The Philosophy of the Vedanta- A Modern Scientific Perspective (An Old and Rare Book)

About the Book This book is an attempt to look for a possible framework within which the subjective science of philosophy can be developed in the spirit of modern science and also independently of the existing philosophies of the world. It also suggests one more direction for the advancement of the philosophical thinking in the context of modern 'scientific terms. All throughout in writing this book, the Vedanta philosophy has been in the background.

The book consists of nine chapters.After emphasizing the need for a discipline like subjective science for the purposes of having (i) a better understanding not only of the overlapping region between philosophy and science but also of behavioral sciences, (ii) an explanation of several exotic phenomena. for which the objective sciences have no explanation whatsoever, and (iii) a common framework for the unified description of religion and science,, in Chapter 1, a survey of the existing knowledge concerning the human being and Nature is made, in Chapter 2 A discussion of life, matter and their interconnection is also presented here in scientific terms. Using the essences of life as ingredients, we propose a philosophic, atom- type model (henceforth called "atomic" model) for the human being in Chapter 3.

In fact, this chapter forms the basis for the discussions in all subsequent chapters. In Chapter 4,the author propose to discuss the interaction of a physical (= material) particle with the human being within the framework of the atomic model. The interaction of the human being with panca mahabhutas is also discussed here in great detail.

As a continuation of these ideas, the role of consciousness in scientific observations in the context of physical and biological sciences is highlighted in Chapter 5. With a view to understanding the interaction among the human being, in Chapter 6, the author introduces the concept of existence of three forms of a human being namely gross- ,micro- and causal- forms in accordance with the sthul, sukhsma, and karan sariras of Hindu philosophy. In Chapter 7, the author further look for a common framework in terms of the atomic model to understand the degree of reality as described by science (objective reality) and realized in a religion (subjective reality) through various models.

Foreword Since the days of Cartesian Partition, the professional development of modern science which took its firm roots in the eighteenth century, had all along been made on the basis of a conscious distinction between the Physique' (objective reality) and the 'Psyche' (subjective perception). In this duality scenario, the role of God, if any, was supposed to be confined only to the latter, while the former was strictly mechanistic and fully determinate in terms of certain natural laws operating in the Contingency plane [1] of Theory vs. Experiment. This over confidence in the techniques of science was considerably boosted by the startling successes of Newtonian mechanics as well as the allied disciplines of optics and thermodynamics which seemed to leave nothing indeterminate. All this was despite the fact that the founders themselves (Kepler and Newton) had not quite got over the hidden role of God in the formulation of their respective theories. Kepler had been aware of an "implicate order" underlying his mechanistic image of the universe, while Newton had indirectly acknowledged the existence of a similar dimension through the Fifth Rule in his Principia [1] which seemed to transcend the Contingency plane [2].

Preface This book is an attempt to look for a possible framework within which the subjective science of philosophy can be developed in the spirit of modern science and also independently of the existing philosophies of the world. It would further suggest one more direction for the advancement of the philosophical thinking in the context of modern "scientific" terms. I do not think that the claims made out of this framework of atomic model (see Chaps. 9-7) are fully explored in this book. Some of them still require rethinking, elucidation and possible further applications. As far as the utility of this book is concerned, besides general readers, philosophers, scientists the book may be useful to specialized psychologists and social scientists. The book has its own unique character. The ideas are presented in their most absolute terms; out of which a lot of information on behavioral sciences can be extracted.

I would have never dared to involve myself in such a tedious task of writing the book, but for the circumstances which have forced me to present the great ideas of great saints, though in my own humble style. In fact, I had opportunities to associate with and listen to these saints over a long period of my life. I am grateful to all these saints’ discourses and associations could make me think only this way.

**Contents and Sample Pages**