Friday, September 10, 2021

Polar difference between Vivekananda’s idea and Kendra’s

Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHAS), Vol. 3, No.2, May 2018 93 PHILOSOPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA AND SRI AUROBINDO A CRITICAL ANALYSIS S. Lalitha Asst Prof. of English, Meenakshi College of Engineering, Chennai ABSTRACT 
Sri Aurobindo, was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule, for a while became one of its influential leaders and then turned into a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution. 
Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendranath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata. His father,Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion, strong character and other qualities. A precocious boy, Narendra excelled in music, gymnastics and studies. By the time he graduated from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history. These, then the Shâstras, the Guru, and the Mother¬land are the three notes that mingle themselves to form the music of the works of Vivekananda .The present paper brings out the critical analysis of the philosophies of the two great spiritual philosophers and writers in a comparative style. 

[PDF] Vivekananda and Vivekananda Kendra; A Critical Appraisal

CS Hota, S Panda - International Journal of Recent Advances …, 2021 - journals.resaim.com
7 days ago - Swami Vivekananda, a prominent figure of 19th century India has not only
being represented or misrepresented through his ideas and persona but he is being used as
an institutional assert. There are numerous institutions, both private and public, has been …
Often the question arises what is the need to have Vivekananda Kendra to fulfill the unfulfilled vision of Vivekananda as we know Ramakrishna math and mission was enough to carry the vision of Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda ideal. Unlike Vivekananda Kendra, Ramakrishna math gives and overall evaluation of Vivekananda starting from philosophy, literature, nation, religion and Indian situation. This input open up the boundary of discussion. Of course it is often accused or not beings critical to Vivekananda philosophy. This hagiographic account really helps us to provide a base for further discussions. Surprisingly Ramakrishna mission also takes up seva, service and sangathan. In 1889 Vivekananda himself serve the plague victims and that trend still goes on. So for a common man it reminds us as a pertinent questions that, why Kendra in spite of the presence of Ramakrishna math? Somewhere other when we proceed further we see polar difference between Vivekananda’s idea and Kendra’s idea. Whereas Vivekananda talked about a composite plural Indian society, Kendra lays its stress upon the idea of Hindu nation. Vivekananda did not believe seva, puja or sanghatan to confront with some other institutions or some other faith. The church of Kanyakumari and Kendra’s confrontation is already pointed out. Of course, Vivekananda did not want that glorious Bharat born out or confrontation with other faith of religion. He was a man for tolerance, openness, nonsectarian and a true Hindu.

Savitri Era
@SavitriEra
Rainbow & the Other: Bipin Chandra Pal articulated with greater eloquence the idea of Swaraj rainbowther.blogspot.com/2021/09/bipin- Part II of the edition on “Gandhi and Swaraj” opens with Ramachandra Pradhan’s succinct explanation of how Gandhi’s theory of swaraj was fundamental lanation of how Gandhi’s theory of swaraj was fundamental to his thinking that carried part of a religious tradition that traces back to classical Indian scriptures. Then the idea is revived by the moderates and extremists. Pradhan correctly mentions the key figures in this development, giving Aurobindo his due by expressing the spiritual, not merely political, dimensions of the concept. B C Pal is mentioned but not given credit for his brilliant, extraordinary Madras speeches that clearly state as early as 1907: “The movement for Swaraj is not a mere economic movement [but] essentially a spiritual movement….” Pal thus articulated with greater eloquence the idea of swaraj than any of the other nationalist leaders (Pal 1907: 26–28, 72–73, 85–86). Therefore, it is not the case, as Pradhan claims, that “of all the Extremist leaders, Aurobindo alone could visualise swaraj in the form of absolute political independence” (p 72). Yet, Pradhan is correct that Gandhi conceived this core concept within a rich intellectual context of thought that was rightly termed by Aurobindo the “Indian renaissance.” Ghosh (1951: 39–40) and most recently, Nalini Bhushanand Jay Garfi eld (2017). The latter regrettably fails to mention B C Pal.

surprising that some ‘I know more than everyone‘ type devotees of d Mother claim that we shouldn’t believe in our Gods once we’re on d path of #SriAurobindo ! It was a different matter that Lord Ganesh too couldn’t fulfill all d demands of TM !!
https://twitter.com/Sanjays81301051/status/1436229685180993559?s=20

