All those who set their feet upon a new way of living and seeing are asked: what is the proof of this new paradigm? Does data support it? What is the current opinion of thinkers upon the subject? Does the new theory conform to the prevalent norms and standards? Does it fulfill the criteria for its validity? And finally, is it practical and useful?
In all ages of mankind, each person or group who dared to hew a new path had to face this resistance of the past. And yet but for the path-breaking efforts of these individuals, the very same present would not have been born.
The mistake we make is to believe that truth is a static formula, an unchanging invariable. Truth moves from a lesser to a greater reality. As mankind evolves, the capacities of knowing, understanding, sensing, evolve too. The same object and phenomenon reveals itself in a newer light.
We have now begun to ask, — what is the proof that matter as we experience it by our mind and sense actually exists? Do our senses actually perceive material phenomena or do they weave a myth of objects around charges dancing in nothingness? Have we understood life better and made it qualitatively stronger and healthier by following the exclusive reductionist approach? Or have we merely changed terms leaving the mystery unsolved, the confusion more confounding, the enigma deeper?
There is a scientific unrest and a sudden upsurge of many new and original ideas that seem so radically different. From matter we have moved to energy and from energy we shall move to the science of consciousness. This science is just beginning to be born. It is subtle in its method but wider and more powerful in its scope. It needs developed human instruments to reveal itself. With this science of consciousness will be born new methods of knowing and sensing and experiencing that will alter the sense and value of the phenomenon itself. What is needed on our part is the courage to think afresh and the will to venture into the unknown.
