A Meeting Of Science And Spirituality

[suchandra]

A meeting of science and spirituality/ Saturday leader/RK Lakhi Kant

Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS

Posted: 2007-12-01

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=1724&typeid=0

Last week an important event was held at the Jubilee Hall at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. The occasion was the holding of the 2-day International Conference on Science and Spirituality for World Peace which was participated by speakers and delegates from all around the world. The conference was organised by the University of Bhagavata Culture and the Department of Clinical Psychology of the RIMS as a tribute to Dr. TD Singh, popularly known as Swami Damodara to many people all over the world, on the 70th anniversary of his birth. According to Swami Damodara’s many followers from different parts of the world who congregated in Imphal the significance of the Swami’s contribution to the science-religion dialogue will be revealed only gradually as time passes and as more and more people come in touch with his spiritual writings and other works. Only then people here in Manipur will also realise what a great soul was amongst them living as a common man.

The conference was on the theme of the need for a confluence of science and spirituality which is a subject expected to become popular in the coming years as the conditions of living in various parts of the world become more and more inhospitable. While the conference was held under the banner of the University of Bhagavata Culture which is a newly established seat of learning promoted by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, all the speakers were not religious or spiritual persons but from all walks of life, mainly academics, intellectuals, scientists, doctors, peace workers and devotees from the ISKCON. Most of the speakers including the many scientists from various centres of the Indian Institute of Technology were not fully conversant with the idea of God or spiritualism but at the same time they accepted the fact that the universe we live in could not have come into existence by mere chance. They felt that a higher force or an intelligent designer should logically be present who made this universe. This couldn’t be more nearer to the truth as even in our common day to day lives we see that things like motor cars, aeroplanes, computers etc have all got an inventor or a maker behind them. So how can we deny that such a complex thing as the human body or the universal body could have occurred by chance without an intelligent designer behind them. Take a rose for instance. How could it be that the petals of the rose are so nicely and symetrically shaped, have pulsating colors and to match these emanate a nice smell also. And every rose follows the same pattern. How could it be possible that such a flower could be existing without being made by an intelligent designer.

The message that the conference gave was that for peace, education in spirituality must be undertaken in the schools and colleges throughout the world and especially in trouble torn areas like Manipur and the north east of India. Many conferences may be held but these conferences on peace are not the be all and end all of the matter. We must also see to it that the benefits of such sessions percolate down to the masses who are the real reason and the beneficiaries for whom we hold such deliberations. Spirituality is a subject which goes beyond religion and anyone from any caste, color or creed may follow it. It has no restrictions of time, space or boundaries. One may be a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh or Buddhist but the undercurrent of love for mankind and everything else in the universe is the real meaning of spirituality and of God who is the creator of the whole nature.

Practically too a spiritual minded person leads a more healthy and satisfied life than others. Spiritual activities like meditation, yoga, chanting of holy names etc. was recommended by at least two doctors among the speakers who informed that it reduces stress and anxiety in many situations, especially in the seriously ill persons like the AIDS infected etc. As things go from bad to worse in this age of Kali a quick recourse to spiritualism may be the answer for all the problems of living in this age.

[suchandra]

Feedback of the conference, on "Science and Spirituality for World Peace".

 

Overview of International Conference on Science and Spirituality for World Peace

By: Radhamohan Das

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=1060

 

The conference entitled “International Conference on Science and Spirituality for World Peace” was organized by the University of Bhagavata Culture (UBC) in collaboration with the Department of Clinical Psychology of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal at Jubilee Hall, RIMS on 23-24 November 2007. This conference organized as a tribute to Dr. TD Singh (HH Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami), the founder Rector of the UBC and a pioneer of science-religion dialogue and a peace visionary was envisioned and planned on a bigger scale to involve the Nobel laureates, eminent scientists etc. before his departure from this material world on 2nd October 2006. Though it was organized in a much smaller way it is befitting that this peace conference on science and spirituality has been organized as a tribute to him on his 70th Birth Anniversary.

