Positive and Progressive Immortality
“All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”
:: Albert Einstein
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Our work aims to inspire progress in both the sciences and humanities through presenting and discussing the relevance of the subjective evolution of consciousness as a conception that moves people to transcend materialistic attachments and worldviews, and the implications this has in art, philosophy, science, and religion.
The “Two-Step Evaluation on the Origin of Life and the Relationship Between Scientific and Spiritual Worldviews,” was conducted by the Bhakti Vedanta Institute of Spiritual Culture and Science as part of the Georgetown University Undergraduate Virtual Internship and Experiential Work Initiative. Two groups of participants considered six questions concerned with the intersection of science, philosophy, and religion, by submitting written responses before engaging in further dialogue via a group Zoom discussion. Group 1 consisted of four participants who were mostly from a Western cultural background, while Group 2 consisted of three participants who were from an Eastern cultural background. The summarized results of the participant’s responses to each of the six questions plus the five main problems which emerged throughout the responses and discussions are available here. Please see our article “Towards a Spiritual Science — a Holistic Approach to the Big Questions in Modern Science” which addresses the first three problems.
The next phase of the project is arranging preliminary interest groups within universities and other relevant institutions to meet and further explore specific topics that were introduced in “Towards a Spiritual Science.” Such groups may be organized in person or via Zoom calls. The goal is to organize a symposium with faculty and students from each institution, around the specific topic of interest as determined by the preliminary group. Topics may include but are not limited to:
The next phase of this work strives to encourage students, scientists, and scholars to open-mindedly and critically consider the ideas discussed in “Towards a Spiritual Science,” by drawing attention to the central theme of The Importance of Distinguishing Mechanical and Organic Wholes and arranging educational activities such as essay contests and symposiums within universities and other relevant educational institutions. Important questions inspired by this theme include:
What are the social consequences of the mechanistic scientific paradigm?
What are the bioethical consequences of underestimating the irreducibility of life?
What is the role of the Self in empirical science?
We hope that considering this thought-provoking theme and discussing these questions will inspire new approaches to modern scientific research concerned with the origin and nature of life and consciousness.