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Concrete and Abstract Realities

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Abstract

Before Newton, theology, mathematics, and physics were at best united in a triangle with theology at the top and mathematics and physics at the bottom. He replaced theology by observation and put empirical research and logical analysis at the bottom of the triangle. After his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was printed in 1687, theology lost its primacy to physics. The accuracy of Newton’s approach resulted in a revolutionary insight into the principle of gravity. His method was not only leading in questions about balance and moving objects but applicable to every form of physical reality.

What a falling apple cannot bring about! Yet, apples, keyboards, and monitors are not the only objects we are confronted with. Poems, music, paintings, messages, and programmes of requirements and demands not only result in objective, mechanical reactions but also result in subjective emotions, deep feelings, or creative impulses. An external expression is preceded by a subjective processing that will lead to an adapted internal image, called quale. Such image is something, rather than nothing and, even though it is abstract, must be based on a substratum. What are these abstract forms made of and what is their subtle substratum? With our present knowledge, it is not possible to answer the question. For that, a new vision, a new paradigm, based on a new ontology, is required.

The moment has come when a subtle vision will act as a catalyst in the interpretation of both objective and subjective activities. The cause of all interpretations was, and still is, the mind. What is that mind, what is its substratum, and what is its composition? How does it work, and how did it evolve and from which level in the hierarchical organisation of life? How does the objective world influence perception in simple and complex minds? What in micro-organisms react to environmental conditions and seek possibilities to develop a best fitting form? The answer lies with tiny, local forms of consciousness, called ‘microvita,’ which are complementary to the already known local forms of energy.

This chapter is intended as a helping hand to gain some insight into a new approach.

Society for Microvita Research and Integrated Medicine (SMRIM). www.microvitamed.research.com.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Stroemer, E., coined the name Anthropocene as a geological term. In the year 2000, the Dutch chemist and Nobel-laureate, Paul Crutzen, published the term.

  2. 2.

    Descartes, R. (2010). Meditations. transl. by Desmond M. Clarke. London: Penguin Books Ltd., p. 106.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., p. 103.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., p. 8.

  5. 5.

    Aristotle. (1999). Physics. transl. by Robin Waterfield. New York: Oxford University Press.

  6. 6.

    Sullivan, L. H. (March 1896). “The tall office building artistically considered.” Lippincott’s Magazine, pp. 403–409.

  7. 7.

    Sinha, J. (2006). Indian philosophy, Volume II. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Ltd., p. 462.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., p. 311.

  9. 9.

    Buddhist studies, “The Heart Sutra-Prajna Paramita Hrydaya Sutra”. See http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/heartstr.htm. Accessed: 2013, October 9.

    Oh, Sariputra, Form Does not Differ From the Void,

    And the Void Does Not Differ From Form.

    Form is Void and Void is Form;

    The Same is True For Feelings,

    Perceptions, Volitions and Consciousness.

  10. 10.

    Sinha, op. ct., p. 462.

  11. 11.

    Arunachala Ashrama. “Bhagavan Ramana – The life of Sri Ramana Maharishi”. See http://www.arunachala.org/ramana/life/. Accessed: 2013, October 13.

  12. 12.

    I do realise that this is an opinion without too many shades of grey. A holistic opinion was expressed by Sri P.R. Sarkar when he left Jaipur on October 14, 1964:

    There are some great people who want to remain with the Supreme Consciousness always, and while with Him, they want to serve the society. And some other great people just want to become one with the Supreme Consciousness. They do not have any desire to live in the world and serve the society. So, it is up to the desire of those great people, and accordingly the Supreme Consciousness will bless them with what they want. But the true enjoyment is to be with the Supreme Consciousness and serve the society. Ultimately though, it is up to people with a great mind themselves, to decide what they want.

  13. 13.

    Davies, P. (2003). The Origin of Life. London: Penguin Books Ltd., p. 9.

  14. 14.

    Descartes, R. (2010). Meditations. transl. by Desmond M. Clarke. London: Penguin Books Ltd., p. 7.

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    He raised the knowledge argument in 1982 and 1986, with Mary, the super scientist who knows everything about colours, but never saw the colour red. What will she experience when she actually sees the colour red?

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  20. 20.

    Ibid., p. 103.

  21. 21.

    Catholic answers. The Vatican claims Darwin’s theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity. See http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=8385930. Accessed: 2014, October 15.

    On February 11, 2009, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture said:

    While the Church had been hostile to Darwin’s theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.

  22. 22.

    Sinha, op. cit., p. 1.

  23. 23.

    Sinha, op. cit., p. 51.

  24. 24.

    Sinha, op. cit., p. 103.

  25. 25.

    Chalmers , D. (2006). The Character of Consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 103.

    We have seen that there are systematic reasons why the usual methods of cognitive science and neuroscience fail to account for conscious experience. These are simply the wrong sorts of methods. Nothing that they can give, can yield an explanation. To account for conscious experience, we need an extra ingredient in the explanation. This makes a challenge to those who are serious about the hard problem of consciousness: what is your extra ingredient, and why should that account for conscious experience?

  26. 26.

    Eccles, J. (1994). How the Self Controls Its Brain. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

    The more we discover scientifically about the brain, the more clearly do we distinguish between the brain events and the mental phenomena, the more wonderful do the mental phenomena become. Promissory materialism is simply a superstition held by dogmatic materialists.

  27. 27.

    Sinha, op. cit., p. 11.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., p. 33.

  29. 29.

    AAA, American Association of Anatomists, How many organs (no matter how minor they are) does a human being have? And what are they? See http://www.anatomy.org/content/how-many-organs-no-matter-how-minor-it-is-does-human-beinghave-and-what-are-they. Accessed: 2013, October 12.

    The number of organs depends on definition. For instance: are the teeth a separate organ or part of the skull and is each muscle an organ or is a set of cooperating muscles defined as an organ?

  30. 30.

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  31. 31.

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    Anandamurti, Sri. Vraja Krsna and Vishuddha Advaetavada (2). Ananda Nagar, P.O. Baglata: The Electronic Edition of the Works of P.R. Sarkar, A.M.P.S. (Central) – EE7.5 2009.

  33. 33.

    Anandamurti, Sri. Microvitum in a Nutshell (Chapter 20.) “Microvita and Cosmology” 10.01.1989.

  34. 34.

    Anandamurti, Sri. Ananda Sutram. (Chapter 1). op. cit.

  35. 35.

    Coles, P. (2001). The New Cosmology. New York: Routledge.

  36. 36.

    Microvitum in a Nutshell. (Chapter 1) “Microvitum, the Mysterious Emanation of Cosmic Factor” 31.12.1986. op. cit.

  37. 37.

    Bianconi, E. ed. US National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health. An estimation of the number of cells of the human body. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23829164. Accessed: 2013, October 12.

  38. 38.

    AAA, American Association of Anatomists, How many organs (no matter how minor they are) does a human being have? And what are they? See http://www.anatomy.org/content/how-many-organs-no-matter-how-minor-it-is-does-human-beinghave-and-what-are-they. Accessed: 2013, October 12.

  39. 39.

    Science Daily. Humans Have Ten Times More Bacteria Than Human Cells: How Do Microbial Communities Affect Human Health? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases2008/06/080603085914.htm. Accessed: 2013, October 17.

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de Weijer, H. (2018). Concrete and Abstract Realities. In: Giri, A. (eds) Practical Spirituality and Human Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0803-1_11

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