your own existence is the most convincing proof of consciousness. can you deny your own existence? no because even your denial is a proof that you exist.isn't it? suppose somebody asks"hey are you there? your reply" no i am not .here even the negative answer becomes clear evidence that you are very much there. you don't need to ascertain it.just reject it and it is proved. so the Atman(self) cannot even be doubted. hence Vedas say "atma vare shrotavya,mantavya. to know about self one must listen to sastras and meditate upon.listening again depends upon certain amount of faith. if i want to learn maths, i go to a maths teacher, and he says 1plus one is two. first instance i have to have faith. if i question him and asks why not 1 plus 1 is four, it is definite that i cannot learn maths. so i should have faith in my teacher also. then it works. hence the importance of good teacher who reveals the between lines of mantras. then having known the meanings it is to be owned up.therefore mantavya.teacher pointing towards the moon tells me it is sun. here i doubt him. i give it a thought and say no it is moon only. now teacher is really happy since it is not the blind belief that i have. now i can do a vichara. within the framework of satra. that's how teacher builds up the confidence of his students. hence sastras definitely works for those who believe, but it is not blind belief also. such is the power of sastras.
Here is a nice example of a student & teacher
ReplyDeletearguing about faith. Even if you have read it, its worth reading again:
An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and..... Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
P: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then?
P: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
S: Yes.
P: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
S: Yes, sir.
P: So, who created them? (Student has no answer.)
P: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen or felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
S: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
S: Yes.
P: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
S: Nothing. I only have my faith.
P: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
S: Professor, is there such a thing as heat? P: yes
S: and cold? P: yes
S: No sir,you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat . We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, just the absence of it .
S: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
P: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
S : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
.
P: Flawed? Can you explain how?
S: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir ?
Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
S: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain? Or ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
P: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.