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:
