Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 149, Mars and Moon Missions

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Digest 149, December 27th, 2005. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami

Maharaja

**You are welcome to send in your questions to HH Romapada Swami at

iskcondc with the word "Question" included in the subject line.

 

Mars and Moon Missions

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Q1. When I read articles on present day scientists saying there is life on Mars

or human beings trying to land on moon, how do I relate that to material worlds

described in Vedas?

 

Answer: Modern science exclusively relies on empiric methods, i.e. what can be

observed and experimented with our senses or their extensions. Anything that

falls outside the scope of our sense perception is assumed, a priori, to be

non-existent (or, more ethically consistent, "We cannot talk about such things,

since it lies beyond the purview of verifiable science.") Thus it confines

itself to the study of only that which can be subject to emperic observation

and experiment.

 

Despite rapid advancement in neurology and other such branches, scientists can

hardly put their finger on even such commonplace experiences such as

intelligence, love, goodwill, faith, sorrow etc – after all it is difficult to

explain these in terms of molecular reactions -- and therefore such phenomena

are largely kept outside the scope of rigorous science! There is no clear

consensus as yet amongst scientists even of what exactly constitutes life and

what distinguishes a dead body from a living person, beyond the observation of

some chemical reactions -- not to speak of acknowledging the presence or

absence of the subtle body or the soul.

 

According to Vedic epistemology, the methods for acquiring knowledge are

broadly classified under 3 headings: pratyaksa (direct perception, empirical

method); anumana (induction i.e. arriving at conclusions using hypothesis,

logic and examples), and shabda-pramana (hearing from authoritative sources).

The first two of these 3 methods can never lead to conclusive knowledge -- even

of matter, what to speak of aspects of reality that lie beyond gross matter. As

stated before modern science confines itself to these two methods only.

 

Direct perception is bound to be defective because our senses are limited and

imperfect; mechanical extensions of the senses, such as a telescopes,

microscopes or the instruments meant to detect life, are also perceived through

and built upon the parameters of these defective senses.

 

The process of hypothesizing is also ever subject to revision. For instance,

when one studies the night sky, all one can see are static patterns of light

and radiation coming from distant stars. The scientists make some basic

assumptions about the characteristics of matter and certain laws it obeys; they

then take for granted that the laws prevailing in remote parts of the universe

and at remote times are the same as the laws that hold here and now on the

earth. Given these laws, they then deduce the nature of object that could have

produced the pattern of light or the observed readings. But matter by nature is

always under flux, and as newer phenomena and laws are discovered, their

theories keep getting revised. Evidently, this ascending method can never lead

to perfect, conclusive knowledge. If you want to know your father, the only

reliable method is through the verdict of the mother. Any amount of

experimentation, however laborious, cannot be conclusive.

 

Of course, care should be taken to approach the right authority. Blind

acceptance of unscrupulous authorities leads to equal havoc and confusion.

Therefore, we take conclusive knowledge from the Vedas, because Vedic

scriptures are not man-made (apaurusheya) and therefore free from the four

defects that all conditioned living beings are subjected to, viz. imperfect

senses, tendency to make mistakes, susceptibility to illusion and the

propensity to cheat, consciously or subconsciously.

 

Vedic literatures assert that the universe is filled with life. Such life may

or may not be perceivable by our physical senses, or their extensions. Thus,

even granting that the astronauts or their instruments visited some place in

space, it is no surprise that they could not detect the presence of subtle life

forms there or that they could only detect microbial life forms and biological

signs, because that is what their instruments are tuned to detect in the first

place. What to speak of the moon or mars, even on our own planet there are

regions inaccessible to our mundane, three-dimensional perception and yet

co-existing with our perceivable realm. These are described in the scriptures,

and are accessible to those with proper qualification and refined means of

perception.

 

Vedic knowledge is not dogmatic; it is also scientific i.e. there is room for

experimentation and direct verification, provided one is willing to go through

the prescribed training and follow standard procedures – much as in any

discipline, including modern science. But the scope of modern scientific

research is too constricted to explore these aspects of reality. Most

lamentably, instead of admitting that they are working merely with sketchy

theories and hypothesis, most representatives of science tend to portray a

graphic picture of the nature of things as if with absolute certainty. This not

only misleads laymen but also serves to shut science off from higher levels of

reality.

 

One final comment: we should not imagine that the sages of ancient India were

grossly ignorant of the nature of the world and have constructed some

irresponsible fantasy or mythology – as modern anthropologists often portray.

Considering the gravity of the subject matter discussed in the Bhagavatam or

Bhagavad-gita, these descriptions are certainly worthy of serious attention and

scientific study and should not be lightly dismissed, even if one is unable to

accept them at face value.

 

Important Related Digests:

About Sun and Stars: Digest 150

http://iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest150

About Moon Landing: Digest 151

http://iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/renderphilo.pl?digestname=digest151

 

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conjugal pastimes, spiritual master, spirit soul/jiva/living entity):

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