The definition of science for a mistic... and for a scientist

The other day I was at the bookstore.. and I found a book about "Tantra Yoga"... and in the Back cover it said "Tantra yoga is a science..." (and continued saying it was hundreds of years old, an it had a lot of benefits) now... I have tried Kundalini Yoga... and it really helped me relax... so I think that Tantra yoga might have lots of benefits too... but.. is it really "a science" (like Physics, Chemistry or Biology) mmm.... lets review the definitions in Google:

• Chemistry: the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions
• Physics: the science of matter and energy and their interactions
• Biology: the science that studies living organisms

Now... lets check the definition of yoga: A system of exercises which help your control of the body and mind. It also improves your breathing and focuses the alignment of your body. Mmmm I can agree with that... well maybe the scientific part in "Tantra Yoga" comes from the "Tantra" side... what is tantra? : (Sanskrit: "weave"), tantric yoga or tantrism is any of several esoteric traditions rooted in the religions of India. Mmmm... but what is it about? : Implies a "weave" or "continuity", the realization of spiritual truths by means of personal experience in exercises utilizing energies and associations from life (as opposed to sutra training that utilizes texts and word teachings). The word tantra is associated with Indian yoga traditions.

Ok... ok... now is it a science? well, for that... first we need to know "what is science?": Science refers to either:

• the scientific method - a process for evaluating empirical knowledge;
• or the organized body of knowledge gained by this process.

The knowledge represented by the science of Physics, for example, is acquired by using this "scientific method"... now what is the scientific method? alright... so, first we make a description of how we think something works (hypothesis)... the we purpose an experiment to test our hypothesis... and the experiment validates the hypothesis... we have learned something... and if doesn't... we have learned something too! (that we were wrong!) following those very simple steps, science tries to explain how everything truly works...

Now... tantra yoga was defined hundreds of years ago... and AFAIK the principles of hypothesis, experiment, validation do not apply to it... so... why is it called a science? (certainly there is a lot of knowledge in the books about tantra yoga... and maybe some of that knowledge really works... but... is every "tantra yoga technique" tested by the supporters of this "science"? (Do not misunderstand me, I like yoga, and I do believe that there could be benefits in trying tantra yoga.. but that is not the question here... the question is "are all the principles in tantra yoga validated by experimentation?" would it be correct to say that a good yoga practitioner is encouraged to experimentally validate all the techniques in tantra yoga?)

Well, some people could argue... it certainly has worked for a lot of people (ok... I could somewhat accept that as some kind of uncontrolled experiment) but a lot of the principles used to explain "why tantra yoga work" are based in untestable affirmations (things like... for example the cycle of birth and death... it is impossible to test if it is true).

So... why do mystics keep trying to call religions scientific (like Hinduism or Buddhism) or techniques (like yoga) science... are their affirmations really "because they want to steal the confidence science has built"? or is that they just really don't know what science is? Maybe they think that if there is a lot of knowledge around a concept, and a lot of techniques related to that concept... then, that is, auto-magically "Science".

Strangely, scientist do not try to "steal" religion's "thunder", scientist have tried really hard to separate religion and science, and do not try to establish science as a religion (although some of them would like to disappear religion, precisely because it tries to find knowledge about everything but without experimentation... using just faith).

Now, the fact that there is a lot of knowledge surrounding every esoteric practice or religion, that does not make that knowledge true (if I start a religion tomorrow, that does not make my ideas true automatically... does it?) and a lot of religions keep saying "we are the true one" but without subjecting themselves (or the competition) to any experimentation.

Well.. then... finally why do they keep calling themselves "science" or "supported by science" even when they are not... well... maybe the answer (discarding ignorance of the concept of science) is because science itself (as some religious people argue) is not scientific. How can that be? well, another definition of science is : it refers to the system of acquiring knowledge - based on empiricism , experimentation, and methodological naturalism - aimed at finding out the truth . An the question that follows here is "is that a testable hypothesis" that is "science is the way to find the truth".... why do scientist follow the scientific method? because it has worked... but.. all the knowledge in the universe that can be grasped by the scientific method? well, I guess the answer to that is: "scientifics believe so"... and that is the paradox... the scientific method... is based on faith... faith that the scientific method is the way to find the truth....

From childhood's hour I have not been...

Alone
(1830)

by Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were — I have not seen
As others saw — I could not bring
My passions from a common spring —
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow — I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone —
And all I loved — I loved alone —
Then — in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life — was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still —
From the torrent, or the fountain —
From the red cliff of the mountain —
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold —
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by —
From the thunder and the storm —
And the cloud that took the form
When the rest of Heaven was blue
Of a demon in my view.

I have always felt that I see the world in a different way... not always better... not always worse... mostly... just different...

The bridge that saved you life ethical problem

Suppose some assassins are following you (with the obvious objective of assassinate you) you start running... and you run, and run... until you find yourself in the edge of a cliff... and you think... this is going to be the end... but suddenly... you see a bridge... 10 meters away.... so you run to it, cross it, and it is because of that bridge you escape from the assassins... now... imagine that bridge was built by a lonely carpenter... now... here is the question... do you owe him you life? should you find him to thank him? are you really in debt with him?...

In summary: if someone does something very good to you... but he or she doesnt know it benefit you... do you owe him/her? should you try to find him/her and see if he or her is in any kind of trouble and try to help them? maybe this is the reason beacause so many religions in the world say we should be thankful for each day... maybe we can not say thank you... or help each an everyone of the beings that make it possible for us to be here... but we can try to say "thank you " to the universe... and try to be nice with everything... and everybody...