerful force in overcoming disease, just as a stressed out mind can leave a person vulnerable to illness. Modern science seems to be in agreement with various Buddhist ideas:
Articles on the latest breakthrough in particle physics bear a remarkable resemblance to the doctrine of "impermanence" that the universe is changing all the time expounded by the Buddha. It is also worth noting that in the Buddha's sutras he frequently recounts fantastic experiences on remote planets and speaks of innumerable worlds outside our own (Hochswender 168).
Buddhism also tends to be nonmoralistic and so fits in a multicultural environment such as the United States. Buddhism is not a code such as most people in the West think religion to be but is defined by practice rather than a rigid set of beliefs (Hochswender 169).
Buddhism is stronger in some parts of the country, notably in Hawaii where it has a long history. Culture in Hawaii is essentially American culture, but it stands beside traditional Hawaiian culture and the customs of the ethnically diverse population. The different cultures merge in Hawaii. The population is religiously diverse. Along with the predominant Christian denominations, there are some 100 Buddhist temples, scores of Shinto shrines, and two dozen Hindu temples on the islands. There are also Taoist, Tenrikyo, Jewish, and Muslim denominations. The language is English, but it is peppered with Hawaiian phrases (Bendure and Friary 40). Hawai...