On the onset, science and spirituality seem two distant ends of the spectrum of the human life. While science postulates, investigates and proves a theory before reaching a conclusion, spirituality asks for one’s total commitment, surrender of ego and readiness for a journey into unknown without dwelling in any theory. Science and technology, today, encompass almost every aspect of our lives, from shaving blade and motor vehicle to computer and genetic research. The advancement in the fields of communication, electronics, molecular biology and space exploration in the last decade has been phenomenal. New scientific discoveries and their impact on the human life have already started putting strains on the ancient religious fabrics. Although DNA research has been going on for over five decades, the major milestone came when in 1996 Dr. Ian Wilmut cloned the first sheep, named Dolly from the adult cells of her mother. As recent as last month, Dr. Wilmut in UK has been granted permission to conduct research on human embryos. To create human beings from body cells serves a serial challenge to religious premises of human creation and the authority of the ultimate God over human life.

While science has been scaling new heights in almost every field, we seem to have faltered in the area of self improvement, or self discovery. Religious institutions that claim to be the representatives of the divine are themselves struggling to maintain identity and theocracy. Number of attendees in the churches is rapidly declining, made worse by continuous exposure of misconduct and immorality in the higher echelons of the religious authorities. The church is not the only exception or excuse. There have been reports in the media of widespread abuse claims in organisations such as Hare Krishna (Iskon) and Swami Narayan. A lot more goes unreported. In general, although there has been an increase in interest in self-help topics and spiritual issues, little has been done to actually bring it into the human life. Theories and ideas are a plenty abound but fewer have ventured into the unknown. The science, on the other hand, has slowly but steadily advanced from one discovery to the other, now appearing as a distinct reality in some aspects. Many things that we see today were not even considered possible some time ago. It appears that while we have progressed in science and technology, we have remained stagnant as individuals – there is still the same greed, jealousy, hatred, unhappiness, conflicts, wars and differences in our hearts and minds - in a majority of them if not all. More importantly, a large number of people still remain unhappy about their lives no matter who they are or what they do. How is that possible? How can such diverse facets of the human life exist within the same society? Aren’t scientists human beings themselves? Aren’t they part of the same society where we live in? Why has God been so kind to the scientist as to show them the new paths and not kindle a spiritual insight in an ordinary human heart? Or is it that spirituality has evolved under the disguise of science? While we have produced very talented scientists in last decades, we have not produced any Buddha – not the one that the society has collectively accepted as a new Buddha (Name Buddha used only as a metaphor - means a self-realised person). Even if a true Buddha was to come today, there will be conflict as to which religion or community accepts him/her and which one not – such are our differences and distinctions.

We have not only not advanced in our inner quest for truth, we have hardened our stances. Have we been so caught up in the images, perceptions and ideals of the past that we have overlooked the subtle transformation of the human consciousness? Can such transformation be independent of us – not touching us if we do not know about it? Or is it that it has already happened and we are not even aware of it? These are so many questions that pop up one after the other. The answers are not difficult, though. One thing is clear. There has definitely been an advancement of the human life, for the Nature is continuously evolving. Nothing is excluded from the evolution. It is just not possible that one aspect of human life advances and the other does not. One more thing is clear. Something that does not evolve and transforms with the Nature cannot be real. If we cannot witness the transformation of human life as being an integral part of it ourselves, it means that there is ‘something’ there in our outlook, the way we look at this world, that is not real. That is where the science comes in.

Einstein once said, “The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books---a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.” (Source: www.simpletoremember.com). The science is trying to discover that mysterious order – to find the answers to our existence and existence of this universe. And where does it lead to? Isn’t it spiritual in itself? Science, as an institution, does not believe in God. But it does believe that there is something unique in everything that has been created or being created. Science is also aware of the continuous transformation of the Nature. It has just not found all the answers yet. How is that different from a spiritual quest? Buddha asks you to leave all your mental baggage behind and come to him like a clean slate in order to begin your inner journey. Christ asks you to become a child-like if you wish to see the truth. Krishnamurthy and Meister Eckhart ask you to become “egoless” or ‘I-less” for an eternal bliss. Isn’t that some science? Institutionalised religions have long positioned themselves against the science. If you were to become child-like, what would be your faith? It is not that faith is not important. The problem is in judging the people based on faith. When we create divisions in the society and go for or against, that is where we make most of the mistakes. Can anything or anyone be excluded from the Nature and existence of life? Does what you believe or what you do not have any bearing on your overall existence in this universe? Does that systematic and highly sophisticated order behind even the tiniest being, or occurrence, on this planet requires your approval? There is something amiss somewhere. Science is trying to find the answers in its own way.

