CHAPTER FOUR
(beginning only)
We need a science of complete knowledge. Without it, as a race, we will destroy ourselves. Modern science, with its fragmentary knowledge, has brought many perils. Each frontier of science is a double-edged sword -- one that threatens as well as beckons. Nuclear power lights our cities, but creates nearly eternal carcinogenic waste -- and the fear of nuclear terrorism. Medicine has worked miracles, but also has created virulent, drug-resistant diseases. Genetic engineering offers the opportunity to improve just about every living thing and, through mistakes or genetic warfare, the possibility of eliminating all life. Vedic science offers a more benign approach, one based on complete knowledge.
WHAT IS COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE?
If we analyze all possible knowledge, we see that it fits neatly into three categories. The first is knowledge of objects. This includes the solar system (astronomy), matter (physics), living objects (biology), a precise language for the description of any system (mathematics), and so on. We call this objective knowledge, and it includes all of modern science. Even psychology, with its emphasis on behavior, gets included in the category of objectivity.
Although the objective is most of what we learn in school, it is not all there is. Life is also subjective. Our sense of being, of existing, does not depend on mathematical formalisms. Nor are our feelings much swayed by the equations of physics. The subjective is a totally different domain, which includes the mind and especially the Self. Here we are concerned with ourselves as conscious beings. Thus, the second category is subjective knowledge. The subjective is as necessary to study and master as is the objective. It is equally as vast and as useful as all of modern science.
It seems that you could stop there...