 

Today, the world is facing an array of global challenges and threats in the forms of various kinds of violence such as nuclear war, chemical and biological warfare, terrorism, etc. We are having tremendous anxiety, fear, and unrest in the lives of all of us due to having experienced many events recently happened in this world. In fact, every thinking person feels to have an intense yearning for peace and harmony in every part of this globe. Thus, we felt it necessary to have this conference on science and spirituality organized at Imphal, Manipur, for the first time, the birth place of Dr. TD Singh who was both a scientist with a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, USA and spiritualist in the Bhaktivedanta tradition of India.

 

This two-day rigorous conference was participated by prominent scientists, religious and spiritual leaders, peace promoters, intellectuals, educationists and students from around the world. There were 35 speakers from among the prominent scientists, religious leaders, peace promoters etc. and the number of delegates including senior citizens of different walks of life, spiritual and religious leaders from diverse religions and traditions and young students from Manipur was about 1000. The countries from which the speakers and delegates were participating in the conference are America, Bali, Belgium, France, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and India including Northeast region.

 

Objective of the Conference

The objective of the International Conference on Science and Spirituality for World Peace on a two-day rigorous schedule is to bring together prominent scientists, religious and spiritual leaders, social and peace activists, intellectuals, educationists, scholars and students, and youths from around the world to have dialogues on science and spirituality for creating a culture of peace and harmony. Einstein, the greatest and real scientist remarked, “Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind”. He noted, “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we, with our modest powers, must feel humbled.”

 

The logic is that life comes from life and it cannot be reduced to atoms and molecules and that matter without the living force, or spirit is incapable of generating life in any form. That there is a big vision is clearly explained in Dr. TD Singh’s book, “Life comes from Life” in the form of the conversations between Srila Prabhupada who took the role of philosopher and social critic and Dr. TD Singh, a scientist and a spiritualist. Einstein also remarked, “The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is in the sensation of the mystical. It is a sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, he who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness.” Thus, Einstein saw the quality of the perfect blend of science and spirituality on his journey of the scientific and spiritual paths.

 

The spiritual or religious worldview in its purest form develops the moral nature of humanity by understanding the inner dimension of reality. Through the spiritual knowledge received from the Gita and Upanishads we come to understand that life (atman) or spiriton (the word coined by Dr. TD Singh) is a transcendental entity and it is beyond the body. The Bhagavad-gita proclaims as, mamaivamso jivaloke jivabhuta sanatanah, meaning : “Life is a transcendental entity and is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and is eternal.” On the other hand, science has made tremendous progress in various frontiers of knowledge such as, electronics and computer science, transportation and communication, space science and technology, medical science and technology and so on. But, the scientific civilization is almost completely going toward materialism neglecting the deeper meaning and finer spiritual values of life. So, when one is not educated in the knowledge of the meaning of life and the eternal relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Lord, there is a tendency to neglect the search for the value of life. One needs to inquire into the Supreme Lord and acquire the knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the creator, maintainer and destructor of the manifested universes.

 

Indeed it is the goal of life and by having such transcendental knowledge one can achieve liberation to be free from material bondage life after life in this material world. While there is a progress of scientific culture it is also vital that humanity does not neglect spiritual culture. In fact, the physical well-being and spiritual well-being must be cultivated simultaneously. If human beings make progress in both the fronts – physical knowledge and spiritual knowledge we can hope for a better civilization, a greater understanding. Spirituality transcends all walls of separation among communities despite differences in cultures, traditions and religions.

 

Dr. TD Singh remarked, “It must be very beneficial if the scientists and the religious groups could come together and discuss how to live peacefully by engaging in a very serious dialogue on how to use their respective fields of knowledge for the better of the whole human family.” With our world being faced with an array of global challenges and threats and humanity at a critical juncture, the time is now ripe for a serious understanding to launch a vision of lasting world peace through the cooperative dialogue of science and spirituality. Hence, the objective of this conference.

