“Purpose” as a Natural Feature of the Universe part2
Tue, 01/22/2008 - 16:13 — admin
TEACHER: Of course not! The purposeful events within the watch-works are not only connected with the purpose of the entire watch, but they are a result of it. Without there being a purpose for the watch itself, there could not be purposeful events within it.
MICHAEL: I think I can see where you are aiming. Since there has to exist a purpose for the universe, there also must be a designer behind it, i.e., a purposeful agent.
TEACHER: That is precisely my point. To postulate a universe without a designer is no less plausible than to postulate a watch with no designer. If I were to tell you that I was in the habit of collecting bits and pieces of glass, small screws, and metal and storing them in my desk drawer, and that one day when I opened the drawer I found that they had all combined together to form a wristwatch, you would scoff at me. “That watch is no accident”, you would tell me. “Someone made it.” Given the harmony of the gigantic universal clock, the machine that is our universe, how much more implausible it is that there is no design and purpose behind its intricate structure!12
TEACHER rose from his chair and retired to his room for lunch. Michael walked to the picnic table with the others who had been sitting on the verandah throughout the conversation.
A large, garden-fresh salad awaited them, along with a steaming pot of brown rice and a kettle of dahl spiked with more vegetables from the garden.
Michael enjoyed not only the taste, but also the simplicity of his lunch. As he ate, he talked with one of the workers from the garden, and also a couple of TEACHER's other students, all of whom had been with him on the porch. TEACHER, he learned, had spent a fair amount of time studying Western philosophy, although his main background was in Gaudiya Vaishnavism.13 His own spiritual master was one of a long line of saintly persons which could be traced back some five thousand years to the time of Lord Krishna. Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Madhvacharya, Vyasadeva (who compiled the respected Vedas and their corollaries like the Srimad Bhagavatam, etc.), and Narada Muni were among the illustrious personalities who appeared in this unbroken chain of disciplic succession.
Work has been done regarding the life force present in plants. In one typical experiment, electrical wires are connected from an electro sensitive meter to a plant. After a stable reading is obtained on the instruments, a small twig is cut from the plant. Invariably, at that moment, a significant response is perceivable on the meter, indicating that the separation of the twig has disturbed or agitated the plant.MICHAEL: To do so would seem to me to be an oversimplification of the case. It would not be a complete description.
Science of Identity Foundation – Siddhaswarupananda
TEACHER: Of course not! The purposeful events within the watch-works are not only connected with the purpose of the entire watch, but they are a result of it. Without there being a purpose for the watch itself, there could not be purposeful events within it.
MICHAEL: I think I can see where you are aiming. Since there has to exist a purpose for the universe, there also must be a designer behind it, i.e., a purposeful agent.
TEACHER: That is precisely my point. To postulate a universe without a designer is no less plausible than to postulate a watch with no designer. If I were to tell you that I was in the habit of collecting bits and pieces of glass, small screws, and metal and storing them in my desk drawer, and that one day when I opened the drawer I found that they had all combined together to form a wristwatch, you would scoff at me. “That watch is no accident”, you would tell me. “Someone made it.” Given the harmony of the gigantic universal clock, the machine that is our universe, how much more implausible it is that there is no design and purpose behind its intricate structure!12
TEACHER rose from his chair and retired to his room for lunch. Michael walked to the picnic table with the others who had been sitting on the verandah throughout the conversation.
A large, garden-fresh salad awaited them, along with a steaming pot of brown rice and a kettle of dahl spiked with more vegetables from the garden.
Michael enjoyed not only the taste, but also the simplicity of his lunch. As he ate, he talked with one of the workers from the garden, and also a couple of TEACHER's other students, all of whom had been with him on the porch. TEACHER, he learned, had spent a fair amount of time studying Western philosophy, although his main background was in Gaudiya Vaishnavism.13 His own spiritual master was one of a long line of saintly persons which could be traced back some five thousand years to the time of Lord Krishna. Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Madhvacharya, Vyasadeva (who compiled the respected Vedas and their corollaries like the Srimad Bhagavatam, etc.), and Narada Muni were among the illustrious personalities who appeared in this unbroken chain of disciplic succession.