An Analysis of Scientific Research from an Upanishadic Perspective

Today’s scientific community tends to consider that subjective research could never lead to acceptable results. Objectivity is considered an essential requirement for scientific research to be successful. This position leads to severe criticisms; however, subsequent discovery of additional information often leads such objectively derived scientific theories to change radically as in the case of Thomas Kuhn’s Scientific Revolutions. In contrast, Upanishads state that Atman, which can be realized subjectively through samadhi (Mandukya Karika 3.37), is the eternal and immutable source of all knowledge. Asamprajnata Samadhi is the advanced stage of meditation (Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.18). The conflict between these two opposed positions leads to the following question: in view of the ever-changing nature of objectively derived scientific conclusions, why should the objective approach to scientific research be considered superior to the subjective approach? This paper recounts the results of a literary review undertaken to understand the nature of the problem from the Upanishadic perspective. A summary of the findings is as follows: All scientific research requires one or more human minds as the primary instrument. Any bias of those minds will therefore influence the results of all such scientific studies. Conducting scientific scrutiny of the mind could have avoided these problems faced by objective scientific studies. However, for the past six centuries or so, many of the scientific research projects have been conducted without subjecting the mind to scientific scrutiny. The resulting theories of scientific research conducted by purely objective means are imperfect because they always turn out to be incomplete, and in that sense false. Subjective findings revealed to the researcher from within through Asamprajnata Samadhi cannot be false. Upanishads hold that the mind is nonsentient and whatever knowledge one acquires is when the mind ( Buddhi ) gets connected to a person’s inner pure consciousness. Objective research findings should be recognized as having subjective dimensions because they are truths revealed to the scientist when consciousness illuminates his mind and intellect. However, it is extremely difficult to ascertain the genuineness and validity of the stated experience of the meditators. If the subjectively experienced results can be verified by the objectively obtained data, it would present an ideal structure of scientific research.