Acharya Mahaprajna
Religion and science or spiritualism versus materialism - this, in my opinion, is not a matter of controversy at all. Religion and science do not really constitute two but only one and the same subject. Religion itself is science. A scientist here in India does some experiment or research and the conclusion he arrives at will be the same as that arrived at by another scientist making a similar experiment in America. Whatever result a scientist got from a particular experiment a thousand years ago, the same experiment performed a thousand years later, will yield the same result. Thus it is clear that science is nothing but all-time truth - space and time make no difference at all. The same holds true of religion - it is universally true. So we must recognize that religion itself is science. Science is the means of knowing something, and whatever we attain through that means constitutes religion. Science is thus the process of knowing something and religion is the process, the means of realizing the soul.
Therefore until we rise above beliefs, we shall not find reality.
Today, people look upon science as being only two centuries old. The research and achievements of science during this period are what science means to them. But the achievements of science before us do not really constitute science -They are mere accomplishments. What really constitutes science is factual observation. Apart from the soul, there is no other science.
The atom bomb is the product of science. But by itself, it can do nothing, because it is inanimate. It is the power of consciousness which uses the bomb to wreck destruction. There is nothing wrong with developing certain powers, but then these must be used rightly. Those who blame science will have to admit that religion is equally bad, because we have no means of isolating the one from the other. To conclude, religion and science are all-time truths.
Like that of spirituality, the sphere of science too is very old. Thousands of people have devoted themselves wholly to science. In India, a good deal of research was undertaken in the field of science, as also in the field of spirituality, thousands of years ago. The ancient masters undertook intensive sadhanas to obtain certain spiritual experiences. When in the grip of anger of some other strong emotion, hold your breath for a moment or two. Anger will subside of itself. Many experiments have been made like that. Let those acquainted with the science of yoga find out how many experiments the ancient masters performed. In olden times, a monk sitting thousands of miles away could make the seat of another monk oscillate by merely remembering him, and the other monk would know that he had been remembered. Whatever I am saying - these words of mine are not reaching you directly, but only after having first collided with the universe. What will you call it, if not science?
From this angle, religion and science are not two separate currents, but two aspects of the self-same flow of consciousness - one root with two springs.
Just as the accomplishments of science have been used for destructive purposes, similarly, religion has been put to wrong uses, and sometimes it has been grossly misused. Thus we find that science and religion, though they appear to be different, are fundamentally one. It is like the flat system in big cities. One building contains many flats and those living in them for years together, do not know one another.
Thus there is need for placing a curb on the effects of science, and that curb is religion and spirituality.
