Is the relationship between Krishna and the soul like that between two quantum entangled particles?
Transcription By: Sudha Mehta Mataji (From Bosnia)
Edited By: HG Murlidhar Prabhu
Question: The relationship between soul and Krishna like that between two bodies that are quantum entangled? Body ‘A’ has soul while body ‘B’ is ‘quantum pair ’of body A and has no soul. But both will act in same way even if far apart as though body B has life. So we can also be like that body B where as body A is Krishna.
Answer: There are many people who try to talk about the similarities between science and spirituality especially in terms of ancient spiritual literature like the Vedic literature and they hope by talking about these similarities the scriptures will gain more respectability in the eyes of those who respect science. Such attempts may be well intended but they are often ill conceived.
This particular idea of quantum entanglement of soul and Krishna is an example of such well-intended but ill-conceived attempt of the synthesis of science and spirituality. The concept of quantum entanglement is that if two particles are quantum entangled, then whatever happens to “A” then A responds by particular behaviour and then B will respond in the same way irrespective of whether A and B are together. So this concept of quantum entanglement has been postulated by scientist because they have observed that sometimes the behaviour of two particles is exactly identical and whatever changes are made on particle A it immediately affects B and B also undergoes the same change as A, though there is no connection between those two particles – there is no medium with a link in it that will cause the effect on A to be transmitted to B. So to explain this phenomenon of two particles responding identically when the stimulus is offered to only one particle, it is said that these two particles are quantum entangled. So the concept of quantum entanglement has mystified the scientist because how can two particles be related together in this way is a mystery from the perspective of science.
Through quantum entanglement we don’t know how it happens; basically what scientists have observed is it happens and they have given a name to it. This is an example of science describing a phenomena and not explaining the phenomena.
But if we look at the relationship between soul and Krishna there is substantial difference because in the case of quantum entanglement both are unconscious particles and neither has free will. In the case of us and Krishna both have free will although Krishna’s free will is infinite and our free will is finite, but still we have our free will. And it is not that whatever way Krishna behaves we have to behave in that way. We have our free will and we can choose to love Krishna or can choose to defy Krishna. But either way our behaviour is never exactly identical to that of Krishna. Even when we serve Krishna we don’t behave identically like Krishna but we behave in a way that is harmonious with Krishna’s desires. So this idea of quantum entanglement does not consider the factor of free will.
Moreover it is not that Krishna is a body with a soul; in BG 4.6, Krishna describes he himself is Aja Avyaya and it is not that he is a body who has a soul; for Krishna his body mind and soul are all spiritual all sat chit ananda eternal. So therefore this concept of differentiating between the soul and body is incorrect when it applies to Krishna and the idea that we are merely a body without a soul is also flawed because the body doesn’t have consciousness. Also if all of us were quantum pairs of Krishna then all of us would be behaving identically and all of us should be having exactly the same behaviour. But all of us not only have different behaviour but different natures also that is because all of us are irreducibly individuals. We are irreducibly individuals not just in material terms but also in spiritual terms. Spiritually all of us are souls and we have our distinct svarupa and unique relationship with Krishna in the spiritual world. So we want to be devotionally in love with Krishna and that we could call as devotional entanglement. But that is not entanglement in the sense that it binds us but liberates us from material entanglements and binds us in eternal and joyous bond of love. There is at a profound level synthesis between science and spirituality but when we talk about synthesis we have to be careful as to the concepts that are being talked about in parallel and whether they actually have something in parallel.
The most fundamental that quantum physics tell us relates with spirituality is that consciousness plays a vital and even an indispensable role even in the world of science. That is why consciousness is a fundamental irreducible reality in all of existence; that is one of the strongest inferences that we can get from quantum physics and like that there are other inferences that can be drawn. Devotees interested to know more about quantum physics can read the book by devotee scientist Dr. Richard L Thompson called “Maya as the world of Virtual Reality” or several of the papers of Dr.RaviGomatam Rasa Raj Prabhu and on my web site there is a long answer to “Does quantum physics proves the existence of God”.
These are those who have studied scriptures systematically and those who have studied science systematically and then based on the authentic parallel between the two one can bring about synthesis between science and spirituality.But this attempt of correlating Krishna and the soul together as quantum entanglement is an ill-conceived attempt.
Thank you