Krishna Wisdom

Main Menu

  • Home
  • FAQs
  • Free wisdom ebooks
  • Discuss philosophy
    • Questions archive
    • Ask a question
  • Wisdom Blog
  • Find Us
    • Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford
    • UK Groups

logo

Krishna Wisdom

  • Home
  • FAQs
  • Free wisdom ebooks
    • IQ EQ SQ - Spiritual Quotient

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Tattva

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Gita Life

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Bhakti Life

      May 13, 2017
      0
  • Discuss philosophy
    • Questions archive
    • Ask a question
  • Wisdom Blog
  • Find Us
    • Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford
    • UK Groups
Science corner
Home›Science corner›Where’s the gander?

Where’s the gander?

By Researcher Ryan
August 28, 2016
709
0
Share:

“You cheated on me!” Hold on a second, you know you haven’t, but your heart skips a beat at the fervour with which she’s expounding these fiery words directly into your chest. The weak reply of “no…darling” is unconvincing for one main reason…you both just woke up from the 6-8 hour slumber, that we refer to as sleep.

Have any of you experienced this? Your other half had a vivid dream that you’ve done the naughty on them, and suddenly you’re getting full-on accusations! Of course it wears off quickly enough, but immediately after waking it is clear from anyone who has been in this situation that it seems so real at the time.

We all know Descartes, right? Mathematician, philosopher and scientist, this 15-16th Century character really mixed things up, and injected some exciting thinking into the western world. He proposed the famous ‘cogito ergo sum‘ catchphrase, translating to,

“I think, therefore I am”

Basically, he asserted that there is no way of proving that anything outside of our minds is real. What? Crazy, no? Let’s take the example of your iPhone. One might confidently state that because one can use all of one’s senses to examine this nifty little shatter-proof gadget, therefore it is blatantly real. Unfortunately for the phone, and for us, this isn’t true…it’s a case of circular reasoning. That is, to prove something is real in the world, you take something from the world to prove it. A no, no.

Doubting the nature of reality…isn’t this all a bit too over-the-top? Why even bother thinking about this stuff? Good question, and it’s one that I used to skip over regularly and quite nonchalantly. But I’ll give one good reason as to why it is important:

The underlying, starting premise of science is that there is an objective world outside of our minds, and that we can understand it empirically

This leaves us in a pickle, because as we’ve just illustrated, you can’t prove that there is an objective world outside of our minds. Yes, we could all be brains in a jar, being manipulated by an evil genius…

Funnily enough though, we don’t tend to end up at that conclusion. In fact, no serious modern philosopher (who values their job) actually doubts that there is an objective reality out there. How then, do we get around this predicament?

To put it simply…we conclude that the world is real and not a figment of our imagination…because it is obvious to us. In philosophical terms, one would say that it is self-evident; that is, no external evidence is required to convince us of a fact. Now, back to our dream saga… it is self-evident that waking state is more real than a dream. Although there is no way of empirally showing this to be the case, we pretty much all exclusively vote (or don’t even see the need to) that waking state is more real than dreaming. However, to call dreaming unreal would be unfair, given the strength of experience at the time.

So finally, I’ll get to the point…let’s call ‘science’ ‘the goose’. The goose has pulled out the trump card by claiming that reality is a self-evident truth, and we therefor don’t need to prove it before science can begin. I am in complete concordance with this assertion, seeing as we can all benefit from pain killers and jumbo jets.

But what about assertions from those are seriously practising spiritual paths, which might be etched in thousands of years of solid philosophy and practical methodology (such as yoga)?…AKA, ‘the gander’. What if a dedicated follower of bhakti yoga were to state that after 40 years of study, austerity and training, they were experiencing a reality who’s quality of experience was self-evidently more real than that which we typically refer to as waking state? Perhaps waking state would start to seem almost like dream state, relative to this new reality that they were experiencing.

You see, what’s good for the goose…should be good for the gander. It doesn’t mean that I have to take their path, but as a good scientist I could assess their claim based on the criteria outlined in their tradition. For example, in the yoga traditions, it is explained in Bhagavad Gita as it is 5.18 that a person with elevated consciousness sees only the good in everyone, no matter how degraded someone may appear from a standard societal perspective…they literally cannot see it any other way. And it is certainly possible to ascertain whether this is true by simply observing another’s behaviour.

So, in conclusion, you know I love all you fellow scientists out there…and if you ever find yourself retorting to a question with the standard ‘one day science will find out why’…please recall two points to avoid being a state of philosophical deep sleep: 1. This is faith, because 2. Science can’t empirically prove that ‘reality’ is real.

Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery in Nature. And it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we are trying to solve — Max Planck

PS. Should this seem a biased review, I would also turn to those who say they are seriously practising a spiritual discipline that is rooted in sensible philosophy and a specific practise for internal development…make sure you do one of two things: 1. Demonstrate by your actions that this process works (actions speak louder than words after all); 2. If like me, you’re not at a stage of elevated spiritual advancement, then keep going, try your best…and be honest with yourself and others…let’s not pretend to be someone or somewhere we’re not

Tagsbodyequalitysciencespirituality
Previous Article

Brain Dead

Next Article

Efficient endeavour

Share:

Researcher Ryan

Ryan's a scientist with an interest in explaining the unexplainable. After all, that’s what gets scientists going. He loves talking about the mysterious nature of the universe, and how it is that life ‘just works!’ Isn’t it amazing that you don’t have to bark orders at your leg to move every time you walk, or that you need not constantly panic that you haven't made your heart beat for a while? His writings delve into the question of ‘what is consciousness’, from scientific and philosophical perspectives, and get everyone's brain buds jumping around with excitement at the possibility of a future science that knows no bounds.

Related articles More from author

  • Reflections

    The wrongs of being right

    May 18, 2016
    By Sutapa Monk
  • Reflections

    Living with chaos

    February 26, 2017
    By Sutapa Monk
  • Wisdom tube

    The Spirituality Quest 1: What is the Soul?

    August 10, 2018
    By Apprentice Monk
  • Wisdom tube

    The Spirituality Quest 2: How does Karma work?

    August 10, 2018
    By Apprentice Monk
  • Uncategorized

    IN ESSENCE: An online course – Soul, Karma, Reincarnation, Meditation, Yoga and Relationships

    December 1, 2018
    By Apprentice Monk
  • Science corner

    How to be a good atheist

    February 19, 2017
    By Apprentice Monk

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended for you

  • Science corner

    Why the evolution theory is still evolving

  • Interactive & Quiz

    The happiness quotient quiz

  • EventsInteractive & Quiz

    Soul Expressions

Feeling inquisitive?

Ask a question and allow us to scratch your philosophical itch and bring you some peace!


 

Post Categories

Quiz and Courses

EventsInteractive & Quiz

The Mystic India Retreat 2023

  • The Soulful Saturday Experience

    By Radha Govinda das
    April 30, 2022

Timeline

  • October 8, 2022

    The Mystic India Retreat 2023

  • July 20, 2022

    Be part of the Krishna Wisdom tribe

  • April 30, 2022

    The Soulful Saturday Experience

  • March 1, 2022

    Soul Expressions

  • November 20, 2021

    The Simple Retreat

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • The Mystic India Retreat 2023

    By Radha Govinda das
    October 8, 2022
  • Be part of the Krishna Wisdom tribe

    By Radha Govinda das
    July 20, 2022
  • The Soulful Saturday Experience

    By Radha Govinda das
    April 30, 2022
  • Soul Expressions

    By Radha Govinda das
    March 1, 2022
  • The Simple Retreat

    By Radha Govinda das
    November 20, 2021
  • IN ESSENCE: An online course – Soul, Karma, Reincarnation, Meditation, Yoga and Relationships

    By Apprentice Monk
    December 1, 2018
  • These 3 secrets of meditation will transform your life

    By Apprentice Monk
    April 25, 2017
  • The happiness quotient quiz

    By Apprentice Monk
    March 26, 2017
  • How not to meditate

    By Apprentice Monk
    November 30, 2016
  • Mind Body Soul – Bhakti yoga for beginners

    By Radha Govinda das
    February 7, 2021
  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    These 3 secrets of meditation will transform your life

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    BEAMONK

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    Groups in the UK

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    Groups in the UK

  • Marianne
    on
    May 21, 2022

    Groups in the UK

Tag Cloud

animated (3) animation (3) atheism (3) atheist (3) bhagavad (9) bhakti (4) body (5) care (2) cartoon (3) compassion (3) consciousness (3) death (3) devotional service (3) earth (2) eastern (3) ebook (4) free (4) getaway (3) gita (10) god (7) happiness (3) hare (5) karma (9) krishna (12) life (12) love (17) lust (2) mantra (4) meditation (11) mind (6) peace (5) philosophy (3) problems (2) reincarnation (10) relationship (5) retreat (3) science (6) service (3) sex (3) soul (14) spiritual (22) spirituality (16) wisdom (10) world (2) yoga (18)

What is Krishna Wisdom?

Krishna Wisdom is a spiritual initiative based at Bhaktivedanta Manor, working in collaboration with School of Bhakti that is aimed at providing spiritual wisdom to seekers of spirituality and philosophy.

We believe that ‘Change begins within’ and hence, an inner transformation precedes universal betterment.

Our aim is to provide knowledge and wisdom of spiritual matters through events, music, courses and most of all – love and spiritual friendship.

© Krishna Wisdom, School of Bhakti, Bhaktivedanta Manor, 2022

Login

Forgot Password?

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.