Spirituality in an age of science – Managing the messy mind
Science-spirituality harmony
Science can make things better; spirituality can make people better
Darkness about our inner world “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
- Martin Luther King
The mind is a messWHO: mental health is the biggest
health challenge The mind is attacking the body:
More people are killing themselves than are being killed by others
Mental medicine is often a bigger mess
Cracked: Why Psychiatry is doing more harm than good – James Davies
The Age of Anxiety: A History of America’s Turbulent Affair with Tranquilizers – Andrea Tone
Mental medicine is often a bigger mess
Pathologizing human problems perpetuates them.
Human problems need spiritual solutions more than chemical solutions.
Science looks for matter, not spirit
Methodological naturalismEg. Fishing net, Personality thru X-ray,Seeing color on b-w camera
The unknown knower Nobel Laureate Dr Wilder
Penfield’s experiments in book The Mystery of the Mind
“The source of consciousness is extra-cerebral.”
The Gita’s tripartite model of the self
Three-level existence:Body – Hardware Mind – SoftwareSoul – User
Srila Prabhupada - “Philosophy without religion is just mental speculation”
Spirituality
Philosophy
Religion
Srila Prabhupada - “Religion without philosophy is at best sentimentalism
and at worst fanaticism.”
Spirituality
Philosophy
Religion
Become an inner explorer
Yoga: Not experimental, but experiential
Not controlled experiments, but experience through self-control
Mantra yogaMantra acts asThe elevator of consciousness,
granting us higher happinessAn inner muscle-builder,
empowering us to wiser choices