Both
Judeo-Christian religion and Islam clash with science almost to the point
of impasse that no further attempts to bring science and religion together
seem possible. When deeper probing of religion is done with a desire to
explain some phenomena with current science, religion and science diverge
in a way that there is no hope of reconciliation. Many scientists find
orthodox and stubborn religious beliefs stumbling blocks that hinder
scientific progress and thinking.
In the
West, generally, anyone who questions the authority of religion is branded
as a heretic. Similarly, any theory not substantiated by the traditional
scientific methods is not well received. When it comes to the esoteric and
mystic phenomena alluded to in the spiritual literature, modern science
had its difficulties in accepting them. We find science and religion at
odds with each other in the western world. In Hinduism, the authority of
Vedas itself can be questioned without being relegated as a lunatic or
heretic. The more recent religions like Islam and Christianity do not
subscribe to the scientific thinking of matter, energy and genes. A
theosophical discussion with a scientific basis is almost pointless and
surely an exercise in futility.
What happens to a soul after it leaves the mortal body? A simple
explanation would be to say that there is no soul and the body is a mere
organism that lives for a prescribed period of time and then perishes.
That is the end and there is no more. This view leaves no room for any
other speculation and thought process. If one is of this rigid belief,
read no further. However, if one agrees with all religions of the world
that claim that the soul is eternal and is released from the body after
death, then one can examine the different theories proposed by the
different religions about the afterlife. The mind has to be receptive to
alternative theories if a hypothesis is to be entertained. A closed mind
is a dead end street! For a scientist it is not easy to accept something
as abstract as afterlife and a soul. It is easy to say that these do not
exist and leave it at that.
Western religions propose that the departing soul goes through a trial
during Judgment Day. God then decides the fate of the soul depending on
the account of sin verses good deeds that the person accumulated during
his lifetime. Then the soul is sent either to heaven to enjoy the fruits
of a decent life or condemned to eternal hell and damnation forever. Is
there any possibility that this theory can be proven in the future? Is
there a place called paradise with a lush garden with flowing steams and
fruit trees? Is there a dungeon called hell, where torture and mayhem are
practiced? Are these places in another dimension in the cosmos, not seen
by humans during their lifetimes but a soul can reach? There are no
answers to these questions and there cannot be any hope for an answer. One
simply accepts it or not. Science has a serious problem with the theory.
If God is benevolent why did He create humans with enormous disadvantages
right from the time of their births? Why a disabled child? What sin did
the child commit? When did the newborn child commit a sin as to be born
with disability? Despite the proverb, all men are not created equal, are
they? Can anything other than karma explain it?
Perception
of science has changed over many centuries. Humans during the medieval
times could not have believed in their wildest imaginations that the
modern scientific progress would be possible. Electricity, telephones,
gasoline driven engines, television and air travel must have seemed like
fantasy and fiction, even a century ago. The presence and the function of
genes and DNA were not even known until the middle of the 20th century.
What appears far-fetched today may be taken for granted and become
commonplace years from now.
The mechanism of assimilation of memory in the brain is still not
understood by science. Neurotransmission was not a word in the scientific
lexicon only a few decades ago. Now we know that all actions and reactions
are as a result of a chemical process in the body. We also know that
genetic code in the genes are chemical imprints that can be transferred to
the next generation through the tiniest of cells in the sperm and ovum.
True, the soul is not an organ like the brain or the heart. There is no
recognizable cell (not yet, anyway) that makes up the soul. But could the
existence of soul as some form of energy with its own chemical codes, be
proven some day in the future?
Eastern religions seem to be more attuned to science. The laws of karma
and rebirth are easier to accept scientifically, if one has an open mind.
