Science and philosophy have been at logger heads for a long, long time and there are some topics such as the Creation (origin of the universe), the presence and/or absence of the Supreme spirit or "the God", what happens after death, the concept of Time etc. are some of the topics on which different philosophies and Science have differed. The arguments are still on. However, my recent insights in Quantum Physics, especially on Time and some learning of the Vedanta Philosophies have convinced me that there difference is not as large as it seems like. In fact, I am very surprised to learn that there are actual instances where theories of Quantum Physics and Vedanta actually converse. I am covering some of them below:
1) Observer: Observer is a third person singular number noun. In Physics and of course in Quantum Physics, we do come across this noun. A observer is someone who is witnessing a event. He may or may not participate in the event but he surely is there as an "witness". There is a very similar philosophy in Vendata where one takes himself away from the "Body Am I" conditioning of the mind and becomes a "Sakshi" of the events that is happening in the day to day life. "Sakshi" is a Sanskrit word for witness. This is a elevated state of the mind, where the mind no longer associates oneself with the body but with the Spirit or the Soul within. It is is the body that is participating in the events and experiments but the Spirit is not.
2) All Observers are the same: There is a Copernican principle that states that no Observer is special - all Observers are equal and that no Observer in the universe holds a special or privileged position. However, Observers can be in a state of motion or rest. In a very similar way, all Souls are same, though some may be more advanced than another (state of rest or motion). All souls that reside in the body, have to get over the cycle of birth and death and merge with the Universal Soul. The Universal Soul loves all Souls equally; the sun shines on each of the us equally. It doesn't discriminate between a good and a bad person. Until the souls have merged with the Universal Soul after cutting off all their Karmas, there are all the same.
3) Funnel of time: Quantum physics states that all the events, past, present and future are present is spacetime. It appears to us that time flow from past to present to the future. In a way, we get a sense of motion of time as if time is flowing. But Quantum theory has proved that time does not flow - all times are real, i.e. future is as real as present as the past. Vendata philosophy, on a very similar note, says that all events, past, present future, have already been pre-decided and will happen as they are meant to be i.e. all future events are real. We, the body, are just the means which execute an action, whether we like it or not. The action will happen regardless of our choice. Then why can we see the future events? We cannot see the future events since they are outside our funnel of vision as yet. the light from those events has not hit our eye and hence we are not able to see them but this doesn't mean that they do not exist. All future events certainly exist, just that, we do not have the knowledge of them right now.
4) Cause and Effect: The concept of the Cause and Effect seems to be directly related to the Karma Theory of the Vendanta philosophy. As a cause of the past affects the present and future events and the current cause affects the future outcomes, our past deeds affect our today and tomorrow. As Henri Louis Bergson puts it ' The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause"
5) Law of conservation of mass / energy: The law of conservation of mass and energy states that mass and energy are constant. Also, we all know that energy can be of multiple types, potential, kinectic, electro-magnetic and so on. Similarly, our thoughts don't die and they continue to remain the Universe and influence us and others.
6) Law of gravitation / attraction: We have known in Physics that every particle vibrates and hence every body has natural frequency. The concept of Resonance is also very well known where two vibrating bodies vibrate with a larger amplitudes if their natural frequencies match. Vendanta, similarly, states that we all are influenced by the tendencies or vibrations of others. Positive thoughts attract positive thoughts and negative thoughts attract negative thoughts.
I am still learning as I spend more time on Vendanta philosophy and Quantum Physics. With every new self discovery, I get amazed to see the principles of coincidences that exist. However, I do have a long way to go...
