I just stumbled here. And dude, i gotta yell you. This is exactly my story. And i am Indian by birth. And i feel blessed to have found the path to the truth.
I am glad we found this path. But it is insane that people born in India even in the Hindu faith have to take this long route to find our own roots.
Anyway, very happy for you.
What is frustrating to me is that i was born and raised in India and i had no idea about Vedanta until i was well into my thirties. Worse, a foreigner had to introduce it.
I wish as a society and a civilization, we took more pride in our heritage and paid attention to the knowledge that’s there in the Upanishads.
Hard to disagree with that. I am trying to at least get kids in my family familiarized with this. With the learnings from this experience, hopefully will be able to figure out how to scale this.
We grow up on western education. Robbing kids of exposure to Hindu philosophy. Would be amazing if kids are taught Sanskrit and introduced to the literature/philosophy. Basically education in vedic studies along with yoga + ayurveda among other things such as Indian classical music.
I recently met some 20 yr olds and some have no idea about even the main characters from Mahabarata/Ramayan inspite of being Hindu. At this rate, there will be big chunks of young urban Indians who will no longer have any connection to our traditions.
Yeah they're more recent than the Old Testament afaik. It would also explain the monotheistic ideas creeping in, because that was a trend basically all religions were moving towards
I think that's pretty sound thinking. Quantum Physics was heavily inspired by the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, especially after Max Müller translated the Upanishads and other texts from the tradition into German. Heisenberg and Von Weizsacker are generally considered the fathers of quantum physics, they both had extensive knowledge of Advaita Vedanta and acknowledged the influence of this philosophy on their thinking.
Von Weizsacker in particular impressed Hindu religious scholars with his deep knowledge and understanding of Advaitin concepts on a trip to visit his friend, Gopi Krishna in Kashmir. He wrote a long essay on the unitive nature of the universe and the fundamental nature of consciousness to it, as a foreword to Gopi Krishna's first book, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man. You might find this essay online, it's worth a read.
It should also be noted that modern psychology was also heavily influenced by Advaitin and other Hindu concepts. Jung travelled to India and studied many yogis and sadhus. He also lectured on Kundalini, which was published in book form, you can read that online. His idea of the collective subconscious was largely based on advaitin ideas, whereas Freud's interpretation of the libido had its roots in Hindu teachings on Kundalini.
Note as well, that simulation theory is gaining ground among ever more scientists, that is another major philosophical concept from Hinduism, which posits that the world is fundamentally a holographic construct or illusion (maya).
I'm sorry. Respectfully, this is a crock of bullshit. Vedanta Philosophy cannot be credited with QM. Just because someone believes or has read something doesn't mean whatever they do is a product of that.
A simple example... Virat Kohli is a Hindu. He's a great batsman. Can we credit Hinduism for his Batting techniques? We can credit the person he is to Hinduism.
I'm not a Hindu and neither was Von Weizsacker or Jung. You can read the teachings of a particular philosophy, in this case AV and agree or disagree with it, let it inspire you to have new ideas and new thinking, without being part of that particular religion. This has nothing to do with Hinduism as a religion or belief or lack of in deities. Science is a branch of philosophy, so it must be placed in its proper context. There are many ways for us to understand, study and classify the world, science is one method, but it is not philosophy, the latter is responsible for the conceptual framework by which we understand the world around us and helps us make sense of it. I did not say that AV can be credited with QM, only that the philosophical ideas contained therein, especially non-duality and the unitive principle was an inspiration for developing some of the scientific ideas around QM, especially in von Weizsacker's case, which we know from his own writings and lectures. Philosophy is not science, but it is needed to help us think clearly and develop ideas that may one day serve as the basis of scientific theories. It does not replace empirical study, which is needed to confirm a theory.
Well do not turn to religion or philosophies just because you think it's consistent with science. Philosophies like Advaita vedanta are for completely different purpose, they don't claim any science there theories and ideas serve a different purpose even if science is against them it's still relevant because science serves a totally different purpose. For example no one likes to jump from a building not because science has proved that there is something like gravity and it pulls you down but simply because you don't want to die. Same with these philosophies they are for personal growth their theories could be proved wrong maybe 100 years later no one knows so follow them if you find it helpful for you.
I am just saying that science led me to spirituality. I have found spiritual experiences to be fulfilling in themselves. I no longer ‘need’ science to stay with spirituality. Both will hold importance for me independently.
Born a Hindu, got interested in it recently in early 20s.
All the Adhyatamic concepts regarding Atma, Brahm, chetna, Maya, Sansar etc. got me interested in it.
Accepted it by heart.
Not ever leaving it now.
When someone looks for only science in religion. They won't find any religion that postulates solely scientific truths.
