MODERN SCIENCE & VEDIC SCIENCE

The Pursuit of Truth

Real science consists of an objective pursuit of truth through observation and
experimentation. It occurs apart from any beliefs or preconceptions about what it
is going to find. It is based upon reason and direct perception, in which the
reality is allowed to reveal itself.
However, the universe we live in is a multidimensional reality from the
subatomic to the supragalactic in the realm of physics alone. Biology, medicine,
psychology and the social sciences require different perspectives and approaches
to deal with appropriately. On top of these are subtle forces and influences,
extrasensory, occult and spiritual that many people claim to experience as well
and have developed special methods of working with.
Besides any knowledge of the external world is the knowledge of the internal
world, the perennial quest for Self-knowledge or knowledge of our true nature,
as evidenced by the most primary and important of all life’s many questions,
“Who am I.” This inner quest or inner science can be very different in approach
than the outer sciences.
From an Indian perspective, we can call this inner science of Self-knowledge,
‘yogic science’. Traditional Yoga and Vedanta also has its goal as the objective
pursuit of truth. But it aims at the supreme truth - which is the eternal - that truth
which never changes. It regards relative truths - up to and including the very
existence of the external world itself - as ultimately an illusion because these
eventually, at one time or level or another, are found not to be valid. This yogic
science aims not just at the knowledge of the world but an understanding of
Knower.