5th Asian Yoga Therapy Conference Topic: Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo Date: 21st September 2021 Time: 10:00 am to 11:00am SGT Register for the conference below! https://asianyogatherapy.com/conference-5.php… #AYTA2021 #asianyogatherapy #yogatherapy https://twitter.com/Ajay_Anadi/status/1436229716575359022/video/1

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Savitri Era
@SavitriEra
Savitri Era Religious Fraternity: Inseparability of aesthetics and spiritual experience serfrat.blogspot.com/2021/09/insepa Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
@NathTusar
Director, SELF-2005, Savitri Era Religion (2006), and Savitri Era Party (2007) Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.
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Monday, August 30, 2021

A guiding myth and an integral weltanschauung

Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra (b. 1956)

Perhaps it is not correct to say that there is no coalescing myth or worldview that provides a focus for life today. But, if there is, it is a narrow one organized around materialistic science, technology, consumerism and the profit motive, somewhat modified by humanistic concerns. Moreover, as the industrial age gives way to the information age and the modern mind gives way to post-modernism, a centerless, open-ended relativistic world without reference to any authority is growing, where even this focus is being increasingly subjected to narcissistic individualism and the will to power.

This comes along with the quantification of life, social isolation, mass-mindedness and alienation from the instincts and the power of symbols. It also encourages compartmentalization in both individual life and the life of the culture, where the left hand doesn't know or even care what the right hand is doing.

Increasingly, people find life meaningless and without purpose, while defending themselves in all manner of ways, whether it be through mindless consumerism, obsessive involvement with new technology, or through excessive use of alcohol and drugs, whether legal or illicit. Add to this a popular culture of movies, music, television programs, video games, and possibilities on the internet that generally appeal to the lowest common denominator, while often celebrating destructive tendencies and shadow qualities, and the situation looks anything but hopeful.

The chaos of the present post-modern condition is giving birth to a deep-seated yearning for direction and purpose, integrated around a spiritual center and wholeness. There is a cry for a guiding myth and an integral weltanschauung that is in harmony with the most contemporary view of reality, and that does not repress life but fulfills it in all its multifacetedness. -David Johnston

Dr S Murali - Review of Disorienting Dharma
It is as though the narrative is pushing the reader/listener away to a safe distance that affords a wider vision of the human situation. The disconcerting relationship between dharma and suffering isfore-grounded in the intimate aesthetic experience that the sahrdaya undergoes during the ill-fated moment of the dice game, the disrobing of Draupadi and the disastrous consequences thereon to all the characters. Everything that happens leads to the war. As Hudson points out the blind King Dhrtharashtra sees with insight but does not act with it. The purpose of the tale as it unfolds terror and fear in constant succession in the minds of the reader/listener is definitely cathartic. Time itself figures as a character definitive in the scheme of things. Paul Ricoeur in his Time and Narrative had drawn a distinction between tales of time and tales about time.

The Mahabharata is both a tale of time and a tale about time. For at the heart of this tale is its ethical project of refiguring our understanding of suffering. Emily Hudson’s Disorienting Dharma is in line with other Euro-American scholarly pursuits into Indian ethical and religious ideas like those of Max Weber, Paul Wilmot, David Shulman, Wendy Doniger, O’Flaherty, and James Fitzgerald. What is generally outstanding is her sensitivity to issues that are culturally and geographically alien to her, and her willingness to take on a text that is absolutely reluctant to provide any straightforward answers to life’s riddles. It is seldom that one comes across genuine scholarship these days like what Emily T. Hudson has exhibited in these pages. Her concern for the larger questions of human life through probing the profounder strands of the narrative textures and her unrelenting commitment to inquire into what each character and each specific situation in the text means at any given time and also to refigure it in the overall order of things, is quite clearly evidenced in her erudite critical reading.

A TALK IN HINDI (AUDIO)
In the beginning of sadhana, it is better to avoid TV or newspaper etc. These things create a bombarding of the senses which creates hurdles in the free flow of the divine energy.

TEXT IN ENGLISH
When one does not know what one is really looking for and the seeking is still vague, it may be best to start with the Letters on Yoga, The Mother and Sri Aurobindo on Himself.

When one looks at the immensity of Sri Aurobindo’s Works it can be both appalling and enthralling. It is appalling when we look at the sheer volume of it all, written in the best of English with a style and substance that we are not often used to. The modern man flooded with information available at a push-button, his life busy with the trivia and the insignificant, his motives often all too ordinary and utilitarian is not accustomed to serious uplifting thoughts that can transport him to realms of Light and Delight as if carried by magical waves. He would rather content himself with the mixed shades of earthly life, he has pacticed with the greyness and the dull round of terrestrial things to even aspire for the heights too sublime and lofty for his vision and effort. Even when men turn towards spiritual things they seek some kind of a fast food, easy to do, quick to achieve technique. It does not matter whether the fast-food will eventually cause more harm and that the quick results are a deception and a diversion, a marketing strategy to buy souls in the arena of the world. It is sad but true that cults and sects, religions and ideologies have become a game of numbers and thrive on the number of their adherents, regardless of whether people truly follow and live by the doctrines or not. Their proponents often expand the net by propagating simple, easy to do techniques or furthering a philosophy at once puerile and too simplistic to accommodate, let alone synthesise even the sheer facts that stare at us. Yet this is not a final verdict on our humanity. Our souls are bound to wake up one day and make a sincere effort to break free from the chains of ignorance that bind us, our minds are bound to expand their horizons, our thoughts cannot rest at halfway homes forever partitioning the world in two clear cabins of this-worldly and other-worldly, our hearts are bound to seek a love and a light greater than anything that has even manifested so far, our ever-dissatisfied life cannot find its ultimate satisfaction in the blank port of nirvana. It is bound to, rather destined to go further, beyond moksha and salvation and nirvana to build a new earth and a new city and a new body that would reflect truly the image of God.

It is when this happens when we are not satisfied anymore by all the traditional explanations of life, whether scientific or spiritual, religious or ideological, that we are best ready to turn towards Sri Aurobindo. In fact when that happens, when the seeking in us has begun to soar beyond the horizons we see then the book we need to read, the word we need to hear, the person we need to meet will by itself come into our life carrying the message from the One whom we are secretly seeking. Yes, these books are at best messages from the Divine, or from the Future, if we like, inviting us to the greatest adventure we have ever known. They are at once an invitation and a companion that accompanies us through the journey we are asked to embark upon. The words are vehicles of Light that illumine the night burdened path of man. They carry within them the ambrosia that gives us new life, the love that heals, the strength that helps us through the journey. Therefore they are best read with a mind or an inner state of seeking. Paradoxical though it may seem, but the philosopher who is all too full and satisfied playing with the ideas is often found wanting in a true understanding of Sri Aurobindo. He picks up a pearl from here and there and strings it with other gems or even glaring and glittering imitations making a terrible hodgepodge, a messy academic porridge that has all the ingredients, even those that are not needed but all in strange proportions making it an inedible dish to any serious and sincere seekers. Well, this method of compare and contrast may apply in academic circles but that is hardly the best way to approach Sri Aurobindo’s works that are synthetic by their very nature and contain within them the whole universe and much more. What is needed is the heart of the seeker and a mind that is ready and open to new ideas. For even when Sri Aurobindo writes about the well-known Scriptures he gives them such a new profundity and depth that the average person with fixated opinions and views based on doctrinal and dogmatic understanding may find it something difficult to understand. But the difficulty is not outside in the writing but in the reader himself who knowingly or unknowingly wants Sri Aurobindo to conform to his ideas or echo his thoughts and sentiments. When he does not find this happen then he often gives up the effort, little realizing that the very purpose of his writings is to open new horizons hitherto closed to thought and understanding. A fundamental humility is always required for any Knowledge and when it is a knowledge that is as vast as the universe then the need for humility is indeed indispensable. One may wonder what this statement means when it is said that Sri Aurobindo’s writings contain the universe in them. Well, it means what it says. His writings do touch upon each and every aspect of creation, not only as we perceive it now but also what it was at the beginning and what yet it shall become in the future. But not only do we have this vast cosmology but most importantly our place and role in it.

It is this vastness and catholicity that in the end misses nothing from the smallest grain of sand to the most complex of all creatures called man, not only the world of men but the gods, the titans and everything else is there placed in their proper place and function that constitutes the metaphysics of Sri Aurobindo’s all-encompassing Thought. If all this is too appalling to our mind busy with our own little life then there is also the luminous finger touching upon each and every aspect of our life, often in surprising details as if our ‘heavenly father’ held our fingers to teach us how to walk, how to eat, how to sleep, how to read, and every other conceivable and inconceivable aspect of human life. Finally, we have the core of the teachings that relates to the actual practice of yoga in all its shades and details, with every possible experience, even giving his own example and the Mother’s to show us that there is nothing impractical about what he is saying. It is perhaps the first time that the Divine has given His message in such an elaborate way, directly through the agency of the Word released by him and not through any transmitted document noted by memory or inspiration. And all this in a language that is modern, using images with which we can relate and connect to, taking into consideration all the new developments that have taken place through science and polity over the millenniums. Now all that is needed for us is to read, reflect, meditate and make a sincere effort to live. Ultimately true understanding comes only when we try to live a teaching. The path becomes clear as we actually walk the way.