Sometimes the world just does not make any sense. The baddies (in our eyes) get richer, and the righteous almost always live in poverty. Wrong people get killed. Millions of children sleep on an empty stomach all around the world. Crims get away with almost anything and the lawyers prosper. Some people happen to sit on an obscene amount of money that they cannot spend in their lifetimes, while some do not have enough to make a living. What is going on with our world? Where is that systematic, meticulous order of things that the scientists and spiritualists talk about? Why it is that such order is not applicable to our daily lives, in our own lives – the way we live? Science has an important part to play. Science is going after the fundamental question of existence through research and experiments. Spirituality goes at the fundamental the human life, devoid of all the differences, discriminations and distinctions through self-awareness and self-realisation. The two are not very different. We can see Nature’s hand in the way our life is being transformed. If there has been a lack of self discovery through meditation, the science has been able to unlock the secrets of the building blocks of the human life – DNA. It is not coincidental. The change can happen in any form. The life is continuously evolving – that is a fact – and the evolution can begin anywhere, even science. Science is not separate from us. The mental barriers that prevent us from witnessing our true existence can perhaps be one day identified and eliminated through scientific means. Perhaps, Nature is trying to fix the fundamental errors in the human beings by supplying instincts and insights to the scientists so that the genes can be modified for better results.

The spiritual masters gave us methods and tools of self-awareness. There are meditation techniques that help eliminate the influence of our illusory perception of “I” the ego. Those methods still work but since there are fewer practitioners these days, there does not seem to be much use of them. People have, consciously and subconsciously become too hardened in their view of the world. The academic research (not scientific), which produces teachers and scholars, is heavily logic-based. One cannot do any research before first defining his or her paradigms, personality types, traits and philosophical tilts. Making new claims is not allowed unless supported by other existing theories or a strong proof (then it would not remain as an original claim, would it?). Proofs, in the academic world are hard to come by because the claim on knowledge is generally not allowed. If you make a claim about influence of human conscience on leadership qualities, you will have a hard time colleting data that will prove that human conscience is indeed a widely acceptable entity - And where will you get someone who has “seen” or “experienced” human conscience as to give an authoritative comment about it? Even if you find one person, how will his or her view be accepted as a truth? It will most likely be termed as one single person’s paradigm or opinion without validity.

How can we, then expect to produce students that are more conscious or self-aware? We normally do not connect these terms to the academic life. They are considered personal choices of an individual. However, we fail to realise that the same passive mode of teaching, based on theories and models gets passed on from generation to generation. Mindsets are formed and the possibilities of self discovery or self realisation get severely limited. In our commercial world today, these properties or qualities do not have any market value. You cannot make a living by being self-realised. In my view, it is of utmost importance that the education of a child starts with first developing an insight into the human nature, our own nature along with other worldly knowledge. That will be both scientific and spiritual.

Most often, people try to fill the gap in their material and spiritual lives by the notion of faith. Contrary to what people believe, faith-based spirituality is perhaps the hardest of all meditations. Absolute faith demands full surrender – giving up of ego and identity. Monks and priests were supposed to do that – that was the whole purpose of priesthood – but even they cannot help showing up as “priests”. We are talking about all of us, each of us. How can spirituality be embedded in our daily lives? Can we be righteous and profitable at the same time? Can we still sell stuff that cost us ten cents and sell at ten dollars and call ourselves spiritual? We need a scientific approach to spirituality. We must have read umpteenth times that God is in every tiny particle of this universe. Science has acknowledged that every form is bound by its unique molecular structure – and each molecule has its protons, neutrons and electrons that are constantly moving, charged empty space and a nucleus/nuclei. Ditto every cell of our body. How can we, then, separate ‘ourselves’ from anything? Science and spirituality are two aspects of our lives that converge on the point of human existence. Nature is complex science itself. There is a quantum of science in each cell of our body. No matter how we do it or what we call it, the human life is at the forefront of Nature’s manifestation. Each particle of this planet is thriving for excellence – for the ultimate answer of their existence.

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