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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
conclusions are not based on blind faith; they are most scientific. Matter comes from life. In life—in the origin—there are unlimited material resources; that is the great mystery of creation.
Modern scientific research is just like Sāṅkhya philosophy, which analyzes material elements. Sāṅkhya means “to count.” We are also Sāṅkhya philosophers to some extent because we count and analyze the material elements; this is land, this is water, this is air, this is sunshine, this is fire. Furthermore, I can count my mind, my intelligence, and my ego. Beyond my ego, however, I cannot count. But Kṛṣṇa says that there is existence beyond the ego, and that existence is the living force—the spirit soul. This is what the scientists do not know. They think that life is merely a combination of material elements, but Kṛṣṇa denies this in the  Bhagavad-gītā  [5.12].  Apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām:  “Besides this inferior nature there is a superior energy of Mine.” The inferior energy is the material elements, and the superior energy is the living entity.
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies.” [Bg. 7.4] Kṛṣṇa explains here in the  Bhagavad-gītā  that  vāyu  (gas) comes from Him, and that finer than the gases is  kham  (ether). Finer than ether is the mind, finer than the mind is intelligence, and finer than the intelligence is the soul. But the scientists do not know this. They can perceive only gross things. They mention  vāyu , but where does the  vāyu  come from? Where does the gas come from?
Dr. Singh:  That they cannot answer.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  But we can answer. We have the knowledge that gas comes from  kham , or ether, and ether comes from mind, mind comes from intelligence, and intelligence comes from Kṛṣṇa’s superior energy, the spirit soul.
Dr. Singh:  Are both inferior and superior energies studied in Sāṅkhya philosophy?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  No. Sāṅkhya philosophers do not know of superior energy. They simply analyze the material elements, just as the scientists do. Neither the scientists nor the Sāṅkhya philosophers know anything of