ISKCON Temple Classes

Modern science considers sound vibration as mechanical waves. Vedic literature presents a definition that appears to transcend that by considering matter manifesting from energy identified with sound. Thompson examines the Puranic concept of sound by using three examples drawn from contemporary natural science – quantum mechanics, virtual reality, and the workings of the inner ear. He proposes that information expressed via a Vedic understanding of sound, may be fundamental to the manifestation of the cosmos.

Thompson compares Vedic conceptions of space, with concepts prominent within contemporary scientific discourse. For example, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam consistently refers to realms of experience beyond standard human perception, yet potentially experiential through higher-dimensional correspondence. Thompson suggests that an examination of phenomena such as remote psychokinesis, which can likewise appear to defy the known laws of nature, could facilitate both productive insight and an expanded appreciation of the concept of space.

Thompson considers the classic satirical novel, Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions (1884), to help illustrate higher dimensional qualities inherent to Puranic descriptions. Just as “Flatlanders” are limited to two-dimensional perception, similarly standard human perception is generally restricted to three-dimensional experience.

Thompson discusses the creation of the universe from a Puranic perspective, which engages an organic approach. For example, the Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the cosmos unfolding from a seed (bija) encoded with information in a manner that parallels descriptions of biological form unfolding from an embryo encoded with DNA. Thompson suggests that correlations such as these could lend themselves to scientific minded inquiry.

Thompson proposes that while a mechanistic evaluation of “sense input–bodily response” may explain certain aspects of human behavior, it still fails to comprehensively explain the conscious experience of awareness. While the field of neurology has developed an impressive appreciation of the working of the physical brain, conscious perception remains a challenge. But perhaps traditional accounts of the brain as a “secretion of the mind” (instead of the other way around), could offer a framework for analyzing subjective experience as a manifestation of a parallel reality.