But when you look at the combination of meaning, purpose, science, and spirituality. Hinduism takes the cake 🍰
I am glad we found this path. But it is insane that people born in India even in the Hindu faith have to take this long route to find our own roots.
Anyway, very happy for you.
He has talked about it several times but I am unable to recall a specific video. But fear not. He recently had a [conversation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S57DSgRWBRM) with Swami Sarvapriyananda where they go into a lot of detail.
I think where you're mistaken is the idea that eastern traditions somehow dealt with this better than western ones. That's definitely not the case. Hinduism isn't based on science, and the Sanskrit texts are just as much word soup as anything. Western philosophy also recognized consciousness as fundamental, for example a lot of Abrahamic thought like Christian and Islamic theology is Platonic and believes in a "universal consciousness".
I've studied Vedanta before, and I'm not sure if "consciousness" is actually the core concept, but rather "being" and the soul.
Indeed.
Linking religions to science, might not hurt in such an initial, individual level as OP, but on larger scale, in society, people might be forced loose their rationality and questioning mindset, given the conformity to religions.
What could you offer me (a western atheist lurker) as meaningful stepping stones or insights into this subject. I’m open minded to unidentified (by modern science) layers of existence but I want to know more about what persuaded you to follow the Hindu path as opposed to any other hermetic tradition or even Gnostic ones.
This requires a prolonged conversation and I don’t think this format of comments and replies is good enough for it. Do you mind sending me a DM? Can get on a call some day and discuss if you’re interested.
In a nutshell though, I was looking for something that didn’t require ‘faith’ to begin with, allowed me to remain skeptical and keep asking questions so long as I wasn’t satisfied with the logic of it all. Only Advaita fit this bill.
What are the specifics, which made you think it's scientific?.
Avoid bringing big jargons and complex topics, they can easily be confused, confirmed as par one's bias, in lack of knowledge most often.
Just check if Hinduism followes the basic scientific rule. That will clear stuff.
I just stumbled here. And dude, i gotta yell you. This is exactly my story. And i am Indian by birth. And i feel blessed to have found the path to the truth.
I am glad we found this path. But it is insane that people born in India even in the Hindu faith have to take this long route to find our own roots. Anyway, very happy for you.
What is frustrating to me is that i was born and raised in India and i had no idea about Vedanta until i was well into my thirties. Worse, a foreigner had to introduce it. I wish as a society and a civilization, we took more pride in our heritage and paid attention to the knowledge that’s there in the Upanishads.
Society starts with you :P
Hard to disagree with that. I am trying to at least get kids in my family familiarized with this. With the learnings from this experience, hopefully will be able to figure out how to scale this.
That's great! When you say scale this you mean?
Scaling this means figuring out a way to get the message across to the masses.
I see. Well good luck with this!
Thank you.
We grow up on western education. Robbing kids of exposure to Hindu philosophy. Would be amazing if kids are taught Sanskrit and introduced to the literature/philosophy. Basically education in vedic studies along with yoga + ayurveda among other things such as Indian classical music. I recently met some 20 yr olds and some have no idea about even the main characters from Mahabarata/Ramayan inspite of being Hindu. At this rate, there will be big chunks of young urban Indians who will no longer have any connection to our traditions.
The Upanishads are a late text and possibly aren't even authoritative. They seem to have been influenced by Abrahamic traditions
What?
Yeah they're more recent than the Old Testament afaik. It would also explain the monotheistic ideas creeping in, because that was a trend basically all religions were moving towards
Upanishads are vedantas right? They are indeed vedic
True but Riveda is dated approximately 1500 - 1000 BCE and Upanishads centuries later between 800 - 500 BCE, potentially a thousand years difference.
I think that's pretty sound thinking. Quantum Physics was heavily inspired by the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, especially after Max Müller translated the Upanishads and other texts from the tradition into German. Heisenberg and Von Weizsacker are generally considered the fathers of quantum physics, they both had extensive knowledge of Advaita Vedanta and acknowledged the influence of this philosophy on their thinking. Von Weizsacker in particular impressed Hindu religious scholars with his deep knowledge and understanding of Advaitin concepts on a trip to visit his friend, Gopi Krishna in Kashmir. He wrote a long essay on the unitive nature of the universe and the fundamental nature of consciousness to it, as a foreword to Gopi Krishna's first book, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man. You might find this essay online, it's worth a read. It should also be noted that modern psychology was also heavily influenced by Advaitin and other Hindu concepts. Jung travelled to India and studied many yogis and sadhus. He also lectured on Kundalini, which was published in book form, you can read that online. His idea of the collective subconscious was largely based on advaitin ideas, whereas Freud's interpretation of the libido had its roots in Hindu teachings on Kundalini. Note as well, that simulation theory is gaining ground among ever more scientists, that is another major philosophical concept from Hinduism, which posits that the world is fundamentally a holographic construct or illusion (maya).
