Sages & Scientists
On the second afternoon of the Sages & Scientists Symposium that Deepak Chopra and his team held in Los Angeles, Paramacharya interviewed Mr. Chopra as part of a future article in Hinduism Today, an article on the science of consciousness from both a Western and Eastern point of view. Here is the essence of the interview:
Sadasivanathaswami: My question today is this: In India the mystics and sages have been exploring consciousness and identity for thousands of years, as well as healing, and many of the profound things that we've been exploring during these three conference days. You have built on top of that knowledge, that experience of thousands of years. What, if anything, are you and the whole movement bringing to humanity that's new, that's fresh, that didn't exist in the Indian paradigm?
Deepak Chopra: Well, in the Indian paradigm the ultimate goal of life is what is called moksha, or finding your true Self. As fundamental reality, atman is Brahman; and until you do that, you have what is called suffering. And so what we're trying to do is go beyond the few Indian luminaries. India is regarded as a great spiritual culture. But you have to remember that the sages of the Upanishads were not that many. I mean, you can count them on the fingers of your hand. We revere them, we remember them, precisely for that fact, that they were luminaries. They were tapping into fundamental Reality.
Their message was so great that it has survived. But what we now need is millions of luminaries, if not at least a billion. And if we have that, we can have a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier, joyful and peaceful world. I think we need to bring that knowledge, that wisdom. We've moved from the agricultural age, which is still there, and unfortunately it's a dangerous agricultural age with industrialized food production; we've moved from that into the age of information. Now we're moving to a knowledge-based society, but how about a wisdom-based society--wisdom being that knowledge that can heal ourselves, heal ourselves, heal our collective humanity, heal the Earth, and bring healing to all sentient beings? The word health, the word healing, the word holy are all the same word. So health is the return of the memory of wholeness. And that's what we need. Today we can bring that through technology, through social media, through education and through collective engagement. That's the message.
3 Responses to “Sages & Scientists”
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September 12th, 2016 at 7:30 am
Thank you Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami. We look forward to the upcoming article to learn more about the similarities and contrast between science and hinduism. Aum
September 13th, 2016 at 2:41 am
Perfect!
September 15th, 2016 at 1:34 am
Meaning you are out there to promote an ancient, enlightening philosophy and its practices to be wise beings on earth… You can call that Hinduism.