“God and Nature” (SB 2.10.45)
Natural philosophers identified with the Judeo-Christian tradition sometimes argue that the everyday world obeys the laws of physics, and that a role for God exclusively focuses upon maintaining these laws.
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“Life Doesn’t Come from Matter” (SB 2.10.34)
A dominant perspective expressed in modern thought considers the universe to be made of matter, and therefore non-living at its foundation. This view proposes that over time, under specific conditions, life emerges as a by-product of matter.
“Complex Varieties from Simple Laws?” (SB 2.10.10)
Thompson uses a “tinkertoy” analogy to help illustrate the improbability of producing complex consciousness based exclusively on elementary physical laws. In one example he questions, who would expect to produce a model of the Empire State Building by randomly assembling tinkertoy pieces? Thompson proposes that the empirical evidence rather suggests a necessary role for intelligence.
“Illusion” (SB 2.9.34)
Thompson discusses the subject matter of personality embedded within the potency of maya, the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality, known within the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition as Lord Krishna.
“The Essence of Religion” (SB 2.9.21)
This section of the Bhagavatam chronicles a discussion between the cosmic engineer of the universe, Lord Brahma, and Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thompson not only argues that Vedic texts such as these contain the essence of religious experience, but even further, that the Srimad-Bhagavatam, with its emphasis on bhakti, represents the summum bonum.
“Greatness of Krishna” (SB 2.9.8)
Lord Brahma, who is described in the Puranas as the celestial engineer of the material cosmos, is also said to experience a single day that would last four billion solar years on a human scale of experience. Thompson suggests that descriptions such as these are practically inconceivable; and yet he goes on to show how Lord Brahma can appear comparatively insignificant when compared to the unlimited expansive qualities attributed to Lord Krsna.
“Simulated Worlds 2” (SB 2.9.4)
Thompson examines aspects of telerobotic simulation research in which our normal sense of reality tends to disappear. He argues that experiments such of these can offer useful references points for considering complex issues involving artificial intelligence research, as well as classic arguments pertaining to the Platonic world of ideal forms.
“Ancient World Culture” (SB 2.7.1)
Thompson considers the pastimes of Lord Varaha, to help illustrate the cross-cultural similarities shared in a variety of traditional creation accounts. In particular, he compares the “cosmic world disc” that appears in a plethora of ancient accounts, with Puranic descriptions of Bhu-mandala. One important point of similarity involves the cosmic earth disc being immersed within a vast ocean and subsequently lifted by a magical creature.
“The Path of Spiritual Realization” (SB 1.18.12)
Thompson describes bhakti yoga, the method of linking with the Supreme through the practice of devotion, as the ultimate path of self-realization. Other means of acquiring knowledge through a process of self-awareness can tend to enhance the false ego, or in other words, the latent conditional desire to dominate and control.
"Consciousness, and Krishna’s Form” (SB 1.18.5)
Thompson begins this lecture by listing the symptoms of Kali Yuga described in the Puranas. For example, the Puranas state that during this age, “social status is gained simply by wealth,” and “justice is obtained only by power.” Thompson then expands the discussion by touching upon a variety of concerns including quantum mechanics, epiphenomenalism, Darwinian theory, and the concept of achinya-bedhabedha-tattva.
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