Astrology and modern science

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Astrology

and modern science

 

Clash-Not a Disaster

The apparently unbridgeable gap that exists between astrology

and modern science and their continuing clash is understandable

because they differ in several respect in their approach and

reasoning; the former branch of investigation has a holistic approach

to the whole phenomenon of life and universe, while the latter is

mainly confined to an analysis of the parts. We have in India a huge

mass of studies and treatises on astrology. Even a cursory

examination would reveal that many of them are the outcome of

inquiries of earnest and intelligent explorers and there is ample

evidence of planetary influences and their relevance to life.

However, it is the above-mentioned difference that invokes the clash.

In this context, one is reminded of what renowned mathematician and

philosopher Alfred North Whitefield in his essay Religion and

Science, published in the book Science: Method and meaning (New York

University) has to say: " A clash of doctrines is not a

disaster- it is an opportunity." Citing some example

from science itself, like the two contradictory theories about the

nature of light, Newton's corpuscular and Huyghens' wave theories and

pointing out that while one group of phenomena can be explained only

on the wave theory, another large group can be explained only on the

corpuscular theory, whitehead makes a though-provoking observation on

the clash between science and religion, which is also very apt in the

clash between science and astrology. We should believe

nothing in either sphere of thought, which does not appear to us to

be certified by solid reasons based upon the critical research either

of ourselves or of competent authorities. But granting that we have

honestly taken this precaution, a clash between the two on points of

detail where they overlap should not lead us hastily to abandon

doctrines for which we have solid evidence. It may be that we are

more interested in one set of doctrines than in the other. But, if we

have any sense of perspective and of the history of though, we shall

wait and refrain from mutual anathemas. We should wait: but we should

not wait passively, or in despair. The clash is a sign that there are

wider truths and finer perspective within which a reconciliation of a

deeper religion and more subtle science will be found

Mass of Evidence

When a so-called scientist say "No one needs to study

astrology in all its details for an extended period to come to

conclusion that it is unscientific"(The Hindu, April23), he is

evidently not prepared for critical research, as whitfield suffests,

and is tempted to abandon a time tested doctrine in hast. Although

the astrological reasoning, which takes into account various gross

and subtle factors, does not conform to the methodology of modern

science, there is a solid mass of evidence regarding the

applicability and relevance of astrology in practical life. Another

branch of knowledge that in its fundamental concepts does not come to

terms with the methodology of modern science and proves its

applicability in the day to day life of millions of people is

Ayurveda. Should we dismiss it also as a pseudo science? We

cannot ignore, like the fabled ostrich, the solid evidence of

thousands who seek astrological guidance and derive solace and hope.

The highly educated as well as the commoner often seek the counseling

of the astrologer. An expert astrologer, applying his knowledge, can

often pinpoint the problem of the visitor. There is a mass of

evidence revealed by highly competent people, including those not

spiritually inclined and rational, but open-minded and outspoken, who

have testified to their experience in astrology. Serious

investigation will not dismiss such experiences passing the flimsy

opinion that they are the outcome of superstitions belief based on

human anxiety and uncertainty in life. Elaborate

System Astrology is an elaborate system of knowledge

and there are voluminous treatises containing very intricate

calculation bases on the position of stars and planets and the

inter-relation existing between them and the various phenomena on

earth including human life. Because of the evidence at hand, several

scientists regard this branch of knowledge with reverence, although

they cannot explain its rationale. Carl Jung, the renowned

psychologist, was inspired to evolve his ideas on synchronicity from

his serious studies of I Ching, a book on ancient Chinese astrology.

As long as modern science has not reached a final conclusion about

the nature of mind and matter, the scientific methodology or the

conclusions of science cannot be taken to be the only means to

acquire knowledge or as the final word.The practice of

astrology involves many years of intensive study like any of the

professional courses of modern science. Some of the astrological

observations, of course, go wrong; but errors happen in every sphere

of human activity. Doctors often fail to diagnose correctly despite

their intensive medical training. Let us think of those investigators

who involved astrology as a system of knowledge. No man of though

worth his salt would consider savants of yore like Varahamihira to be

lesser intellect difference is that they employed their intellects in

different directions. Savants like Varahamihira earnestly sought to

discover the holistic relations between man and nature and revealed

what they found out with utmost humanity, unlike some of the modern

scientists who specialize in some particular field and tend to

believe they are competent to pass judgement on everything. We also

are often prone to consider a Nobel-prize winner in a particular

subject to be omniscient.

