M ATERIAL M IND & A NTIMATERIAL C ONSCIOUSNESS

P HILOSOPHY T ERM P APER

S UBMITTED B Y : RAHUL KOTHARI (Y6361) I NSTRUCTOR : DR. A.V. RAVISHANKAR SHARMA

TOPICSINSIDE PAGE 1. MOTIVATIONANDINTRODUCTION.......................................................2 2. ABITOFHISTORY.........................................................................2 3. DEFINITIONOFCONSCIOUSNESS........................................................5 4. FORMALFORMULATIONOFTHEPROBLEM..........................................6 5. SOLUTIONTOTHEPROBLEM?............................................................7 6. THEVEDICPERSPECTIVE.................................................................9 7. EPILOGUE......................................................................................10 8. NOTES...........................................................................................11 9. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.........................................................................11 10.REFERENCES.................................................................................12

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

1. M OTIVATION & I NTRODUCTION

hyisitthatmineandyourexperienceofsomethingthat(may)ariseoutofbrain which is objective (brain is objective as structure of our brain is same for everyonewhoeverobservesit);aresubjective?Thistantamounttosayingthathowisit that similar firing of millions of neurons inside brain can give rise to private & subjectiveexperiences. Inordinaryhumanexperiencesthereseemtobetwokindsofthingsthatdont seem to have any direct connection with each other. On one hand there are my personalexperiencesliketheexperiencesofpenwithwhichIwriteandkeyboardwith whichItypedandeverythingaroundme. Thisneedssomeexplanationastoalltheexperiencesareprivateinthesense thattheycantbesharedwithotherpersons.Forexampleitmaybepossiblethatmy experienceofrose(itssmell,softnessofpetals,paincausedbythornsetc.)andsome otherpersonsexperienceofroseisnotthesame,yetthereisnowayinwhichitcanbe verified.Sophilosophersusedtocallthemqualia,orindescribable. Apossibilitystillholdsthatitisjustthelanguageproblem.Butthisshouldbe acceptablebyeveryonethatthesequaliamayormaynotbethesameforeveryone,in contrasttotheobjectiveexperiences(likevolume,area,lengthetc.)whicharesamefor everyoneonceconsensusonthelength,timeetc.hasbeenmade.Onemayarguethat thequaliacanalsobedescribedbydegrees,forexampledegreeofsoftness,butinthis casealso,evenifoncetheconsensusismadeonadoptingthedegreesystem,everyone mayormaynotcomeupwiththesamedegree,butincaseofobjectiveexperienceit hastobethere. Somyjobistostatetheproblemofconsciousnessmoreformally.Illdistinguish betweenwhatmanyofthescientists,philosophersthinktobethesame,onthebasisof evidences that will lead us to think that mind and consciousness are actually two differentthings,thattheyaredifferentfrommatterandthatconsciousnessiseven superiortomind.IlltrytoseekthesolutioninthelightoffirstWesternPhilosophies, materialism, recent scientific theories like Quantum Mechanics; pose the problems thatthesetheoriesconfrontandthenfinallytrytoanswerthequestionswithinthe lightofEasternPhilosophiesthatincludesmainlyHinduism.

2. A B IT

OF

H ISTORY

heearliestaccountoffindinganswertotheaboveproblemisfoundin Srimad Bhagavatam (SB).SBisthesageVyasscommentaryontheVedantaSutrathat contains570aphorisms,has18,000verses(dividedinto12cantos).Thebookdescribes the teachings of Kapila Muni when he conversed with Devahuti (more than 5,000 yearsago!).Theseteachingsaremorepopularlyknownas SankhyaYoga inwestern world. According to him the unmanifest matter is mahattattva and from that the material world (universe/s) manifests. The three modes (goodness, passion and ignorance)comprisesthematerialnaturewhichintheirunmanifestedandmanifested statesarecalledpradhanaandprakrutirespectively.TimeintheformofGodagitates
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MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

the material nature which results in manifestations of prakruti. Thematerial ego1 springsupfromthe mahattattva, whichisevolvedfromtheGod'senergy.Itisfrom materialegothatthemind,,theorgansofaction2,thesensesofperception3andthe grosselements4evolve.Accordingtothissystemthedifferencebetweenalivinganda deadbodyistheabsenceofconsciousness,andalsothatconsciousnessiseternal,soit isnevercreated.ThusweseethatIndiansystemdistinguishesmind&consciousness. Systematic western account of this for the first time is found in Rene Descartes CartesianDualism,butthisdoesnotdemarcatesmindandconsciousness. A lot of medical research has been done in this field, notably some of the researcherswereNobelPrizewinnerslikePierre&MarieCurie,SirWilliamCrookes, LordRayleightonameafew.AccordingtoHenryP.Stapp(Aquantumphysicistatthe LawrenceBerkeleyLaboratory): Thecleavagebetweenthemindandmatterthatcausedthewesternsciencetoflourish formanyyears,nowseemstobecomeanimpedimentinitsfurthergrowth. I would now give an historical account of myriad of medical and scientific evidencesthatweredoneduringtwocenturies.Theexperimentscanbecategorized underthefollowingcategories: 1. Clairvoyance: Some extraordinary abilities were found in which subjects wereabletoseedistantthings(houses,paintingsetc.),couldreadpagesin closed books,aftertheywentintosomesortofmesmerization.JamesEsdaile(anEnglish physicianworkinginBengal)describessuchanexperimentinhisbook(Esdaile1852, pp.81)inwhichLordFrederickFitzclarencedidsomemesmerizationonAlexisDidier afterwhichhewasabletodescribetheexperimenterscountryhouse(thoughhenever wentthere!),wasabletoreadsentencesfromtheclosedbooks.Alltheseincidents havealsobeendocumentedinEricDingwallsbook AbnormalHypnoticPhenomena. HissisterAdolphieDidier(G.Barth,1853)andfathertoohadthesecapabilities.All theseparanormalexamplesindicatesisthepresenceofsomemindelementthathas extraordinarysensoryabilities. 2.Neardeath(NDE)andoutofbodyExperiences(OBE): Thesetypeof experiments provides support that consciousness must have an entire separate existencefrommatterandthemind,otherwiseatthevergeofdeath(iftheysomehow survives),orincoma(whenmindsactivitiesarestopped)howitispossibleforthe subjects to provide detailedinformation of whathappened whentheywereinthat state. SomeofthemostsystematicstudiesinthisfieldwerecarriedoutbyKenneth Ring,hewasattractedbypopularbooksduetoElisabethKublerRossandRaymond Moody(LifeAfterLife).Anexperimentcomprisingof102subjects[thatwerecloseto deatheitherthroughillness(52),accident(26)orattemptedsuicide(24)]wasperformed
1 AsperBhagavadGitalivingbeingismadeofthreesubtleelements:mind,intelligenceandfalseego. 25organsforaction:mouth,hands,legs,genitalsandrectum. 3 Ears,tongue,skin,eyesandnoseandarefiveknowledgeacquiringsensesthatareusedforauditory, taste,tactile,sight,smellperceptionsrespectively. 4 5grosselements:earth,water,fire,airandether. 3

