The Perennial Philosophy is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi (‘That art thou’); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence; and the last end of every human being, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is. –     Aldous Huxley.

‘Towards Unification of Sciences,’ volume 3, number 2, maintains its continuity with a total number of six papers. The first three papers by Prof. Bishnu Charanabinda Mohanty, explain the supreme Vedic realty Brahman, how the Vedic Shanti-mantra helps in its understanding, and the level of harmony maintained between Brahman and the doctrine of Buddhism. The fourth paper, by Prof. Niranjan Barik, presents how science is going ahead in perceiving the layers of physical reality, the fifth paper is a search of innovation and consciousness within artificial intelligence by Dr. Archana Mukherjee and her co-authors, and finally in the last paper, the young physicist-cum-journalist Satyabrata Panigrahy is visualizing artisan’s universe in philosophical cosmology of Indian craft.

The titles of the first three papers, serially: ‘Realization of Brahman promotes the theory of everything;’ ‘Vedic Shanti Mantra reveals universal Truths of the physical world;’ and, ‘Complete harmony between Brahman and the Doctrine of Buddhism;’ are by the same author, Prof. Mohanty, who has developed the papers on a common ground of value and significance of Brahman. Citing Vedic science, he provides a unique perception of a supreme unchanging reality, called Brahman who is the cause of all creations, all existences, all sublimations, and all happenings in the universe. This supreme reality is conceptualized as formless, yet has the universal significance to provide form and life to the entire material as well as spiritual domain. He also discusses science and presents how scientists are realizing the unity of the universe and are making a serious attempt to understand the unified super-force which regulates the four fundamental forces of nature, with a hope that this unified super-force operating in different domains would provide the theory of everything. Finally, he concludes that the formless mass-space interaction of Brahman, which is the cause of all fundamental forces of nature, when properly expanded to cover the spectrum of modern science; a unified understanding of nature through unification of sciences will emerge. He also brings in the same unique significance of Brahman to explain the next two papers. The second one starts with the fact that similar to the existence of microstructure of a macro body, the microstructure also has micro-micro-structure comprising micro-micro-particles whose matter values, though remain unnoticed, are parts of the mass-space exchange between the individual consciousness and the supreme consciousness. This metaphor links Brahman with Shanti Mantra and also explains why ‘Om’ is associated in the beginning and also at the end of the Mantra. The third paper uses the same concept of Brahman and compares it with the concept of impermanence doctrine of Lord Buddha. He argues that all existences in the universe are a mass-space integral system having name, form and form-based properties (conditioned phenomena); also, all existences in different forms are subject to decay, thereby, the conditioned phenomena always change but the universal formless interaction of mass and space of Brahman remains unchangeable. He then concludes that such similarity of phenomena in different domains is a great move towards unification of materials science and spiritual science.

The fourth paper is titled ‘Physical reality as perceived in science.’ The author, Prof. Barik has illuminated, in clear-cut revolutionary terms, how science has addressed the Physical Reality in three layers; the first layer brought out by classical science with all separate solid material bodies, not revealing to our ordinary senses what lies inside; then the second layer showing us the inner constituents at the sub-atomic level, which are ceaselessly moving quite vigorously; and finally, the most subtle, surprising and mystical ultimate layer, where duality manifests with dynamic fields of forces operating everywhere. Now, the author concludes with Einstein’s vision of a single unified field theory controlling all natural phenomena, something similar as the all-embracing Indian Vedic ‘Brahman‘; and fittingly ends with the quote from Chandogya Upanishad. In the fifth paper, ‘An Invisible Aspect of Artificial intelligence and Science of Consciousness’, Dr. Mukherjee and her co-authors have visualized artificial intelligence, as a product of our innovation and consciousness, as well as a tool for creating innovation and consciousness. Therefore, in order to have a fruitful use, they suggest an approach, balancing innovation with preparedness, having a suitable defense system against potential misuse, and also an understanding of the interconnectedness of all existences, that can lead us toward a progressive civilization. The last paper is on ‘The artisan’s universe: philosophical cosmology in Indian crafts’ by the young physicist Satyabrata Panigrahy. Drawing inspiration from Indian philosophy and traditions, and citing wonderful examples of potter’s wheel, weaver’s loom, blacksmith’s forge and others, he examines how everyday crafts symbolize complex cosmic principles like cycle of time, space-time fabric, interconnectedness, fine-tuning, and the Big Bang model. Ultimately, he concludes that metaphor serves as a powerful cognitive tool to grasp the complexities of the cosmos and human existence.

With this issue, the journey towards unification of sciences moves a few steps forward.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   By

Dr. Raja Kishore Paramguru