If soul is considered as a form of energy, it cannot be destroyed when the
body ceases to function. Energy is neither created nor destroyed but only
transformed. One form of energy changes to another. Karma helps to imprint
a code on the soul, similar to the genetic code on the genes. A good deed
can be viewed as a positive charge and a crime or a bad deed as a negative
charge. Compassion, love, non-violence, truth, forgiveness are extolled in
Bhagavad-Gita as divine characteristics that will accumulate good karma
(positive charges). Lust, anger, greed, arrogance, pride and hypocrisy are
negative characteristics. With different emotions different areas of the
brain are stimulated through chemical reactions. Could this also happen to
the soul? Could emotions as a result of good or bad deeds imprint
permanent chemical codes on the soul?
When the body dies and the soul (energy) is released, it carries the
acquired chemical code with it. As the unseen soul rises upwards, the
number of positive or negative charges that are on its map determines its
future course. A soul heavy with negative charge (bad karma) drifts down
to the earth to be recycled (and reborn). The soul full of positive charge
(good karma) ascends into the cosmos to be eternally released. Is this
nirvana or moksha?
Hindu sages, at the dawn of civilization, thought of this remarkable
possibility of rebirth of the soul and explained it in the Upanishads. A
soul (jiva-atman) is a piece of God (parama-atman). Every religion says
that God created man in his own image. Soul is immortal and it gathers the
consequences of it s actions (karma) and wears it like a shroud around it
when released. There is no escaping the effects of karma for the soul. The
karma that is accumulated (as an imprint) stays with the soul forever
through many cycles of births (recycling of energy).
In
Chandogya Upanishad there is a story of a student wanting to understand
the origin of life. He asked the sage to help him understand it. The wise
sage asked the student to pick a fig from a large tree and open it. He
then asked him to break open one of the seeds. When asked what the student
saw inside the seed the student answered, “Nothing, sir, it is empty!”
Then the sage asked his student the question, “How is that a huge fig tree
could have grown from nothing?” The energy that is responsible for
procreation is beyond perception, minute and infinitesimal. Just like the
emptiness inside the seed, the parama-atman is imperceptible but yet so
powerful as to be responsible for the creation of the whole universe.
In Eastern philosophy there is no heaven or hell as envisioned in
Christianity or Islam. These are present on earth and a soul depending on
its karma from the past (its acquired code) as well as the current life
undergoes changes that affect the body that carries it. These very changes
can be construed as heaven or hell by the individual body. But the soul
always tries to better its chances of improving. The Eastern philosophy
believes that all souls are inherently good. There is no day of judgment;
there are no trips to heaven or a place called hell. There is no God
sitting on his throne like the patriarch dispensing justice and
punishment. Every soul is responsible for its own actions and will face
the consequences of its actions. Eastern religion and science can proceed
side-by-side without dispute or clashing with each other. Even an
atheistic religion like Buddhism holds this belief of rebirth because the
intervention of God is not necessary for such a progression of the soul
after its release.
Is the Eastern religious belief of reincarnation more scientifically
feasible? Can the soul carry the ‘memory’ of its deeds with it when
released from the body just like the brain carries the memory of our
experiences and learning? These are profound questions but may one day be
scientifically proven and accepted. The chances of such proof are more
likely with the Hindu theory of rebirth and recycling of energy rather
than the Western conjecture of presence of heaven or hell in an unseen
world. Which of these two theories is more plausible?
I realize that there are more questions in this article than answers. A
scientist has to keep an open mind and accept the possibility of karma and
reincarnation that may be proven someday beyond doubt. Then life on earth
will appear to be more transitory and spiritual.
Someday it may even be possible for the soul of a skeptical scientist to
orbit into the empyrean, carrying his karma with him, looking for a
suitable body to be born into!
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Science
of Reincarnation
Both
Judeo-Christian religion and Islam clash with science almost to the point
of impasse that no further attempts to bring science and religion together
seem possible. When deeper probing of religion is done with a desire to
explain some phenomena with current science, religion and science diverge
in a way that there is no hope of reconciliation. Many scientists find
orthodox and stubborn religious beliefs stumbling blocks that hinder
scientific progress and thinking. 