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

betweenMay1977toMay1978.Almostallofthesubjectswerereligious. Similarly F.W.H. Myers in his book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodilydeath,describesDr.A.S.Wiltsewhoalmostdiedbecauseofserioustyphoid fever.Hetold: Icameagainintoastateofconsciousness...bodyandIhadnointerestsincommon. Ring (1980, p.132) later commented that near death experiences is best explainedasanoutofbodyexperiences,inwhichsomethingseparatesfromthebody. For example Ring in his Heading Toward Omega (1984) describes a subject Mr. Dippongsaying: Iwasinheavenlypasture...perhapsitwasevenanotheruniverse. A more recent description is that of the one done at the University of SouthamptonledbyDr.SamParnia,publishedinthejournalResuscitation(Parniaet al.2001).Itwasreportedthat7outof63(11%)patientswhosurvivedcardiacarrest recalledemotionsandvisionduringunconsciousness,althoughtheyweremedically deadduringthattime. 3.ReincarnationMemories:Inthisfieldarigorousstudyhasbeendoneby IanStevenson(lateprofessorattheUniversityofVirginia).Hehaspublishednumer ouscasesofyoungchildrenhavingpreviouslifememories.Thepublishedreportsdocu mentevidencesaboutthepersonthechildwasclaimingtohavesomerelationinhis previouslife. Stevensonhaspublished64casestudiesandhasanothermorethan2,000cases thatappeartobegenuine.OutofthesecasesonecaseisthatofanIndiangirlShukla GuptaborninWestBengal.Sheshowedquitestrangebehaviourwhenshewasachild, for example she used to play with block of wood, calling it Meenu. She had the memoriesofherhusband,hisbrothers.Sheeventoldtheirname,andtoldthatthey allarelivinginavillage11milestothenorthwhereshewasliving.Onedayshe askedherfamilymemberstotakehertothatplaceandsheledherfamilymembersto her previous life house. It was later found that that house actually had a woman namedMana,whodiedsometimeago. AnotherexampleisthatofamanbynameImadElawar,whowasbornin1958 inLebanon.Heoftenusedtouttersomeuncommonnames,hewasfluentinFrench, healsousedtospeakoftwoaccidents.Guessingfromallhesaidhisparentsconcluded thatinhispastlifehewaslivinginKhirbyasmallvillagewiththenameMahmoud Bouhazmy,butStevensonlaterfoundthatactuallyhisnamewasIbrahimBouhazmy, thenallthelinksbegantojointogether. 4.DivineRevelations:Onthebasisoftheexperimentalevidencesscientists deduce some hypothesis, or the other way around (according to Karl Popper) they formulatehypothesisfirstandthentrytorefutethem.Itstruethatwhiletheydo observation they have to have some hypothetical framework, without which the observationalvaluesseemtotallyrandom.Butthequestionnowariseswheredothese hypothesiscomefrom?Ifhypothesisinscienceormathematicsforthatmatter,arenot generatedbecauseofanysystematicprocedurethenwhatistheirorigin?Similaris
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MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

thecasewithinsights.Therearemanycasesinwhichthesubjectsunderstudytells aboutsomesuddensparkoraflashoflight.Illnowcitesomeexamplesthatshows thatthesehypothesisorinsightsdocomeinstantaneouslyeventhoughthepersonin thepictureisntdeliberatelythinkingaboutthem. 1. ArchimedeswasfacedtodeterminethepurityinthekingMidascrown,aftera lotoffruitlessendeavor,hesuddenlygottheideainthebathtub,thatmadehim runningnakedonthestreetscryingEureka!Eureka!.(PHYSICS) 2. Karl Gauss after thinking a lot about proving a theorem about numbers, suddenlygottheidea.(MATHEMATICS)Hewrote: Finally,twodaysago,Isucceeded....happenedtobesolved.Imyselfcannotsaywhat wastheconductingthreadwhichconnected...whatmademysuccesspossible. 3. SimilararetheexpressionsofDr.KaryMulliswhogottheinsighttodevelop PCR5(andlatergotaNobelPrizeinmedicineforit).Hewrites: Iwasjustdriving...andsuddenlyIsawit.Isawthepolymerasechain...ona blackboardinmyhead,soIpulledoverandstartedscribbling.(LIFESCIENCES) 4. SimilarlyWolfgangMozartsays: WhenIfeelwell...thoughtscometomymind...Whenceandhowdotheycome?Idont knowandIvenothingtodowithit...(MUSIC) KarlSaganinhisbook: TheDemonHauntedWorld althoughhasattackedon paranormalclaimsexhibitedbysomesubjects,yethehimselfsuggestedthatsomeof theclaimsofparanormalityneedssomedetailedstudy:(a)Bythoughtsomehumans canaffecttherandomnumbersgeneratorsincomputer(b)Thepeoplethatsupposedly havesomedeprivationsdoreceivethoughtsandimagesprojectedonthem,forexample theinferringofanimagewithoutthefacultiesofvision(c)thatyoungkidssometimes reportthedetailsofpreviouslifewithaccuracysomuchsothatitseemsthatthey couldhaveknownallofthisinnootherwayexceptreincarnation.Nowaftersome historicalbackground,Iwouldliketoformulatethedefintion.

3. D EFINITION

OF

swellseeitsaverydifficulttask.Thereisnogenerallyaccepteddefinitionof consciousness. Even the evolutionist Thomas Huxley knew that it would be impossibletoexplainconsciousnessonthebasisofDarwinstheoryofEvolution.He claimeditsomesortofepiphenomenon6. Inthe21stcenturyscienceslikepsychology,biology,neurosciencesarereadyto answerthesequestions: Whatisconsciousness? Whatdoesitdo? Coulditbeanillusion? Couldweevolvedwithoutit?
5 PolymeraseChainReaction(PCR)isanefficientmethodforgeneratingahugenumberofcopiesof anysegmentofDNA 6 Seethenotessectionformoredetails. 5

C ONSCIOUSNESS !

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Philosophersandscientistshavestruggledalotwiththisideaofconsciousness, butthetopicitselfissoveryintricateandsubtlethatsomescientistsjustwanttodo awaywiththeideaitself. Theywouldsaythatthewordslikeconsciousnessarethe remnantsofthepreagesuperstitionsandthereforemustbecompletelyeliminated.So allthosetermsthatdonthaveanyphysicaldescriptionmustberuledout.Ifyouare feelingpaintheninsteadofsayingthatyouarefeelingpainyoushouldsaythatyourc fibresinthebrainthatarefiring. I would try to give different accounts as far as the definition of the consciousnessisconcerned. Whatitsliketobe...:Ifthereissomethingitisliketobeananimal(orcomputer,or baby)thenthatthingisconscious.Otherwiseitisnot. ThomasNagelanAmericanPhilosopherarguedthatifforabatitissomething tobelikeabatthenthebatisconscious.Thistantamounttosayingthatifthebatis awareofitsexistence,thenbatisconscious.Butthisargumentcantbeappliedtothe nonliving things like cup mug etc. because they possibly arent aware of their existence Subjectivityorphenomenality:Consciousnessmeanssubjectiveexperienceor phenomenalexperience.Thisisthewaythingsseemtome,asopposedtohowtheyare objectively. Althoughthethingsareobjectivebutitismysubjectiveexperiencesthatmakes medifferentfromotherlivingbeings.ByobjectivityImeanthatsomeattributesofthe phenomenal objects have existence, even if I dont observe them, for example the mathematicaltruththatonaEuclideansurfaceanytrianglehasitsinteriorangles sumequalto180.Thistruthisindependentofmyexperienceoftriangle,Euclidean surface or whatever. So a triangle has this objective property. Ill call this as the OBJECTIVEEXISTENCEofreality,becauseitissameforeveryone.Similaristhe casewiththemassofastone,(onceweareagreeonthedefinitionofmass)thenithas objectivemass(say20kg)independentofwhetherornotIobserveit. A deer in a forest is objectively the same for everyone, it has some definite shape, weight etc. yet someone will see it as an object of appreciation of natures beauty,yetotherwillseeitashisdinner!Thosesubjectiveexperiencesareattributed to consciousness. Im considered to be conscious if I can have my own subjective experiences.

