There is an indepth study, reconciling science with spirituality by one of our readers that is being shared here. He has made a thorough study about the concept of spirituality. I owe my personal thanks to him for such a thought provoking study. Quote: I think my earlier comment was a little too cryptic and lacked a proper explanation of what I meant when I said that we needed to reconcile Spirituality with Science. I am grateful that you found the cause worthy and chose to elaborate upon it in a very wise manner. This is a subject which perhaps bothers a lot of us and I feel encouraged to delve a little farther along the path thanks to your encouraging response. Pardon me if I appear to be a needless critic or a non-believer. I do not wish to waste your time in arguments so kindly ignore what I write below if it is too obscure or irrelevant.
Continuing beyond, the reconciliation between Spirituality and Science that I referred to was actually meant more from the standpoint of a more evolved (?) mind which tends to question things. A less inquisitive psyche would perhaps progress along a singular path and never attempt beyond. Let me elaborate my dilemma. Spirituality and Science both have at their heart the quest for the ultimate knowledge. The approaches vary - a scientist experiments in the physical realm and a spiritual person does so in the realm of their mind. The outcomes can likewise be both beneficial and/or destructive. Likewise, each can term the other one as being less evolved - the scientist can call the spiritual experiences as mere bio-chemical hallucinations and the spiritual being can likewise denounce the entire physical world as "maya/illusion". Science fails to answer many things logically. Unfortunately so does Spirituality. The point of reconciliation I think is "LOGIC". Let me give you an example below. I actually debated this and found no satisfactory and logical answer, hence my comment.
Let's probe further the concept of the "Jeevatma/Kinetic Energy" and "Brahman/Potential Energy". The former resides within each organism and the later is eternal. As one evolves and rids oneself of past encumbrances, the Jeevatma merges with the Brahman. My mind thought up an analogy of an object moving higher and higher and coming to a state of rest once it reaches a threshold (destination). All the Kinetic Energy expended is now Potential Energy. The object comes to rest. The cycle of birth/death terminates. Logical so far. Over a period of several millennia, more and more souls reach that state and thus the Kinetic Energy keeps reducing and the potential energy in the Universe keeps increasing in proportion to the successful ones who have been able to reach that end state. The sum total of energy in the Universe (the divine power from whom we all derive) remains constant. Logical again. Eventually, logic tells us two things.
Firstly, that the process must culminate once 100% organisms evolve (and a few have been evolving every century we can safely presume). Secondly, the cycle must happen only once. Continuing again from our two conclusions above, we arrive at the contradictions which need answers. Discounting the mythological tales of "Pralay / Noah's Ark/Extinction and Regeneration", the Universe must eventually come to a static end state wherein 100% people have evolved and no one is left anymore. Does it finish there when everyone has won? Or is it that the Brahman (the 100% potential energy then) will yet again shed Kinetic Energy in a process of recreation? Will creatures be born yet again and commit sins and strive for salvation as per some revised schema? Who will be those unfortunate chunks of energy that once having reached the pinnacle get thrown out yet again? Or will these be treated as fresh entities (souls)? Is it just a game that the Brahman keeps playing over and over again to keep itself occupied? Does it therefore run the Universe as a Casino and what causes it to do so? And if that is the way it is, are all these spiritual conquests really worth it? Science has similar conundrums and obscurities.
The theory of the Big Bang and Origin of the Universe are quiet identical to what I said above. There are no definitive answers either group of people has. The only good thing I found more favorable with Science is that the limitations are universally acknowledged whereas Spiritual teachers have never clearly accepted that there is an upper limit to what can be learnt. Once again the answers must come from the Spiritual community for I presume its got a greater reach and that the Brahman can never be replicated in a laboratory or confined to a test tube? When I said we must reconcile Science and Spirituality, what I actually meant was that spiritual people must strive to provide logical answers to the end state questions like the one above and not merely stop half way at what has already been documented and debated for centuries. The present discourse has become static. Unquote:
November 02, 2009 07:52 PM
I would like to read this post more carefully when I have time, as this topic is very interesting to me. I feel a lot of passion with respect to this.
But for now, I would just like to paraphrase something I read recently:
Science seeks answers by way of inference.
Spirtuality seeks answers by way of direct experience.
That is the core difference between the two.
Both approaches aim to describe the same thing, but use a different entry point.
What's truly amazing is the degree of consistency between the answers.
November 04, 2009 05:01 AM
Very interesting blog. This goes right along with a book I'm reading called "Decoding The Spiritual Messages of Everyday Life" by Dr. Paul DeBell. He combines spirituality with key concepts from modern psychology to help us overcome challenges and become more perceptive, creative, and fulfilled. Dr. DeBell draws on such rational tools as cognitive-behavioral and Piaget developmental psychology to detect and decode feedback from the deeper dimensions in life.
November 06, 2009 06:53 AM
It was kind of you to give credit where none is deserved for I did NO "in depth" study. I know no scriptures and have never prayed except when in peril. I am not much good at Scientific things either, just the basics that modern schooling teaches everybody.
You are a far more evolved person then me and I found what you wrote to be very comprehensive, logical and thought provoking. That's what encouraged me to pose these questions in the (selfish) hope of clearing up my own mind. You know how modern humans look forward to "quick fix" answers without working hard to achieve them. Questioning comes easily to anyone and everyone who has had a little bit of education. Finding answers is the harder part which just a few like you aim for.
Attaining bliss is not really on my agenda, becoming a better person possibly is (though the mind is easily tempted to sinnning and I think I've done more of it then I am entitled to). Yet, that's the humble endeavour which prompts these random outbursts.
On the plus side - such discussions do serve the limited purpose of helping us improve a bit and devote some time to matters other then those pertaining to daily survival.
Regardless of the outcome, I think it does help us become a more aware and a better thinking individual. A humble step closer to the ultimate realisation some of us aspire for.
I continue to look forward to your wise words much like a student who has a questioning but open mind.