JLONSRI AUROBINDO'SSAVITRI
Sri Aurobindo was a master yogi and visionary and wrote brilliantly in various areas of culture. He considered himself to be primarily a poet by vocation. His poetry found its apotheosis in the epic poem Savitri, a work in excess of 23,000 lines.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Restless movement

 


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Higher Concepts in Cosmology: Hawking, Hegel and Vedanta

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bvijnanamuni

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9 Jul 2021, 14:37:56
to Online Sadhu Sanga

Dear Friends,

Namaste. The questions about the origin of Universe have become a major scientific and cosmological problem today. Recently David James Stewart wrote a book, ‘Truly Infinite Universe’ and made some particularly useful observations and inferences. Some of these conclusions are in line with Vedantic concept of Universe. In this letter we highlight some of these considerations.

Physics is leading towards a Pre-Ontological Multiplicity

Stewart coins a term, ‘Pre-Ontological Multiplicity’ a generic term for the notion of a dynamic and primordial diversity. It is an attempt to name what scientists and philosophers sometimes think is a primordial and nameless unknowable reality, prior to the existence of a fully constituted determined reality. They argue that there must be a chaotic, pre-ontological, virtual fluctuation of a not yet fully constituted real universe. [2]

In cosmology, the flatness problem makes us understand that spacetime is not smooth. Every deviation from flatness can arise only because of some prior deviation from smoothness. This raises the question about how to account for the initial deviation from symmetry.

In cosmology (Physics) negativity (idea of negation, defined in Hegel’s Science of Logic) of the real universe takes the form of a seething quantum vacuum. But here the notion of primordial symmetry is shown to be problematic. This primordial and fundamental disturbance is the very essence of the notion of pre-ontological multiplicity. It is the categorical opposite of the notion of primordial symmetry and therefore absolute nothingness.

This raises an epistemological need for treating this primordial reality within a dialectical system and search for higher levels of the idea of reality through the concept of sublation applied on the negative moments. What Hegel has systematically deduced in his system Science of Logic finds similarity in the findings of modern cosmology and that is reflected in some of the observations in the Hartle-Hawking idea of the universe.  

Hartle-Hawking Idea of the Universe

The Hartle-Hawking idea is based upon the uncertainty principle and its application to the cosmological problem. Hawking has argued that there is an impossibility of a uniform and empty space due to the implications of the uncertainty principle. Hegel has also rejected the idea that space can be treated as a box possessing a being-in-itself independently of its otherness. Einstein also considered space as a four-dimensional field – there is no space without a field. For Hegel space is Nature’s self-externality. For Hegel material objects develop out of space but it is not by a random process that they enter space from without.  In Physics, the only thing that happens to space is asymmetry and matter is nothing but the curvature of space itself. Hawking concludes that universe must have begun from a minimal possible non-uniformity. This is of-course equivalent to saying that there is an impossibility of any primordial symmetry. The state of Hartle-Hawking universe is a perpetually disturbed universe. [3]

Hegel’s Universe

We may begin in Physics with an idea of something like a primordial state, which is akin to some quantum vacuum fluctuation. But Hegel said Absolute is the infinitely self-related negativity. Modern quantum cosmological theory gives an indirect support to the notion of phenomenology written by Hegel. For Hegel, the universe cannot be apprehended merely by the senses. Hegel says, “God exists in proper truth only in thought and as thought”. [4] Hegel makes a distinction between so called infinity and the true infinity. The idea of finite is related with not only with the question “what it is”, but also “what it is not”. Therefore, it is only in the notion of Spirit (Geist) or Absolute that one finds the true unity of concept and reality. For Hegel both the finite reality as well as Absolute are characterized by restless movement. But the finite is a mere moment in the movement of the Absolute.

Logical Challenges

That universe is fundamentally dynamic can be deduced from even the existence of matter itself. Atoms, molecules etc. are all in perpetual movement of a certain kind. For there to be stars and galaxies, universe in its early stages could not be in a state of perfect uniformity or homogeneity. To counter this idea, one would have to establish how the existence of stars etc. is not indicative of heterogeneity. If one wants to impose an idea of absolute homogeneity and uniformity to the primordial beginning of universe from space, one will have to posit metaphysically an external reality which imposes this transformation upon the primordial reality from the state of homogeneity to non-homogeneity leading to a contradiction and therefore reveals an incomplete ontology in modern cosmology.

