Mystics understand the roots of the Tao but not its branches; scientists understand its branches but not its roots. Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science; but man needs both.
Fritjof CapraRead
A page from a journal of modern experimental physics will be as mysterious to the uninitiated as a Tibetan mandala. Both are records of enquiries into the nature of the universe.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Both experimental physics and Tibetan mandalas explore the mysteries of the universe, though they may seem inaccessible to those unfamiliar with them.
In this quote, Fritjof Capra compares the complex language of modern experimental physics to the intricate designs of a Tibetan mandala, suggesting that both serve as deep explorations into the fundamental nature of the universe. To the untrained or uninitiated observer, these forms of knowledge can appear bewildering and enigmatic, highlighting the broader theme of how various cultures and disciplines attempt to understand reality in their own unique ways.
Themes
PhysicsMandalaUniverseEnquiryMystery
In practice
Example use cases
Citing this quote in a lecture on the philosophy of science.
More from Fritjof Capra
All quotes →Both the physicist and the mystic want to communicate their knowledge, and when they do so with words their statements are paradoxical and full of logical contradictions.
Fritjof CapraRead
The more complex the network is, the more complex its pattern of interconnections, the more resilient it will be.
Fritjof CapraRead
During periods of relaxation after concentrated intellectual activity, the intuitive mind seems to take over and can produce the sudden clarifying insights which give so much joy and delight.
Fritjof CapraRead
The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realise that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent.
Fritjof CapraRead
In the end, the aggressors always destroy themselves, making way for others who know how to cooperate and get along. Life is much less a competitive struggle for survival than a triumph of cooperation and creativity.
Fritjof CapraRead
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Small-scale fisheries should not be favoured over large-scale operations ebcause of romantic notions of rugged small operators battling both the elements and anonymous corporations. [They ought to be supported] because of the scientific evidence available to confirm the common-sense inference that local fishers, if given privileged access, will tend to avoid trashing their local stocks, while foreign fishers do not have such motivation.
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[About the great synthesis of atomic physics in the 1920s:] It was a heroic time. It was not the doing of any one man; it involved the collaboration of scores of scientists from many different lands. But from the first to last the deeply creative, subtle and critical spirit of Niels Bohr guided, restrained, deepened and finally transmuted the enterprise.
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People who look for the first time through a microscope say, 'Now I see this, and then I see that,' and even a skilled observer can be fooled. On these observations I have spent more time than many will believe, but I have done them with joy, and I have taken no notice of those who have said, 'Why take so much trouble,' and, 'What good is it?'
Antonie Van LeeuwenhoekRead