Book Reviewed: From Soul to Self by James Crabbe

Connecting to soul This edited book is disappointing. The chapters written by a neurobiologist and several philosophers makes extensive references to Greek philosophy but no mention of Sankhya philosophy of Hinduism that dates to eighth century B.C.E. This philosophical system formed the foundation for Yoga and Vedanta schools, and for Buddhist, and Jain philosophies. Even a verse from Katha Upanishad (Verses II, 18-20) is cited as Buddhist scripture in this book. The first metaphysical intellection of self and soul started in India before Greece. But very few books on science and philosophy mention the contribution of Hindu philosophers to abecedarian issues connecting life, cosmos and the creating entity. The essential feature of Greek thought is that the Self is the unification of consciousness and unconsciousness that represents the psyche. It is a product of individuation that integrates various aspects of one's personality. The Soul is the energy or essence of an individual. Self is a carrier of the Soul. Spirit is the anchor connecting the soul and self with the cosmic entity. According to Sankhya Philosophy the evolution of universe is due to interaction between ‘Prakriti’ (Primordial form of Nature, matter) and ‘Purusha’ (Self or Soul). The interaction of Prakriti and Purusha creates 23 elements during the evolution of life and cosmos. Samkhya is dualistic realism in which creation is attributed to two ultimate realities: the Prakriti (matter) and Purusha (self or soul). But in Vedanta, there is only one Ultimate Reality that combines the concept of Prakriti and Purusha into one Supreme Soul (Pure Consciousness) also called Brahman that has no attributes. it is a formless entity that encompasses omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, and eternal existence. Brahman’s qualities are personal and impersonal which exists in spaceless and timeless dimensions in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of a universe. The Pure Consciousness or the Supreme Soul can transcend all possible laws of physics, all spacetime dimensions and all physical realities in an unlimited space. Another difference between Samkhya and Vedanta schools are that Sankhya proposes that there are countless Atmans (Self), as many as the number of living entities in the cosmos. Each self is unique and different. But according to Vedanta, there is only one supreme soul. Our current understanding of physical reality from laws of physics is in close agreement with the views of Vedanta philosophy. Space, time, matter, and energy seem to behave differently at large scales (cosmos, classical reality), and at small scales (fundamental particles, quantum reality). Quantum reality requires the interaction of consciousness (conscious observers) with matter because fundamental particles have wave-particle duality. When they are not observed, they exist as waves, but when an experiment is conducted to detect them, they appear as a particles. In addition, two entangled particles sitting at the opposite sides of the universe remain connected and seem to “communicate” with each other instantaneously despite such vast cosmic distances. Understanding the physical properties of matter and energy as a collection of information may help understand the connection between consciousness and matter in spacetime. Integrated Information theory (IIT) provides a detailed account for the emergence of conscious experience from interconnected information and information-processing. This Information is both causal and structural. Artificial intelligence like robots and androids operate by processing information and future androids would have consciousness. Mathematical equations and laws of physics are written in the form of formulas, but who translates them into energy – mass relationship that works in the of spacetime fabric? There is deep interconnectedness between information contained in the physical properties of matter in spacetime. This is what is referred to as Pure Consciousness or Brahman in Vedanta Philosophy. It suffices to know that elements, metals, and non-metals, that makes each living cells may have come from many stars in the cosmos. Elements with atomic numbers above that of iron came from supernova explosions of giant stars that existed in the early cosmos.