Science N Spirituality

There is a combination of only two in the world: ‘this’ and ‘that’. There’s nothing more than this, that’s all! ‘This’ is what you call science, and ‘that’ is what you call spirituality. The worldly people limit themselves to ‘this’, or science only. Seekers, aspirants, sages, saints, seers, and theists - they all seek ‘that’, what you call ‘spirituality’. Let us understand that both ‘this’ and ‘that’ are one. Ultimately we’ll come to know that. So ‘this’ is science and ‘that’ is spirituality. But ‘Both are one’ is the reality. What is science? Science is the study; science is the observation; science is knowledge, which is below the senses, below the level of the senses. All that you see, all that you hear, all that you touch, all that you smell - all of those are relating to the sense organs. Below senses is science: ‘this’ is below senses, whereas ‘that’ is above senses, or beyond senses. The eye cannot see, the ear cannot hear, the skin cannot touch, and neither can the nose ever smell ‘that’. So ‘that’ is above senses. Science is the split of love. So, split of love is science, whereas the spirit of love is spirituality. Science, after all, is incomplete. However well we may study, however deeply we might investigate, however clearly we might inquire into it, yet science is always incomplete. Why? What science declared sometime ago is denied today. What science invents today will be negated tomorrow. It only means that science is not constant. Science goes on changing depending upon the equipment available on hand and the understanding of the mind. So science is incomplete like the letter ‘C’. ‘C’ begins there and ends there, with the hollow cavity, with the hollow space inside. So science is incomplete, whereas spirituality is like the letter ‘O’, which is full: “Poorna Madah, Poorna Midam.” That is full. So, spirituality is fullness. It is never incomplete. Science speaks of ‘thwam’ i.e. 'you', whereas spirituality speaks of ‘that’, ‘thath’. ‘Thath’ is ‘that’. ‘Thwam’ is ‘this’. So science is thwam, while spirituality is thath. The scientist goes on thinking of this creation, the world, whereas the spiritual man thinks of the Creator behind it. There cannot be any effect without the cause. After all, life is the combination of cause and effect. Scientists think of the effect, while the spiritual man thinks of the cause. Science is like a pair of scissors that cuts and divides. Today we have basic sciences, super sciences, and super specialties. Just as scissors help us to cut, to divide, science divides, whereas a needle stitches together small pieces. Take the example of a tailor. You take a cloth to your tailor. The tailor will just cut them into pieces and with the help of the needle, stitch them all together making them into a shirt. Likewise, a needle stitches pieces into a single garment. Spirituality is like a needle, while science is like scissors. Science is something like becoming. You

become a scientist; you are not born a scientist. You become a scientist because of your interest and inquisitiveness. That is all. You are not born a scientist. No one is ever born a scientist. So, science is becoming, whereas you are the very being. You are spiritual. Your very being is existential. You are existence. You are the very being, you are not becoming. Science is a matter of questioning: I go on questioning, “Why, what, where, when, how?” Science must necessarily answer all these questions. So, science is a matter of eternal questions! I go on questioning in order to know the basic facts of life. Spirituality is not a question. It is a quest - a quest meaning a search, a quest - to inquire, a quest - a meditation, a quest - contemplation. A quest is a search, infinite and indefinite. So, while science is a question, spirituality is a quest. Explanation and Exclamation Science gives you an explanation. A burning splinter burns brilliantly in the presence of oxygen. Why does it burn? Because of oxygen. Why does it not? Because of hydrogen. Everything has got an explanation. Science should give an explanation. And if it does not explain, it cannot be scientific. If it is scientific, it requires an explanation. Science and explanation go together. That which cannot be explained is not science at all. But spirituality is not explanation. It is an exclamation, with wonder and awe, a thrill, full of grandeur and excitement. It is not given to any explanation. It is only exclamation: “AHH! I saw a beautiful garden in Ooty! WOW!” That’s it. There’s no explanation. It is only exclamation! In science, there is what we call a sort of experiment and inference. You do some experiment. On the basis of observation, you draw some inference. Science requires three things - experiment, observation and inference. “This is the experiment, these are my observations and this is my inference.” Spirituality is not like that. It is experience. Spirituality is experience - experience of the Reality. In science, there is always a problem to be solved. If there is no problem, then there is no science at all. So, a scientist is always after one problem or another and he becomes problematic. So, a scientist is problematic, while science is a problem. Why? It was Einstein who said, “I don’t want to be born again as a scientist. If I am to be born again, I would like to be born as a carpenter.” He was very ashamed of his inventions, his scientific research and the theories on atom bombs, which caused the destruction of a large number of people. He felt ashamed of his career as a scientist. So the point is, science is a problem to be solved. But spirituality is not like that. It is a mystery wherein you get dissolved. Something is solved: there in science, while you are dissolved here in spirituality. You do not exist there in spirituality. Spirituality is a mystery to be dissolved, not a problem to be solved like in science. You dissolve. There is no question of 'I-ness' here. There is no question of ego here. There is no question of identity

here. There is no question of body identification or position, consciousness or personality awareness, no, no! You got dissolved, that’s it. So science is just what we call - it needs to be solved. Spirituality requires to be dissolved.