The driver controls the car, but the soul doesn’t directly control the body – can you explain?

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Transcript

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Question. When I said that the soul.
Doesn’t directly control the body. What does it mean? Matter and spirit. Are two different realities.
And in general. The way we observe matter. At least the way science observes matter.
Is that. All material phenomena. Can be explained.
In terms of material causes. And that is what science tries to do. So last year.
I was invited to Cambridge. To speak on science and spirituality. So while going there.
We passed by the same tree. Where Newton is said to have seen the fruit falling. Now Newton believed in God.
But when he saw the fruit falling. He asked the question. What made this fruit fall? He was not looking for the answer.
God made the fruit fall. Although that is also an answer. But he is looking.
For a material mechanism. So basically. When we talk about causes of things.
There can be multiple levels. Of causation. So for example.
What made the fruit fall? You could say. The fruit had ripened. And its weight had increased so much.
That the tree could not hold it. That is why it fell. That is one level of causation.
Another level of causation is. Even if its weight increased. Why did it fall? That is because of the law of gravity.
A third level of causation is. Ultimately nothing happens without Krishna’s will. That is the third level of causation.
So science when it approaches. The study of matter. Science is not atheistic.
Science is not theistic. Science is non-theistic. Non-theistic means.
Science does not. Consider God as an explanation. When it is looking for.
Explanation of natural phenomena. Now of course. We can ask the question.
That when science is finding out material mechanisms. Who made those material mechanisms? And that can point to God. But science intrinsically.
Is a non-theistic body of knowledge. So some atheists. May use it to promote atheism.
That is a different thing. But science itself is not against God. It is just a body of knowledge.
Which looks for material explanations. For material phenomena. So within this understanding of science.
Science has something called as. The causal completeness of nature. Causal completeness means.
That. Any effect that we see within nature. Its cause can be explained.
In terms of some other natural phenomena. So we don’t need. Anything supernatural.
To explain anything natural. That is the idea of science. So.
The rain fell. Why did the rain fall? Because there were clouds in the sky. The winds came very stormy.
Why were there stormy winds? Because there was a hurricane over there. Because there was a disturbance over there. Which led to a cause over here.
So as far as. Operation practically is concerned. Science does work very well.
In terms of this. Concept of causal completeness. That ok.
All natural phenomena can be explained. In terms of natural causes. However as I said.
That. It is a correct explanation. But it need not be a complete explanation.
Like I said that. Why did the car move? Because the wheel moved from the vertical to the horizontal. That is a correct explanation.
And I could say you know. Just a simple act of the wheel moving that much. And then the gas being pressed.
The accelerator being pressed. You could say that. By the mechanism of the car.
That force gets multiplied. And the car moves accordingly. So we can explain that in terms of causes.
But there is something else also happening here. And that is. There is a driver who has a desire to go somewhere.
So with respect to. The soul and the body. The body’s functioning.
Itself. Does not require the soul. To be present.
By functioning I mean. In terms of bodily functioning. So when I say the soul.
Is not required to be present. What I mean is. Not that the soul is of course the activity principle.
But if I treat the body. As a biological machine. The body needs food to eat.
The body needs oxygen. The body needs blood circulation. There are material mechanisms.
Which are needed for the body to function. This. Is one level.
Of understanding the body. And if any of those material mechanisms don’t work. The body will not function.
If I feel weak. That is because either I have not eaten. Or somehow because of some problem in my body.
What I eat is not getting transformed into energy. We can’t say. That the energy of the body.
By energy I am using the scientific term energy. Not the principle energy. Like the energy we get.
That comes from the food. That doesn’t directly come from the soul. What the soul does is.
The soul is. The basic. Presence.
Which makes matter. Capable of functioning. In conscious ways.
So. Researchers still don’t know. Why.
Matter which has life. Or matter through which life is manifested. And matter which has no life.
They behave in very different ways. So. For example the stool.
If I cut it. It will get cut. The stool’s existence basically goes through three phases.
That is creation. Deterioration. And destruction.
The house is created. It deteriorates. But when.
Life is present. In a particular biochemical system. In a body.
There are three more things that happen. There is growth. There is maintenance.
And there is reproduction. It would be wonderful if we buy a small house. And it grows on its own.
