Truth Beyond Science & Religion

For some time now, I have suggested that no system of human thought and its models, including science, philosophy, religion, or mythology, can give us access to fundamental truths. The only way to understand fundamental truth is to go beyond thought to the source of all thought and experience, and go to the source of all modes of knowing and experience, in consciousness. So, I know this might sound repetitive, but I would like to break it down for a clearer understanding, and hopefully to a clearer insight into the nature of both reality and into our own nature. So, the idea that no system of thought, including science, philosophy, religion, or mythology, can access fundamental truths suggests that these systems are limited by their reliance on human perception and cognition. They are constructs that interpret reality through specific frameworks, and are thus inherently unreliable and subjective. To understand fundamental truth, one must argue that it requires transcending these cognitive frameworks and accessing a state of pure consciousness or awareness, which is the source of all thought and experience. This is the yogic tradition. This perspective offers a window into mystical or spiritual traditions that emphasize direct perception or enlightenment as a means to grasp ultimate reality. So, how do we access to the reality that is the source of all thought and experience and knowing? So, number one, I know I've begun to understand that the mystery of existence is not comprehensible to the rational mind or to any mode of knowing and experience. And sometimes that means, or not sometimes, it actually means surrendering to divine mystery, embracing humility and astonishment, acknowledging that the ultimate truth may be beyond human comprehension, and yet can be experienced as fundamental joy and peace. In intuition and inspiration, these provide a direct and unmediated form of knowledge, allowing access to insights unavailable through empirical or rational means. And exploring primary mental faculties, moving beyond conceptual reasoning to engage with more primal aspects of mind, which might offer deeper understanding. So, this of course involves understanding consciousness, which plays a crucial role in understanding fundamental truth by serving as the medium through which we perceive and interpret reality. It is the foundation of all experience, enabling awareness of both internal and external existence. Consciousness in this context should be understood as irreducible and fundamental, as it underlies all subjective experiences and interpretations of the universe. Philosophically, it is often seen as the basis of reality itself, suggesting that our conscious experiences shape our understanding of truth. Thus, exploring consciousness leads to a deeper insight into the nature of existence and truth. So, while philosophy provides a path to the source of thought by encouraging deep inquiry about existence, knowledge and consciousness, its traditions often explore the nature of reality and consciousness, offering insights that go beyond empirical science. For instance, phenomenology seeks to understand experiences as they are perceived, and this can illuminate the nature of thought itself. Additionally, philosophy provides critical thinking and self-reflection, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the mind's workings and potentially reveal insights into the source of thought. And it's two branches, ontology, the nature of being of existence, and epistemology, the limitations of human knowing, actually adds to our understanding of the incomprehensible nature of existence on an experiential level. So, science and religion of course offer distinct approaches to fundamental truth, each with its own strengths and limitations. Science relies on empirical evidence and testable explanations to understand what we call the natural world. It excels in explaining so-called physical phenomena and has successfully expanded human knowledge about the appearance of the physical universe. However, science is limited to observable and measurable phenomena, which means it cannot address metaphysical or existential questions beyond the material world. Also, it relies on what is called empirical evidence as so-called truth, when empirical evidence is in fact a species-specific mode of knowing and perception and experience, limited by the instruments of knowing, such as the human brain and the human senses, which only glimpse or have access to a narrow bandwidth of perceptual activity. Religion provides insights into meaning, purpose and values, addressing questions that science typically does not explore. It offers a framework for understanding the spiritual and moral dimensions of life, and religious truths are often based on faith. Faith is the, in my opinion, the inner conviction of the invisible that makes the visible possible. And then revelation, which is sometimes a direct download of insight, intuition and truth. All spiritual religious traditions are based on revelation, which means a direct transmission of the incomprehensible, usually in verse and melody, and often in contradiction to scientific truths. Revelation is the basis of all scriptures. And in this revelation, the common thread on existence is that fundamental reality is beyond space and time, and perceptual reality is its projection, number one. Number two, spontaneous emergence of platonic values like truth, goodness, beauty, harmony, love, compassion, joy, equanimity, and loss of the fear of death. Because the fear of death is based on provisional false identities, questions that we need to explore much more deeply in these videos. And I intend to do that, some of it I have done before. If you're interested, we can go further, but the idea is to explore truth beyond words, but yet resorting to words. So the question is, had we not invented words or language, had we not invented the traditional giving names to experience force, what would ultimate reality be? Because the name is given to either an object, a space-time event, or an experience, and then around the name is immense stories created by the human mind, conditioned mind, to reinforce stories as reality without questioning the origins of souls, which would be closer to truth. So if this is interesting, I'll keep continuing, and if it is not interesting, I might still keep continuing, just because I like to shoot the breeze. You can of course engage with my digital twin, digitaldeepak.ai, and my latest book, Digital Dharma, using AI to explore and elevate spiritual intelligence and personal well-being, is also now available, and you don't need to use an app, you can use your browser, on your computer, and also on your phone, if you so wish. Anyway, thanks for listening.