 

Themes of the Conference

• Sowing seeds of peace for creating sacred space: An opening ceremony to bless the conference space, invocations and lighting of peace lamp – Session I

 

• ‘Uniting Faiths’ for promoting a culture of peace and harmony – Session II

 

• The role of science in bringing religions unity in the 21st century – Session III

 

• Panel discussion: Peace education – exploring pathways to peace through education

 

• Vision for a peaceful world – singing together for peace

 

• Dr. TD Singh’s (HH Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami) unique contribution towards world peace – Session IV

 

• Understanding life, its origin and values and search for peace at its roots – Session V

 

• Towards a global ethics: distilling common values – Session VI

 

• Panel discussion: Peace technology – a quest for peace in northeast India

 

Inauguration Session: Sowing Seeds of Peace

The opening ceremony to bless the conference space was started with invocation and lighting of peace lamp. For invocations, Brahma Samhita hymns was chanted by Banamali Das along with chanting of Harinam Mahamantra by Ms. Roshibina Devi. The peace lamp was lighted by the honoured chief guest Ms. Yoland Trevino, Chair, Global Council of URI, San Francisco, USA and Professor of Management Transformative Leadership from the University of Southern California, USA and joined by HH Kavichandra Swami, Governing Body Commissioner, ISKCON, USA and Mr. Dirk Laureyssens, Belgium, and Dr. IS Khaidem, former Vice Chancellor of MU and Radhamohan Das, Secretary of the organizing committee. The inaugural address was given by Ms. Yoland Trevino. Before that the organizing secretary gave the welcome address, and HH Kavichandra Swami and Mr. Dirk Laureyssens and Dr. IS Khaidem, addressed as guests of honor and president respectively. The master of ceremony of the two-day conference was Ravi Das from Malaysia.

 

Speakers and Their Sub-titles of Talks

The second session chaired by Prof. Gangmumei Kamei, Professor of History (Retd.), MU had four speakers. Dr. John Bosco Lourdusamy, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Chennai gave the talk on, “Modern Science – Religion Symbiosis: Historical Perspective and Future Prospects.” The second speaker Ms. Yoland Trevino, Chair, Global Council of URI, San Francisco, USA spoke on, “You Are I, Recognising the Fiery Force that Sparkles in Everything.” Prof Ramgopal Uppaluri’s (Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati) topic was “Science, Spirituality and the Future of Humanity” and the last speaker of this session was Prof SC Panigrahi, Department of Metals and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur and he delivered on the topic, “The Peace Formula for Global Harmony and Prosperity”.

 

The third session chaired by Dr. CD Sebastian, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay had also four speakers. Mr. Dirk Laureyssens, Antwerp, Belgium talked on “Logic and Religion”, Dr. Ch Manoranjan Singh, Research Director, M Bio-medical Research and Diagnostic Centre, Kolkata and former Deputy Director, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, on “Bio-technology and Its Role in Bio-medical Sciences”, Prof K Srinivasan, Physics Department, Dayanand Sagar Engineering College, Bangalore on “Need for Spirituality in Science” and the last speaker, Mr. Abhishek Tiwari, Research Scholar, Computer Science Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA spoke on an interesting topic i.e. “Computer Science for Peace”. At the end of this session a short cultural program was presented. The panel discussion on the theme, “Peace Education – Exploring Pathways to Peace Through Education” chaired by Prof IS Khaidem was taken up with the following speakers in order. His Holiness Subhag Swami, Kolkata, Dr. S Gyaneswar Singh, Principal (Retd) of DM College of Teachers Education, Prof Ksh Bimola Devi, HOD, Deparment of Political Science, Manipur University and President, Centre for Peace Education, MU, Shri Parthasarthi Das of UBC, Imphal and Dr. RK Tarachand Singh, Prof of Mathematics (Retd), MU and UBC.

 

The session was followed with a program on Vision for a Peaceful World – Singing Together for Peace.

 

The second day of the conference on 24th November 2007 was started with the theme on Dr. TD Singh’s (HH Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami) Unique Contribution Towards World Peace with Sakshigopal Das as moderator and it was the fourth session. The speakers were HG Dhananjay Das (Scotland), HG Anuttma Das (USA), Dr Made Wardhana (Bali, Indonesia), Rupachandra Das (Singapore), Paramtattva Das (Switzerland), HG Dina Anukampana Das (Singapore) and HG Bhojadeva Das’s speech was read out as he could not be present.

