Enlightenment in the West was predicated on the idea that the questions of the soul and God cannot be answered through reason, and therefore, we must stop asking such questions. Vedānta arrived at a different conclusion 500 years ago in the Acintyabhedābheda philosophy of Sri Chaitanya: the questions of the soul and God cannot be answered through reason, and therefore, we must answer them through devotion. The rejection of the ultimate questions, or the rejection of their rational understanding, are both unsatisfactory, and this commentary on Vedānta Sutra arises out of that dissatisfaction. It traces the problem to the nature of language: words have multiple meanings, but they cannot be applied simultaneously. Each type of meaning is instead revealed in a different context. The problem of irrationality is the contradiction between language and logic: linguistic truth is contextual, and logical truth is universal. To solve this problem, we need a modal conception of reality in which everything exists as a combination of three modes (called by various names in Vedic philosophy), but one of these modes is dominant at one time, place, or circumstance, while the others are subordinated. Logic is the change in mode priorities, and contradictory claims can be true, although not simultaneously. Thus, God, matter, and soul are three modes, called puruṣa, prakriti, and jīvā, and the world is created by their combination, but they cannot be known simultaneously. The soul is known when matter is subordinated, and God is known when the soul is subordinated. Knowledge is complete if three modes are used, consistent if they are not used simultaneously, and rational if logic is the process of mode change. This view of reality reconciles all previous Vedānta positions as different modes of description; hence Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaita, and Bhedābheda are true, but not simultaneously. Simultaneity leads to achintya or inconceivability, but non-simultaneity leads to chintya or conceivability. Note: This book is also available as a standalone single-volume book called "Conceiving the Inconceivable
The idea that the universe was created by God often meets hostile opposition from proponents of rationality and science because unlike science that creates empirical laws, religious theories seem to make no verifiable predictions. But in Vedic Creationism, author Ashish K. Dalela shows that a personal theistic account of creation given in the Vedas has radical implications for the study of matter and questions of creation, including new verifiable predictions based upon a different conception of reality. An expansive examination of the meaning of the universe by comparing and contrasting varying philosophical vantages, Vedic Creationism covers the journey from Vedic notions on God's personality and conscious mind to the implication these ideas have for the origins of life and the attainment of quantum gravity. Dalela relates the ideas in Vedic philosophy with the current state of affairs in modern science including the mind-body problem, the unification of quantum and relativity theories, and the question of evolution and origins of life. Presenting new, forward-looking ideas, Vedic Creationism will help put the age-old wisdom of Vedas in a modern light and open new areas of dialogue.
Nyāya is one of the Six Systems of Vedic philosophy, and Nyāya Sūtra is the oldest and most authoritative text on this philosophy. This book translates and comments on this ancient text. Nyāya presents an alternative system of logic and reasoning in which reality exists as a potential, and it manifests an answer based on a question. This question is called "absence" and the answer is called "presence". We are all combinations of some presence and absence-i.e., some answers and questions. Our interactions with the world are thus described just like conversations between two people. Happiness is created when the answers match the questions and the questions match the answers. Unhappiness is produced when the questions and answers are mismatched. This match or mismatch is based on the meanings in the question and answer; hence all reality must be studied as a text. It is just like sentences comprised of words and letters, not physical matter, force, or deterministic laws. The sequence of questions and answers is not deterministic because each question can be answered in different ways, and each answer can lead to different questions. Therefore, this scheme of logic is not contrary to free will. Free will in this description of logic is the ability to ask a different question based on a given answer, or the ability to provide a different answer to a given question. By exercising this choice of changing our questions and answers, the soul can alter its trajectory in the world.
