Book of Abstracts

About The Series of Seminars on

Integrating Modern Science and Spirituality for Social Wellness: A Challenge of 21st Century

Religions and Sciences have been major driving forces in generating knowledge and enabling evolution of human civilizations. Today's dominant worldviews and lifestyles are, however, conditioned largely by spectacular advances in science and technology. The science and technological progress combined with global capitalism has provided us immense powers of creation and destruction (almost God-like, some may be tempted to believe), which may significantly affect the course of evolution in future, for better or worse. An analysis of the present world scenario and global trends warns that the unique opportunities for sustained all round development and welfare are also associated with great risks of peril or self-destruction. We stand at crossroads. Which path humanity is likely to take, we must pause and reflect for charting the right path.

The scientific quest for truth relies on objective and empirically verifiable/measurable observables of the physical world perceived by the senses. Scientific theories are based on the belief that all phenomena in the universe have a material basis. Modern science, however, has not been able to adequately address the issues of feelings, consciousness and morality in human conduct.

Religious knowledge and doctrines, summarized and interpreted in scriptures, are based on the spiritual experiences/ inner enlightenment of their founders/ rejuvenators and saints. In contrast to material science, most ancient and modern religions believe in the existence of non-material elements (soul/consciousness, divinity) as essential parts of reality. Religion specific ethics solely based on faith have served a valuable purpose in regulating human behavior in the past when we had little explicit knowledge of how nature works.

While religion generally implies faith in specific belief systems, formalized practices of worship and prayer, rituals and customs, spirituality, though having its roots in religion, involves a personal quest about the meaning and purpose of life, realization of the intrinsic qualities of the self, inner peace and bliss, feelings of interconnectedness of everything in a holistic sense, harmony with nature and experience of transcendence. Extension of spirituality beyond the private experience into the social domain may provide the foundations for morality and human values.

Both scientific and spiritual knowledge should impart complimentary perspectives necessary for a holistic view of reality, since science attempts to find the truth about the outer physical world whereas spirituality is concerned with the inner experiences.

Unfortunately, however, the prevailing apparent disharmony and conflicting views provided by science, spirituality and diverse religious traditions on vital issues of personal and social interests have been instrumental in causing confusion resulting in enhanced behavioral problems, unhealthy lifestyles, socio-economic tensions and violence in the global pluralistic society.
Our biggest challenge in the 21st century is, therefore, to integrate the religious, spiritual and scientific knowledge into a generally acceptable holistic world-view to form the basis for an ethical,nonviolent and eco-friendly way of life for maximizing social and personal well-being.

As initial step to meet this formidable challenge, we plan to encourage dialog between scholars from different disciplines of sciences, humanities, philosophers, religious and spiritual leaders by organizing series of seminars with the following objectives:

• To critically review and evaluate various aspects of current interactions between different disciplines of modern science and spirituality in the context of social wellness.
• To develop an ethical system based on a holistic world-view taking into account both the scientific and spiritual perspectives.
• To establish a Multidisciplinary Task Force to develop an action plan, identify feasible research areas/problems.
• Formulate projects for focused  and coordinated research, with national  and international collaborations.
• Follow-up and monitor the progress.

The present seminar is the first in the series and has the focal theme "Consciousness and Knowledge: Scientific and Spiritual Perspectives".

The second seminar planned for 22-23 January will discuss "Scientific & Spiritual Basis of Behavior and its Modifications".

Committees:

Prof. P.N. Tandon	President, National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon
Prof. Vachaspati Upadhyaya	Vice-Chancellor, LBSSVP, New Delhi
Prof. D.C. Jain	ADGHS, Ministry of Health, New Delhi
Prof. L.S. Kothari	Delhi University, Delhi
Prof. B.N. Gangadhar	NIMHANS, Bangalore
Prof. P. Krishna	Krishnamurty Foundation, Varanasi
Prof. S.C. Lakhotia	Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Prof. I.L. Singh	Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Dr. S.L. Gandhi	ANUVIBHA, Jaipur
Prof. K.C. Sogani	Jain Vidhya Sansthan, Jaipur
Prof. D.N. Bhargawa	Rajasthan Sanskrit University, Jaipur
Prof. Sophana Srichampa	Mahidol University, Thailand
Dr. Sulekh C. Jain	Mahaveer Vision, Texas, USA

Dr. Shugan C Jain	Director, International School for Jain Studies, New Delhi, Chair person
Prof. Veer Sagar Jain	Jaindarshan Vibhag, L.B.S.S.V, New Delhi
Prof. K. Murlidhar	Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi
Prof. Shirley Telles	Research Director- Patanjali Yoga Peeth, Haridwar
Prof. Suneet Varma	Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi
Shri Rajesh Jain	Director-Marketing Jindal World Wide Ltd., New Delhi
Prof. Viney Jain	Advisor-International School for Jain Studies, New Delhi, Convener

Ms Chanchal Jain
Mr. Sushil Chandra Jana
International School for Jain Studies
D-28, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110 017
Ph: +91-11-4079 3387, +91-99718 03638
Email:

List of Speakers:

Dr. Rudi Jansma	Theosophical Study Center, Jaipur
Prof. S.R. Bhatt	Prof. Emeritus-Dept. of Philosophy, Delhi University
Prof. N.L. Kachhara	Emeritus Professor-Jain Philosophy and Science Study Center, Udaipur
Prof. Muni Abhijeet Kumar
Prof. R.S. Kaushal	Dept. of Physics & Astrophysics, University of Delhi
Prof. Sunita Singh Sengupta	Professor in Organizational Behavior, Faculty of Management Sciences, DU
Prof. Suneet Varma	Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi
Prof. Veersagar Jain	Head-Jain Dharshan Vibhag- S.L.B.S.S.V
Prof. Shirley Telles	Research Director-Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar
Prof. A.K. Mukhopadhyay	Head - Department of Laboratory Medicine, A.I.I.M.S., New Delhi
Dr. Shugan C. Jain	Director-International School for Jain Studies
Mr. Richard Hartz	Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Archives, Pondicherry
Prof. Kambadur Muralidhar	Department of Zoology, University of Delhi
Prof. J.P. Jain	Visiting Lecturer at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Dr. Anekant Jain	Professor-Jain Dharshan Vibhag- S.L.B.S.S.V.
Prof. Paras Mal Agrawal	Research Professional, Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, USA

Chair persons:

Prof. Nimesh Desai	Director-IHBAS, Delhi-95.
Prof. D.C. Jain	Sp. Sect. Health Services, Govt, of India.
Prof. P. Krishna	Krishnamurti Study Centre, Rajghat Fort, Varanasi 221001
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar Ji	Professor - Jain Vishva Bharti University, Ladnun, Raj.
Prof. R.C. Deka	Director-AIIMS, New Delhi- 29
Prof. S.R. Bhatt	Prof. Emiritus-Dept. of Philosophy, Delhi University