4. F ORMAL F ORMULATION

OF THE

heproblemisthattherearetwoutterlydifferentthings,fortheworldaroundme isobjectiveinthesense,theobjectsinithavesomedefiniteshape,size,weight etc.thatotherscanmeasureandagreeupon,butwhenitcomestomyexperiences whicharetheattributesofmind,aretotallysubjective,theyjustcantbemeasured!So thatitisnotatallnecessarythattheywillagreeupontheexperiencesliketouch, smell,soundthatarenotcorrespondingtotheobjectiveproperties. Assumearedbooklyingsomewhereonthetableandyouareobservingit.The

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P ROBLEM

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

redbookisthemassofinformationthatgetstransformedinthesensationwhichis calledastheexperienceofthebook.Thisimmediatesensationisdifferentfromthered externalbookcomposedofatoms. Itistobenotedherethatexperiencescanthemselvesbesubjectiveorobjective, for example the feeling of softness of cats fur may or may not be the same for everyone,butthereisnowaytocomparetheseexperiences.Ontheotherhandthere areobjectiveexperiencesliketheweight,mass,volumeetc.ofphenomenalobjects.The veryexistenceoftheworldisdependentuponsomeongoingprocessesinourbrain,so thatifthosekindsofprocessesdonthappen,theworldmayexistbutitwontexistfor me!Hereitisassumedthatphenomenalworldexists,asSchrodingerhassaid: Itisconvenienttoregarditasexistingobjectivelyonitsown. Sodeepistheproblemofconsciousnessthatmanyphilosophers,physicistsalike Schrodinger,Planck,Descartes,Socratestonameafew,haveshowninabilitytounder standitfully. Wevenohopeofunderstandingconsciousness. ColinMcGinn Eventhoughwemaybeabletounderstandthemind,consciousnesswillremainforever beyondourreach. StephenPinker Nowweaddresssomeoftheproblemsfacedinunderstandingconsciousness: Theproblemofbothobjectiveandsubjectiveexperiences. Howisitthatsubjectiveexperiencesariseoutofobjectivebrain? Howdoesconsciousnessarise? Is consciousness the same as mind, something arising out of mind, or is it totallydifferentfromit? Isitmaterial,i.e.isitjusttheproductoftheinteractionsoftheatomsinside thebrain? Isitall?No! Aswegoalong,inthecourseoftimewellconfrontmanyothers!Nowletustry tofindtheanswertotheseproblems,usingmaterialistic&otherwesternphilosophies. FinallywellseewhatVedashavetosayabouttheseproblems.

5. S OLUTION

TO THE

henwereflectonthisitseemsthatconsciousnessisthemostobviousthing,but itisalsothehardestthingtoexplain.Aswellseethatitisverydifficultto explain consciousness on the basis of firing of the brain cells. No theory be it SuperstringTheory,QuantumMechanicsetc.areabletoexplaintheinnerandouter mindandbrain.Ionthebasisoftheexperimentsthatwerelistedinthehistorical partwillarguethattheyarecryingfortheseparateexistence(Imgivingemphasisto bothofthetermshere)ofconsciousness. Letusgetstartednow,asIsaidearlierIlltrytogivedifferentformalismsthat weresuggestedtoexplaintheproblemsofconsciousness.
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MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Dualism:Mostofthepeopleoftheworlddobelieveinsomekindofdualismfor example:MuslimsandChristianswhichformthemajorfaithoftheworldbelieveinthe existenceofnonphysicalsoul. ForexampleQuransays: Onthe27thofRamadan....theprophetMuhammad(thesoultherealpersonnotthe body)wassummoned...andthisQuranwasplacedintohisheart. AndBible: AndtheLORDGodformedmanofthedustoftheground,andbreathedintohis nostrilsthebreathoflife;andmanbecamealivingsoul. 7 Hindus believeonAtmanordivineselfwithin.ForexampleBhagavadGita says: NeverwasthereatimewhenIdidnotexist,noryou,norallthesekings;norinthe futureshallanyofusceasetobe. Astheembodiedsoulcontinuouslypasses,inthisbody,fromboyhoodtoyouthtoold age,thesoulsimilarlypassesintoanotherbodyatdeath.Asoberpersonisnot bewilderedbysuchachange. OnlyBuddhistsdontbelieveonthisidea.Evennonreligionistswillconsider mindandbodytobedifferententities.Suchadualismissodeeplyembeddedinour culture&languagethatwellmostlysayMymindandMybodyandnotImindand IbodyasthoughImsomethingdifferentfromthem(frommindandbody). The earliest account of dualism is found in Platos Phaedo. The medieval account proposed by French mathematician philosopher Rene Descartes in his Meditations, states that mind and brain (that is matter) consists of different substances.Mindaccordingtohimisnonphysical,nonextended(itdoesntoccupyany space)incontrasttobody(includingbrain)andrestofthephysicalworld.Heusedtwo wordsRESCOGITANSandRESEXTENSAforthetworespectively.Abouttheinteractionof the two he told that the interaction takes place in the pineal gland. Some of the problemsthismodelfacesare: Whyonlypinealglandistheinteractionsiteandnotothers? Howdotheyinteractisunansweredinthismodel. Materialism: According to it, the consciousness is just the product of inter actionsoftheatomsandmoleculesgovernedbythelawsofphysicsandchemistry.As none other than the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge University StephenHawkinghimselfsays: Thoughwefeelthatwecanchoosewhatwedo...biologicalprocessesaregovernedby thelawsofphysicsandchemistry... Butthenitseemsimplausiblethatthemereinteractionbetweentheatomscan give rise to consciousness, as the Nobel Prize winning chemist SzentGyoergyi laments: Inmysearchforlife,Iendedupwithelectronsandatomswhichhavenolifeatall. Somewherealongthesearch...lifehasrunout...Imnowretracingmysteps...
7 ActuallythewordHinduisitselfamisnomerasIllpointoutintheend. 8