The Vedantic Concept

Srila Bhakti Rakshaka Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja writes, “There are so many statements on the cosmology of the universe in the scriptures. The Aryans, the spiritually developed men of former times, used to see everything as consciousness. They saw that the shadow is also conscious. The shadow, abhasa, is also considered to be a stage of consciousness. Only through that shadowy stage of consciousness can we come to the material conception of a thing… The soul approaches matter, the material world, but before that, he must pass through a shadowy stage of consciousness called chidabhasa.  Consciousness passes through the shadow level of consciousness into matter, non-consciousness. And that shadow stage of consciousness has its personality.” [5]

Conclusion

To solve the problem of Cosmology it is necessary to study the contribution of consciousness in the development of matter. The Vedantic cosmology is essentially based on idea of the movement of the variegated spiritual energy. We need to study the concepts of true infinity, self-determination, Logic, identity and variegatedness from a more wholistic concept to deal with modern problems in cosmological account of reality. Hegel from a Western Philosophical tradition and Vedanta give proper systematic methods to deal with these problems for the benefit of the intelligent and the reasonable section of mankind.

References

[1] Stewart, D. J., The Truly Infinite Universe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK.
[2] ibid., 1., pp.176.
[3] ibid., 1., pp.176 - 179.
[4] Hegel, G.W.F., Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1830) Part One, Preliminary Notion Logic derived from a survey of the whole system, (19n, (2)).
[5] Srila Sridhar Maharaja, B.R., Subjective Evolution of Consciousness, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwipa, India, pp. 22-24.


Humbly, your friend,
Bhakti Vijnana Muni, PhD

https://groups.google.com/g/Online_Sadhu_Sanga/c/4jiqktiwgeQ
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Wednesday, June 09, 2021

Are the Hindus a community, a nation, or a civilisation?

The day people like @Kal_Chiron @Hiranyareta @entropied @Spirit_Hindutva @bennedose sit together and thrash out issues bogging down Hindutva and those relating to life in India in general, there can be tremendous progress in this direction. Right now young scholars are confused.
Churning is still on is what I feel. Political victory was the means and not the end of the Cause. So the basic point - what is this Cause? Is it a continuum of history in a desired direction or does it have a specific, tangible, final goal? Or is it a mix of both phenomena?

Add to this various vested interests. Both domestic and international. How do we as Hindu Nationalists, perceive them vis our Cause? How do we learn from them and their tactics? How to deal with them?

Who are the friends of our Cause? Domestic and International. Who are real friends and who are enemies of our enemies? What is our view wrt International events and developments that can have an impact on our own Cause?

Are the Hindus a community or a nation/civilization? Is this our land or some shared space? Do we have a mind that will keep us owners of this land irrespective of our population? Or not? Because it isn't merely the numbers but the mind that wins.

What is the role of diaspora Hindus? How should they perceive this Cause? What is their role in their host countries? Should they be Woke or loyal to their host countries? Should they be aggrieved minorities or enabling minorities?

How should Hindus think about intra Hindu quarrels of all types? Should it lead to separation or should it lead to respectful discussion and coexistence within the umbrella of the Cause?

How should Hindus think about politics? Should we develop a political consciousness or remain free wheeling? Are there parties that are friendly or are there parties we can cultivate to protect our interests? Are there parties that are declared enemies?

Should Hindus think about personal/social safety since the Cause is also about ensuring personal/social safety? Or is it to be left to an impersonal State? Or is it a mix of both? How should we actually proceed on this?

How important is the family to our Cause? Is it really very important? Important enough to spend some time to mould? Should the flowering of the Cause start from the family? Or the individual? Can the Cause sustain itself in an individualist environment?

Should middle class Hindus start to think more about self employment? Or continue with being job seekers? Which model provides us more autonomy and which binds us to alien, harmful ideologies? Which gives us more time with our families and which takes away crucial years?

How about habits that can support the Cause? Reading? With shortened attention spans and problems remaining, how should Hindus popularise books and other media? How should we perceive what we read? Is a discipline around this required or not?

Any Cause, in my view, is either supported by mass commitment or the mass supports a few good men. The latter moves toward the former. Where are we on this scale? How should we move from one to the other? How to use all the tools at our disposal?

