Seven generations

[Masaru]

http://nichiren.info/gosho/OnUrabon.htm

The greatest evil among evils produces consequences that not only affect the perpetrators personally, but extend to their sons, their grandsons and so on down to the seventh generation. And the same is true of the greatest good among good.

The Venerable Maudgalyayana put his faith in the Lotus Sutra, which is the greatest good there is, and thus not only did he himself attain Buddhahood, but his father and mother did so as well. Not only that, but all the fathers and mothers of the preceding seven generations and the seven generations that followed, indeed, of countless lifetimes before and after, were able to attain Buddhahood, amazing as it may seem. And in addition, all their sons, their wives or husbands, their retainers, supporters and countless other persons were not only enabled to escape from the three evil paths, but all attained the first stage of security and then Buddhahood, the stage of perfect enlightenment.

Therefore it is said in the third volume of the Lotus Sutra: "We beg that the merit gained through these gifts may be spread far and wide to everyone, so that we and other living beings all together may attain the Buddha way."

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13 ... your-genes

Originally these epigenetic changes were believed to occur only during fetal development. But pioneering studies showed that molecular bric-a-brac could be added to DNA in adulthood, setting off a cascade of cellular changes resulting in cancer. Sometimes methyl groups attached to DNA thanks to changes in diet; other times, exposure to certain chemicals appeared to be the cause. Szyf showed that correcting epigenetic changes with drugs could cure certain cancers in animals.

Geneticists were especially surprised to find that epigenetic change could be passed down from parent to child, one generation after the next. A study from Randy Jirtle of Duke University showed that when female mice are fed a diet rich in methyl groups, the fur pigment of subsequent offspring is permanently altered. Without any change to DNA at all, methyl groups could be added or subtracted, and the changes were inherited much like a mutation in a gene.

[Myoho-Nameless]

There is a train of thought that our current understanding of genetics, such as they are, puts them in an overrated position.

[Masaru]

I understand that science gets it wrong sometimes, but still.

(http://www.smbc-comics.com/)

[Myoho-Nameless]

By which I meant the position that "genes control everything and might as well be fate", epigenetics is already contrary to that view, and then there is this whole theory of morphogenetics that I am trying to digest, true or no.