Vedanta and Science - I
Human Life and Evolution of Consciousness

Dr. T.D. Singh (Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami)
Director, Bhaktivedanta Institute
President, Vedanta and Science Educational Research Foundation

Abstract: An attempt is made to understand the Vedäntasütra from a scientific perspective. The first aphorism of the Vedantasütra delineates the prime importance of the human form of life in which consciousness is fully developed. Thus, the human being is qualified to inquire about the nature of Brahman, the Absolute Truth or God. The key to understand the first aphorism is to have a basic knowledge of consciousness and its evolution. This has been elaborated in this article. Consciousness plays a central role in Vedanta. Descartes’ pronouncement, “I think, therefore I am” forms a good starting point for a discussion on consciousness. From the Vedantic perspective, the intuitive as well as the conscious feeling, “I am”, is the spiritual self, aham brahmäsmi. The author presents the vedantic model for the interaction of consciousness with matter and suggests that the present scientific research and inquiry should be expanded to include knowledge in search of spiritual truth. This will be relevant to the progress of science.

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