I’m sure you would agree that Science is essentially pursuit of knowledge, usually knowledge that benefits humankind. As Richard Feynman said – “Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.”
The Vedic philosophy in turn believes in pursuit of Knowledge & wisdom!
Science focuses on the brain.
Vedic philosophy (refer to Nukra Sutra, Rg Veda) focuses on the mind-fulness and consciousness – while asking for the ‘brain’ to remain still to observe.
Very early in the Rg Veda is the Gayatri Mantra (actually the 3rd Samhita) – which essentially means – “Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine Light. May he inspire our thoughts, stimulate our understandings.” Note second sentence. How beautiful is the thought – ‘inspire our thoughts (as a social being, integrity) and ‘simulate our understandings’ (as a scientist; can we ask more?).
Some would comment that faith is only necessary when it comes to matters of religion and that science is based on empirical evidence. Although this sounds nice, it’s not 100 percent accurate. For example, we all believe in the existence of the atom. But how many of us have actually seen an atom with their own eyes? I’m not denying the existence of the atom. Nor do I dis-believe the people who have measured its existence. The point made here is that we are placing faith in those who have done the experiment and we are accepting their results – empirical or otherwise. We are placing faith in the few who have done the experiment.
Similarly as beautifully explained in the Atharva Veda, the Guru who can teach you to ponder, to consider, to reason is the one who is critical to one’s search for truth. Note: Nowhere in any of our Hindu scriptures say anything about ‘you have to do something’…it merely suggest and asks you to ponder, to envision, to think, to consider and often both the right and wrong are equally correct! Schrodinger’s cat anyone? 🙂
I was speaking at a seminar last year (in Buenos Aires of all the places!) on ‘Spirituality and Science’ and the example that resonated with the audience was the entire logic of a temple construction. Re: the Moola-Sthanam (Garbha-graha) – why is it that we cross 4 concentric rectangles?
Moola = root Sthanam = location / place (as in Paki-Sthan and Afghani-sthan)
Most Hindu temples – in South India which is still in reasonable form – thanks to less Islamic barbaric invasions and wanton destruction; are in the form of four concentric rectangles and the devotee normally circumambulates each of these concentric rectangles before reaching the centre-most point, Moola-Sthanam (unless the devotee happens to be a VIP or a “special darshan ticket-holder” :-).
Each of the 4 concentric rectangles represent the 4 “koshas” (sheaths) that the devotee has to shed before reaching the Supreme Brahman as described in the Taittiriya Upanishad – Brahmananda Valli
The outermost rectangle represents the gross-body made of food (usually the part of the temple where you find the chappal-wallahs, the food stalls…etc), then the Prana-maya representing Prana, the Mano-maya kosha representing mind and emotions, the Vijnana-maya representing intellect and reasoning and finally, at the centre, the Moola-Sthanam representing the formless, shapeless and all pervasive Para-Brahman (& this isn’t really ‘God’ as used in Abrahamic philosophy…happy to explain the difference to someone interested).
The temple-journey hence is a metaphor for the journey of life, from physical needs through emotional through intellect and finally, that which lies beyond all the previous four koshas – the Moola (root) of all of this Universe! And that is the essence of my religion! Not something that preaches death and destruction. And most Hindu philosophers and gurus like Sadguru never advocate ignoring scientific approaches, they focus primarily on how you can remain sensible and calm, look inward and search for truth! We seem to derive great pleasure in finding faults with him & other Hindu gurus (& they are human beings with warts and all – perhaps a lot less than many of us, at least yours’ truly) while ignoring the rabid rants of other religious leaders whose sole aim is either power or money or both and they choose jihad and violent means to achieve their ends. Thats what makes me sad and sometimes angry.
The problem with this is – one needs to read, interpret and assimilate logically to review and either accept or reject the theological assertions. In Hinduism it is almost a way of thought – thats how this religion (if one may call it that) is structured..
Consider, for example, a passage from the Nasadiya Sukta, or Hymn of Creation, from the Rg Veda … it presents various possibilities as to how the universe might have come about, and concludes by (rhetorically!) exclaiming:
…Who really knows, and who can swear, // How creation came, when or where! // Even gods came after creation’s day, ?? Who really knows, who can truly say // When and how did creation start? // Did He do it? Or did He not? // Only He, up there, knows, maybe; // Or perhaps, not even He.
All it does is make you think and consider options!
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