In the previous episode we stopped at ‘stages of samadhi with awareness’ and showed how all the steps of Yoga till that point can be completely explained in terms of neuroscience. That means, all that can be scientifically verified.
But beyond that point, when one gets into the ‘stages of samadhi without awareness’, we have to leave behind science since our brain has no direct role in those stages.
Does that mean that there is something even beyond brain? That is what I am going to discuss in this episode.
I recently watched an interesting video. It was centered around a conversation between a well-known Guru and a highly reputed scientist. It was a typical tussle between western way of thinking, and its eastern counterpart. One of them harps on science being the ultimate yardstick, and the other relies on one’s personal experience and deep-rooted belief in mysticism.
The crux of the debate was whether there is anything beyond the brain? Can everything be explained in terms of brain phenomena? Are we ready to answer all questions about our mental faculty in the light of our current neuroscientific knowledge? Or should we resort to totally intuitive and ‘experiential knowledge’ which does not beg for the approval from science?
Ironically, the scientist seemed to be totally ignorant about eastern thought processes revolving around the mind and belief systems. On the other hand, the Guru seemed to be totally uninformed about modern advances in neuroscience. Nor was he prepared to accept science as the ultimate tiebreaker.
Neither of them was prepared to budge from their strongly held views. A strange and probably meaningless conversation indeed.
The scientist was quite careful in the choice of his words. He was trying to project an unbiased image which is far beyond questioning. But there were many glaring biases.
He was convinced that there is nothing beyond the brain and everything about the mind can be explained in the light of our current understanding of the brain. He believes in nothing outside of body and mind or the perceptible physical world. In fact, according to him, the mind itself is nothing but the ‘brain in action’ – a typical stand taken by many modern neuroscientists.
He does not believe in any soul which is beyond the body. So obviously, he believes neither in afterlife, nor in existence beyond physical body. He believes that the theory of biological evolution explains everything about the way the world exists and there is no mystery left. He accuses religious people of unnecessarily spreading false knowledge to promote their selfish interests.
With due respect to this great scientist, I am inclined to differ with him.
Firstly, I am reminded that equally renowned scientists like Professor Stevenson from University of Virginia, have almost convincingly proven that not everything about human behavior and traits can be explained in terms of brain phenomena.
Dr. Stevenson has also undertaken thousands of case studies based on which he claims that rebirth is definitely a possibility. Though Stevenson is uncommitted about the existence of the soul, all the same he presents many cases that seem to prove rebirth as a possibility beyond doubt. If re-birth is a possibility, then our current scientific belief that there is nothing beyond body and mind becomes null and void, irrespective of the existence of soul or otherwise. That renders science itself limited in its scope.
As I myself have argued in one of my recent episodes, theory of evolution does not explain everything though it explains most parts of our existence. There is still lot of mystery left, and I am fully with this Guru on that count. I am amazed how a scientist of reputation is unaware of these things! Or is he so biased?
On the other hand, the Guru banks heavily on his personal experience and the endorsement by millions of his followers. On both these counts, the Guru fails to sound credible.
Personal experience, however honest the narrator is, can be misleading. Most of the time, what the experiencer thinks he has experienced, may not match with facts. I myself have explained this possibility quite elaborately, with real life examples, in my book “Mysterious experiences – A peek beyond the confines of the Mind”.
So, subjective experiences cannot be taken as proof. Science demands objectivity, repeatability, verifiability. None of these things are possible in subjective experiences.
As far as endorsement of followers is concerned, however big a fan following a Guru has, it still falls short as an acceptable and credible evidence. The simple truth is that most people, however educated and intelligent they are, are susceptible to be misled. In fact, as I myself have argued in one of my blog posts, the more educated you are, the more vulnerable you are to be misled!
So, neither personal experience nor fan following can be an acceptable argument for the kind of things propounded by such Gurus.
If at least this Guru puts forth some well accepted ancient scripture in support of whatever he believes, there was some hope. But unfortunately, many of the statements made by this Guru fall short of any scriptural backing. He himself has no qualms in accepting his scriptural ignorance.
But going by the loud and continuous applause from the audience for every statement this Guru makes, he seems to convince most people. Unfortunately, we judge someone based on how confident he sounds while making those statements and not on the logical correctness of those statements. That is where the danger lies.
I have always tried to take a middle path. As far as it can answer my questions convincingly, I am for science. Not because there is anything sacrosanct about science, but because that is a safe way to move forward. But when it comes to questions for which science has no answers, I don’t hesitate looking for them in ancient scriptures. Especially, when it comes to mind and related ideas, I believe ancient Indian scriptures have lot to offer. But to alleviate the fear of misuse by selfish people, like the fear harbored by the professor in this debate, I would put some caveats to prevent such occurrences.
I have discussed in great detail in my book “Important missing dimensions in our current understanding of the mind” about what should be the attitude of anyone while accepting any ancient scripture. Merely rejecting them as old and misinformed, only shows lack of awareness about them.
At the same time, inventing hyperbole which are neither rooted in science nor supported by any scripture, nor based on logic, only discredits the Guru in the long run. Harping on personal experience or the endorsement of followers is not very convincing.
In the next episode, I will discuss some of the ancient Indian thoughts about the mind, which form the basis of Patanjali’s Yoga.
© Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2024
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