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Sothequestionstillremainsintactthathowitispossiblethatthemereinter actionoftheatoms.Thishasledtotheformulationofanotherkindofapproachknown as panexperientialism which holds that the atoms together with having some intrinsic properties also have some slight degree of consciousness, so when they combine that small bits of consciousness combine to form the well developed one consciousness.Buttheatomscouldonlyhavehadtheconsciousnessofotheratoms aroundit,socouldthatpossiblytransformintohighlyconcentratedconsciousness. Inhumanbrainthereare10billionneurons,witharound10,000connections withotherneurons.Humansonanaveragelose1,000neuronsperday!Soeachofthe materialistic model, be it quantum mechanical effect has to face the difficulty of explainingthefactthatinspiteoflosingsomanyneurons,theintegrityofconscious nessisstillmaintained. QuantumMechanics:SomescientistsDavidBohm,BrianJosephson(aNobel Prize winner), Sir Roger Penrose, Benjamin Libet to name a few suggests that consciousness can be quantum mechanical phenomenon. Stuart Hameroff calls microtubules in the brain as the possible centers of the quantum mechanical (qm) phenomenon that generates consciousness. But how does qm phenomenon can possiblygiverisetoconsciousnessisstillnotknown.Radin(aresearcherinthefieldof parapsychology) points out the need of some other theory other than quantum mechanics.Hesays: Insteadexistingquantumtheory...asaspecialcaseofhownonlivingmatterbehaves... Livingsystems...newtheory. InanexperimentconductedbyphysicistHelmutSchmidtitwasfoundthatthe subjectswereabletoinfluencetheoutcomeoftherandomnumbergeneratorsthatare dependentonradioactivedecays,thataretotallyrandom.Hehimselflatersaid: Theoutcomeofquantumjumps...canbeinfluencedbypersonsmentaleffort.This implies...quantumtheorydonotapplytotherandomnumbergeneratorexperiments. Consideringalloftheabovefacts,asatisfactorytheoryofconsciousnessaccord ingtoRadinmusthavetheseproperties.(Imgivingsomeofthem.): Itmustbeabletoincorporatetheabilityofgettinginformationfromadistance spaceandtimeandalsotheabilityofobtainingtheparticularinformation. Itmustalsoexplainthetweakingofrandomprocessesbymentalintention. ItshouldaccountforOBEs,NDEsashasbeendescribedabove. SoletusseewhatVedashavetosayaboutallthis.

6. T HE V EDIC P ERSPECTIVE

yplaninthissectionwillbethatIlltrytobuilduptheepistemologybasedon thefollowingpoints: WhattheVedashavetosayaboutmind,matterandconsciousness? Howdotheyinteract,signatureofGod? Typesofconsciousness! Howdoesthisparadigmhelp?

