Genetics

October 5, 2002

-

" Sunil " <sudhakar_sunil

Friday, October 04, 2002 04:32

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Story......... of the Ego

> I wonder what the king of death would have done if the guy had used

cloning

> technology to make several images. Any thoughts?

>

> [sri Ramakrishna] Story......... of the Ego

> >

> > Story of the Ego

> >

> > Once there lived a man who was an excellent image maker.

> > He decided to use his skills to escape from the jaws of death.

> > He made innumerable images of himself - the images were a

> > perfect match of his own being. He kept them all in a row and

> > hid amongst them. He had hoped to make a fool of the king of

> > death when he came to take him away. " The king of death will not

> > be able to pick him out of all these perfect images " , he thought.

> >

> > On the due day the king of death arrived to take the man away.

> > He looked at all the images and could not pick out the man

> > amongst them. He looked thoughtfully at all the images and then

> > exclaimed, " Ah, I see one flaw here " . As soon as he uttered these

> > words - the man stepped out of the line and asked, " Where is the flaw? "

> >

> > " You, stepping out of the line, is the flaw " , said the king of death

> > smiling. Your 'ego' is your flaw and that is how you are caught : )

> >

> > In fact the only culprit the king of death is seeking is not our real

self

> > but our ego. It is our 'ego' that undergoes death and transmigration

> > - not the Self.

> >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~response~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With recent advances in genetics interesting questions arise:

If you clone a person do you duplicate his 'soul' ?

Hindu teachings will suggest 'no'. The fact that we can have perfect twins

does not mean they have the same inner structure of the mind.

This is well known in the study of twins. (though they have lots of

similar traits - they are by no means identical in the mental realm).

The Hindu idea would be that they share a lot hence they have the

same appearance but nothing more. The 'jivatmas' or the souls

are distinct.

Serious questions can be asked about the morality of

using stem cells from embryos for research or creating

tissues and other organs which may save human lives.

The list members may share their opinions on this issue.

jay

October 6, 2002

> Serious questions can be asked about the morality of

> using stem cells from embryos for research or

> creating

> tissues and other organs which may save human lives.

> The list members may share their opinions on this

> issue.

>

> jay

Dear Jay,

Cloning and other forms of human cell research is an

attempt by modern science to conquer death. The purely

materialistic will always react in this way as he

considers the body and his material environment to be

the be all and end all of his life.

I don't think we can stop the process of cloning from

ultimately happening. Scientists have always done what

they have preferred to. There was a lot of debate on

test tube babies but society has more than accepted it

now.

But we must always keep in mind that the long term

effects of these areas of research cannot be properly

prophesied. Even if we do not create monsters various

new forms of genetic disorders are bound to crop up.

Even as science progresses freedom from old age and

disease deludes us. Our lives are getting more

complicated and painful. This is because we have lost

touch with nature and yes, God.

I recently read about a hospital run by a bhakti

vedanta trust in Mumbai. A spiritual atmosphere is

maintained in the hospital by performing regular

worship and bhajans. Patients have spoken of their

happy experiences in the hospital. I feel this is a

right step towards proper management of diseases.

Alternative therapies such as homoeopathy clearly

demonstrate a link between the mind and body. The

disease (dis-ease) begins in the mind. Hahneman speaks

of this mental condition as " psora " which can be

translated as " the evil mind " . The affected mind

disturbs the body and harmful toxins are produced by

the negative emotions. The body seeks to throw out the

toxins through the skin which manifests as an itch. It

is when this itch is suppressed that chronic diseases

catch hold of the body and mind.

I feel we should reflect on such alternative

explanations of disease to understand our present

plight and seek to remedy it.

Regards

Jagannath

Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More

http://faith.

October 7, 2002

-

Jagannath Chatterjee

Ramakrishna

Sunday, October 06, 2002 3:49 AM

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Genetics

Dear Jay,Cloning and other forms of human cell research is anattempt by modern science to conquer death. The purelymaterialistic will always react in this way as heconsiders the body and his material environment to bethe be all and end all of his life.

Response: To conquer nature has always been mans attempt be it through religion or thru science. All serious religious or scientific experiments have begun with this attempt to become free of death or to conquer nature.

I don't think we can stop the process of cloning fromultimately happening. Scientists have always done whatthey have preferred to. There was a lot of debate ontest tube babies but society has more than accepted itnow.

Response: I agree with this. Man has always been tinkering with toys...be it nuclear bombs, stem cells or whatever else. Such things will continue and we will continue to learn our collective lessons. This is just a part of our growing up.

But we must always keep in mind that the long termeffects of these areas of research cannot be properlyprophesied. Even if we do not create monsters variousnew forms of genetic disorders are bound to crop up. Even as science progresses freedom from old age anddisease deludes us. Our lives are getting morecomplicated and painful. This is because we have losttouch with nature and yes, God.

Response: Our lives are indeed getting more complicated. This has been happening since the Ancient. Recall the story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge and experiencing shame and being sent down to earth to live because of disregarding "Gods" injunction....This is just the same theory (in a fairy tale setting)of man complicating his life by his powers of mind and knowledge. There is no way but onwards. We have to use our minds and the powers of reasoning to get beyond the mind.

I recently read about a hospital run by a bhaktivedanta trust in Mumbai. A spiritual atmosphere ismaintained in the hospital by performing regularworship and bhajans. Patients have spoken of theirhappy experiences in the hospital. I feel this is aright step towards proper management of diseases.

Response: This is a purely personal thing regarding the ambience. I would prefer a quieter environment to suffer my pain and to have my medicine.Alternative therapies such as homoeopathy clearlydemonstrate a link between the mind and body. Thedisease (dis-ease) begins in the mind. Hahneman speaksof this mental condition as "psora" which can betranslated as "the evil mind". The affected minddisturbs the body and harmful toxins are produced bythe negative emotions. The body seeks to throw out thetoxins through the skin which manifests as an itch. Itis when this itch is suppressed that chronic diseasescatch hold of the body and mind.

Response: There is definitely a link between the mind and the body....why do we call it a link? Our beloved ones sometimes say that the mind is but matter in a more rarified form or vice-versa.

I feel we should reflect on such alternativeexplanations of disease to understand our presentplight and seek to remedy it.

Response: The remedies to external phenomena are very insignificant. The little that we can do is with our own way of thinking.Sunil