Vedanta Philosophy & Modern Science : A Comparative Study
Prof. Ananda M Ghosh. Kolkata, India.
From The Big Bang to Mindful Human Beings -- A Journey ❂
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Nature with space + time + sub-atomic & atomic Matters were created first out of that Big Bang explosion < occured about 13 billion years before> Big Bang was triggered by the Omnipresent Consciousness ( Bosonic God Particles ) Much later, Life appeared on this Earth when Natural environment became life- supportive Life, which just started as an animal, got elevated ultimately upto a Conscious creative Mindful Man Personal Creativity /Cogition levels vary in persons due to improper use of built-in consciousness A. M. Ghosh
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How Human Mind can discover Truth ? ❂
Genetically coded Human Potentialities can be manifested by education / meditation + filtering out pure thoughts from impure Ones
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Enriched Mind can discover truth either in the form of Science or in the form of Philosophy, such as, Vedanta [ collection of Wisdom of Indian Sages ]
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Science Vs. Vedanta Philosophy ❂
Science takes Bottom-up approach • Starts with Physical Objects and ends with Quanta and Uncertainty of Measurements
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Vedanta takes Top-down approach • Starts with the Ultimate Truth as Bramha and ends with total surrender to One Global Super - Consciousness [say - God ] – Vedanta Demands :: Complete Purification of the Observer’s Mind and Selfless Love for ALL A. M. Ghosh
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Logical Inferencing Vs. Truth Realization ❂ Intelligence Can draw logical Inferences --
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but Consciousness is essentially required for the Realization of Absolute Truth For Verification & Confirmation ..... • Science believes in experimental verification before accepting anything as True • Vedanta believes in mental vision of ONE Bramha -- as the root of ALL Truths A. M. Ghosh
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FACT -- We Fail to note very often ❂
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Every human observer can be regarded as an ATOM of the Physical Universe, but every such conscious atom contains a mental universe of its own Physical Universe is Unique for ALL, but mental universe is different for each one Science deals mainly with the measurable Physical Universe and ignores the influence of individual Observer’s mental state(s) A. M. Ghosh
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Limitations of Observations ❂
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Human Observers detect external phenomena by 5 Sense organs and process those acquired signals in Neural-Networks for final interpretation, classification and Realization of the Truth {using Minds’ working memory + Stored Knowledge +
Manifested Intelligence and Consciousness } ------------------------------------------------------------• [ Remember :: 96% of the External Universe is Dark ; 4% is observable, so only measurable ] A. M. Ghosh
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Duality of Real Existence ❂
Physical Universe is only a Part of the Whole Real Existence
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Imperfect Human Observations ( manipulating only physical existence ) cannot reveal the complte Truth Apparent truth is taken as Maya in Vedanta : and as Probability in Science ..... Moreover .... Local / global or < particle /wave > existence Duality confirms -- physical objects are local projections of the complete global existence
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Science
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Philosophy
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Science
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Vedanta
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Observations (external) Axioms / Theories Experimental Verifications
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Observations (mental)
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Realization / Meditation Conscious contact with the Absolute ( like ClientServer communication ) Selfless LOVE for All + equal resource sharing
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Tangible Applications for welfare of mankind
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Reasoning
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Realization
Sci ence ------------------Knowledge driven
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Demands experimental Facilities
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Demands Mental Purification
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Cause- Effect forward Chaining
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Cause - Purpose backward Chaining
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only 4% is physically observable (so detectable )
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100% realizable as Vision in a Pure Mind
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Veda nta -------------------Realization driven
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Objective Vs. ❂ ❂ ❂
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Subjective
Objective Science -----------------------
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To find the most fundamental Particle / Energy of the Physical Universe only To apply that acquired knowledge for adding physical comforts to life
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Subjective Vedanta --------------------To find the Ultimate TRUTH that connects everything as a Whole To apply that Universal LOVE for balanced growth of anything & everybody on this Earth
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Mathematical Vs. Mental Models ❂ ❂ ❂
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Science ------------------------Mathematical Model based search Cause-Effect Logic Experimentally Verified Requiring Observer’s Intelligence ( Scientific Consciousness ) only
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Vedanta --------------------Real - Reflection -Realization based search
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Cause - Purpose Sync.
Mentally Realized ❂ Requiring fully Purified Mind ( Bramha A. M. Ghoshconsciousness ) only 12 ❂
Era of Modern Physics -- from
Quanta Concept to EPR experiment ❂
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1900 - Max Plank’s Radiation Quanta ( mentioned in Sankhya as Tanmatra ) 1905 - Einstein’s E = m * c^2 + particle property of light ( photon ) 1913 - Bohr’s Atomic Model ( Anu of Baiseshik ) 1925 - Schroedinger --> Wave equation ( chaitanya or consciousness in Vedic texts) 1927 - de Broglie --> wave properties of matter 1927/28 - Heisenberg --> Uncertainty Principle 1935 - EPR ( Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen ) experiment {that Ghosh 13 confirms Quantum ExistenceA.&M.non-local connectivity }
Swami Vivekananda’s Realization & its Scientific verification ❂
“ One atom in this universe cannot move without dragging the whole world along with it.” < expressed in 1897 > • Bell’s Theorem established mathematically the holistic universe concept in 1964 • Alan Aspect experimentally verified the theory in 1982 [ non-local connectivity of photons ] • { Thus a Monk’s Realization got ultimately Verified A. M. Ghosh 14 Scientifically after 85 years }
Hologram & Holographic Brain Functions [ a part can contain information of the whole ] ❂
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1947 - Dennis Gabor developed the Theory of Holography { that needs coherent [ i.e. pure ] light rays} 1960 - Bassov + Prokhorov + Towns Invented LASER ( as a source of pure coherent light rays ] 1960 - Karl Pribram - proposed holographic model of Human Brain ( human brain can be regarded as a hologram of the entire Universe )
1982 - Bohm - Pribram proposed Holographic Paradigm [ i.e. Everything is a holographic projection of ONE Universal consciousness ] A. M. Ghosh
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Physics of Post - Einstein Era ❂
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1958 - N. Bo hr [ non-material particles exist & micro-universe is observation/observer dependent ] 1964 - Joh n Bell [ local / non-local principle { l > c* t }] 1972 -1 982 - Da vid Bohm --> Subjective Universe { Wholeness and the Implicate order } + Holographic Universe { part contains the image of the Whole} 1982 - Al ai n A spect --> proved unbroken wholeness ( 2 photons from an atom always communicate even when moving in the opposite directions ) 1986 - Mi lo W olf f --> E = hf = mc^2 ( could theoretically
establish a connection between relativity and wave mechanics) --16 A. M. Ghosh [ particle as a Stable Standing Wave { SSW model } ]
Proposed Spherical Standing Wave ( SSW ) Model of an Atom Local effects
Non - Local effects Atom as a Spherical Standing Wave A. M. Ghosh
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Prof. Niels Bohr’s Comments (in 1958) -- A Turning Point in Science ❂
“… life cannot be defined as a system of material particles only.”
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“… the behaviour of microscopic physical systems cannot be described in a language independent of the means of observation .” A. M. Ghosh
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Quantum Properties of Biological Systems ❂
Prof. Bohr said : "...the existence of life itself should be considered, both as regards its definition and observation, as a basic postulate of biology, not susceptible of further analysis, in the same way as the existence of the quantum of action, together with the ultimate atomicity of matter, forms the elementary basis of quantum physics." [ 1958 ]
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{ Von Neumann ( his research during 1932- 1946) proposed a link between Consciousness & Quantum mechanics} A. M. Ghosh
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Need of a New Scientific Approach for Consciousness ❂
"...the impossibility in psychical ( i.e. Psychological ) experience to distinguish between the phenomena themselves and their conscious perception clearly demands a renunciation of a simple causal description on the models of classical physics, and the very way in which words like "thoughts" and "feelings" are used to describe such experience reminds one most suggestively of the complementarity encountered in atomic physics.” [ said Prof. N. Bohr in 1958 ] A. M. Ghosh
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Mindful Universe : Henry Stapp ❂
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1977- 1993 : Henry Stapp: “ things outside space & time affect things inside space & time” and Human Brain functions as a quantum system ( ref : Mindful Universe -2007 ] Effect of meditation on Monks of different faiths was observed by Dr. Hameroff ( in 1994 ) using fMRI -- local references to the meditators get lost & the realization of wholeness appears experienced by all Indian sages during dhyana practice ) A. M. Ghosh
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TRUTH Realization - a subjective or
an Objective phenomenon ? ❂ ❂ ❂
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Trained Scientists can discover Nature’s mysteries. Purified mind of a Sage can realize universal Truth. Quantum collapse takes place in observer’s Brain Cells [ i.e. Neurons ] to draw inferences
Question is -- human discovery or realization process should be treated as an objective or a subjective phenomenon ?
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{ out of many subjective possibilities just one objective actuality is picked up by human observer
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// Quantum measurement theory now confirms it } A. M. Ghosh
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Henry Stapp’s Interpretations ❂
Human consciousness and the physical world cannot be regarded as distinct, separate entities. What we call physical reality, the external world, is shaped - to some extent - by human thought.
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We are intimately associated not only with the earth we inhabit, but with the farthest reaches of the cosmos.
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If the statistical predictions of quantum theory are true, an objective universe is incompatible with the law of local causes. A. M. Ghosh
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Quantum Reality of micro -Cosmos ❂
quantum physicists now say that each particle of the universe contains all the information present in the entire cosmos
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the universe is constructed on the same principles as the hologram [ Bohm ] , and to read that hologram correctly, an observer should have totally Purified mind ( like Laser for Holography )
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The Interpreter human Brain works on the principle of probability collapse of Quantum Mechanics A. M. Ghosh
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Thoughts of Vedic Sages -- from Rituals to Bramha Consciousness ❂ ❂
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1: Rituals to please Nature’s Super-Power 2: Sankhya & Yoga - felt the need & invented methods of augmenting Mental capability of observers to discover/realize truth correctly 3: Nyaya & Baiseshik - discovered & applied Logic + argumentation to detect fundamental elements in all living + non-living 4: Vedanta ( Upanishads ) { Identified Bramha Consciousness as only REAL -- all else Relative } Idol Worshiping ( mainly meant for the beginners ) Ul timate GOAL :: to Unite with the UNIVERSAL Selfless Lover ( i.e. Brahma ) realizing OnenessA. in ALL M. Ghosh 25
M. Lockwood’s Observation (1989: Mind,
Brain & the Quantum ; Oxf. University Press ) ❂
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[1] Phenomenal -- what we experience & report about ( i.e. Qualities of things or Qualia ] and [2] Physical embodiment -- what induces & processes the sensations are two aspects ( or representations ) of the same real ‘staff ’ --- a relationship analogous to wave / particle complementarity A. M. Ghosh
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To explain the concept of Self < ahankar or I-ness > [ Chalmer’s Hard Problem ] ❂
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Scientists Tried to Explain Qualia on the basis of Neurological activities in Brain • NCC ( Neural Correlates of Consciousness ) Vedanta’s Vision -- REAL existence is Consciousness ( i.e. Bramha ) only Physicists now accept the existence of Quantum Mind ( QM ) -- > brain generating thoughts and feelings to raise fundamental questions & find answers A. M. Ghosh
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Modern Physics beliefs in -- Two Forms of Existence { Goswami Model } Objective Physical Existence ( Local or Maya Existence ) ❂ Subjective Quantum Existence ( Quantum Non-Local Existence) ❂
• I- ness Centric ( Jib-atma ) --> Neuro-Cognitive engine [ particle-centric ] • I- less Centric ( Param-atma) --> Consciousness-engine [global wave-centric ] A. M. Ghosh
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Prof. Amit Goswami’s Monistic Ontology
research on
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“ Consciousness is the ground of all being -- free will is only Real.”
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Downward causation approach ( cause-effect Chain ) -- remains confined to Physical Observations only Upward causation approach ( cause-purpose Chain ) -- needs pure & perfect Conscious Observation or Vision to reveal the Absolute Truth
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A. M. Ghosh
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3-Layer Architecture of Consciousness [3] Quantum Mind ( Global Selfless Mind or divinity ) ❂ [2] Access - Consciousness ( Acquired by Educated or otherwise Purified Mind ) ❂ [1] Phenomenal Consciousness ( SubConscious Selfish Mind [ or animality ] ❂
• [ Selfless Work or Sage like Meditation can make a man True Observer of the Real A. M. Ghosh 30 Universe ]
More on Consciousness ❂
Phenomenal [ P-] Consciousness ( as
acquired through the process of evolution ) ❂ ❂
Access [ A-] Consciousness ( acquired through Education / meditation ) Quantum Mind [QM] ( Connecting individual mind with the Universal Mind in a client Server mode ) --> { Atma communicating with the Paratm-atma } A. M. Ghosh
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Scientific Studies In Search of Consciousness Brain Neural - Networks ( NCC Models) ❂ Penrose & Hameroff’s -- Orch-OR Theory ❂ Amit Goswami’s -- Monistic Ontological approach ( 2005] < Science within ❂
Consciousness >
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Dr. Andrew Newberg’s Experiments on Meditating Monks -> [ ref book : Why God Won’t Go Away ]
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Two Descriptions of ( just ) one REAL existence Physical / Phenomenal ❂ Particle / Wave ❂ Objective / Subjective ❂ . . . Two describable sets of properties both hold concurrently { like orthogonal projections} ❂ . . . The act of observing is what causes the ❂
