Is the universe created by conscious control on the highest level and inhabited by hierarchical beings organized to act in concert with the Supreme? Or, is matter the ultimate basis of reality, which is then transformed automatically to produce life? Summarizing his recent lecture at Worchester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Sadaputa Dasa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson) reenacts Plato’s battle between the gods and the earth giants in an updated version of mysticism vs. empiricism, and concludes that enlightened understanding of illusive truths demands the reconciliation of science and religion.