Consciousness:

The Missing Link

Introduction
1. The Goal of Knowledge
2. On inspiration
3. The Computerized Mr. Jones
4. The Principle of Reincarnation
About the Authors

"Physicists have found it impossible to give a satisfactory description of

atomic phenomena without reference to the consciousness."
Eugene Wigner,
1963 Nobel Laureate, Physics
Scientists of the Bhaktivedanta Institute examine key underlying concepts
of the modern life sciences in light of India's ageold Vedic knowledge.
With an introductory survey of the issues by the Institute's founder, His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda.
CML: Introduction
Introduction
In cultures throughout the world, people have traditionally believed that
the innermost self of each human being is an entity that is distinct from
the gross physical body. Many religious authorities have maintained that
this self, or soul, possesses properties that are quite different from those
of matter, and that it survives the death of the physical body. In recent
years, however, with the development of modern empirical science, great
skepticism has arisen in the minds of many educated people about the
existence of the self as a distinct entity.
Investigators in different scientific fields such as chemistry, biology, and
psychology have found no clear evidence for the existence of a
nonphysical conscious entity, although they have been able to make
many advances in their efforts to explain the physical phenomena of the
body in mechanistic terms. Philosophers, far from demonstrating the
existence of such an entity, have been unable to reach any clear
consensus on what its properties may be, and the adherents of many
different religious sects have been unable to agree on a consistent
description of the nonphysical self that is capable of practical verification.

As a result, many scientists have completely rejected the idea of a

nonphysical self and have adopted the view that the self is nothing more
than an interplay of phenomena within the brain that completely obey
known physical laws. Owing to the prestige of modern science, this view
has been widely accepted by educated people throughout the world.
The thesis of this book is that scientists have adopted these conclusions
prematurely. It is indeed true that modern Western science, in its present
state of development, has been unable to shed any light on the possible
characteristics of the transcendental self. Nonetheless, a genuine science
of the nonphysical self is not only possible but already exists, and it has
been known since time immemorial. This is the science of self-realization
expounded in the Vedic literatures of India, such as Bhagavad-gt and
rmad-Bhgavatam.
Like any genuine science, the science of self-realiza