Worshipping the Universal Consciousness

With reference to the religion of the Hindus, two criticisms are usually levelled: that it is idolatry, and that it advocates. Swami Vivekananda said that he too believed that Hindus were idolaters, and to pay the penalty for that he had to learn his lesson sitting at the feet of one who realised everything through idols. We address these two issues in this article.

- SWAMI SATYAPRIYANANDA

The Science of Vedanta

There are three fundamental ideas in Vedanta which appeal to scientific minds. These are:

1) Principle of Generalisation: The first principle of reasoning is that the particular is explained by the general, the general by the more general, until we come to the universal.... From humanity we generalise to animals, next to life, and at last to existence.

2) Principle of Evolution: That the explanation of a thing comes from within itself is completely satisfied by Vedanta. The Brahman has nothing outside of Himself. All this indeed is He: He is in the universe: He is the universe Himself. “The difference between man and man, between angels and man, between man and animals, between animals and plants, between plants and stones is not in kind, but only in the degree of manifestation.” That is the principle of evolution or greater manifestation.

3) Principle that Evolution is Cyclic:

This is the mind-boggling concept of evolution presented by Swami Vivekananda. Evolution is not linear but it is cyclic, for, that which evolves must have been involved earlier. The tree gets involved in the form of the seed; in the seed there is all that is required to evolve itself into a full-grown tree. And this process continues.

There are two more grand ideas which appeal to scientific minds. These are:

1) Solidarity of matter, of thought, and of spirit.