• The value of Karma has often become an empty shell, with the inner value being lost. In this book, the author examines many of the traditions, practices and customs of the Hindu way of life. The knowledge based on the Vedic traditions are explained in easy-to-understand terms which require little or no prior knowledge of the scriptures.

Dr PR Mukund is an educator, researcher, and entrepreneur.
He is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. He is also a keen student and teacher of the Vedic way of life. His speciality is connecting the worlds of modern science and ancient spirituality in an easy-to-understand manner for students and anyone aspiring to learn.

Here is Q&A chat with author Dr P R Mukund – Editor.

Q1 You have often spoken about Science and Spirituality. Can they co-exist?

My talks connect material science with energy science. What we commonly consider science today is material science. Vedic science is the study of energy. 

I have often explained that Matter and Energy are two sides of the same coin and are both needed for the Universe to function. So they are not orthogonal to each other and complement each other. The fact is that any scientific principle, material or otherwise starts off as a hypothesis. After conducting the experiment repeatedly for many types of inputs, the hypothesis is either accepted as a scientific fact or discarded as baseless.  The very same process can be applied to energy-related hypotheses as well. In the Vedic world, such experimental validation has been conducted for thousands of years and the resultant scientific theories have been upheld over a long period of time.

As such, the two sides of the Universe, matter and energy, both lend themselves to the same scrutiny and are equally valid.

Q2 From an audience perspective, there are many books on Karma, what is special about this book?

Not only books, but there are several videos, articles on the topic of Karma. Karma is one of those words that like Yoga, has been appropriated by the west. Normally when you ask anyone, they will look at Karma as a reaction to an action. The problem with that which I have explained clearly in this book, is that the action is not in my control. The intention and even more importantly the knowledge behind the action, is what drives Karma.  So, knowledge driven intention is what actually defines Karma. 

There are actually three dimensions to any Karma:   the action which is completely external, the speech that acts as an interface between the inside and the outside worlds and finally the knowledge and intention that is completely internal. The issue is that we think that people outside cannot find out the intention, which is not true, since the intention is what drives the action. When we are rewarded positively or negatively for our Karma, the knowledge behind the action and the intention behind the action take precedence over the actual action. If we were rewarded for just the action, that would not be fair since that is not in our control.

This awareness of what drives our Karma through the day in all our actions brings the desired results. This explanation is what uniquely differentiates this book from the other books.

Q3 Lot of people today, especially youngsters weaned on Western culture, are very hesitant to approach a lot of the spiritual material, because they feel they need a background in that. DOES one need a background of scriptures to read this book and apply it?

There is spirit in everything. So if someone thinks that what they are doing is not spiritual, that is not true since it is your spirit that is driving everything.

The bigger question is do we take responsibility for everything we do,  or are we aware of bigger forces in the universe that somehow influence our thought, speech and action ? Whether you are aware of it or not, it is true that there are bigger forces that are influencing our thought, speech and action.

So, when you read this book, you will find that it is not so much about the scriptures but it’s about understanding how nature works and for that one does not need background in any scriptures including Vedic scriptures.  I think a simple understanding of writing and reading English is enough to read this book. You will see reading the book that it will relate to many things you are already doing, you just did not know why you were doing it. You are already doing it so you might as well know why you are doing it for better results.
Q4 In today’s world, where we are all seemingly very busy running around doing various things, and in the information age where there is bombardment of information, can one apply some of the techniques, the wisdom in this book immediately to my day to day life?

Absolutely. As a matter of fact not only can you apply it, you will see the results as well. Let’s take a simple example of a student who wants to do well in an exam. 

Many students as the exam comes closer become really nervous as they are so concerned about the outcome. They start wondering whether they know answers to the questions that are likely to appear in the exam and get stressed out.  So this worry leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of not performing optimally. 

Conversely, if the student is calm in the knowledge that they know what they know and actually focuses on the exam preparation, they are likely to perform optimally as per their preparation and background.  So for sure, you can not only apply it but also get immediate results.
Q5 Is this book applicable to any age group? Where can one buy it?

There is no limit as far as age is concerned because in an ideal world we all are students and we learn lifelong.  It is not that at some particular age I know everything and I am going to stop learning.

In a given lifetime, even if I learn something every day, the amount of things I need to learn is so vast. So there is no age limit, every single person can benefit from these thoughts. 

For example, I have given a little section in one of the chapters on our daily Pooja, now maybe somebody is not doing it, so it may not apply to them. But the interesting thing is that once you know the actual reasoning behind this particular Karma we call Pooja in the Hindu tradition, you may realize that there is so much benefit and start doing it. 

I think that regardless of someone’s age or background or lifestyle, you can benefit from knowing what exactly the connection is between what I do and its results. As per the availability is concerned, the book was released recently. It is already on Amazon, another way to get the book is to send an email to the publisher info@taraprakashana.org  and also very soon it will be available in major bookstores as well.

 
Dr. PR Mukund  is an educator, researcher, and entrepreneur.
He is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. He served as an IEEE distinguished lecturer and Past General Chair of IEEE SOCC (System on Chip Conference). His area of specialization is Analog and RF I.C. Design. He received his BS-EE, MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has published extensively and chaired many international conferences. He has brought in more than 2 million dollars research funding to Rochester Institute of Technology.

He is also a keen student and teacher of the Vedic way of life. His speciality is connecting the worlds of modern science and ancient spirituality in an easy-to-understand manner for students and anyone aspiring to learn.

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