Yoga is one of the Six Systems of Vedic philosophy, and Yoga Sūtra is the oldest and most authoritative text on this philosophy. This book translates and comments on this ancient text. The text begins by describing how conscious experience begins in the Chitta, which is the repository of our past experiences, accumulated over many lifetimes. From this historical record of past experiences, thoughts and desires are produced automatically, which the soul falsely considers as its creations, and thus becomes a slave to its past. The purpose of Yoga is to destroy this historical record and liberate the soul from the bondage of its past. To achieve this goal, the Yoga Sūtra presents an eight-step process comprising Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāñayāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhārana, Dhyāna, and Samādhī. The steps of meditation called Dhārana and Dhyāna are stated to be the surrender to the form of the Lord called Paramātma in the heart. This surrender-called īśvara prānidhāna-is the perfection of Yoga. All previous steps are presented as the means to help the practitioner of Yoga meditate unflinchingly. The text presents eight-fold mystical perfections called Siddhis, gained by a Yogi who has mastered the control of Prāña. This book discusses the details of these mystical perfections and how they rest upon an alternative understanding of matter. They enable a Yogi to become light or heavy, small or big, walk on fire, water, or air, travel to distant places in a moment, or change his or her body instantly.
Sāñkhya is one of the Six Systems of Vedic philosophy, and Sāñkhya Sūtra is the oldest and most authoritative text on this philosophy. This book translates and comments on this ancient text. Sāñkhya describes a process of material manifestation in which the world springs from a primordial idea called pradhāna which means "I am the master". From this idea, many desires for enjoyment called prakṛti are created. From these notions of enjoyment, qualities of greatness called mahattattva are produced. And from the qualities of greatness, many types of egos-entitlement and pride-are created. From these entitlements, beliefs about the world that will prove that the self is the enjoyer are produced. From these beliefs object-concepts, from the object-concepts sense perceptions, and from the sense perceptions the objects that embody these sense perceptions, are produced. This inverted process that begins in the idea of mastery illustrates how the soul enters the world due to its desire for mastery. As this idea is false, the soul's efforts to realize mastery are constantly wrecked by nature. Since the foundation of material existence is a false idea, but the wrecking is real, hence, nature is said to be both real and false. Nature is however stated to not be evil, although suffering is real, because nature has a purpose to make the soul realize that the Supreme Lord is the true master. If the soul accepts the Lord as the true master and renounces its desire for mastery, then it is liberated.
Why did I choose to name this collection "Western Questions, Eastern Answers"? Philosophy and science in the West have largely been practiced with the aim to understand the present world. A number of theories have been propounded, none of which are free of problems. Philosophy and science in the East (specifically the Vedic tradition) has always been practiced with the aim to transcend the world. Vedic texts provide many theories, but always in answer to a transcendental question. On one hand, therefore, we have questions that haven't found good answers. On the other, there are very good answers that haven't been connected to the burning questions of mankind today.Combining them makes a lot of sense from both sides, although I believe this type of approach to a 'synthesis' of religion and science hasn't been attempted before. Clearly, to repeat the same answer but in response to a different question, and the answer to still make a lot of sense, we must understand not just the questions and answers, but also the other answers that were earlier given for the same question, and how the new answer is better. That is not just a demand on the author; it is an equally difficult demand on the reader as well. But that's the price to be paid if there is indeed a long history of incorrect answers which have to be rejected before a correct answer would be accepted. After all, we might still do the right thing, if only as the option of last resort.My aim is to provide the answers that were previously given in response to radically different questions, but now in response to the questions that currently remain unanswered. Many people have tried to marry the intellectual and ideological views of East and West, sometimes with hilarious and disastrous results. This attempt is therefore not without considerable risks, although the effort is worth the trouble.
The idea that the universe was created by God often meets hostile opposition from proponents of rationality and science because unlike science that creates empirical laws, religious theories seem to make no verifiable predictions. But in Vedic Creationism, author Ashish K. Dalela shows that a personal theistic account of creation given in the Vedas has radical implications for the study of matter and questions of creation, including new verifiable predictions based upon a different conception of reality. An expansive examination of the meaning of the universe by comparing and contrasting varying philosophical vantages, Vedic Creationism covers the journey from Vedic notions on God's personality and conscious mind to the implication these ideas have for the origins of life and the attainment of quantum gravity. Dalela relates the ideas in Vedic philosophy with the current state of affairs in modern science including the mind-body problem, the unification of quantum and relativity theories, and the question of evolution and origins of life. Presenting new, forward-looking ideas, Vedic Creationism will help put the age-old wisdom of Vedas in a modern light and open new areas of dialogue.
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