It doesn’t happen like that. We have a small baby. The small baby grows.
So growth. Now what. We may say that cell reproduction is happening.
But if we look at the fundamental material level. This stool and this body. Are made of the same atoms and molecules.
Why do the atoms and molecules here. Behave differently from here. And then there is maintenance.
If my hand gets cut. Clotting happens. Healing happens.
The body maintains itself. If a stool is cut. It will not clot and heal itself.
And then there is reproduction. No matter how complicated. Computer or robo we make.
Maybe in science fiction movies. We may see. But there is no he robo and she robo coming together.
And producing a baby robo. Reproduction doesn’t happen. So these are distinctive features.
Maintenance, growth and reproduction. They are manifested. Only when there is.
We could say. En-souled matter. Embodied soul.
En-souled matter. Matter in which soul is present. So.
The. Why I was talking about this is. We accept the causal completeness.
In terms of the mechanism. Which science uses to explain. But there is much.
That science can’t explain. So there is. A role for non-material factors.
Also to act. Now how exactly the soul act? The soul’s consciousness. Is projected into the body.
In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna gives the example. Krishna gives two examples actually. In 13.33 and 34.
One to illustrate how the soul is different from the body. Is not entangled in the body. The second.
To how the soul activates the body. So. So.
So just as the sky is all pervading. It does not. Mix with the other matter.
But in the ether. Is said to be the substratum in which everything is present. So it is different from everything.
But everything is contained within it. So. Now what is ether? It’s a little complicated to understand.
Science talks about space. Now we say. Now what is space? Space is.
Space is absence of matter. That’s what science is. Empty spaces.
Actually there is no such thing as empty space. Some matter is always present. So again the next example that Krishna gives is.
That. So it is just as the sun. Illuminates the universe.
Like that the soul illuminates the body. Now. The sun is far away from the earth.
But the sun’s rays get projected onto the earth. And the sun’s rays. Cause photosynthesis to happen.
Cause plants to grow. Cause flowers to blossom. So many changes happen over here.
Although the sun is physically far away. Like that the soul’s consciousness. Gets projected into the body.
And. The projection of the consciousness of the soul into the body. Is what enables.
The soul to act. So. I have written a book on reincarnation.
In which I have got a whole appendix. Or deal with the mind matter interaction. Sorry the soul body interaction.
So a modern example. That we may use is virtual intelligence. If somebody is playing a video game.
In which say. The grand car robbery or whatever. Some kind of game they are playing.
Now. There is a player who is playing. Press this button.
Move this thing. If it is a virtual reality game. Then you may have many levers also.
Now if we look at. The mechanism by which the game is played. Whatever car moved this way.
The car moved that way. The car went here. All that can be explained.
In terms of digital electronics. This signal was generated over here. That is why the car moved this way.
But the person. Is experiencing emotions. There is a person who had intention.
And that person who had intention. Played the game. And the person experienced emotions.
So. That intention to play the game. Is what causes the consciousness.
To get projected into the. Into the virtual reality. That video game.
And there is a mechanism. By which the game is played. And you could explain.
You could say there is causal completeness. This button is pressed. This moves this way.
But still activating it all. Is the intention of the player who wants to play. In 13.21 Krishna talks about this.
He says. He says. That cause and effect.
All this happens within material nature. But. We experience pleasure and pain.
That is because of. Because of the desire to enjoy. Because of the projection of consciousness.
So basically. The material world can be explained. In terms of material cause and effects.
Of course it cannot be exhaustively explained. Like I explained. How ensouled matter behaves differently.
We can explain it in terms of. Okay because the cells grow. That is why it happens.
The cells have a healing capacity. But why is that there at all? Why is that not there here? And why is that here? So there are some explanations. Which do not come.
Even when we talk about the causal completeness of science. But more importantly. The soul.
Is not in contradiction. The soul and spiritual knowledge. Is not in contradiction to scientific knowledge.
It is a different level of causation. It is a different. Just like the digital mechanism.
By which the video game is played. That is one level of causation. The players coming and playing.
Is another level of causation. Both work in parallel. So similarly.
The body functions according to certain biochemical mechanisms. Biophysical mechanism. That is one level of causation.
But the soul’s projection of consciousness. Is another level of causation. And both work in parallel.
Does that answer your question?