Ancient Explorers In

their belief that the scientific method is the only means to acquire

knowledge, some Indian scientists and scholars tends to dismiss

traditional sciences as unworthy of investigation. But more serious

investigators and scientists in foreign countries express a better

appreciation of the ancient inquiries. For instance, Professor

Alexander Spirkin, a well-known psychologist, who was a corresponding

member of the erstwhile USSR Academy of Science and the head of the

section of methodological problems of Cybernetics in Scientific

Council of Cybernetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, presents some

illuminating views in his book Dialectical Materialism (Progress

Publishers Moscow-1983, published during the Soviet days) about

Indian's ancient explorers. Professor Spirkin writes: The

sages of India discovered astonishingly subtle and profound

psycho-biophysical connections between human organism and cosmic

subterranean processes. They knew much that even today is beyond the

ken European scientific thought, or that it ignores, often trying to

conceal its helplessness by asserting that oriental wisdom is mere

mysticism, and thus showing its inability to distinguish the rational

but not yet fully understandable essence from various figments of

imagination. How could people in those far-off times know so much

without any experiments or apparatus about the conditions and factors

that regulate the course of the vital processes and the character of

the interaction between man and nature, particularly the influence of

the celestial bodies, the sun and Moon and the various radiation

proceeding from outer space and the bowels of the earth? And all this

was taken into consideration both in diagnosing and in treatment!

Does this not go to show an astonishingly high level of culture that

should arouse our admiration gratitude and desire to study!

Jawaharlal Nehru says that the human faculty to wonder at

things is the mother of all knowledge and its advancement. It is a

unique asset even to the matter-of-fact scientist, which prompted a

busy scientist like Professor Alexander Spirkin, far away from India,

to make a detailed study of the ancient India concepts and get

inspired by the fund of knowledge.. ' A giant leap backwards' is not

to be despised, but encouraged if it brings in valuable information

that would lead to advancement of knowledge for total human progress.

In place of contempt, it is the sense of 'admiration, gratitude and

desire to study' that would result in greater discoveries to lift

human society to higher cultural levels. Cosmic Links

The scientists who discredit astrology claim that there is no

evidence for a force from heavenly bodies that can affect individual

behavior. It seems they do not grasp the point that astrology's

approach is not entirely material, which is the dominant

characteristic of today's science, but both material and mental.

Astrology regards the universe as an inter linked conscious and

physical phenomenon established in the source, Brahman, the Supreme

Reality having infinite potential. Therefor, astrology gives

importance to the influence of Karma, the nature of personal actions

accumulated through several lifetimes and also to the influence of

cosmic energies. The ancient investigators discovered that the whole

cosmos is both mental and material which are inter-linked and

modifying influences are present in the subtle and gross realms in

the entire universe.

According to astrology, an individual

is not an exclusive island but has links with the past and the future

with the whole universe. The ancient masters found out some clues to

reveal these subtle links. They evolved methods to indicated these

links. They evolved methods to indicate these links to a great extent

from the particular positions of the heavenly bodies. An open-minded

observer sitting with a gifted astrologer can well make out that his

utterances are to a great extent related to the context and not mere

ambiguous speculation. These are often spontaneous as if the thinking

process has been eliminated considerably. Perhaps, the long period of

study of astrology and its mastery activates some areas in the human

brain with the faculty to decipher a cosmic code formed by the

position of the heavenly bodies information about the subtle

influence of Karma and the cosmic energies involved in a person's

life. Role of Intuition Is the mode

of investigation of modern science the only way to know the deeper

facts of life and the universe? The German biologist Prof. Dr.

Joachim Illies raises the following points in an article Does

Universe Hold Other Intelligent Beings, published in the Universitas:

Is science really the only authority from which we expect

answers to our questions? There are pre-scientific experiences,

unconscious certainties, hopes and conjectures, and especially the

vast energy centre of emotional life. All these media are, just like

science, antennae for felling our way in the world we live in. even

the certainties of science did mostly originate in a flash of genius,

a hunch, and intuition; and it was often only after this that the

scientist went to work, painstakingly elaborating the logical proof

for what he had known all along. Let us, therefor, learn this from

the great discoverers and research workers; not to scorn the power of

our own intuitive feelings, which supplement that of our universally

valid reason. New Science There are

indications that a new scientific thinking is also veering round the

ancient perspective that the universe is both mental and material.

The view of the ancient biologist Sir Julian Huxley that all the

activities of the world-stuff are possibly accompanied by mental and

material happenings and his preference to name the possible low

intensity mental happenings in matter as 'psychoid' happenings is

indication of this new line of scientific thinking. The

trends indicate that the emerging new science will be taking a more

balanced view of the two aspects of Reality--mind and matter. Sri

Roger Penrose, Professor of Mathematics at the University of oxford,

revealed that which prompted him to write the book The Emperor's New

Mind was the reaction against people making rather outrageous

statements about the capacities of computers assuming all we were

doing with our minds was computation. The emergence of the new

science calls for a deeper comprehension of the nature of mind. In

this context, the following observation of Sir Roger Penrose in the

Interview assumes much significance: " Whatever that future

science is--and we can pint to the direction it may take --it will

have quite a different character from the science of today. What we

have today cannot come to terms with what mentality is."

In the evolution of this new science,

the critical research of the ancient knowledge which gives much

emphasis to the ancient knowledge which gives much emphasis to

consciousness is likely to contribute a great deal for a better

understanding about ourselves and the universe. If the teaching of

astrology and allied subjects is conducted with a research

orientation, it may indeed prove to be an advantageous 'leap

backwards' for humanity.

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