For the Vedic Cosmology Workshop III brochure – click here
February 19–20, 2022
In 2019, the BIHS sponsored it's original cosmology workshop, “Taking the 5th…Canto!,” where we explored the past, present, and future study of Purāṇic cosmography within ISKCON, as it relates to the ongoing development of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. The second workshop in 2020, “Models and Memes and Maps: A Modern Journey through Ancient Cosmography,” aimed at developing a unified framework for intellectual discourse involving 5th Canto Purāṇic cosmographical models in order to enhance the already rich tradition of scholarship surrounding this important topic.
This third in the series targeted ongoing research into the nature of spacetime and the origin and fate of the universe from a Purāṇic perspective. Both empirical and philosophical gaps are becoming more and more appreciated and acknowledged by the working scientific community. Therefore, it is paramount for devotee scholars to collaborate with the intention of developing a broad mathematical and experiential framework consistent with both traditional Indic and modern scientific cosmology. Such a framework for understanding the structure and origin of the cosmos would be of great value not only to ISKCON in general, but to academic and mainstream science as well.
The current standard Big Bang model of modern cosmology begins with a singular event followed by a rapid period of expansion, known as inflation. This Big Bang inflationary model was introduced to solve some long-standing problems with the original Big Bang theory of the early 1900s; however, the popular inflationary model is fraught with its own set of empirical (and philosophical) problems. Recent theoretical work has aimed to demonstrate how the inflationary paradigm may be resolved with particular kinds of cyclic universe models that do not require such extreme scenarios, such as a singular Big Bang and the empirically untestable implications of inflation, such as a multiverse. However, by definition, any purely physical model of cosmology is unable to inform us as to why or how the universe manifested. To that end, we will consider sastric perspectives and their teleological implications to collaboratively design a more comprehensive picture of the nature of spacetime and the origin and fate of the universe.
Schedule of Events
The Nature of Spacetime and the Evolving Universe: Exploring Puranic Cosmology
February 19–20, 2022
Session 1, Saturday (February 19): To examine sastric and historic perspectives concerning the nature of the universe
Toward a Comprehensive Picture of the Nature of Spacetime and the Origin and Fate of the Universe – Doug Watson
Questioning Questions: A Vaishnava Epistemology of the Cosmos and Consciousness – Krishna Abhishek Ghosh
Views of the Universe, Defined in Space and Time – S. E. Kreitzer (Sthita-dhi-muni)
Viewing the Cosmos Through the Lens of Samkhya – Edwin Bryant
Session 2, Saturday (February 19): To systematically explore the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s description of the creation of the universe
Exploring Second and Third Canto Cosmogony Scenarios – Purushottam Goel (Parama Karuna)
Vedic Perspective on the Origin of the Universe – Pandu Santhoju (Pavaneshwar)
The Nature of Spacetime and the Evolving Universe – Friedrich Silvia (Sriji)
What is a Brahmanda and How Large is It? – Richard Cole (Radha Mohan)
Session 3, Sunday (February 20): To seek correlations between space and time in the Bhagavatam
Space-time dilation: A Proportionality Approach to the Relevance of ‘Height’ in the Puranic Cosmos – Vasyl Semenov (Dvija Govinda)
Time in Vedic Culture – Christopher Hayton (Krsna-bhajana)
Big Bang and the Sages – Sidharth Chhabra (Siddha Hari)
Space-Time Correlation and Cosmology of the Srimad-Bhagavatam – Punit Bhalla (Prem Gauranga)
Cycles of Time: An Overview of the Penrose Conformal Cyclic Cosmology Model – Gopal Goel
Session 4, Sunday (February 20): To conceptualize the experience of space from a Vedic perspective
Grappling with the Concept of Space – Joseph Stover
Modern Cosmological Evidence for an Egg-shaped Universe – Bhupal Dev
Conceptual Space – Venkatesh Chembrolu (Vrindavana Priya)
Sankhya and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics – Jack Dodson (Kala-Svarupa)
The Five Elements of Matter and the States of Matter in Modern Science – Michael Cremo (Drutakarma)
Spacetime and the Gunas – Mauricio Garrido (Murli Gopal)