What am I? What is this universe? Are there realities beyond the reach of our senses? What is my relationship with the universe? These are some of the questions both religion and science have investigated ever since the human beings discovered that their intelligence is aware of itself. When the human intelligence first discovered the pronoun 'I', it declared the human capacity to recognise oneself as a special entity, and each individual proclaiming 'I' felt himself to be special in the universe. Thus we enter into an inquiry about our relationship with the universe.
Great philosophers, prophets and saints have declared this truth throughout the millennia of human civilisation among all cultures, countries and religions. The most important part about their teachings regarding the nature of the universe is that the world of matter cannot be understood without first discovering the depths of this inner consciousness. These masters never denied the importance of understanding the external reality of the universe but they insisted that we must first understand the nature of 'I'', by looking into ourselves in deep contemplation, by diving into our depths. There, all philosophers of ancient religions agree. In the Vedas they declared :
"I am the first-born son of Eternal Truth."
When the experience of inner reality is personal, it is spiritual. When we state that we believe that someone else had an unnamed experience, we are following , a religion. When we are primarily concerned with the nature of the universe, apart from our intelligence, it becomes science; when intelligence tries to understand its own nature, it becomes spirituality.
Religion and science may disagree, but science and spirituality cannot disagree because both are experiential. Science explains the nature of non-I, what it is that we do not identify with intelligence. Spirituality unravels the mystery of the I. Between the I and the non-I there is a link. This link is called the mind. The mind borrows from the inner I a semblance of intelligence and extends it outwards. It also gathers the experiences of the external world and conveys them to deeper intelligence. It is for this reason that the yogis understand the realities of the universe by looking directly into their own minds as there is no part or particle of the universe which is not pervaded by the cosmic mind. The contribution of spirituality and religion to science needs to be remembered in this context. The spiritual leaders were the first scientists.
The yogis have found that the scientific principles that govern the universe are not entirely separate from the principles that govern the mind., It is thus that the spiritual traditions of the ancient past gave birth to a great many sciences. The greatest philosophers of Greece inquired both into the nature of intelligence and the non-intelligent universe and became the founders of the scientific inquiry in western civilisation.
The yogis developed the most advanced principles of arithmetic and geometric models simply by experiencing the patterns that the brainwaves create. When these patterns are projected out from the experiencing mind, they become points, lines and triangles. Who can say whether the highly accurate designs employed in composing mandalas are scientific or spiritual? Is the construction of altars to represent the mandalas an exercise in science or a mental experience of the devotee and worshipper? Are the temples, pyramids, and churches, which are the three dimensional representations of mandalas which, again, are projections from the brain wave patterns, part of an expression of an inner experience or an experiment with architectural design?
The yogis sent their minds probing into the intricate energy and prana patterns of their own personalities and not only came up with the energy maps of the body but also discovered the basis of anatomy. When they tuned themselves to the sounds heard by way of musical rhythms produced by brain wave patterns, they found that these patterns themselves were grosser modulations of yet finer modes of a music that is played by and within the cosmic mind. They found that the notes of these sounds and energy waves were part of a point-counterpoint juxtaposition of the rhythms of duality which developed from the one thought that is the universe. Thus, the sound and energy waves became atoms, points of energy which we call shakto-bindu. When the mind is highly concentrated on a single point, bindu, all the points and counterpoints of the universe are immediately understood. So, without the aid of modern telescopes, the yogis of India asserted that there are as many worlds as there might be hairs on the body of God. The ancient yogis may not have developed a highly complex technology in modern terms because their contribution to humanity was in a different direction. However, it is now well known that the yogis are capable of demonstrating in experimental situations the facts that baffle the scientists of today. For centuries, the works of sciences such as mathematics, astronomy and medicine were preserved in the monasteries of all religions and the monks were the first astronomers and surgeons. The Arab founders of western medicine, like Ibn Sina (Avi-cenna), found no conflict between discussing the nature of angels on one hand and establishing medical colleges on the other. To unite that which appears diverse the yogis have stated from the time of the Upanishads, "There are no diversities in the universe; all is a single infinite expanse known as Brahman."
