By Roshan Shah, New Age Islam
22 June 2018
Man & Nature: Scientific &
Vedantic Perspectives
Author: T.D. Singh (Bhaktisvarupa
Damodara Swami)
Publisher: Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata
ISBN: 81-89635-18-2
The relationship between science and
religion is something about which much has been written, by ‘experts’ and ‘lay’
people alike. This book on the subject has the particular advantage of having
been authored by a man who was both a scientist and a spiritual seeker. The
late TP Singh (1937-2006), also known as Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami, received
his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California and served as
Director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute in Kolkata, a centre for promoting
studies about the relationship between science and Vedanta. A prolific writer,
Singh, who was also active in the field of interfaith dialogue, was widely
known for his efforts to promote the interface between science and religion for
a deeper understanding of life and the universe.
Singh notes that human beings have always
been interested in nature. He cites a range of different definitions of nature
over the centuries, showing that the traditional view of nature was dominated
by the understanding that nature is a product of God and that one should
respect it. Here’s a sample of the quotes Singh provides in this regard:
“Nature and revelation are like God’s
books; each are plain practical lessons for every-day duty” (American
theologian Tyron Edwards)
“Nature is the living, visible garment
of God” (German poet and philosopher Goethe)
“Nature is but a name for an effect whose
cause is God” (English poet William Cowper)
But with the advent of the ‘Scientific
Revolution’ in the West from the 16th century onwards, Singh explains, the
conception of nature changed significantly for many. As a result, science
(especially in the West) practically replaced religion as the preeminent
intellectual authority to understand nature. Human reason and empirical
observation assumed the place of theological doctrine as the principal means
for comprehending nature. This had major consequences for how human beings
related to nature.
The ‘scientific materialism’ that now
dictated how many people came to view nature contended that the scientific
process was the only reliable means for knowing things and also that physical
matter was the fundamental reality of nature. It claimed that science could
provide man mastery over nature, which would bring him immense benefits. This
represented a major change in the understanding of knowledge—knowledge as
power.
Science, Singh admits, has done great
service in various fields. But there’s also a very negative side to its story,
he shows: the misuse of science and technological products that is overlooked
by ‘the overenthusiastic scientific mind’, including in the form of nuclear
weapons, ecological imbalance, environmental pollution, uncontrolled
deforestation and what Singh rightly calls ‘unguided scientific madness’—so
much so that, Singh says, man’s very existence on Earth is in danger now.
However, the crisis that scientific
materialism has generated has led to a welcome rethinking in scientific circles
about the very nature of science itself. Singh writes that major postulates of
earlier scientific conceptions have been questioned. Today, he says, science
has become increasingly self-aware and self-critical and more conscious of its
limitations. New perspectives urge rethinking about man’s relation to nature,
driven by a growing recognition that modern science’s mechanistic concept of
nature was not only limited but also fundamentally flawed. There is now
increasing interest in studying mind and consciousness as fundamental elements
of nature. New developments in the scientific community, Singh says, have been
strengthened and often stimulated by the re-emergence of interest in various
mystical and spiritual conceptions of nature.
In a chapter titled “Return to Ancient
Thought”, Singh refers to growing recognition in intellectual circles of the
need to add to the modern epistemological equation other factors such as will,
faith, morality, hope, intuition, forgiveness and other non-mechanistic
elements of nature, elements which have to be derived from spiritual
experiences. Science is waking up to the reality of and the need for
spirituality.
Today, Singh says, conflict between
religion and science is increasingly narrowing down. One reflection of this are
the several institutions across the
globe that seek to promote interface between science and religion. It is
increasingly being felt that science alone is unable to understand nature, and
hence the need to include religious or spiritual principles. This reflects
nothing less than a paradigm shift.
Singh here highlights the significance of
what he refers to as the “Vedantic Paradigm”, in which knowledge has two
elements. The first of these is Para Vidya (higher knowledge). The other is Apara
Vidya (lower or ordinary knowledge)—in other words, spiritual and material
knowledge respectively. God is the source of these two forms of knowledge and
man should acquire both. This paradigm can be of considerable benefit in the
study of nature. It recognizes that nature has two aspects: material (composed
of non-conscious entities or matter), and spiritual (composed of conscious
entities or living beings). In this paradigm, God or the Supreme Being is the
Cause of all causes. Nature is one of God’s energies and is working under God’s
direction. Bringing in the God-dimension makes the study of nature through this
paradigm distinct from dominant Western paradigms that are silent on the
spiritual aspects of reality.
This little book is big on information and
insights, pointing to what Singh asserts are the need for science and religion
or spirituality to join hands in the study of nature. Much of what Singh says
may easily resonate with people from diverse spiritual and religious
backgrounds, who may find his insights useful in their reflections on the
relationship between faith and science.
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/books-and-documents/roshan-shah,-new-age-islam/need-for-science-and-religion-to-join-hands-in-the-study-of-nature/d/115610
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