Dhammalogue no.13

in this late Sunday evening Dhammalogue, we are talking about the inspiration we both find in science.
Dhammalogue no.13
Jenny: This week we've been watching a lot of science related videos, and we both find that there is such a refreshing addition to the language of spirituality. But I know that you in particular have a strong affinity to it, since it refers to your strong feeling that things have to make sense. Why does the expression of science, and in particular the quantum theories excite you so?

Igor: It's not quantum mechanics or string theory per se that I find interesting, everybody likes science fiction, but it's not that what excites me. Is's the human tenacity and commitment for thruth and understanding that gives me the goose bumps. Mathematicians and physicists are jnana yogis, they want to, must, go deeper. They can't rest until they understand something. The yogic discoveries go beyond the rational mind, they can't be understood by the linear thinking mind, but that doesn't mean that they cannot be understood at all. Many times, meditators and yogis have the erroneous idea that thinking is wrong or useless, to be avoided. I totally disagree with that notion. Thinking and thinking sharp, is one of the corner stones of truth realization. For instance, we saw in the documentary how Isaac Newton had a strong understanding/intuition, a revelation if you want, of the movement of the planets, but the mathematics of the time were not ready for his ideas, so he had to 'invent' (which means make something which doesn't yet exist in the pre-learned experience) calculus! a whole new type of mathematics. To create, to make something out of nowhere, to understand and underlying principle that has been all the time there in front of your nose but was too subtle for you to see till this moment, is what yoga is all about, is what human life is all about. To see through what appears to be true and find what is true. So yes, scientists are awesome yogis in my eyes.

J: I agree with you completely, there is a beautiful dignity in their quest for that which is beyond the nucleus of the self, which relates so very well to dhamma. What I have come to appreciate this week when seeing some of these science videos, is that within science there is that same space for the truth being constantly put on trial, that same sense of infinitum that is so fascinating with yoga.

I: We are made with a built in sofware that pushes us towards meaning, even beyond meaning itself. In Sanskrit we have the classic vedic expression 'neti, neti', 'not this, not this' Keep searching!. And until we find it, the meaning, we keep coming back, no matter how sweet or bitter life might be, true satisfaction only comes through true understanding. So we keep coming back. And true understanding is not only mind, because much of it has to be reached through the heart, but it neither is only heart because much of it has to be reached with the mind. Yin and Yang forever. I bet that amongsts all the crazy equations that only him can understand, this is also the kind of stuff that goes on in Stephen Hawking's mind. I'd givea good number of surf sessions in exchange of a couple of hour inside his mind, and that's a lot for me to say!

J: A brilliant mind indeed. A man I imagine being alive because of his immense desire to know the thruth. In an interview we saw where he is talking with John Oliver, he gives this brilliant answer:

John Oliver: 'If there's one thing you want people to understand about your work, bearing in mind that most people will never understand anything about your work, What would that be?'

Stephen Hawking: 'Imaginary time. People think it's something you have in dreams, or when you're up against a deadline, but it's a well defined concept. Imaginary time is like another directions in space. It's the one bit of my work science fiction writers haven't used, because they don't understand it.'

J: Inspiring.

I: Indeed.



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