I am a Physics student. How can I study the Bhagavad-gita scientifically when it seems like a discussion in a story?

Transcript

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Any other questions? Question from Asit Prabhu.
I am a student of physics and I would like to study Bhagavad Gita scientifically. But it seems more like a story. So, how can I study it scientifically? Answer, science itself as a name is recent.
Even at the time of Newton, Newton was called as a natural philosopher. He did not call himself a scientist. The word science came around in the 18th century.
But the scientific approach of studying, which means systematic, rational approach to body of knowledge, that has been there in the past also. Now, what does science study? Science primarily studies matter and material reality. Although science often says that there will be a certain totality of reality.
But science usually restricts itself to material reality. So, now the Bhagavad Gita is definitely a part of a story. It’s a part of the Mahabharata.
And that context is there. And before that, Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. But once we go beyond the context, he says Bhagavad Gita also deals with questions about the nature of reality.
About who we are, what the world around is, and what is the best way to live in it. What is the way to understand the deeper nature of the universe and to harmonize with it. So, in one sense, the Bhagavad Gita is subject of study, not the context of study.
Context means where it is being spoken. But the content of its study is also similar to science. That’s why rather than just looking at the verses, we have to understand the concepts that I am talking about.
There is context, there is content and there are concepts. So, the context may not help us to understand the concepts immediately. The content can help us to understand the concepts if we can go deeper into it.
So, for example, Baldevidya Bhushan, one of our prominent Gaudiya Acharyas, analyzes the Bhagavad Gita, deals with five subjects. Jiva, Ishwara, Prakriti, Kaal and Karma. Now, among these, the Upanishads highlight three things.
Jiva, Ishwara and Prakriti. That’s what they are called. So, consciousness, absolute truth and matter.
Now, if we see, science also studies these things. Science will not talk about an absolute truth in terms of God. But also, much of science today considers the laws of nature to be like absolute truths.
Throughout the universe, wherever we go, how far we go, we assume that the laws of gravity apply. So, laws are almost considered to be like omnipresent and they are universal and they apply everywhere. So, there is a concept of something absolute even within science.
So, that means some absolute conception and then science primarily studies matter. And nowadays, science is becoming more and more open to study consciousness. Although many scientists try to reduce consciousness down to matter.
Saying that our consciousness just comes from our brain cells or whatever. But there are other scientists who study consciousness more open-mindedly and they are quite fixed in the understanding that consciousness cannot have a material source. So, when you want to study the Bhagavad Gita, they have to highlight its concepts and then see what science says about those concepts, what Bhagavad Gita says about those concepts and how Bhagavad Gita insights can help advance the cause of science.
That means, if you can focus on these three subjects, matter, what is the nature of matter, what is the nature of consciousness and what is it that is absolute. These three questions if you focus on by studying the Bhagavad Gita. So, for example, Vishal Prabhupada had a disciple, Jnanatmaktasivam Damodar Maharaj.
So, he was a scientist. Dr. Thoudan Singh, who later on became an ensconced sanyasi. So, he has written a book, he has written a series of articles and based on the second chapter of the Gita and he calls it the physics and the chemistry of the soul.
So, physics deals with the things as they are and chemistry deals with things as they interact. Tough understanding of that. Very general understanding.
So, he says, similarly, second chapter, these are describing the characteristics of the soul. So, then we can look at the concepts of the soul further in terms of what are its characteristics and how those characteristics will be will be affecting or will be affected by the things around it, by matter, for example. So, that way we will be able to recognize, say, the presence of consciousness or there are near-death experiences, there are out-of-body experiences, there are past life memories.
All these point to the existence of a soul. So, what we have to do is look at the Bhagavad Gita as one circle of knowledge, look at science as another circle of knowledge, find out the intersection between the two and then see how science can advance towards understanding the Bhagavad Gita better. So, I would say, now the concept of God can also be focused on, but but the distinctive contribution that Bhagavad Gita scientific study can make is towards an understanding of the consciousness.
So, there are several books written by devotee scientists and devotee scholars. So, along with studying the Bhagavad Gita, if one studies these books, for example, there is a book Searching for Vedic India by Devamrith Maharaj or there is another book Human Devolution by Nrityakarma Purnima. So, these books are based on the basic principles of the Gita, but they are presented and substantiated using scientific language and using scientific reasoning and scientific examples, scientific research, scientific experiments like that.
So, for us, initially, to find the intersection between the two circles will be difficult. Then you will feel that actually I have to just give up this circle and I have to come to this circle. That’s what you will feel if you want to study the Bhagavad Gita.
But it’s not necessarily like that. Actually, there is an intersection, but we need guidance to be able to see it. Otherwise, first of all, the Bhagavad Gita is in Sanskrit.
So, understanding Sanskrit itself becomes difficult and then it is also filled with concepts which may seem to be much more religious than scientific. For example, there is punya, there is paapa, and there is swarga, and there is naraka. So, all this may not seem very scientific.
