HINDU RITUALS AND ROUTINES - WHY DO WE FOLLOW THOSE?

[NOV]

frankly I dont understand why faith needs science to back it up.
faith is faith - meaning belief. belief is something that cannot be proven.
science never attempts to use faith to back them up, so why must faith look for science to back it up?
Is that a sign of not having faith?

[PARAMASHIVAN]

Kathir

Hinduism is based and derived from Science of the cosmos, where else a 'Faith' is just a belief, it is not Reality, hence we a contradiction/conflict between Reality (Logics) and Faith (Belief)

[anbu_kathir]

frankly I dont understand why faith needs science to back it up.
faith is faith - meaning belief. belief is something that cannot be proven.
science never attempts to use faith to back them up, so why must faith look for science to back it up?
Is that a sign of not having faith?

NOV,
Speaking only for the Hindu faith, AFAIK it is nowhere mentioned in scripture that man should give up his intellectual abilities and completely believe in matters given in the scriptures that are related with activities in the world. In fact, AFAIK it is stressed that the intellect must be used as much as possible in any issue that can change with the circumstances. For example, it would be completely unacceptable today to follow all the laws of the controversial Manu Smriti to the dot, or accept that the Universe is infact made up of just the five elements - earth, water etc.

But as far as the non-worldly (and by non-worldly I mean things which Science can neither prove nor disprove), the scriptures asks the adherent to go by its word. As you said, such things cannot be reasoned by science, and it is upto the individual to leave it at that or take the word of scripture by which it claims it will result in his/her liberation.

Also, the Hindu canon also has several gradations of scriptures, with the highest being the Veda which is completely cryptic and therefore extremely subtle to analyse. As we go down the ladder, this situation is reversed, the statements get more specific (to the circumstances in which they were authored) and less viable for manipulation. Hinduism allows these lower-rung scriptures to be bent or broken depending on the circumstances of the present day.

One of the more recent psychologists, Scott Peck, has presented an understanding of "faith" in several stages.

http://www.factnet.org/Stages_Of_Spiritual_Growth.html

Very interestingly, he puts the rationalism based outlook as the penultimate stage in faith by itself. IMHO this is indeed the spirit of the Hindu canon. Of course, Hinduism considers the composers or writers of the important scriptures (sans Veda) to generally be from the final stage of faith, but AFAIK none of them ignore or ask for the giving up of the rationalistic pov.

Love and Light.

[anbu_kathir]

Kathir

Hinduism is based and derived from Science of the cosmos, where else a 'Faith' is just a belief, it is not Reality, hence we a contradiction/conflict between Reality (Logics) and Faith (Belief)

Our scriptures says that Consciousness is the basis of everything. This is an Axiom (unprovable statement), I think. It is not provable by a scientific experiment, and therefore it is not based on science (whose prime principle is objective evidence). Therefore, Hinduism is not science.

QED.
.

[SoftSword]

To a scientist these things don't make much sense, thats the problem. Analogies might be drawn of course, but one must be very careful so that the analogy is not mistaken for scientific truth, for then the burden of evidence has to be shouldered and there is AFAIK no evidence (except of course direct subjective experience which is useless to science).

einsteen'um APJ'vum theevira kadavul bakthargal'nu padichaenae!

[PARAMASHIVAN]

Softie

Neenga ingaiyum varuveengala

[SoftSword]

edhachum thappaana edatthukku vandhuttena?

[PARAMASHIVAN]

SS

appadi onum illa, ithula ellam ungaluku interest irukum nu naa ninaikala, any way

//end Digresion

[anbu_kathir]

einsteen'um APJ'vum theevira kadavul bakthargal'nu padichaenae!

SS,

Apdi paatheengannaa, too many scientists are atheists these days. Adhunaala enna? Scientists can have beliefs, and in this particular belief in a supernatural deity, they are not backed up by logical reasoning or objective evidence, avalavudhaan.

[PARAMASHIVAN]

Our scriptures says that Consciousness is the basis of everything. This is an Axiom (unprovable statement), I think. It is not provable by a scientific experiment, and therefore it is not based on science (whose prime principle is objective evidence). Therefore, Hinduism is not science.

QED.
.

Kathir
It depends on what people perception of the meaning of "Science" ? Is Science 'Limited' to Material/Object orientation? Isn't self realisation/ Inner Engineering (Understanding the Origin of who I am) a Scientific Concept?