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Consciousness is Empirically Verifiable



  
Dear Stephen,

  Thank you for your reply.

  My point in presenting this example was to show that we can formulate
  hypothesis based on religious principles, ie: "I am not this body but I
  am the soul within" and "Consciousness is the symptom of the soul". We
  can then make predictions based on this hypothesis, ie: "When 'I' the
  soul leave the body the consciousness will cease." This is the
  scientific process and it is no less valid than any other scientific
  theory.


>>My "religious system" tells me I am not the material body, but rather
>>"I" am a spiritual entity currently present within this body.

>Why not both?  Water is both wet and liquid, why can't "human" be
>both material and spiritual?  Besides, while having a material
>body may be inconvenient, I cannot imagine being human without it.
         
  The body is material, the soul the, "I", the person is the "driver" of 
  the material body. This is supported by the scientific theory I have
  stated above, but more importantly it is verified by Krishna, the
  Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita: (2.13)


                         dehino 'smin yatha dehe
                           kaumaram yauvanam jara
                         tatha dehantara-praptir
                          dhiras tatra na muhyati


  "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood
  to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at
  death.  A sober person ls not bewildered by such a change."


>>My "religious system" describes consciousness as the symptom of the
>>presence of the soul within the body therefore my "religious system"
>>predicts that when "I" leave my body the consciousness will cease. This
>>is a perfectly valid scientific description of the soul and
>>consciousness.

>Being human is an illness, then?  Really...                  

  Yes, having a material body is a symptom of our diseased condition. It 
  is not natural. The soul is eternally youthful but when we identify 
  with the body we think we are getting old, the soul is full of 
  pleasure, full of bliss, but when we identify with the body we become 
  full of anxiety, the soul is full of knowledge but when we identify 
  with the body we become full of ignorance. So yes, accepting myself to 
  be this material body is a disease.

>>It is actually the absolute truth. Even if you don't accept it
>>as the absolute truth you have to accept it as a bona fide theory...

>If it is "bona fide theory," then it should be empirically verifiable,
>with which you are going to have some difficulty.  It seems to me
>that religion is as qualified to verify science as science is to verify
>religion.                            

  No it's empirically verifiable. At the time of death the consciousness 
  does leave the body. That's your empiric proof.
  
  Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
  

  Madhudvisa dasa       .




Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Madhudvisa dasa       
(madhudvisa@krishna.org)     /sudarsana 
                                
All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!



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