Sri Aurobindo has experimentally verified and logically described the process of creation in The Life Divine

Anand Narayanan

Science posits that the original creative principle in the universe is a physical energy of nature moving without intelligence, design or purpose yet somehow constituting out of itself an ordered system of physical forces, elements and forms of matter. This original cosmic indeterminate gives rise to a number of general determinates--elemental properties, physical laws and principles of action. How does this cosmic indeterminate give rise to the general and specific determinates that govern the nature and development of the universe?

Basing itself on the primary reality of matter, science traces the emergence and evolution of inanimate life forms from inanimate substance. Chemistry and biology seek to explain the creation of life as a fortuitous and spontaneous product of physical circumstances. The logic and statistical probability of this explanation calls for a leap of faith by the thinking mind similar to that demanded by religion in a previous age. Yet even if science is able to reproduce the creation of life in a laboratory, the achievement would only prove that animate life has manifested in inanimate matter. It would not prove that these chemicals are the primary constituents of life. ..

It is possible to conceive of other systems of knowledge that adhere to the principles of science--which we have earlier identified as the experimental method, rational thought processes, predictability and repetition--as strictly as modern science, yet without being limited exclusively to the physical assumption. The ancient systems of Indian yoga fit this description. Through long experimentation they developed, tested and verified methods that can be repeated to obtain predictable results with a high degree of precision. Only the methods employed and results produced were not primarily physical ones. The Indian seer Sri Aurobindo has experimentally verified and logically described in The Life Divine not only the essential view of reality discovered by the ancients but also the process of creation by which that reality manifests as matter, life and mind.

Suppose purely as an experiment and working hypothesis that we suspend and invert our normal view of life and physical nature. Instead of viewing unconscious (or inconscient) matter or energy as the basic reality and originating principle of all that has emerged during the evolution on earth and subconscious life and conscious mind as only derived accidental products of this original unconsciousness, we postulate a Conscious Force as the original principle of which matter is the final stage of a process of involution that precedes and supports the evolutionary emergence of life and mental consciousness from matter.

Based on this postulate, the unresolved questions of physics and biology lend themselves to rational explanation. Since the original principle is an intelligent determinate capable of design and purpose, it is but natural that it gives rise to general determinates that define the properties of matter and laws of physical energy. Since a conscious force that is involved within matter, self-absorbed and concealed below the surface, it is not surprising that science should reveal matter as form of energy or that it should give rise to animate, subconscious life forms, conscious animals and self-conscious humanity. Then the evolution of biological forms can be understood as an outer expression of an underlying and self-propelling process of evolving consciousness.

One incidental but important implication of this view is that if the individual scientist--as a manifestation of this evolving conscious force in humanity--fully understands this creative process of nature, he can utilize it consciously to control the nature and type of scientific discoveries.

Conclusion: We are arguing, not for an abandonment of science or embrace of mysticism, but for a broadening of the scope of enquiry to permit examination and experimentation with other principles and methods. The criteria for evaluation should be the ability of these alternative perspectives to shed light on the processes of nature which are as yet still incompletely understood and to generate fresh discoveries in fields where science is encountering limits to its powers of creation. If a new perspective can generate these pragmatic results, it will surely warrant serious consideration by the entire scientific community.

One further criterion may be introduced that is not essential but promises to be highly beneficial. The historical preoccupation of science with discovery by a process of physical trial and error is the primary reason why scientific discoveries often generate unpredictable and dangerous effects that could not be foreseen and cannot easily be controlled. We believe that the adoption of a new approach based on a wider perspective can produce more balanced and harmonious discoveries that do not suffer from these negative side-effects. Posted by Anand at 2:58 AM Human Brain- The Secret of you and me.