Science and Spirituality in India

 
In India, science and spirituality have always gone together. Spirituality through
Yoga and Vedanta has always been conceived of as a science, a way of
knowledge to be approached with reason and experimentation through Yoga
and meditation leading to the direct perception of truth. Other Indic systems of
thought like Buddhism and Jainism have shared similar views.
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Veda itself means knowledge, deriving from the Sanskrit root ‘vid’ meaning to
know, to see or to cognize. The Vedas are called Vidyas which means ways of
knowledge or perception (a term cognate with Latin video!). The Vedas we
might say are the Vidyas or videos of the sages shown on the inner screen of the
meditative mind. They were said to have been cognized by the human mind in
tune with the universal Being or Brahman.
The Vedas address all aspects of existence through Dharma, the natural laws that
uphold the universe, which reflect not only matter and energy but life, mind and
consciousness. As such, the Vedas constitute what could be called a science in the
modern sense of the word and much more. We can find among the Vedic
sciences a whole range of sciences from astronomy and chemistry to psychology
and surgery, extending to astrology and to the science of Yoga itself. We can call
this integral approach to both the spiritual and material sciences as ‘Vedic
science.’
Unlike medieval Europe, traditional India never saw a conflict between science
and spirituality. It never suppressed science or art in favor of religion. Rather its
arts and sciences developed in harmony with spirituality. However, it did
discriminate between the material and the spiritual sciences.
The Higher and Lower Knowledge
This the Mundaka Upanishad makes this clear. “Two sciences are to be known,
the higher and the lower. The higher is through which the eternal is known.”
The lower knowledge consists of the outer forms of knowledge through which
the transient factors are known, the aspects of name, form and action. The higher
knowledge is Self-knowledge through which the nameless, formless being is
known.
This division of the higher and lower forms of knowledge reflects the Vedantic
definition of reality as that which is eternal and the transient as an illusion.
Because of this orientation, historically in India the inner or spiritual science
gained the greatest attention, though the outer sciences were not neglected.
The lower sciences, moreover, can similarly be divided into two groups. The first
are the usual material sciences like astronomy and medicine such as formulated
in modern science. Second are what could be called ‘occult ‘sciences like
astrology and Vastu, which modern science has generally neglected or rejected,
which suggest subtle influences of intelligence pervading the forces of nature.
While the Vedic mind never saw a real division between these two types of outer
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sciences (for example, Vedic Jyotish includes both astronomy and astrology),
since the modern mind does, it is important to note this distinction.
Science as Yoga
However, the distinction between the outer and inner sciences was never meant
as a radical division. In the Vedic view, one can approach the outer sciences with an
inner vision and turn them into inner sciences as well. In this way, the outer sciences
can become inner sciences. That is why we find such diverse subjects from
astronomy and mathematics, to music and even grammar defined as paths of
Yoga or spiritual paths. We find the same groups of Vedic seers working with
and developing the outer as well as the inner sciences from the most ancient
times, not finding working with one to necessarily be contrary to working with
the other.
It remains possible to approach such outer sciences as physics as spiritual paths
or paths of Yoga. They can be part of an inner science of Self-realization if one
uses them to connect to the universal Being and Consciousness within the world
and within ourselves. Much of modern physics is heading in this direction as it
looks for an underlying consciousness to explain the underlying unity of the
laws of physics.
Some scholars have said that this Indian emphasis on spirituality prevented the
outer sciences from developing in India, since the outer sciences were not given
the same priority. But we must remember that the dark ages in India came later
than in the West, with repeated foreign invasions and conquests disrupting the
country from 1000 AD to 1800 AD. Had this not occurred India would have
likely played a greater role in the development of modern science. Today we find
many scientists coming out of India and many of these feel quite in harmony
with Yoga, Vedanta and Buddhism as well as with modern science.
The Correct Means of Knowledge
Science rests upon a definition of what constitutes the right means of knowledge
through which something can be known. Science, like the classical philosophies
of India, recognizes the validity of sensory perception and reason as the main
means at our ordinary disposal for gaining authentic knowledge about the world
and about ourselves.
Yet science is not content with what the senses present us as reality, any more
than the mystic or yogi is, though science builds upon rather than rejects what
the senses show. Science has created a vast array of special instruments and
equipment from microscopes and telescopes that can greatly increase the range
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of our physical senses. It has added other instruments like radio telescopes which
bring in information about the universe from means that are related to but
outside the scope of our ordinary senses. It has created special computers to
extend the range of computation as well.
While Vedic science recognizes the importance of sensory perception and reason,
it considers that there is another, more reliable and internal source of knowledge,
particularly necessary for understanding the inner or spiritual world. This is the
direct perception of the silent or meditative mind.
The Meditative Mind as the Best Instrument of Science
Vedic thought holds that the best instrument of knowledge is the silent mind.
This allows the mind itself, like an unflawed mirror, to directly reflect reality
inside oneself. The mind becomes a reliable instrument of direct knowledge
beyond the limitations of the senses. This silent mind is clearly defined in the
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and other texts as the state of samadhi. When the mind is
in a state of peace and balance it becomes capable of directly perceiving the
nature of things, which is consciousness and bliss. This is samadhi-pramana,
samadhi as a means of knowledge in yogic thought, which opens up the inner
world of the mind as clearly as our eyes open up the outer world of the senses.
In Vedic science, the meditative mind in samadhi is regarded as the appropriate
instrument for knowing the inner reality. Pure consciousness, God or Brahman,
after all, is beyond name, form, number, time, place and person or it would just
be another object or entity in the outer world. That which comprises the totality
but is not limited by the totality cannot be examined by the instruments that
work to provide knowledge of limited things.
This does not mean that examining the brain waves of meditators and other
scientific experiments of this order are not of any value but that these are
secondary and indirect means of knowing the internal reality, like trying to
examine a person through their body as reflected in a mirror, rather than
examining the body directly.
We must employ the right instrument of knowledge to gain adequate knowledge
something. One cannot see the Sun with one’s hears, for example. Only the eyes
will reveal the light of the Sun. Similarly, the appropriate instrument for
knowing the universal Being is not a limited instrument which looks externally,
like a telescope, but the silent mind that is able to see within.
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Yet while samadhi may not be ordinarily recognized means of knowledge in
science, we must note that many great scientific discoveries have been made by
scientists when they were in the reverie of the inspired, concentrated or peaceful
mind, in a kind of samadhi. Those who do deep research or concentrating
thinking also develop the mind in a yogic way that can fall into samadhi, even
without knowing what the state is! One could argue that all great discoveries or
inspirations arise in a samadhi-like state of absorption and concentration.
Yet samadhis cannot be taken without scrutiny either and, like any source of
knowledge, they also can be limited, mixed or partial. They are of different types
and lesser Samadhis may not yield entirely correct knowledge.
The Conscious Universe