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ThefirstaphorismofVedantaSutrasays,janmadiasyayatah,whichmeans from God all emanations of universe (its creation, maintenance and destruction) comes.SoeverythingcomesfromGodbeitmindormatter. AccordingtotheVedas consciousness(chitta)iseverexistingithasnobeginning,sothatitcanneverhavean endtoo!Sothematerialistictheorythatconsciousnessistheattributeofthechemical elementsisnotsupportedbytheVedicliterature. Spinoza Gustav Theodor Fechner also claims that every particular thing is expansionofGod,the infinitesubstance. Vedasalsoholdsthattherearetwokindof consciousnesses one is Individual Consciousness (jivatma or soul) and the other is Superconsciousness(paramatma orSupersoul).Individualconsciousness[attributed to every living being (animals, plants and humans), this is in contrast to other religious observations like St. Augustine of Hippo held that soul cant be there in animals,andthisencouragedanimalkillinginthemedievalChristianworld]isthe expansionofthesuperconsciousness(attributedtoGod),inawaysimilartothesmall sparksbeingtheexpansionofthelargefire.Sointhiswayoneparticularlivingbeing isconsciousofoneselfonly,butGodisconsciousofallthelivingbeings.Duetothis, one can feel the presence of God everywhere, but only the local presence of the individuallivingentity. AlthoughlivingentityisanexpansionofGod,yettherearedifferencesbetween thetwo,sowhereononehandtheyhavesimilarities(bothareconscious),theyhave differences also (one is individually conscious while other is universally), this philosophical school ofsimultaneous oneness and variegatedness is called achintya bhedabhedatattva. Itcontinuetodescribethat soul theparticleofconsciousnesshastwotypesof coveringsoverit,oneisgross(madeofearth,water,fire,airandether)andotherone issubtle(madeofmind,intelligenceandfalseego).Thereisadetaileddescriptionof themanifestationoftheseitemsfromPradhanainSankhyaYoga. LetusseehowtheVedicparadigmexplainaboveanomalies,wellfollowthe schemeofselectingminimumpossibleassumptionsandexplainingmaximumpossible anomalies(OccamsRazor) AsSupersoul(God)isomniscient(becauseHehascreatedthematteraswellas mind,soHemustknowboth),Hecantransmittheknowledgefromonesoulto otherthroughthematter(asmedium). Supersoulisomnipresent,soHeispresentinatomsaswell,soHecanchange the way they behave, this account for the random number generator experiments. Soulescapesthedeathofthebody,butuntilitreachesspirituallevelofreality ithastowanderinthephenomenalworld.Thisexplainsthepoltergeisteffects 8 andapparitions. Vedictraditiondemarcatesbetweenmind,consciousnessandmatter.Indualism mindandconsciousnessaretreatedtobesame.Asstatedpreviouslymindis
8 Seethenotessection 10

MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

alsoatypeofgrossmatter,differentfromconsciousness(attributeofsoul),the problem of how the interaction takes place (between mind and matter in dualism)isansweredinbytheinvolvementofSupersoul. HavingsaidallthisIwouldnowliketoconcludethepaper.