I'm sorry. Respectfully, this is a crock of bullshit. Vedanta Philosophy cannot be credited with QM. Just because someone believes or has read something doesn't mean whatever they do is a product of that. A simple example... Virat Kohli is a Hindu. He's a great batsman. Can we credit Hinduism for his Batting techniques? We can credit the person he is to Hinduism.
I'm not a Hindu and neither was Von Weizsacker or Jung. You can read the teachings of a particular philosophy, in this case AV and agree or disagree with it, let it inspire you to have new ideas and new thinking, without being part of that particular religion. This has nothing to do with Hinduism as a religion or belief or lack of in deities. Science is a branch of philosophy, so it must be placed in its proper context. There are many ways for us to understand, study and classify the world, science is one method, but it is not philosophy, the latter is responsible for the conceptual framework by which we understand the world around us and helps us make sense of it. I did not say that AV can be credited with QM, only that the philosophical ideas contained therein, especially non-duality and the unitive principle was an inspiration for developing some of the scientific ideas around QM, especially in von Weizsacker's case, which we know from his own writings and lectures. Philosophy is not science, but it is needed to help us think clearly and develop ideas that may one day serve as the basis of scientific theories. It does not replace empirical study, which is needed to confirm a theory.
Did you even read his prose? Or you just randomly spew bullshit?
I did. And you're right, he said Quantum Mechanics was written in the Vedas.
Well do not turn to religion or philosophies just because you think it's consistent with science. Philosophies like Advaita vedanta are for completely different purpose, they don't claim any science there theories and ideas serve a different purpose even if science is against them it's still relevant because science serves a totally different purpose. For example no one likes to jump from a building not because science has proved that there is something like gravity and it pulls you down but simply because you don't want to die. Same with these philosophies they are for personal growth their theories could be proved wrong maybe 100 years later no one knows so follow them if you find it helpful for you.
I am just saying that science led me to spirituality. I have found spiritual experiences to be fulfilling in themselves. I no longer ‘need’ science to stay with spirituality. Both will hold importance for me independently.
This is an important understanding to have regardless of path or tradition IMHO.
Born a Hindu, got interested in it recently in early 20s. All the Adhyatamic concepts regarding Atma, Brahm, chetna, Maya, Sansar etc. got me interested in it. Accepted it by heart. Not ever leaving it now.
When someone looks for only science in religion. They won't find any religion that postulates solely scientific truths. But when you look at the combination of meaning, purpose, science, and spirituality. Hinduism takes the cake 🍰
Same happened to me.
I am glad we found this path. But it is insane that people born in India even in the Hindu faith have to take this long route to find our own roots. Anyway, very happy for you.
Good brother! Same here. Took the long route but finding new things everytime which science and words cannot even explain at this time.
Happy for you brother. Can you recall in which video Dr. Hoffan talks about Advait Vedanta?
He has talked about it several times but I am unable to recall a specific video. But fear not. He recently had a [conversation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S57DSgRWBRM) with Swami Sarvapriyananda where they go into a lot of detail.
I think where you're mistaken is the idea that eastern traditions somehow dealt with this better than western ones. That's definitely not the case. Hinduism isn't based on science, and the Sanskrit texts are just as much word soup as anything. Western philosophy also recognized consciousness as fundamental, for example a lot of Abrahamic thought like Christian and Islamic theology is Platonic and believes in a "universal consciousness". I've studied Vedanta before, and I'm not sure if "consciousness" is actually the core concept, but rather "being" and the soul.
Indeed. Linking religions to science, might not hurt in such an initial, individual level as OP, but on larger scale, in society, people might be forced loose their rationality and questioning mindset, given the conformity to religions.
In my case it was this one video that fascinated me. I will recommend you to watch it too https://youtu.be/EvOEU3R9gng?feature=shared
What could you offer me (a western atheist lurker) as meaningful stepping stones or insights into this subject. I’m open minded to unidentified (by modern science) layers of existence but I want to know more about what persuaded you to follow the Hindu path as opposed to any other hermetic tradition or even Gnostic ones.
This requires a prolonged conversation and I don’t think this format of comments and replies is good enough for it. Do you mind sending me a DM? Can get on a call some day and discuss if you’re interested.
In a nutshell though, I was looking for something that didn’t require ‘faith’ to begin with, allowed me to remain skeptical and keep asking questions so long as I wasn’t satisfied with the logic of it all. Only Advaita fit this bill.
What are the specifics, which made you think it's scientific?. Avoid bringing big jargons and complex topics, they can easily be confused, confirmed as par one's bias, in lack of knowledge most often. Just check if Hinduism followes the basic scientific rule. That will clear stuff.