perception state vector to collapse into one of many possible existential states A. M. Ghosh
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Henry Stapp’s Views : How Mind can Interact
with Matter via Quantum Processes ❂ ❂
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Collapse events are occouring in neural-net Collapse of Brain states in the process of choosing between many possible alternatives Body - Mind is having Particle - Wave relationship Universe is not a fixed 4-dimensional structure but is constantly forging ahead into the future Free-Will could be seen as directly instrumental in the evolution of the Universe (Quantum Darwinism) A. M. Ghosh 34
David Bohm [ in 2005 ] ❂
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As Quantum theory & Relativity contradict one another, there is existence of a more fundamental level in the physical Universe Implicate order can explain both matter & consciousness [ explicate orders are mere projections of more fundamental Implicate order] Consciousness can be corelated to Karl Pribram’s (1991) Holographic conceptions A. M. Ghosh
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Roger Penrose :
The Emperor’s New Mind & Shadows of the Mind ❂
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Humans are Hyper- Computers ( brain can go beyond what can be demonstrated by mathematical axioms ) Quantum collapse to non-Real can take place as a result of Measurement imperfection or decoherence in brain waves Objective Reduction (OR) depends on neither Random
nor Computational activities in brain { it just selects information from space-time geometry when exceeding the limit of Plank-length } .... [ math-Logic consciousness] A. M. Ghosh
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Stuart Hameroff [1987 ] .. Discovery of Micro-tubles in Brain - Cells ❂
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Micro-tubules, which provides a supportive structure, can trigger Coherent quantum collapse during deep meditation/concentration Micro-tubules also support macroscopic quantum features like Bose Condensates {at neurons junctions} causing Orchestration
Thus ..... Orch - OR model came to exist an acceptable model for Mathematical Cognition A. M. Ghosh
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Quantum Mechanics or Fields cannot fully explain Quantum Mind ❂
Consciousness is related to quantum coherence ( effect of Yoga is thus proved )
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Orchestrated coherence, as assumed in Orch OR Model, explains Mathematical Cognition only De-coherence is shielded by the lattice geometry of Micro-tubles { helping Orchestration } Neither QM nor QF can explain fully colour, taste or smell sensing capabilities of living brain
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M. J. Donald’s Views [ reported in 2002] on Consciousness ❂ ❂
Brain Processes are fundamentally de-coherent Quantum events in brain depends on the mental structure of the Observer
❂ it is possible to suppose that the initial state of the universe was in a vacuum state – and all the remaining information which constructs our apparent individual reality is individually observed information . [ agrees with Vedanta’s Maya views ] A. M. Ghosh
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Western History of Consciousness Studies ❂ ❂ ❂
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Rene Descartes - about thought (1640) John Locke - about human understanding [1688] G.W Leibniz - about awareness / self-awareness & observations [ 1686-1720] Immnueal Kant - a richer structure of mental & intentional organization [1787] since then consciousness research remained as a neglected topic upto the end of 1970s A. M. Ghosh
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Different Aspects of Consciousness ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Sentience - capable of sensing + responding Wakefulness - not in sleep state Self- awareness Desire / Motivation Qualitative Consciousness [ Qualia ] Phenomenal Consciousness Access Consciousness Ontological [ Subjective ] Consciousness A. M. Ghosh
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Consciousness - A Constituent Feature of Reality Free Will or Freedom of Choice ❂ Intrinsic Motivation ❂ Realization [ Higher Order Thoughts ] ❂ ---------------------------------------------------❂
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Vedic sages considered Mind’s ego as a fundamental element of the Nature Vedanta takes that ego as an inperfect projection of the Almighty Bramha A. M. Ghosh
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Class -- Objects Relationship According to Vedanta ❂ Bramha or Consciousness is an Abstract Class from which ❂
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Nature is derived as a Physical Concrete Class and Mind is derived as another Mental-Property Concrete Class Out of these two Concrete Classes all Matters and Minds are evolving in this ever Expanding Universe A. M. Ghosh
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To Conclude ... Science deals mainly with the Nature ❂ Vedanta takes Bramha (consciousness) as the root of all causes ❂ Human beings act as a Bridge between these two forms of existence ❂ only Coherent (i.e. pure) Mind can see these two extremes to meet together as Bliss Absolute ❂
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The End ❂ Thank
You.
Namaste !!
• Comments & suggestions from the viewers are requested by the author.
A. M. Ghosh
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