 

The fifth session on the theme, “Understanding Life, Its Origin and Value – Search for Peace at Its Roots” was chaired by Prof L Fimate, Director, RIMS, Imphal. Prof Carlos Rocha, Mathematician, Venezuela talked on, “Vedantic Conception of the Original Source of Reality”, Dr Praveen Reddy, College of Dental Sciences, Karnataka, India on, “Healthy Living: A Way to Peaceful Life”, Mr Phalguni Banerjee, Research Scholar, Dept of Chemcial Engineering, IIT Kharagpur on “Vedantic Concept of Life” and Dr. Made Wardhana, Bali, Indonesia gave his talk on, “Psychonueroimmunology: Connecting Body-Mind and Spirit.”

 

Padmashri RK Jhalajit Singh, Principal (Retd) LMS Law College, Imphal was the Chair of the Session VI on the theme – Towards a Global Ethics: Distilling Common Values. There were four speakers in this session. Prof S Shyamkishore Singh, Dept of Philosophy, MU spoke on his topic, “Evolving a Global Ethics Based on Sanatana Dharma”. Dr CD Sebastian, Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay spoke on, “The Future of Humanity: Interface of Science and Spirituality”. The topic on AIDS i.e. AIDS – A Spiritual and Ethical Perspective was spoken by Dr Khomdon Lisam, Chairman and Executive Director, AIDS Consortium New Delhi. Prof N Rajmohan Singh, Dept of Chemistry, MU gave his talk on, “Science and Spirituality – Partners for World Peace and Sustainable Development”.

 

A short cultural program was presented by RK Sanaton Singh of Sanaleibak Nachom Artistes. And after that the last session on Panel Discussion on the theme Peace Technology – A Quest for Peace in Northeast India, chaired by Dr. M Nara Singh was taken up. The first panelist was Dr. C Jamini Devi, Chairperson, Manipur State Commission for Women and Principal (Retd) DM College of Commmerce, Imphal. Shri Pradip Phanjoubam, Editor, Imphal Free Press was the second panelist and the other two panelists were Shri M Akshaykumar Singh, HOD, Department of Clinical Psychology, RIMS and Rev. (Dr.) Linus Neli, Imphal.

 

Thus, the two-day rigorous International Conference on Science and Spirituality for World Peace organized by University of Bhagavata Culture, Manipur in collaboration with Department of Clinical Psychology of RIMS Imphal as a tribute to Dr. TD Singh (HH Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami), a scientist and spiritualist on his 70th Birth Anniversary was concluded with a proposal of vote of thanks given by Sakshigopal Das.

 

Our sincere hope is that the two most dominant forces – Science and Spirituality on cooperative approach toward constant dialogue between prominent scientists and spiritualists along with interfaith dialogue – in search of ultimate reality at such critical juncture of humanity when there are intolerance, prejudice, violence and injustice – with help work in bringing out social and economic justice and peace and harmony. We have to work hard among ourselves regardless of religion, creed and ethnicity to help transform the hearts and minds of the people to know the finer meaning of life and its value.

 

We acknowledge gratefully the support extended to us by Swamijis, devotees and matajis of different centres of ISKCON around the world, members of the Steering Committee/Organising Committee, advisors, the head and faculties of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences particularly the Department of Clinical Psychology and Pathology, the faculties of Manipur University particularly the Departments of Political Science and Philosophy and Centre for Peace Education, MU, the members of Manipur United Religions Initiative (URI) Cooperation Circle, students of Manipur University, RIMS, colleges and other institutes, the members of Senior Citizens for Society, Manipur, all other senior citizens, members of all diverse religions and traditions including the indigenous, members of Sanaleibak Nachom Artistes, members of Indian People’s Theatre Association, staff of RIMS Jubilee Hall particularly sound and light systems, the security personnel under Govt. of Manipur particularly of Imphal West district, members of the print and electronic media, devotees and others working with Internet, friends and well wishers, and last but not the least all the learned speakers including session chairs, panel chairs and panelists and enthusiastic delegates from around the world and all sections of people of Manipur who have given continuous support and guidance in organizing this conference successfully.

 

We pray to the Supreme Lord that the conference having conveyed the clear message from the words of the learned speakers’ profound thoughts and wisdom may help in bringing about lasting peace and harmony on this planet.