12 November 2014 - QA 3

Isn’t it through science that we can actually identify this wrong understanding or wrong knowledge?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Correct, that is why spirituality is a science. This is what people said thousands of years ago in the six darshanas (schools of thought).
The six darshanas are:
1. Samkhya (emphasizing on consciousness and matter)
2. Yoga (emphasizing on meditation, contemplation & liberation)
3. Nyaya (emphasizing on the sources of knowledge)
4. Vaisheshika (emphasizing on atomism)
5. Mimamsa (emphasizing on religion and ethics)
6. Vedanta (knowledge)
So, the darshanas are nothing but pure science. That’s why we say, 'Gyana vigyaana tripatma,’ knowledge and science, both are essential in life.

In India we never opposed science. We said, first know the five elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether), this is science, and then go to the sixth element, i.e., the mind.
Nyaya is the method of knowing whether your knowing is correct or not.
Nowhere else in the world have people attended to this type of keen awareness, to see whether the knowledge one has is subjective knowledge or objective knowledge.
One is to analyze the object and then also see, who is knowing, and what is the quality of his consciousness. Is he drunk? Does he have jaundice? For a person who has jaundice everything appears yellow.

So, not just the object even the subject has been studied. This much depth and detail our ancient scriptures have. That is why they say, this is true and this is not true.