Both science and spirituality are primarily experiences within the principle of intelligence. When intelligence inquires into its own nature, it becomes spirituality. Here we are not talking of an intellectual inquiry or philosophical speculation because that is entirely guesswork. Thousands of philosophers have created hundreds of encyclopaedic works based on such speculation without an inner experience. They cannot agree among themselves and create confusion and conflict among their readers and followers. Their language primarily relates to the external realities and cannot convey the experience of the oceanic vastness of that dimension of intelligence which the founders of spirituality have experienced. The founders of true spirituality agree on the nature of their inner experience;
In order to understand fully the relationship between science and spirituality, we need to know how the unity and multiplicity of the universe are intertwined. Every physicist knows that the worldly objects exist and operate on many levels of reality at once as though these many were occupying the same space and time and presenting to our poor, limited senses a display of mutually exclusive and contradictory facets of existence all at the same time.
Science centring itself only upon isolated units of the multiple will lead mankind from destruction to destruction. Medical science that studies an organ in complete isolation from the entire human personality is no science at all. These sciences have to return to their spiritual origins for a greater vision of humanity.
Today we are hearing the scientists talking of the principles of synergy and the psychologists speak of synchronicity. What these words express is a seeking for the One within the many. All energies that flow in the universe, in a single human cell, within an atomic particle, and in the gigantic hearts of the distant suns in the vast masses of gases from which the galaxies are yet to be formed, are all interrelated. If the energy of a single atomic particle were lost, the whole structure of the principles on which the universe is built would crumble and vanish.
A very ancient dialogue occurs in the Vedas : "Believe in God, if indeed He is, but where is He? Who has seen Him?"
"Open your eyes and see. Right here before you I am shining in my full glory in every object you behold." The scientist explores the object; the spiritual seeker looks at the glory.
The future of humanity must be seen from both ends. On one end are the means for physical comfort, nourishment and health of the body; transportation, communications and our insatiable curiosity about every atomic particle in every galaxy. On the other hand is the very nature of man, independent of the physical universe. What can a man accomplish without his tools? Though he can explore outer space, can he dive into the spaces within? Can the scientist control his irritations, angers, frustrations? Can he lengthen the duration of his breath to accomplish the dream of a long life? Can he, without any medicines or injections, merely by using the controls of volition, stop his heart beat or place himself in suspended animation? Can he bring about a peaceful state of mind among the citizens of the world without the use of pills or physiological manipulation? To all these the answer is 'No'. Nor can the spiritual seekers bring nourishment to hungry stomachs without the help of agricultural scientists. To repeat a cliché: "Without science," humanity is a cripple; without spirituality, it is blind.
By Swami Ramakrishnananda, Belur Math
Science is the struggle of man in the outer world. Religion is the struggle of man in the inner world. Science makes man struggle for Truth in the outside universe, and religion makes him struggle for Truth in the inner universe. Both struggles are great, no doubt, but one ends in success and the other ends in failure. That is the difference. Religion begins where science ends. The whole scientific method is based on observation and experiment; but the moment man realises that there is something beyond observation and experiment he will give them up and leave material science behind. Science will always have to deal with finite bodies, and God is infinite.
According to Vedanta philosophy the microcosm and Macrocosm are not different; they originate from the same substance. Actually time, space, and causation are not separate entities outside; they all exist in me, that is, in my mind. The whole universe is inside man.
By Swami Vivekananda
Truth is of two kinds:
- That which is cognisable by the five ordinary senses of man, and by reasonings based thereon
- That which is cognisable by the subtle, super-sensuous power of Yoga.
Knowledge acquired by the first means is called science; and knowledge acquired by the second is called the Vedas.
The whole body of super sensuous truths, having no beginning or end, and called by the name of Vedas, is ever existent. The Creator Himself is creating, preserving and destroying the universe with the help of these truths.
The person in whom this super-sensuous power is manifested is called a Rishi, and the super-sensuous truths, which he realises by this power, are called the Vedas.
This Rishihood, this power of super-sensuous perception of the Vedas, is real religion.
And so long as this does not develop in the life of an initiate, so long is religion a mere empty word to him, and it is to be understood that he has not taken yet the first step in religion.
The authority of the Vedas extends to all ages, climes and persons; that is to say, their application is not confined to any particular place, time and persons.
The Vedas are the only exponent of the universal religion.
Although the super sensuous vision of truths is to be met with in some measure in our Puranas and Itihasas (history) and in the religious scriptures of other races, still the fourfold scripture known among the Aryan race as the Vedas being the first, the most complete, and the most undistorted collection of spiritual truths, deserve to occupy the highest place among all scriptures, command the respect of all nations of the earth, and furnish the rationale of all their respective scriptures.
With regard to the whole Vedic collection of truths discovered by the Aryan race, this also has to be understood that those portions alone which do not refer to purely secular matters and which do not merely record tradition or history, or merely provide incentives to duty, form the Vedas in the real sense.
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