Ultimate reality

[Guest guest]

>_________________________

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>

>Further to what Roshan Sharma wrote:

>I am new to the group. I was born in India. I came to America in

>1949. I was educated as a physicist and have devoted about 40 years

 

......

>One can thus see why presently I am

>interested in entities and their inter-relationships - especially

>what we have been calling Ultimate Reality and entities called human

>minds/souls. I will be looking forward to exchanging my ideas with

>those of others. Thank you for accepting me as a member.

>

>Roshan L. Sharma, Adjunct Professor, SMU, Dallas

>Roshan L. Sharma <rsharma

>214-691-6790 <voice>

 

 

We have similar objectives and would like to start a thead on the definition

of

ultimate reality.

 

You can look at our page on science/spirituality at

http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/science.htm

 

let us start by offering some thoughts on this issue

 

1) 'Ultimate reality' can be used here to mean the underlying unity behind

'everything'.

This is interchangeable with 'God' or 'Atman' or 'Brahman' in Hinduism.

This term is sometimes better as it is more in line with the approach of

science.

Science is an attempt to get to 'ultimate' - 'knowing that you know

everything else'

The word 'reality' is also very useful in the present age as it means trying

to come face to face with what is ''all this'' about, rather than trying to

find a superhuman being called 'God'.

 

If we can get some reponse we may be able to develop this thread further.

 

regards

jay

Vivekananda centre London

[Guest guest]

Greetings:

 

Science explores the “ultimate reality” more specifically related to

matter and identifies that energy is the ultimate ground of existence of

the physical world. Science also explores what religion studies,

particularly the uncommon idea of God as ultimate ground of existence.

Pure Religion on the other hand Identifies that the ultimate reality

(God) is the root and source of all that science studies. Can

scientific methods be applied to knowing the "ultimate" questions, such

as "Where did I come from? Where am I going? Is there a optimum way to

live my life? Did I exist before I was born? Will I exist after I die?"

 

Religion is based on faith (belief) and conviction and can’t be

scientifically evaluated for its content and relevance. Scientific

facts can be logically tested and either they are rejected or accepted.

There is no logical way of testing religious viewpoints and we can’t

reject them using scientific methods. The viewpoints that are rejected

using scientific methods fall short of the definition of ‘Religion.’

 

Pure Religion and pure science have the common goal to find the TRUTH.

Science limits its enquiry with respect to matter and Religion goes

beyond matter. Science postulates the TRUTH by hypotheses and rejects

a hypothesis when the evidence becomes overwhelming. Pure religion

negates untruth to find the TRUTH and this ENQUIRY continues until

there is no more untruth!

 

The public adopts any specific religion on the basis of their life

style, family traditions, culture and personal experience.

Consequently, the level of adoption of any specific religion varies by

individuals . The ‘Hindu view’, ‘Christian view’ or ‘Islamic view’ or

‘Buddhism view’ etc. can vary by individuals according to their level

of perception and conviction. Let us understand these facts and try to

cultivate habits to listen to other viewpoints without prejudice and

avoid jumping into incorrect and inappropriate conclusions!

 

According to Advaita, Ultimate reality is the subject and never the

object. I am Brahman is the ultimate reality! (Aham Brahmasthami).

Brahman is the ultimate reality. Consequently, the scientific reality

which includes all discoveries, descriptions and explanations do not

represent the ultimate reality. The ultimate reality is an experience

beyond descriptions!

 

--

Ram Chandran

Burke, VA

[Guest guest]

Greetings Jay:

 

You have raised some interesting thoughts. A good starting point is the

famous quotation from Einstein: "Science without religion is vain and

religion without science is blind." Both Science and religion play

significant roles in uncovering the "ultimate reality." Science defines

certain rules and regulations (limitations)to prevent false claims! Pure

religion extends the scientific path beyond the boundaries of science

and consequently faith becomes necessary.

In summary, religion begins where science ends and this is a paradoxical

statement. It implies that if science does not end then there will be no

religion. Also, if there was no science, then we have to explain the

'ultimate reality' only through religion. The terms 'science' and

'religion' are our own notions and we have go beyond those notions to

realize "ultimate reality." According to the Upanishads, the answer to

the enquiry on "ultimate reality" can only come from the "ultimate

reality." In reality, 'ultimate reality is a pathless land and this

statment is parallel to the famous statement of J. Krishnamurthy, "Truth

is a Pathless Land."

 

I agree with what you have said in the statment - 'In my humble opinion

this limitation that we have imposed." If we remove all such

self-imposed limitations, we can and certainly, we will discover that we

are the "ultimate reality." Limitations indicate impurity and we can't

remove the limitations until we are PURE!

 

Ram Chandran