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Can Science Alone Unravel the Ultimate Reality?

Science has taken us from observing distant galaxies to probing the subatomic world, revealing that reality is far more complex than it appears. Quantum physics explores phenomena that challenge classical physics, while string theory investigates the possibility of deeper structures and additional dimensions. Yet could the ultimate nature of reality lie beyond what scientific observation alone can reveal? Our senses perceive reality, while the mind interprets the information they provide. But can the mind, accustomed to understanding the world through time, space and causality, fully comprehend a reality that may transcend these frameworks? Scientific inquiry, aided by advanced instruments and tools, is indispensable, but can intellectual understanding alone resolve the mystery of existence? Ancient Hindu wisdom approached this mystery differently. The Upanishadic sages turned inward, exploring not merely the world being observed but the nature of the observer itself. Their inquiry ...

The Karmic Ledger Across Lifetimes

When the physical body perishes, what happens to the impressions of a lifetime? Where do our desires, instinctive tendencies, talents and unresolved emotional patterns, known as samskaras, go? If the karmic cycle is real, how do these impressions re-emerge and influence us when we are reborn? Hindu mythology offers an intriguing metaphor in the figure of Chitragupta, the celestial accountant who records human actions and their karmic consequences. Western esoteric philosophy speaks of the Akashic Records, a universal repository of information about existence. Both raise a fundamental question: could our experiences leave impressions that survive beyond the physical body, and where might they be preserved during the transmigration of the Jiva? Vedanta offers an explanation through the physical, subtle and causal bodies. The physical body, or Sthula Sharira, including the brain responsible for processing and retrieving memories, perishes at death. According to traditional teachings, t...

UNDERSTANDING: SEEING THINGS AS THEY ARE

We often believe that we understand something simply because we know about it. But is knowing the same as understanding? And do we see things as they are, or merely as we perceive them? Understanding appears to be a simple word, yet it is far more profound than merely gathering information or acquiring knowledge. It is the ability to recognise relationships, connections and implications, and to apply what we know with clarity and discernment. But can we ever see reality exactly as it is? Our perceptions are shaped by our upbringing, experiences, beliefs, conditioning and emotions. What we consider truth may simply be our interpretation of it. We often mistake our perspective for reality and our assumptions for facts. Consequently, our understanding is influenced by the filters through which we view the world. Although we may never comprehend reality in its entirety, we can continually refine our understanding by becoming aware of these limitations. The Jain philosophy of Anekantavada o...

The Art of Detached Action

Very often, people ask: How can we remain detached from karma while living in a material world where action is unavoidable? For those performing different roles as employees, leaders, businesspeople, teachers and professionals, detachment may appear almost impossible. We work towards targets, seek growth, compete for opportunities, hope for recognition and worry about results. How, then, can we remain fully committed to our work without becoming emotionally dependent on its outcome? The answer does not lie in withdrawing from action. It lies in changing our relationship with action and its results. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna does not ask Arjuna to abandon his duty. He asks him to perform it without attachment to its fruits. This is the essence of Karma Yoga: to act wholeheartedly while remaining inwardly free. A similar insight can be found in the teachings of the Buddha, although the philosophical framework is different. Buddhism identifies craving and clinging as importa...

Why Do We Invoke Ganesha Before Every Beginning?

Before beginning anything important or auspicious, we invoke Lord Ganesha. But why Ganesha? He is not primarily associated with creation. Brahma traditionally represents creation. Why, then, is Ganesha invoked at the beginning of an undertaking? Creating something means bringing it into existence. Beginning is the moment when we decide to undertake something. It is also a moment of celebration: a celebration of possibility, intention and the opportunity to bring something new into our lives. At that moment, we need more than enthusiasm. We need clarity, discrimination, preparedness and the ability to deal with obstacles. Ganesha is traditionally associated with obstacles. As Vighnaharta, he is the remover of obstacles, while Vighneshvara means the Lord of obstacles. This apparent paradox offers a deeper insight. An obstacle is not always negative. It may make us pause, reconsider our direction or prevent us from taking the wrong path. The deeper prayer, therefore, may not be to remo...

Are We Really in Control of Ourselves?

Very often, a thought, feeling or impulse arises within us and prompts us to act. Only afterwards, when the moment has passed, do we sometimes realise that we could have responded differently or better. What is striking is that the reason to pause or act differently was already there, yet something else within us seemed to take over. Why does this happen? Why does a thought, emotion or impulse sometimes lead us into action before our reasoning has had a chance to regulate it? And why, afterwards, do we see the situation differently? We assume that we think, decide and then act. But perhaps the process is not always so straightforward. Sometimes something seems to arise within us first, and conscious reasoning enters only afterwards. This tension between conscious reason and what arises within us has occupied philosophers and psychologists for a long time. Arthur Schopenhauer, the nineteenth century philosopher, challenged the belief that conscious reason is always in charge of huma...