Modern science and Vedic science also differ in their view of the universe. In
Vedic science the universe is a manifestation of consciousness. It is pervaded by
consciousness as a universal power. This universal consciousness is different
than the embodied consciousness in living beings, though it is related to it.
In modern science, consciousness has been mainly limited to living organisms
and identified mainly by the development and functioning of the brain.
However, modern science has begun to look for and many scientists recognize
such a universal consciousness extending into a life intelligence in all organisms
or even a planetary intelligence in the Earth itself. So as we gain a greater
understanding of the conscious universe, the approaches of yogic and Vedic
science are bound to become more relevant.
Yet Vedic science does not recognize just a background universal consciousness,
but a cosmic intelligence and a universal life force to explain how that absolute
consciousness is connected to the world of our ordinary experience. It posits God
as the universal creator as the supreme intelligence behind the universe and
pervading it, not as a mere article of faith or belief. In this way religion can be
integrated into a spiritual science as well.
The Need for both Outer and Inner Sciences
Clearly, the outer or material science has its value in helping us to understand
and utilize the forces of the outer world. It gives us better technology which can
make our lives easier. But when it comes to the inner world, scientific knowledge
is often either indirect or misleading. For the inner knowledge, we need to
cultivate the yogic sciences with their understanding not only of the physical
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universe but of the subtle forces behind the senses and of our true nature beyond
time and space.
After all the ultimate questions of human life, whether at a personal or a
scientific level, are - “What in us can survive death?”and “ How can we gain
immortality?” Religions ordinary try to answer such question by faiths, telling us
to believe in something of this nature but not showing us how to directly
perceive it for ourselves. Yogic science and similar forms of mysticism show us
how to know the immortal and eternal in our own minds and hearts. This means
that however practical the outer sciences may be for dealing with the external
world, our deeper human quest is best addressed through the inner sciences.
Important Vedic Sciences
Vedic Sciences include both subtle or occult sciences like astrology and the inner
science of Self-knowledge through Yoga and Vedanta. Yet it sees all sciences as
related. All knowledge is ultimately self-knowledge. Our true self is not merely
the human or psychological self but the universal Self. Each one of us is a unique
manifestation of the universal consciousness, a human embodiment of it, but our
true being is one with the entire universe, with all beings, and ultimately with
the Absolute beyond all time and space (Parabrahman). The key even to
understanding medicine or physics is to look at the forces of the universe as
existing both within and around us as powers of consciousness - to our true
being in the universe and the entire universe within ourselves.
Yogic Science
Yoga in the classical sense is the practical means of developing the meditative
mind to allow for direct perception of truth. As such, it is the basis of all the inner
or Vedic sciences. Vyasa, the main ancient commentator on Patanjalis Yoga
Sutras, the most important classical text on Yoga, defines Yoga as samadhi or the
mind free of conditioning and preconception, the mind in a state of deep
meditation. The Yoga Sutras begin with Samadhi Pada or the section dealing with
Samadhi. The third and fourth sections of the book also deal mainly with
Samyama, which is the joint practice of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.
In the third section of the Yoga Sutras, different forms of knowledge gained by
Samadhi are outlined. These include meditations on objects from sites in one’s
own body to the forces of nature that reveal both the nature of the universe and
can grant superhuman powers. The greatest knowledge that can be revealed by
samadhi is that of the Purusha, which is not only our true Self but the Self of the
universe and yet, in its own nature, is beyond all manifestation.
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The field of Yogic science is vast. It includes practices like asana, pranayama,
ritual, mantra and meditation. It can reveal knowledge not only of our ordinary
body and mind, but of all aspects of the collective and cosmic minds, extending
to the very processes of creation. Yoga contains special ways of knowledge
relative to the body, mind, prana, senses and consciousness internally and to the
powers of energy, light, matter and space externally.
Ayurveda
Yet the deeper knowledge not only relates to spiritual practices, but to bringing
well-being to all aspects of our nature as well. In the Vedic sciences, human wellbeing
is defined as the harmony of body, mind, prana and soul (Atman or
Purusha). Ayurveda, Vedic medicine, shows us how to find health and wellbeing
through understanding the forces of nature and consciousness both within
and around us.
The main different between Ayurveda and what we could call scientific medicine
is that it recognizes an underlying prana or vital energy behind all bodily
activities. Modern medicine tries to explain all these processes, sometimes
extending to human emotion and intelligence, according to biochemistry alone,
as if there were no conscious entity or force of life behind the process. In this
regard, modern medicine is often more reductionist and physically based than is
modern physics!
The concept of prana posits an overall field of energy and intelligence as a
totalistic and holistic power to explain the factors of life at both individual and
cosmic levels. As science is now looking for an underlying consciousness behind
the universe to explain the laws of physics, it must also look to an underlying
cosmic life-force behind life to explain its development. An organic system must
include some unique being above and beyond its particular components,
processes or chemical reactions.
Vedic Astrology
If we live in a conscious universe, then the lights of the stars which illumine our
world must reflect some power of consciousness as well. Jyotish or Vedic
astrology is aimed at helping us understand how the lights of the stars and
planets affects our own bodies and minds and the fate of our world as a whole.
Time is not simply a force of physics but a power of intelligence and a process of
the manifestation of consciousness. Vedic astrology helps us understand the
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karmic influences coming to us from the greater universe as channeled through
the sun, moon and planets of the solar system. It holds that time is not simply
neutral or a mere continuum but reflects various rhythms which project forces
that affect the life and karma of living beings.
That time is projecting karma through the movement of the luminaries or
heavenly bodies is an idea that seems illogical to modern science. But if we
recognize that the universe is pervaded by consciousness, we can recognize that
light ultimately is a power of consciousness, which means that astronomy must
recognize astrology.
Astronomers have often complained that astrology is illogical. Yet actions that go
beyond time and space or the ordinary laws of physics are part and parcel of the
new physics. With its quarks and quasars, its uncertainty principle and quantum
mechanics, physics does not appear any stranger than astrology. Such subtle
connections of the new physics may provide some eventual credence for
astrology as well.
Conclusion
Once we recognize the place and value of both the outer and inner sciences, we
can learn to use both to improve our lives on all levels. This should be our real
work as a species and it can be a great adventure of discovery and
transformation. This universal pursuit of knowledge can be used to set aside our
political and religious differences, which are not a matter of truth or direct
perception but of clashing beliefs and opinions. The ultimate unity of science and
spirituality can provide a light forward to a true global age of peace and
harmony. In such a world the inner technologies of Yoga will be found to be as
important as the latest advances in technology, if not more so.
Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is the author of over twenty books and three courses on Vedic subjects including Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedic astrology that have been published worldwide over the last twenty years. He is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe USA and also teaches in Europe and India. 

For more information, his website is www.vedanet.com.