[Advaita-l] Advaita vEdAnta - Unit (9)

[Amuthan]

namo nArAyaNAya!

dear shrI kRShNamUrti rAmakRShNa,

On 1/26/07, Krishnamurthy Ramakrishna <puttakrishna_at_verizon.net> wrote:
> The scientist is contradicting himself when he says that an inert body needs
> an external force to change its state of rest or of uniform motion and at
> the same time saying that the inert atoms move by its own.

in the first place, classical newtonian physics is not valid at the
atomic scale, which is why the entire subject of quantum mechanics
came into existence. two, there is no self-contradiction as you have
put it. fundamentally, science seeks to understand how phenomena
occur, but it cannot explain why they occur the way they occur. and it
is totally against the spirit of scientific enquiry to posit a
supernatural cause for observed phenomena. science is more at home
with explanations based on observed laws even if they don't explain
everything than with unprovable assertions that are comforting and
'explain' everything.

many of the arguments you have given are well known in scientific
circles as the 'watchmaker' argument, the theory of intelligent design
etc.  the issue is not as simple as we may fancy. to get the
contemporary scientific perspective on this issue, see for instance
richard dawkins' 'The Blind Watchmaker' or any of his other books
which attempt at a rational scientific criticism of the theory of
intelligent design.

vedAnta has authority only on issues related to brahman and dharma.
when it comes to the nature of the world, science is more
authoritative. as you have rightly said at the end of your mail, the
simplest way to voice the opinion of vedAnta is that there is a
sentient cause for the world and that this is known *only* from
shruti. there is no possibility of establishing this by any rational
means since rationality presupposes scientific knowledge and since
science does not accept the existence of any sentient entity different
from the aggregate of matter and energy.

and let's not forget that vedAnta ultimately holds only ajAtivAda as the truth.

vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmRtaH.