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MODERN SCIENCE AND THE THEORY OF KARMA
Modern Science
JAIN JOURNAL
"Science is the product of man's attempt to understand himself and the world in which he lives; it embodies knowledge about the natural world and ourselves, and it is organized in a systematic fashion derived from experimentation and observation." (6) Science is the study of natural phenomena-matter, energy, life processes, etc. Thus science helps in unraveling the nature of things (vastusvarupa). At present, there is no direct scientific experimental evidence which can support all aspects of the theory of karma-it is not possible to perform any experiments on a soul. Nevertheless, many features of the theory of karma have their parallel in modern science and the principles on which the Jaina karma theory is based are the same as the basic tenets of modern science.
According to modern science, all natural phenomena occur because of the intrinsic attributes of the substances involved. The gathās 60-62 of Pañcastikāyasāra quoted above, conform to this principle of modern science. The theory of karma may be considered as the interactions between soul and material particles which occur due to the thoughtactivities of a living being and due to the attributes of soul and the particles of matter. Let us consider a few natural phenomena. Water from rivers, lakes and oceans is evaporated by the rays of the sun. The water vapor rises, clouds are formed and it rains. Thus rain results from the interactions between water, solar energy, atmospheric particles, wind, etc. Such interactions occur due to the intrinsic properties of matter and energy. Charcoal burns because atoms of carbon have the capability of combining with atoms of oxygen, each atom of carbon combining with two atoms of oxygen to form carbon dioxide. When 6×1023 atoms of carbon combine with 2×6×1023 atoms of oxygen to form carbon dioxide, 94 kilocalories of heat are evolved and no one can change the amount of energy released in this process. However, if a limited supply of air is passed through hot coke (carbon and ash), carbon monoxide is formed in which one atom of carbon combines with one atom of oxygen. This is an example of a chemical reaction being affected by the environment. The phenomenon of catalysis, i.e., the speeding up of the rate of a chemical reaction by the presence of some substances which themselves remain unchanged in the process, is another example of a chemical reaction being influenced by the environment. This may be compared with the concept of the pseudo-karmas and karmas creating the environment for the thought-activities of a living
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