Transcendental Nectar of Sadhu-Sanga

by

Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THIS FORUM

In this forum we are interested in discussing the Harmony of Science and Religion. We have been welcoming everyone's input, just to see where everyone is at, and to encourage participation in the process of establishing a more wholesome understanding of reality for our time. The advances of science have made this necessary, and the state of the environment and human society and culture have made it imperative.

Messages that are related to, question or challenge the ideas presented here are welcome. We hope to refine or modify these concepts as needed. But messages that simply ignore, misrepresent or misunderstand the points presented here, will most likely not be posted. We are hoping to present a progressive and systematic development of ideas that will lead to a modern school of thought on the harmony of science and religion.

THREE OBJECTS OF STUDY

In general, we will present and explain the three traditional subjects of philosophy:

1. the Self/soul

2. the world

3. God

SCIENCE: THE STUDY OF THE WORLD

In this post we will first focus on the world, and the study of the world by the method of science. For that purpose, it will be necessary to have a general conception of what we mean by science.

Science is based upon sensuous observation of the world. This is called empirical science, which assumes that knowledge is derived from the experience of the senses.

MAYA

The Indic concept of Maya does not mean that the world is not real. It means that the world, which is observed by the senses, is phenomenal. Since phenomena refer to the appearance of some underlying noumenal reality, a distinction is drawn between what is real and its appearance. This distinction was masterfully explained in Kant's philosophy, and has all but been lost on today's philosophically unsophisticated scientists. Thus Maya refers to phenomenal reality of the senses, and is illusory in the sense that the underlying reality that gives rise to appearance is not known by the senses, and yet those appearances are naively identified with that underlying reality.

APPEARANCE AND REALITY

Therefore, while modern empirical science studies appearances, the study of the underlying reality cannot utilize the process of empirical science. Rather philosophical science, the study of concepts, is needed for comprehending underlying unobserved reality. Appearances, which are observed, logically imply that there must be something appearing. It is thus logical deduction that has prominence in studying the sphere of reality. It is the failure to make this distinction between appearance and reality that has caused so many of the problems that arise between science and religion.

Modern empirical science does not make this distinction between phenomena and noumena. This is philosophical naivette, and yet empirical science goes on developing such things as computers, rockets and atom bombs. Thus the fact that science works, can not be due to its rational grasp of reality. For instance, the Chinese beat a gong to make the Moon Dog stop eating the Sun god during a solar eclipse. Every time they do it, it works. In the same way, science works, but it can not solve the problems of philosophy simply by ignoring them.

It is a credit to ancient sages that they clearly understood the difference between Maya (phenomenal appearance) and noumenal reality, a difference which most modern scientists know nothing about. What Immanuel Kant had brought to light in his philosophy, was known 5000 years prior to him, yet Europe was just coming to knowledge about the Indic literature in his time. Yet even today scientists in general still don't know the fact of this distinction.

THE COLOR OF A ROSE

Of course, one may argue that appearances and what is appearing are not entirely different. But that is not always true. An actor may appear to be killed on the stage, but in reality he is just playing a role. A rope may appear to be a snake, but in reality it is a rope. A rose may appear to be red, but in itself the rose is only reflecting the long wavelengths of the white light spectrum into our eyes. What color, if any, is the rose itself? Does an insect or animal see the rose as red? In any absolute sense, do we or can we really know the color of a rose?

HARMONY OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Thus when we refer to the Harmony of Science and Religion, we refer to empirical science here, specifically empirical observation of the world. Psychology, sociology, etc. in so far as they are behaviorally studied, are also empirical sciences.

LIFE COMES FROM LIFE

We have pointed out that Life comes from Life is an observation of the world, and thus is confirmed empirically, and thus is a scientific statement in the way we are using that term.

MATTER COMES FROM LIFE

We also observe that Matter comes from Life. A tree grows up into a huge mass towering in the sky only because it contains a life principle within it. How much matter is produced by living entities in this world is staggering. And we should not be mistaken and think that life merely collects matter that is already lying around outside itself, and simply organizes it. One of the chief characteristics of a living organism is that it creates not only its form but also its matter that is integrally tied up with its form. This is what is observed in Nature. Take away life, and the whole process would stop.

POSITIVISM

Finally, we should note that science as here defined deals with the positive or appearing energy. Just as lightening appears in the dark sky, it is a visible or positive phenomenon. But the darkened sky is invisible, or the negative. Still, the sky provides the support or space for the lightening to appear. Sometimes science is therefore associated with a philosophical viewpoint called positivism.  In this sense, if the appearance is considered the positive, then the underlying noumenal ground of appearance is the negative.  The language for this distinction will be useful when we come to discuss the process of knowledge that belongs to Religion.