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Quantum Physics and Vedic Metaphysics

by David Bruce Hughes

Consciousness is the primary issue in human life. Indeed, without consciousness, there are no other issues. Consciousness and its corollaries are fundamental to every thought, word and action. Yet how strange it is that no universally accepted, comprehensive theory of consciousness exists in Western science. The reason for this is clear: until recently, science intentionally restricted its domain to empirical investigations of the manifest objective world, while consciousness is intrinsically subjective and immanent.

However, without a practical theory of consciousness, science cannot adequately explain the world in which we live. Consciousness is the most basic experiential fact of existence. Without a theory of consciousness, Quantum Mechanics in particular has nowhere to turn but to mathematical theories of chance and probability to explain observations of subatomic energy transactions. Einstein famously expressed his discomfort with this by saying, “God does not play dice with the Universe. ” Quantum Mechanics cannot predict the behavior of a quantum system until a macroscopic conscious entity interferes with it, decohering the indeterminate superposition of the quantum wave function into a definite classical result.

Clearly, Quantum Mechanics is missing something; just as clearly, what is missing is a workable theory of consciousness. The sometimes bizarre concepts and calculations of quantum theory all depend on the existence and actions of an observer. Any observer must be conscious, and therefore the consciousness of the observer is critical to the outcome of any quantum experiment. However, so far Quantum Mechanics still treats the observer ’s consciousness as a ‘black box,’ as if consciousness were proscribed from serious scientific inquiry. Whether this is a consequence of Western science’s origins as a weapon against the intellectual repression of the Church, or because of materialistic empirical bias of theorists and researchers, is not the issue here. The intent of this work is to present and explore an extant theory of consciousness from an ancient tradition of vital, living importance to hundreds of millions of adherents and practitioners all over the world, and to evaluate its potential value to modern science.

Translating Vedanta

With recent developments in Quantum Mechanics and the philosophy of science, the dialogue of Western scientific thought has advanced to the point where its cutting edge exposes many issues equivalent to those discussed in Vedanta. Now that this has occurred, the timeless principles of Vedanta can be expressed in the technical language of Quantum Mechanics and the philosophy of science, with little or no attenuation of meaning. Quantum physics and Vedanta address the same philosophical object: the inconceivable, immeasurable and immanent nature of Absolute Reality, of which the observable phenomenological cosmos is but a tiny subset. The two disciplines approach the subject from widely divergent points of view and use vastly different language to treat it. Nevertheless, the commonality of subject between Western science and Vedanta makes it possible to reconcile them without diminishing the importance or subtlety of either. Scientific Vedanta is the first attempt to translate the enduring wisdom of Vedanta into the new scientific language of Quantum Physics.

The insights of Vedanta philosophy and practice provide tremendous theoretical and practical advantages over a strictly Western scientific approach to the mysteries of life and existence. The keys to these advantages are that Vedanta recognizes the transcendental nature of consciousness, and the practical ability of directed consciousness to act, in effect, as co-creator of the universe to realize its full potential. Vedantic consciousness theory provides a workable interface between the individual and the Universal Quantum Wave Function, which contains all possibilities of all possible universes. Through this interface, one can enter into a direct personal relationship with the Infinite and engage in an eternal, ecstatic dance of mutual reciprocation. Translating the recondite philosophy and practical methods of Vedanta into accessible Western scientific language opens profound possibilities of expanded consciousness to millions of scientific-minded people all over the world.

What is Vedanta?

The Sanskrit term Vedanta is a compound of veda + anta. Veda can refer to the Vedas, the sacred sanatana-dharma tradition of Bharata (India), or in a more general sense, it simply means true knowledge. Anta means the conclusion or end. So Vedanta can be interpreted either literally, as the final conclusion of the voluminous literature of the Vedic tradition; or more figuratively, as the ultimate knowledge, once knowing which, there is nothing further to be known. Vedanta appears herein in both meanings, but chiefly in the latter sense. In other words, Vedanta is the highest knowledge of the Vedic tradition, exactly as Quantum Mechanics and allied fields are the most advanced subjects in Western science.

While Westerners usually categorize Vedanta as a religious work, its tone is actually closer to a terse mathematical or scientific analysis. Vedanta examines evidence, asserts hypotheses, quotes established authorities both pro and con its thesis, and closely reasons its way to a well-substantiated conclusion. That Vedanta is available in the West primarily through religious interpreters has perhaps prejudiced our evaluation of its relevance to scientific concerns.

