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Vedic Philosophy and Quantum Mechanics On the Soul
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Vedic Philosophy and Quantum Mechanics On the Soul
By Mauricio Garrido
huffingtonpost.com
April 15, 2013
Religious traditions are often criticized for providing
untestable elements in their books of wisdom. Among these
elements, the soul's existence is one of the most debated
in talks between science and religion. But is the concept
of the soul really so vague and does it really have no
empirical evidence for a practical theory? Vedic
philosophy and quantum mechanics may bring interesting
ideas to consider.
Quantum chromodynamics is the theory describing sub-
nuclear particles called quarks and gluons, which are the
constituents of hadrons such as protons and neutrons. It
is part of the Standard Model describing our current
understanding of elementary particles. One interesting
feature about this theory is that even though it was
postulated in 1964 by Gell-Mann and Zweig and is widely
accepted by the physics community, to this day all
experiments validating the existence of the quarks have
produced only indirect proof of them. In fact, according
to the theory itself, no one really ever expects to see
direct proof of them at all, viz. free quarks. Pulling
two quarks apart requires so much energy, that you create
new particles in the process which attach themselves to
the old quarks and thus you never end up with free quarks
to detect. The important point here is that the
experiments that confirmed the existence of these quarks
never actually detected them directly and no one really
demanded such a proof. They saw certain particles coming
in and certain particles coming out according to what the
theory predicted, but never actually saw the free quarks
by themselves. Therefore, indirect detection with no
expectation of direct detection is still valid to confirm
the existence of something in science.
On the other hand, Vedic philosophy tells us about the
existence of another type of particle called the atma,
the soul, the self, having different properties from
those of ordinary particles.This is not unusual in
physics, as is the case with antimatter particles. But
unlike the ordinary matter and antimatter particles, the
atma has 3 main qualities: eternality, knowledge and
bliss. Eternality can be analyzed as follows: the atma
does not come into or out of existence, it is always
present. It does not decay or degrade, it maintains its
individuality always, it's infinitesimally small and it's
not composed of more elementary particles. It's
unchangeable, which along with the individuality property
implies that it does not unite with other particles to
create more complex structures, nor does it merge with
others. The atma does not interact directly with matter,
but given that the atma is the source of consciousness
and the life force in a living entity, any entity
displaying them reveals the presence of an atma in it--
whether human, animal, plant, etc. The living entities
are not made up of atmas; rather, they are these
particles and are animating the material bodies that
encase them. As soon as the atma leaves one body for
another, the old body no longer exhibits consciousness or
life symptoms, and begins to degrade. The knowledge
property refers to its cognizance about its
constitutional position, its source and its interactions
with the source. Bliss refers to its natural state of
happiness in service to God.
To declare that there is no soul, just because we can't
directly see it with our current instruments, is akin to
saying that there are no quarks because we can't detect
them directly in our labs. Both the soul and the quarks'
existence can be inferred indirectly by their effects
(living symptoms and consciousness in the case of the
soul; particle interactions in the case of the quarks).
Even though there are other theories in science
describing the origin of consciousness and living
symptoms, these remain very unsatisfactory and many times
philosophically dismissive. Furthermore, the wealth of
data regarding topics like reincarnation gathered by
careful scientific studies such as those of Dr. Ian
Stevenson from Virginia University can hardly be
accounted for by any explanation other than one involving
some notion of what is here referred to as atma.
There is, however, a method for directly perceiving the
soul, albeit it is as difficult a task as building a
synchrotron to detect material particles. One cannot use
a microscope to see an atom; one must utilize an STM
(scanning tunneling microscope), which uses a different
technology. Similarly, to visualize something as subtle
as an atma, we can't use these gross material elements
and senses;rather, we must utilize our own spiritual
senses. The process is quite detailed and would require a
dedicated article for it, but the basis of it entails
using the mind as a type of mirror, so that the atma can
perceive its own characteristics through its spiritual
senses. Yet the mind has to be calibrated, as with any
high-precision measuring device, by cleansing it of all
selfish, egoistic and cruel propensities. This can be
done by the powerful method of meditation techniques
utilizing the chanting of mantras, which involve the
recitation of the names of God and can focus, tame, and
purify the mind. Once the mind has been cleansed and
controlled, direct perception of the soul is possible,
not only within oneself, but then also within every other
living entity. Additionally, given the difficulty of the
process, any sincere and determined person can expect
divine assistance manifesting itself in variegated ways.
This method has been tested and approved by great saints
throughout millennia, whose lives are testimony to their
words.
Spirituality is much more than just blind faith and
sentimentalism, it is an important and sophisticated
process of purification that goes beyond just the
intellectual curiosity of a few. Its transformative power
truly raises the standard of living of a person and
positively influences the lives of those he/she comes in
contact with. Not everyone may have access to a
synchrotron to prove for themselves the existence of
quarks and its confirmation may not even be so relevant
for most people; but everyone has access to prove for
themselves the existence of the soul and the process that
takes one to it brings true happiness and inner
fulfillment.