7. E PILOGUE

sprovedbyKurtGdelinhisincompletenesstheorems, that nosystemofaxioms canbesufficienttoenableustoderiveallthenecessarytheorems.Sointhisway theabovesystemisalsoincomplete,soitstruethatitwontbeabletoexplainall possible observed phenomenon, related to consciousness. But I see a lot of deeper implicationsoftheaboveVedicModel.Forexample: The idea of materialism implies that were just chemicals and as the body finishes,everythingends.Sothepurposeoflifeshouldthenbetoenjoyasmuch aspossiblewithoutanyimpedimentgivingnospacefortheethicalvalues,rules, caringforothersetc.asyouveonlyatmost70years.Thiscreatesgreathavocin thesociety,soifwefollowtheVedicparadigm(andasotherreligionsofthe worldalsohold)thatweresoulanditdoesntdie.Sothisinasensecreatesa senseoffeartohavesuchanexistencethatisnotpainfulforothers. Itdoesntdifferentiatebetweenthehumansandotherlivingbeingsasfarasthe ideaofsoulisconcerned,andasthesoulonlychangesbody,soitispossiblethat amanwhohasahumanbodymayalsohaveanimalbodyinthenextbirth,so thiswillmakemenlivepeacefullywithhisfellowcreatures. Therearemanymoreimplications,buttoincludeImayhavetoincludesome more axioms.Sothesummumbonum ofabovediscussionis that theVedic idea is helpful in leading us towards peaceful existence, in which everyone cares for each other,evenforanimals,andthisiswhatisthecontemporaryexistencecriesfor,but seemsverydifficulttoachieveinotherphilosophicalsystems.

8. N OTES

1. Hindu: One will not find the word Hindu in the BhagavadGita. Indeed, thereisnosuchwordasHinduintheentireVedicliterature.Thiswordhasbeen introduced by the Muslims from provinces next to India, such as Afghanistan, Baluchistan,andPersia.ThereisarivercalledSindhuborderingthenorthwestern provincesofIndia,andsincetheMuslimstherecouldnotpronounceSindhuproperly, they instead called the river Hindu, and theinhabitants of this tract of land they calledHindus. 2.Epiphenomenalism:istheviewthatmentaleventsarecausedbyphysical eventsinthebrain,buthavenoeffectsuponanyphysicalevents.Behavioriscaused by muscles that contract upon receiving neural impulses, and neural impulses are generated by input from other neurons or from sense organs. (From Stanford EncyclopediaofPhilosophy) 3. Poltergeist Phenomenon: A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon
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MATERIAL MIND & ANTIMATERIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

whichconsistsofeventsalludingtothemanifestationofanimperceptibleentity.Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentientnoises(suchasimpairedknocking,poundingorbanging)and,onsomeoccas ions, physical attacks on those witnessing the events. (From Wikipedia the Free encyclopedia,URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist)

9. A CKNOWLEDGMENT

would like to give my sincere thanks to Prof. Laxmidhar Behera from whom I borrowedsomevaluablebooks.AlsomycolleaguesArunVS,PKumarandmany morewhogavemesomevaluablesuggestionsregardingthecontentforthispaper.

10. R EFERENCES

1. SusanBlackmore,Consciousness,Averyshortintroduction,Oxford UniversityPress 2. A.C.BhaktivedantaSwamiPrabhupada,SrimadBhagavatam,canto3, chapter26,BBTLosAngeles 3. A.C.BhaktivedantaSwamiPrabhupada,BhagavadGita,BBTLosAngeles 4. ErwinSchrodinger,Mindandmatter,CambridgeUniversityPress 5. HenryP.Stapp,AReportontheGaudiyaVaishnavaVedanta,Formof VedicOntology,BhaktivedantaInstitute(BVI)publications,1994 6. MichealA.Cremo,HumanDevolution,AVedicalternativetothe DarwinsTheory,1stedition,TorchlightPublications,LA 7. StandfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy(SEP),Jan7,2011URL: /http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epiphenomenalism 8. Dr.T.D.Singh,LifeMatterandtheirInteractions,BVIpublications,2006 9. Dr.RichardThomson,OnInspiration,BhaktivedantaVedabase,2003 10. Dr.RichardThomson,Audiolecturesonconsciousness,URL: http://audio.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php 11. SEP,URL:http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/#HisDua,Oct10,2007 12.QURAN,ThefinalTestamentbyRashidKhalifa,IslamicProductions, 2003,pp.3 13. TheGenesis,URL:www.bibleresources.org 14. StephenHawking,LeonardMlodinow,TheGrandDesign,BantamBooks NewYork,2010 15. BeyondIllusionandDoubt,BBTLosAngeles 16. ForarticleonthewordHindu,URL:http://www.salagram.net/hinduism origin.html

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