Certainly, Vedanta-sutra requires substantial exegesis to be intelligible to readers uninitiated into its arcane mysteries. It is essentially lecture notes of Srila Vyasadeva, a great author and teacher of Vedic philosophy about 50 centuries ago in Bharata (India). Various schools of Vedanta interpretation exist, muddying the clear original intention of the work. This is quite unnecessary, since the author himself explains the meaning of Vedanta-sutra elaborately in his epic work Srimad-Bhagavatam. The following statement of Garuda Purana, one of the oldest Puranas (Vedic histories), confirms that Srimad-Bhagavatam is the commentary on Vedanta-sutra:

artho‘yam brahma-sutranam

"Srimad-Bhagavatam is the commentary on Vedanta-sutra."

In researching and preparing Scientific Vedanta, we made extensive reference to the Govinda-bhasya of Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, a great author and interpreter of Vedic works in the Brahma-sampradaya, well situated in the direct lineage of both Vedanta-sutra and Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Differing interpretations

Vedanta is chiefly known in the West as a vehicle for the theory of impersonalism: that the Ultimate Reality is somehow devoid of all qualities, energies and activity, and that self-realization consists of merging one ’s existence with Brahman. In other words, self-realization equals self-annihilation. However, this interpretation is not supported by Vedanta-sutra itself, or by its author in his commentary. As we shall see, such impersonal interpretations are also forbidden by the principles of non-Aristotelian logic. Srila Vyasadeva confirms the personal nature of the Absolute and His potencies in Srimad-Bhagavatam [1.7.4-6] in the following words:

"Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in directed consciousness [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Brahman along with His external illusory energy, which was under full control.

"Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes unwanted reactions of material miseries.

"The unwanted material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of directed consciousness. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vya sadeva compiled this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is in relation to Vedanta-sutra."

We will also see in our scientific analysis that, in order for the Vedantic practices of directed consciousness to be effective, one must conceive of a personal interface with the Absolute. Even if the Absolute actually is ultimately impersonal (which is impossible to establish empirically because the relation of the Absolute to itself is unobservable by definition in both Quantum Mechanics and Vedanta), we must relate to the Absolute as a person simply because we are persons. Since all possible qualities and states of existence and energy are contained within the Universal Quantum Wave Function in unlimited potential, this is not a theoretical problem. It is a well-substantiated observation that the impersonal practice of transcendental consciousness is much more difficult, and its followers seldom achieve the success they desire. This very important issue will be discussed elaborately in the text.

Expressing Vedanta in scientific language

Those who approach Vedanta from a spiritual or religious viewpoint should not view this work with dismay. Vedanta and Quantum Mechanics describe the same subject—ultimate reality—from two widely divergent points of view. Since the subject in both cases is identical, there is scope to demonstrate many parallels between the two disciplines, though they speak disparate languages. While this book chiefly addresses Western readers trained in scientific thought, students and teachers of the Vedic tradition should find it equally valuable, for it shows how the timeless Vedic tradition remains relevant and easily expressible in terms of contemporary scientific concepts or any sufficiently sophisticated frame of reference.

My Vedic guru Srila A.C. BhaktiVedanta Svami Prabhupada often spoke of Vedanta as a great science, global in scale and application, and encouraged his students to speak and write about it to the scientific community. He wrote, “Vedanta is the medium of philosophical interpretations, and thus Vedanta cannot be the absolute property of any particular class of philosopher. A sincere seeker of the Absolute Truth is called a Vedantist. Veda means ‘knowledge.’ Any department of knowledge is a part of Vedic knowledge, and Vedanta means the ultimate conclusion of all branches of knowledge. As philosophy is called the science of all sciences, Vedanta is the ultimate philosophy of all philosophical speculations.” He would be delighted to see this work, as would our predecessor Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, who wrote the inspired Govinda-bhasya Vedanta commentary on which much of this book is based.

Mysticism generally appears troublesome to the Western mind, which makes great efforts to avoid it. However, the findings of Quantum Mechanics and non-Aristotelian philosophical theories such as the Anthropic Principle highlight the central role of consciousness in the human existential situation, opening the door to a constructive dialogue between Eastern and Western modes of thought. Scientific Vedanta is certainly not the last word on the subject, and the future contributions of thoughtful and intelligent readers—from both Vedic and scientific perspectives—will certainly enrich the dialogue begun here.

Terminology and definitions

In view of the many parallels between Vedanta and Quantum Mechanics, we find many pairs of terms with equivalent meanings. We consider these terms synonymous, and employ them as appropriate to the context. That is, when explaining Vedantic texts we generally use the Vedic terms, and when discussing parallel scientific issues we use Western terms. The following table lists the principal synonymous terms used in this work (Please see the Glossary for additional technical terms and definitions):