Vaisheshika : The Atomic Theory

My professors in college also told me the Greeks were the first people to come up with the atomic theory. That wasn't true either.

The Indian atomic theory was formulated by the Vaisheshiskas sometime before the beginning of Buddhism and Jainism, both of which incorporated some ideas about atoms into their own worldviews. This takes Vaisheshika back to, at the very latest, 500 B.C.E if you accept the Southern Buddhist date for Buddha, or to 1000 B.C.E.

the latest if you believe the Northern Buddhists' date for Buddha. It's attributed to a brilliant founding sage named Kanada.

Here comes an important point. (Prepare not to be confused.) Remember that six blind men can describe an elephant completely differently and still be talking the same animal.

Remember how I mentioned that Hinduism says we're all one? That our souls all connect in the divine consciousness? Well, the Vaisheshiskas don't believe this at all. But that doesn't mean they're not Hindus! Nor does it mean they don't believe in the Veda. It just means they're reading the Veda from a slightly different perspective that makes more sense to them. It's like Christians reading the Bible. Some say the Bible tells us we should follow the pope. Others insist the Bible doesn't breathe a word about the pope.

The Vaisheshiskas believe each soul is an eternally separate unit that exists as a whole in itself. When it disengages from involvement with the universe, becoming a liberated soul, it enters a state much like unconsciousness because it doesn't perceive or interact with anything outside itself. It's not sad. It just exists. It's something like the state of your awareness during sleep.