Spirituality! Don’t believe until you test it!
This post is about a frequently encountered dilemma for minds that are inclined towards science.
I was interviewed recently by two young college students from a local college in Pune. Their class on spirituality required them to complete a project. Some of their sample questions for me included:
Do you think science and spirituality are compatible? Why or why not?
Have you ever experienced a moment in your work life where science and spirituality seemed to intersect or complement each other?
Incidentally during the talk on Wednesday a similar issue was raised by one participant who candidly admitted that she did not raise her kids into believing in the existence of God. As a result her kids answer their offspring with a definite conclusion that “ there is no God.” When the grand daughter asks her grandmother about her take on the issue she now replies with a truthful “I don’t know”. The grand daughter is left wondering whose answer to buy! Is there definitely no God as my parents say or is there room to doubt them?
It may confuse some of you to know that the same grandmother who is not a firm believer in the existence of God due to lack of scientific proof sees value in sant vagmay and therefore was attending my talk! I could see her dilemma.
My response to her position was in two steps:
Firstly does she ‘know’ that her great grandfather existed ?
Answer was yes.
She has not seen her ggf, yet she is confident that he existed. That’s because the law of biology lays down that the ggf must exist for her to be born in a subsequent generation.
Now what profession was her ggf into? She again claims to ‘know’ it despite not meeting him in person and without bothering to verify it independently. This ‘fact’ is most definitely not backed by science! She trusts her father and grandfather and has accepted their version of truth as ultimate truth.
Based on their integrity! Based on her ‘faith’ in them!
The same principle applies to believing in the existence of God based on the integrity of the saints who proclaim that they have experienced God! It is rather a paradox that she sees value in their teachings but can’t trust their assertion regarding the experience of God.
The true saints never let you be complacent forever with just faith. They want you to go through the rigors of spiritual exercises in life and ultimately experience firsthand that God exists. There is a famous story about the young Vivekananda questioning his Guru Swami RamKrishna Paramhansa if the latter had seen God with his eyes. The guru had answered in the affirmative.
A questioning mind is good but at some point you either need to believe the elders and experienced people or you must have the drive to go all the way to prove them wrong. If you do neither of these then you are living with uncertainty and confusion. And you pass on that confusion to people who look up to you.
Second point I made to her on this issue is that the purpose of study of sant vagmay is broadly two fold. One is to become better people. She agreed that she listens to the subject with this purpose.
The other equally important purpose of studying sant vagmay is to realize God. Identify with the pure consciousness within and without you and give up the identity restricted to the perishable physical body and the shortcomings that are part of this identity.
If you are not interested in achieving this second goal you are a poor bargainer!! You are settling for less !!
Do I believe in science? Absolutely.
Do I believe in spirituality? Absolutely.
Am I contradicting myself with these two statements? Not at all.
If I practice the science I learned in medical school without an understanding and application of spirituality I will not be able to do justice to my patient who is more than the biological body.
If I try to keep aside all science and treat the patient with only spiritual approach I would be a quack!
Science is limited to the level of the intellect which is finite. Spirituality begins where science accepts its limitations. Science is handicapped without the support of spirituality yet spirituality does not diminish the importance of science. You just need to know that the instruments to study both these concepts are different. Best to use them both in day to day life for a wholesome experience.
My two cents to my own kids and to young people is invest early in a personal relationship with God. Later when you have your own families you will be vesting heavily in them and miss the boat of creating a special place for God in your life. I am not referring to making place for God in a devhara ( shrine) in your home.
Secondly don’t dismiss the teachings of saints as baseless and impractical without bothering to understand them well and without trying to experiment with them. Don’t follow anyone blindly. Not even your parents or teachers. At some point decide to continue what you learnt from them because you have verified it through your personal experience and found it to be of value. We are each born independent and gifted with our own intelligence to experiment. Real freedom is when you can use your intelligence as an instrument and use it for a good cause that helps you and many more without harming anyone. And when you enjoy the freedom of the intellect dont forget to ask yourself, where did you get this magical thing from? Who inserted the faculty in your being to think and find answers?
Saree is a cotton Kotpad weave from Odisha in natural dyes.
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