What is the Cause? We all feel it. We all have some words for it. Can we further sharpen it? It will help us if we can. That's the well spring.

Further reading:
Sri Aurobindo toiled for the larger issues of nationhood and human destiny @auroviryavaan
https://t.co/oWqfcAexqm
#SriAurobindo
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Saturday, January 23, 2021

Sri Aurobindo gives history a spiritual twist

Pragmatism, Spirituality and Society

AK Giri - Springer
3 days ago -  … Page 5. For Arvind Sharma, Peter Heehsand Paul Schwartzentruber who have helped us in finding new relationships between pragmatism and spirituality and cultivate creative pathways of consciousness, freedom and solidarity. Page 6 … Novel Ways of Being Religious
F Wilfred - Religious Identities and the Global South, 2021 - Springer
18 days ago -  … 3 (2008): 658–670. 47. Sven Erlandson, Spiritual but Not Religious: A Call to Religious Revolution in America (Bloomington: Iuniverse, 2000). 48. See PeterHeehs, Spirituality without God. A Global History of Thought and Practice (London: Bloomsbury, 2018). 49 … Related articles [PDF] fupress.net

[PDF] What can we learn from philosophical manuscripts and archives?

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35 days ago -  … Archives” from a variety of perspectives, authored by Fabrizio Desideri, Marina Monta- nelli, Thomas Clément Mercier, Francesco Vitale, Daniela Helbig, Emanuele Caminada, Jean Khalfa, Ondřej Švec, Alois Pichler, Arianna Sforzini, Rich- ard Hartz and PeterHeehs … Related articles [PDF] fupress.net

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35 days ago - Philosophical texts regarded as «inspired» present special difficulties for textual editors and intellectual historians that can be mitigated by the study of archival documents. The works of the philosopher and yogī Aurobindo Ghose are considered … Related articles Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism
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Saturday, November 21, 2020

Scientists cannot produce even a grain of rice

[Sadhu Sanga] New Book" Idols of the Mind vs True Reality, by Bhakti Madhava Puri, Ph.D.

Idols of the Mind vs True Reality, by Bhakti Madhava Puri, Ph.D.

"One must therefore go back 300 years and reflect on how one could have proceeded differently at that time, and how the whole subsequent development would then be modified." - Schroedinger

The theme of the new book, "Idols of the Mind vs True Reality" by Bhakti Madhava Puri, Ph.D. is concerned with the clear exposition of the pivotal conceptions and misconceptions of Galileo's and others' ideas that produced the subsequent development of what would become modern mathematized science.

The confusions and almost complete ignorance that exist today regarding something so fundamental as consciousness is immediately cleared up when the obvious errors are seen in the ad hoc presumptions of the original founders of modern science who were blindsided by the metaphysical ontologies that held sway during their lives, but to which we no longer adhere, thanks to the development of philosophy beyond that period. We trace this progress out in a concise way in the book.

The modern mind, thanks to science education, is focused on the one-sided empirical approach to knowledge by sensuous perception, but this fails to account for the role of subjective cognition or conception - the role of consciousness in such perceptions. This artificial separation of the original unity-in-difference between conception and content has been rendered impossible to broach because of the historical metaphysical tradition of dualism firmly held by the fathers of modern science such as Galileo and Descartes.

The presumed impossible gap between subject and object is bridged once we realize that the object is what the subject knows it to be. This does not reduce the object to the subject as the abstract idealists (monists) naively are only too hasty to presume as an immediate identity (oneness). Mediation is involved; there are both difference and identity at play. It is merely lazy un-thinking that ignores the intricate dynamic in the mediating activity that is the heart and life of consciousness. The main purpose of the book is to restore the central importance of the conceptual moment that is integral to science and which makes it truly worthy of the name Science or scientific knowledge. 

Google Groups "Sadhu-Sanga Under the holy association of Spd. B.M. Puri Maharaja, Ph.D." group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Online_Sadhu_Sanga/1133390763.405791.1594563986079%40mail.yahoo.com

“The scientists would say ‘everything is made from some electrons.’ The smallest atom is hydrogen and that is made of an electron [and a proton and neutron] but that doesn’t produce consciousness or life. We are not just moving electrons – electricity. Produce all the electricity you want but you cannot produce life. The scientists cannot produce even a grain of rice. We could not live if we were depending on the scientists. Life is the most important principle, not matter, but where is it coming from?”

— Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D.
(Serving Director, Princeton Bhakti Vedanta Institute)

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