More at:
http://www./mauricio-garrido/vedic-philosophy-and-quantum-mechanics-on-the-soul_b_3082572.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
By Mauricio Garrido
huffingtonpost.com
April 15, 2013
Religious traditions are often criticized for providing
untestable elements in their books of wisdom. Among these
elements, the soul's existence is one of the most debated
in talks between science and religion. But is the concept
of the soul really so vague and does it really have no
empirical evidence for a practical theory? Vedic
philosophy and quantum mechanics may bring interesting
ideas to consider.
Quantum chromodynamics is the theory describing sub-
nuclear particles called quarks and gluons, which are the
constituents of hadrons such as protons and neutrons. It
is part of the Standard Model describing our current
understanding of elementary particles. One interesting
feature about this theory is that even though it was
postulated in 1964 by Gell-Mann and Zweig and is widely
accepted by the physics community, to this day all
experiments validating the existence of the quarks have
produced only indirect proof of them. In fact, according
to the theory itself, no one really ever expects to see
direct proof of them at all, viz. free quarks. Pulling
two quarks apart requires so much energy, that you create
new particles in the process which attach themselves to
the old quarks and thus you never end up with free quarks
to detect. The important point here is that the
experiments that confirmed the existence of these quarks
never actually detected them directly and no one really
demanded such a proof. They saw certain particles coming
in and certain particles coming out according to what the
theory predicted, but never actually saw the free quarks
by themselves. Therefore, indirect detection with no
expectation of direct detection is still valid to confirm
the existence of something in science.
On the other hand, Vedic philosophy tells us about the
existence of another type of particle called the atma,
the soul, the self, having different properties from
those of ordinary particles.This is not unusual in
physics, as is the case with antimatter particles. But
unlike the ordinary matter and antimatter particles, the
atma has 3 main qualities: eternality, knowledge and
bliss. Eternality can be analyzed as follows: the atma
does not come into or out of existence, it is always
present. It does not decay or degrade, it maintains its
individuality always, it's infinitesimally small and it's
not composed of more elementary particles. It's
unchangeable, which along with the individuality property
implies that it does not unite with other particles to
create more complex structures, nor does it merge with
others. The atma does not interact directly with matter,
but given that the atma is the source of consciousness
and the life force in a living entity, any entity
displaying them reveals the presence of an atma in it--
whether human, animal, plant, etc. The living entities
are not made up of atmas; rather, they are these
particles and are animating the material bodies that
encase them. As soon as the atma leaves one body for
another, the old body no longer exhibits consciousness or
life symptoms, and begins to degrade. The knowledge
property refers to its cognizance about its
constitutional position, its source and its interactions
with the source. Bliss refers to its natural state of
happiness in service to God.
To declare that there is no soul, just because we can't
directly see it with our current instruments, is akin to
saying that there are no quarks because we can't detect
them directly in our labs. Both the soul and the quarks'
existence can be inferred indirectly by their effects
(living symptoms and consciousness in the case of the
soul; particle interactions in the case of the quarks).
Even though there are other theories in science
describing the origin of consciousness and living
symptoms, these remain very unsatisfactory and many times
philosophically dismissive. Furthermore, the wealth of
data regarding topics like reincarnation gathered by
careful scientific studies such as those of Dr. Ian
Stevenson from Virginia University can hardly be
accounted for by any explanation other than one involving
some notion of what is here referred to as atma.
There is, however, a method for directly perceiving the
soul, albeit it is as difficult a task as building a
synchrotron to detect material particles. One cannot use
a microscope to see an atom; one must utilize an STM
(scanning tunneling microscope), which uses a different
technology. Similarly, to visualize something as subtle
as an atma, we can't use these gross material elements
and senses;rather, we must utilize our own spiritual
senses. The process is quite detailed and would require a
dedicated article for it, but the basis of it entails
using the mind as a type of mirror, so that the atma can
perceive its own characteristics through its spiritual
senses. Yet the mind has to be calibrated, as with any
high-precision measuring device, by cleansing it of all
selfish, egoistic and cruel propensities. This can be
done by the powerful method of meditation techniques
utilizing the chanting of mantras, which involve the
recitation of the names of God and can focus, tame, and
purify the mind. Once the mind has been cleansed and
controlled, direct perception of the soul is possible,
not only within oneself, but then also within every other
living entity. Additionally, given the difficulty of the
process, any sincere and determined person can expect
divine assistance manifesting itself in variegated ways.
This method has been tested and approved by great saints
throughout millennia, whose lives are testimony to their
words.
Spirituality is much more than just blind faith and
sentimentalism, it is an important and sophisticated
process of purification that goes beyond just the
intellectual curiosity of a few. Its transformative power
truly raises the standard of living of a person and
positively influences the lives of those he/she comes in
contact with. Not everyone may have access to a
synchrotron to prove for themselves the existence of
quarks and its confirmation may not even be so relevant
for most people; but everyone has access to prove for
themselves the existence of the soul and the process that
takes one to it brings true happiness and inner
fulfillment.
More at:
http://www./mauricio-garrido/vedic-philosophy-and-quantum-mechanics-on-the-soul_b_3082572.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
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