The origins of the universe and the idea of the soul are associated.  The notion of the soul is contained in the ‘Big Bang’ or any other theory that claims to explain, how our universe came into being, and how human beings graduated (were calibrated?) into existence.  Time and eternity thus become essential elements in any elaboration that tries to grasp the nature of the soul. Furthermore, soul becomes intrinsically bound-up with matter (Doesn’t the creation narrative in the Bible suggest this?).  Almost every religious school of thought admits however that this intrinsic aspect is not inevitable for the ongoing subsistence and prevalence of either (A corpse is lifeless matter from which a living soul has departed – is how we express it most often).  In the light of contemporary scientific evidence such views need to be nuanced.  The insights gained thus can enrich our existence!

Modern science however looks at reality as dual, without duality.  The valuable currency which we call life has two faces – matter and energy, in its body-soul combine.  The dissection of this reality into two distinct parts(duality) is destructive of life and does violence to it.  As materiality graduates to dynamic vitality, substances display characteristics that exude the soul of the matter, features that are not superimposed, but that are immanent and so emerge essentially from the nature of the material. Hence, a question that one may seek to answer satisfactorily is “How far into the evolutionary ladder of life does the soul extend?”  Is the answer perhaps self-evident in the current context of our scientific thought?  May be!

In our own labs at the Xavier Research Foundation, we have been looking at ageing, intelligence and memory in the worm c. elegans.  This organism demonstrates soul traits like memory and the ability to learn, which translates into intelligence. In fact our choice of this worm as an experimental model is based on the fact that it has the corresponding genetic variants (orthologs) of a wide set of human genes.  Do these aspects of the soul also appear in the bacteria that these c. elegans feed on, and are they extended all the way to viruses – the boundary limit entity between life and lifelessness?  And, what of stones, and all the myriads of inanimate ‘subjects’ of nature?  Is there relevance to such a question in the light of the observations made in this study?  A reading of Teilhard de Chardin corroborates the observations made above.

A core dimension of a human being, associated with the soul is happiness. Links established by Neurobiology today offer us an understanding of the connectedness of brain parts and stimulatory neurotransmitters and peptides.  It has established a foundational link between these body parts and the states of peace, joy and bliss that the soul component of a being enables the human to experience as happiness. Wouldn’t it be right then to assume that the soul subsists in the synergy of the system, investing body-matter with the dual states (wave-energy and particle-matter) expressed in the Heisenberg Principle (The Uncertainty Principle)and the de Broglie Hypothesis (every physical body having a wave associated with it).  Here, however it is perhaps a law, not a hypothesis?

Prof. Vincent Braganza is the Director of the Loyola Centre for Research & Development, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad. He is also a Ph.D. Guide in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology; recognized by four Universities in India. He obtained his Masters degree in Physics-Electronics from the University of Pune, ranking first in the University. He went on to do his doctorate in Biophysics and Biochemistry at the Loyola University of Chicago, USA. This was followed up by a Post-Doctoral Fellowship Biotechnology at the same University. Fr. Braganza is also the Chairman-Secretary of the Xavier Research Foundation, a pioneering organization that endeavours to translate research into innovation and entrepreneurship, to make possible livelihood options for the rural poor and those living on the margins of society in our country. He retired a few years ago as the Principal of St. Xavier’s College Ahmedabad, and was invited as visiting fellow to the School of Theology, Santa Clara University, California, USA; where he explored the science and religion/theology interface from the perspectives of eco-spirituality and his great inspiration Teilhard de Chardin, the great mystic anthropologist of the previous century. This work has further inspired him to pursue the science and religion dialogue for our current age, and he has recently begun studies in the Masters of Theology programme at the Vidya Jyoti School of Theology, Delhi.