But these are there, but the central message of the Bhagavad Gita is what? The interaction of consciousness and the absolute truth. And what role matter plays in this interaction. This is the essential message of the Gita.
So, I would suggest that we take the concepts of the Gita, understand them properly. Not all concepts, because all concepts may not be right now understandable to science. For example, the three modes of modern nature was something which can be understood scientifically to some extent.
Because human psychology is still an emerging field. And within that, why different people behave differently and what can help people to change their behavior. These are emerging fields of study.
So, till now, not much has been done in terms of analyzing the characteristics of the three modes and presenting them in scientific terms. But it is possible to do that. So, there was a devotee, by the name Brian Wolfe, he did a scientific research in chanting.
And basically, he analyzed the characteristics of three modes, sattva, rajas, tamas. And he presented them in contemporary terms. For example, if somebody is lazy, intoxicated, so how would we measure that sort of thing.
And he measured people’s characteristics. And he asked them to chant. And he observed.
So, he found that people’s tamasic characteristics went down and sattvic characteristics went up when they chanted adequately, regularly. So, that way, we can devise some experiments eventually. Of course, that particular experiment is more in the field of sociology.
Because it is focused on individual transformation. Which does not directly come with physics or chemistry. But especially the concept of consciousness.
It is coming to the forefront of mainstream science also because of quantum physics. In quantum physics, you cannot neglect consciousness. The act of observing affects how it is observed.
So, on my website, there is an answer to a question about quantum physics and God. Does quantum physics contribute to the existence of God or does it disprove the existence of God? So, that, if you hear, you will see how consciousness plays a very defining role. And then you can say that, where does consciousness come from? Bhagavata explains that.
So, I would say focusing on the consciousness as a concept, studying it from the Bhagavata point of view and studying it from the scientific point of view and then bring about the interaction between the two. That is one way we can study the Bhagavata scientifically. So, if you want to do serious research in future, right now the best way to start would be to read devotee scientists and devotee scholars books and to interact with those devotees more.
And over a period of time, you will find out some area of specialization in which you may like to study further. There are a lot of promising areas. Certainly, consciousness is one, the three modes are another.
But apart from that also, if you look at the Bhagavata conception of matter, there Bhagavata uses the elemental theory of matter, when it divides matter into five primary elements and three subtle elements. So, now this is currently different from today’s, today what we have is the atomic theory of matter. So, these are two primary theories of matter.
But the elemental theory of matter, which Bhagavata teaches is significantly different from the Greek, Greeks had a theory of elemental theory of matter. The word element in Bhagavata uses it, it is different from the word element which science uses. Science uses element, compound and that sort of things.
Bhagavata uses element in terms of the fundamental components of matter nature. So, that is the elemental theory of matter and how matter can be understood from the Gita’s perspective. Actually, this is all Sankhya.
And Sankhya has been called as the physics in Indian philosophy. So, Sankhya is a body of knowledge, which can also be studied a lot. And there are some devotees who are doing that.
For example, Australian Institute of Mumbai and Baklai Asaraj Mohanji’s team is doing that. And there are other devotees also working at India. So, later on a specific research field can be found.
But right now, you can start with reading books like Searching for Mythic India and then Human Revolution. And there is also a smaller magazine called Origins, which gives scientific presentation of the basic principles of Christian consciousness. So, by reading these three books, you will get an understanding.
And then with that framework, when you have found out, okay, these are the areas of intersection. As you find out, then when you study, so, of course, you go on with the regular study of the Gita, but read these books, and then again you revisit the Gita, then you will see, okay, these are talking about scientific concepts. So, you have to look beyond the cultural aspect of the Gita.
Either we are going to talk about Swarga, Naraka, that is not what currently science can understand. But you can focus on those verses, which can be scientifically analyzed or presented. And that way, the concepts of the Bhagavad Gita can be scientifically presented.
Apart from that is the process of the Bhagavad Gita. Process of the Bhagavad Gita means, Bhagavad Gita ultimately talks about the Bhakti Yuga. But then there is a whole branch of science, which could be used to, as I said, from the study of effects of chanting, that can we demonstrate scientifically that practicing Bhakti Yuga, as taught in Bhagavad Gita, leads to inner transformation.
So, what are the characteristics of inner transformation, the Bhagavad Gita talks about? What are the characteristics of materialist? What are the characteristics of spiritualist? And do those characteristics of materialist change to those of spiritualist by the process of Bhagavad Gita? That is also a field, which you can study scientifically. So, initially by starting with devotee scientist books, and later on studying the Bhagavad Gita, and then finding out, what would be your focus of research. Then eventually, if someone can do, say, a PhD or write some book about science and the Gita, that will be very important.
A very valuable service to the whole tradition. But you can take one step at a time, and begin systematic study that way.