Blog 2

God and Science

Introduction

It was just a coincidence that I came to know that Sudhanshu Maharaj is giving his discourse in Singapore at a temple very close to where we stay.

I was quite impressed by the one-liner of the Maharaja on TV which said ‘ Rachnatmak hone ke liye Srajnatmak soch jaroori hai’ meaning ‘ To be creative, you need to think positively’. What a powerful thought !!! I was therefore looking forward to listen to him and that opportunity fell in my lap here at Singapore.

The Discourse

Sudhanshu maharaj's discourse was simple but impressive without too much 

paraphernalia. He spoke in a simple tone more conversational. What he preaches also is simple methods by which you can live in peace and harmony with your family, neighbors and surroundings. He strongly recommended a place for personal meditation or ‘manan’. The session starts with a relaxing ‘Dhyan’ exercise and culminates with a question answer session. Even the Q-A session is very simple with people asking questions related to family, health and children.

The Question

However it was the last question that made me write this blog. A person spoke about the current scientific theory of creation of the universe, known as ‘Big bang’ and wanted to know if it contradicts the belief of ‘God as creator of the universe. 

Maharajji, as expected tried to downplay the role of science and held on to the religious belief of GOD as the creator.

I have really no problem with this. Everybody is entitled to his belief. But my own opinion in this regard are little different.

GOD and Science

I have been brought up with deep faith in religion and GOD and my education has taught me to be scientific in my thoughts. I do not find any problem with these two to co-exist. In fact there roles are quite different. The following shloka from Gita is one of my favorites:

The first five parts of earth, water, fire, air and sky represent the physical parts of the universe whereas Heart, Mind and Ego represent the consciousness.

What science does is to investigate the true nature of the physical aspects of our universe whereas the religion and spirituality guide our consciousness.

Scientific era

As I delved into the scientific discoveries of Galileo, Newton, Einstein and so many others, particularly after my retirement and return from Colombo in 2003, there is no doubt that scientific discoveries are one of the greatest endeavors of human mind. I am awed at the intellect, perseverance and dedication with which these scientists worked to unravel the laws of nature and created better societies for us. Their task was not simple. They had to work against the existing beliefs, even getting executed in the process. But as Newton said, they kept on standing over the shoulders of their predecessors to see far beyond. Today we know that various natural phenomenon. Like thunder, lightning, solar-moon eclipses, comets etc. are not ‘ acts of God’ but are normal physical phenomenon governed by laws of Physics.

Early Scientists

When we talk of our scriptures and mythological stories, this was also an attempt by the early humans who were trying to find why these things happen. His early mind assigned these to ‘acts of God’ and created many mythological tales. These tales, though without any scientific basis, helped the human mind to find an answer to natural phenomenon. As time passed, he would have seen a certain pattern in these activities and started wondering if there were some natural laws that made these events happen. This helped him build up a logical reasoning.  These were the first scientists who worked with minimum of tools but explored lots of possibilities. Their life would not have been easy, as they had to work against the existing beliefs. But it was their perseverance that enabled science to progress. All the older civilizations can boast of such early scientists.

Conclusion

The discovery of ‘Big bang’ is one such event which we all, as a human race can be proud of. Our own beliefs in GOD and religion will continue to guide our consciousness.

So let us salute Edwin Hubble and others while we hope GOD to guide us to live happily and I said in my last blog: