Sprituality & Materialism

Dedicated to Indian philosophy & the way of life of which we are an integral part.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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PREFACE

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PROLOGUE

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1. MATERIALISM Theories of materialism a. Classical materialism b. Modern Physicalism

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2. SPIRITUALITY Spirituality and Religion - Spirituality and Religion can blend beautifully

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3. MATERIALISM AND SPIRITUALITY a. The materialistic approach b. The spiritualistic approach

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4. DUALISM

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5. MARXIST THEORY OF MATERIALISM a. Rejection of Reason and Truth b. Denial of Personal Responsibility c. A New Natural Philosophy

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6. CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM a. Consumerism catching them young

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7. EFFECTS OF MATERIALISM a. Money can t bu y happiness for the materialistic. b. The ups, downs, and vices of materialism c. Giorgio Armani and his disgust with luxury d . The Dalai lam a s call

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8. SPIRITUALITY AND CELEBRITIES

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9. SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM Scientific Examples

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10. MEDITATION

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11. THE THEORIES OF MEDITATION a. The Indian theory b. The western theory

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12. THE PROCESS OF MEDITATION a. PRACTISING MEDITATION

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13. OSH O S PH ILOSOPH Y

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14. LOVE AND MEDITATION

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EPILOGUE

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REFERENCES

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Ou r Project Spiritu ality & Materialism w ith an aim to u nd erstand the su fferings of mankind and to su ggest a probable solu tion to it w ou ld not have been in it s present form w ithou t the help of innu m erable people arou nd us. We take this opportu nity to thank everyone w ho has been associated with this work directly and indirectly. A special m ention is requ ired , how ever, of Sri. Gokuleshwar Das, IYF, ISCKON and Sri. Ramesh Shetty, Sanatana Sanstha, w ho provid ed u s w ith the fu nd am entals of the su bject. We w ou ld also like to take this opportu nity to thank Sri. Mukund And Sri. A di keshav for helping u s in realising our ideas in proper form. We would also like to thank our friends, Charles Wilson & Nawaf Surve for rendering their support to us by allowing us to utilise their resources. Last bu t certainly not the least w e w ou ld like to express ou r gratitu d e towards our parents w ho have taught and constantly encouraged us to rise above the benighted aspect of human nature. Before w e conclu d e w e w ou ld like to m ention special thanks to Sri. Ravindra Kumar and his family who helped us immensely during the compilation of our project.

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PREFACE Spiritu ality or the science of self-realisation has been alw ays a very im portant part of all religions and is intrinsic to the very existence of hu m ans on earth. Em barking on this project of spiritualism w as not an instantaneou s d ecision. It evolved through various rou nd s of d iscussions and d ialogu es w ith variou s people arou nd u s. After a series of conversation, w e cam e to a conclu sion that the present society need s som e change in the d irection of their w ork. Thou gh w e are living in an age of science and technology, but the way we are working to achieve our goals is not at all healthy. H igh levels of stress, anxiety, peer pressu re is eating into ou r lives. It is also giving rise to corrupt mentality, which is spoiling this generation. Therefore, in this project titled Spirituality & Materialism , w e have tried to d eal w ith all the aspects of hum an natu re in a broad sense. Ou r end eavou r has been to constantly d iscuss the art of spiritualism in light of present situ ation, the problem and the perplexities faced by the m ankind tod ay. It has been ou r sincere attem pt, that none of the religions com e into pictu re as this science is beyond the d octrine of any religion. Therefore, w e have tried to take the essence of all cultures. Though, sometimes one may find the undercurrent of the project to be vedic in nature but it is not due to a biased outlook but simply the fact that abundant research from various scholars have been done in this field provides a basis of all future understandings. Similarly, we have used various A merican surveys to understand the current status of an extremely materialistic American Society. The project explores the aspect of materialism in detail with proper causes and consequences. The d iscu ssion on the Science and Spiritualism is simply d one to bring to the fore that scientific progress w ithou t spiritu al valu es is of no u se to the hu m an society and the trend need s to be changed. The last part of d iscu ssion d eals w ith the m ethod s to aw ake the spirit insid e u s and how to start w orking on ou r objective to becom e spiritually elevated . H ere, w e have tried to u nd erstand m ed itation and it s evolu tion throu gh the ages. At last, w e w ou ld say that this project is an attem pt to u nearth, red iscover and revitalise the relationship of soul w ith the Su prem e Lord . It w ou ld be an extrem e pleasu re for us if this discussion can refurbish the thought process of some of our readers.

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PROLOGUE Spirituality & Materialism sou nd s oxym oronical. Yes, they are. One is eternal and other is earthly. Know ingly or u nknow ingly, m ost of u s are m aterialistic in som e form or the other and su ffering from this cu rse of m aterialism . Bu t w e never realise it, w e never w ant to u nd erstand . This qu est for w ealth, this u rge for fame, the longing for sense-gratification is slow ly and slow ly d riving us to a d ark end from w here w e d on t know as to w here exactly w e have to go.

H ave you ever tried to ask you rself w ho you are? What is your real id entity? Are you sim ply a nam e by w hich you are know n? H ave you ever thou ght of the end result of all you r activities, the final m om ent, the last breath? I think, no. Bu t think that to every action, there is an equ al and opposite reaction. This law is u nd efiable. So, d eath and birth. Again and again. Bu t till w hen and why?

Why d on t you ever try to think of som ething that is perm anent, som ething that is beyond the d egrad ation of tim e. Som ething that is eternally joyful, full of bliss and provid es everlasting pleasure?

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MATERIALISM As the w ord itself signifies, Materialism is a philosophical system w hich regard s matter as the only reality in the w orld , w hich u nd ertakes to explain every event in the u niverse as resulting from the cond itions and activity of matter, and w hich thu s d enies the existence of God and the sou l. It is d iam etrically opposed to Spiritualism and Idealism , w hich, in so far as they are onesided and exclusive, declare that everything in the world is spiritual, and that the world and even m atter itself are m ere conceptions or id eas in the thinking su bject. Materialism consid ers the w hole u niverse to be exclu sively ru led by the law s of physics. A hu m an, in that system , is exclusively m ad e of matter and the activities it d isplays can be explained by cu rrents and chem ical exchanges w ithin its brain. The ancient Ind ian philosophy, how ever, is id ealistic; according to it there is only one real being, Brahma; everything else is appearance, Maya. In Greece the first attem pts at philosophy w ere m ore or less materialistic; they assu m ed the existence of a single primord ial matter -- w ater, earth, fire, air -- or of the fou r elem ents from w hich the w orld w as held to have d eveloped . Accord ing to the ancient Ind ian w isd om too the hu m an bod y is said to be form ed from the five m aterials or the Panchbhoot Prithavi, Jala, Teja, Vaayu & A akaash. H ence the hu m an bod y is also m aterial in natu re. And this m aterial bod y has m aterial senses, i.e. the senses provid ed to this hu man bod y are also m aterial in natu re. Like ou r eyes can see m aterial objects like a table, chair, earth, w ater, plants etc. bu t can it see nonmaterial things like light w hich is an electromagnetic w ave. The answ er is N o. Similarly, rest of ou r senses are also m aterial in natu re. This is the reason as to w hy the hu m an eye cannot see, hear or sm ell the soul. Becau se sou l can only be experienced throu gh the process of self-realization. This bod y has been given to us as a carrier of the soul. The m aterialists d eny the existence of soul because the m aterialists are alw ays busy in the process of gratification of their senses. They pay little attention to the nourishment of the human soul while the ultimate aim of this soul to mingle back with its origin, God himself. This is the ultimate aim of this human life. [D ictionary D efinition]: m aterialism (nou n): the d octrine that nothing exists except m atter and its m ovem ents and m od ifications and that consciou sness and w ill are w holly d u e to the operation of m aterial agencies: m aterialist (nou n): an ad herent of materialism : m aterialistic (adjective): pertaining to, characterised by, or devoted to materialism. .. Chambers 20th century dictionary If m aterialism is tru e, then it seem s to negate the notions of free w ill and consciou sness. If ou r thinking and behaviou r is pu rely d riven by the d eterm inistic law of physics, how can w e consider that we have a free will? And w hat abou t consciou sness, is there anything that w e can call ou rselves or are w e ju st a heap of m ore or less organized cu rrent and chem ical d ischarges or are w e only a lu m p of d ead m atter? Accord ing to genetic science, w e are com pletely d efined by the DN A, bu t d on t tw ins have id entical DN A s, how ever d istinct m ight be there personalities. So w hat d ifferentiates those tw ins? What m akes a hu m an very d ifferent from an animal or a plant; besid es the fact it has a m ore com plex brain? Why shou ld w e give m ore consid eration to a severely m entally d isabled hu m an or a new born child rather than to a very intelligent chim panzee, as the latter show s m ore intelligence than the former?

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Com pu ters have been program m ed to com pletely em u late the central nervou s system of sim ple invertebrates (containing a few hundreds of neurons). If suppose we assume that in the future we m ight have pow erful com pu ters to em u late a hum an's central nervou s system , then d oes that m ean that this com pu ter and its program shou ld then be consid ered as consciou s as a hu man is? Do w e m orally have the right to pu ll its plu g? What abou t the printed sou rce cod e? What abou t making copies of that program? So, there are a lot of qu estions that w e need to ask ou rselves before w e accept the m aterialistic theory or deny the presence of the soul. Since we are experiencing consciousness (we can think and therefore we are), and have some free w ill. So, one need s to think that there are flaw s in m aterialism and the m aterialistic theory. So w e have to consider the materialistic view as incompatible to what we are experiencing.

In this material w orld everything is m ad e of d ead m atter , therefore it is sim ply an im itation. The reality of things exist in the spiritual world. According to the Bhagavad Gita para tasmat tu bhavo nyo vyakto vyaktat sanatanah yah sa sarvesu bhutesu nasyatsu na vinasyati Yet there is another natu re, w hich is eternal and is transcend ental to this m anifested and unmanifested matter. It is su prem e and is never annihilated . When all in this w orld is annihilated that part rem ains as it is . Bhagavada Gita says janma karma ca ve divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva dekam punar janma Haiti mam eti so rjuna One w ho know s the transcend ental natu re of My appearance and activities d oes not u pon leaving the bod y, take his birth again in this m aterial w orld , bu t attains My eternal abod e, o Arju na Materialism tells us to satisfy ou r m aterial bod ies and it s senses bu t not the sou l. Even more d istu rbing is the fact about m aterialism is that it gives w ay to m ore d issatisfaction and thu s one gets entangled in this viciou s circle. Materialism is thu s a gam e not w orth playing, because in the m ind less pursuit of w ealth one ju st feels u nhappy and u nsatisfied even he is su ccessfu l otherwise.

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THEORIES OF MATERIALISM Classical Materialism : Classical m aterialism of the nineteenth and early tw entieth centu ry hold s that only material things exist and these are com posed of atom s, w hose behavior is totally d efined by the law s of physics. At the beginning of the tw entieth centu ry m atter and energy w ere show n to be interchangeable, bu t this find ing d id n't at that tim e w eaken m aterialism. If anything it strengthened it. To the classical materialist, the universe is one huge mechanism composed of tiny particles which behave like electrically charged billiard balls. Theoretically if you knew the m ass, velocity, spin and charge of each of these particles then you cou ld pred ict the behavior of the u niverse from now u ntil eternity. As hum ans and anim als are com posed entirely of atom s, their behavior is also, in theory, predictable and therefore free-will does not exist.

Modern Physicalism : The version of m aterialism prevalent now ad ays is m ore accurately know n as physicalism . It is m ore concerned w ith the law s of physics and w ith inform ation processing than w ith m atter as su bstance. Physicalism has grow n out of ad vances d u ring the second half of the tw entieth centu ry in the field s of genetics, evolu tion and compu ter technology. Mod ern physicalism takes as its subject matter DNA codes, computer instruction sets and data structures. Physicalism 's tenets are that the entire operation of the u niverse, inclu d ing the hu m an mind , can be red u ced to algorithm s and d ata stru ctu res. The law s of physics are seen as the algorithm s w hich d eterm ine the inform ational states of particles (velocity, position, spin etc) from previou s states. The process of evolu tion itself is regard ed as an algorithm . Evolu tion prod u ces com plex stru ctu res out of the end less algorithm ic loop of replication, rand om error in copying, and resources which are insufficient to allow all replicated copies to survive to replicate themselves in tu rn. Evolu tion is the algorithm , and the DN A cod es of living organism s are the correspond ing data-structures. Physicalism has taken on board som e of the early find ings of quantu m physics (bu t is struggling to interpret som e of the m ore recent ones su ch as non locality). In particu lar, it is m ore in agreement w ith Bu d d hism than are either Classical Materialism or Du alism , in that Physicalism d oes not recognise the existence of things-in-them selves. The m aterial w orld can only be know n by its interactions. Prod u ction of new inform ation alw ays d epend s u pon the change of the state of the system. At the qu antu m level, the u ltim ate particles of matter are u nknow able as things-in-themselves, and in the final analysis turn into m ere probabilities. The characteristics of fu nd am ental particles can never be d irectly apprehend ed , bu t m u st be d ed u ced by their interactions w ith particles of a sim ilar nature to them selves. The very act of observation consequ ently changes w hat is being observed in an unpredictable manner.

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To the physicalist the hu m an brain is either a com pu ter, or a d evice w hich can be sim u lated by a com pu ter in term s of how its inpu ts are processed to give ou tpu ts. The physicalist believes that the mind is identical to the functionality of the brain. Consequ ently if any activity or property of the m ind can be d em onstrated w hich cannot be simulated by algorithm s and d ata-stru ctu res, then the physicalist w orld view is show n to be incomplete. There is increasing evidence that such non-algorithmic properties do exist, and this is examined by computationalism.

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SPIRITUALITY Several people listen to stories, d iscou rses, lectu res on spirituality and read holy texts as w ell but science of spiritu ality is abou t the know led ge of infinite. As such, the end eavour to u nd erstand will be eternal. Spiritu ality and m aterialism as it sou nd s clearly are tw o extrem e aspects of m an s existence. One d eals w ith the soul-the imperishable and other w ith m atter w hich is su bject to obliteration w ith tim e. Therefore the greatest qu estion throw n in front of any beginner is that, how can w e m ake these tw o end s to m eet w ithou t raising any conflict. Though, this qu estion seem s to be inexplicable bu t answ er exists, if one is w illing to go d eep in his spiritual life. The solu tion is that we can use this matter for the maintenance of this body but we should not identify our body with this matter. The m om ent w e start id entifying ou rselves w ith objects i.e. this is MY w atch, MY hou se, MY car etc. w e start loosing over tru e id entity and starts living w ith false im ages. The bod y w hich is m ad e u p of m atter has to perish and so is any m atter u nd er the sky bu t the sou l w hich is insid e ou r bod ies is everlasting. It is beyond d estru ction bu t w e d on`t u nd erstand this. We id entify ou r sou l w ith the bod y. This is an ego. This ego is insid e u s bu t w e are not read y to recognize it, because w e are alw ays associated w ith I . This I takes u s aw ay from GOD. It d oes not allow us to understand that we are not the bodies but the soul. The real objective of life is to u nd erstand that w e are not this bod y bu t the sou l. We have to understand that it is not we who are doing things but it is GOD under whose will we are doing it. To attain this goal we have to gain knowledge, which can liberate us from this delusion. sa vidya ya vimuktye The knowledge, which can liberate us . Unless and until w e strive to gain this know led ge, w e rem ain in this trap of this illu sion called maya. This maya is nothing bu t GOD s inferior energy called apaar prakrati .

According to Bhagavad Gita : M aya dhyaksena prakrathi suyate sacaracarm This m aterial energy is w orking u nd er m y d irection . Und er the spell of this energy w e keep on associating ou r su ccess, enjoym ent, and everything in life w ith m aterial object thereby u nd ergoing u ntold m iseries. We suffer each m om ent bu t w e d on t u nd erstand why we are suffering. The prim ary pu rpose of any intelligent person shou ld be to u nd erstand the cause of his su ffering and also to id entify as how he is su ffering. After this he shou ld try to overcom e these m iseries by practicing materialism.

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Many people convey the id ea and philosophies of religion and sects in nam e of spiritu alism . So one has to be careful in this regard becau se spiritu alism is eternal. It has no connection w ith any religion practice. It is beyond realms of religion and is only a su bject of one s faith in GOD and his u rge to liberate himself from the cycle of birth and death. The goal of our life should inquire about what is happening and why. But sometimes people tend to m isinterpret it. They think that it is only scientific investigation and researches w hich are important with any objective to understand GOD. But, this is wrong. The Goal of every hu man end eavou r inclu d ing scientific mu st be to know the absolu te tru th of GOD. Spiritu ality is a tw o-stroke process. The u pw ard stroke relates to inner grow th and the d ow nw ard stroke relates tow ard s manifesting im provem ents in the w orld /reality arou nd u s as a result of the inward change. [D ictionary D efinition]: spiritualism (nou n): the d octrine that the spirit exists as d istinct from matter, or that spirit is the only reality; any philosophical or religious d octrine stressing the im portance of spiritu al as opposed to m aterial things: spiritu alist (nou n): an ad herent of spiritualism w ho regard s or interprets things from a spiritual point of view : spiritualistic (adjective): of or pertaining to spiritualism.

. Cham ber s 20th century Dictionary. One of the great gifts of spiritual know led ge is that it realigns you r sense of self to som ething you may not have even ever im agined w as w ithin you . Spirituality says that even if you think you 're limited and sm all, it sim ply isn't so. You 're greater and m ore pow erful than you have ever im agined . A great and d ivine light exists insid e of you . This sam e light is also in everyone you know and in everyone you w ill ever know in the fu tu re. You may think you're limited to ju st you r physical bod y and state of affairs inclu d ing you r gend er, race, family, job, and status in life but spirituality comes in and says

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Spirituality and Religion : Althou gh religion and spiritu ality are som etim es u sed interchangeably, they really ind icate tw o d ifferent aspects of the hum an experience. You might say that spiritu ality is the m ystical face of religion. Spiritu ality is the w ellspring of d ivinity that pu lsates, d ances, and flow s as the source and essence of every soul. Spirituality relates m ore to you r personal search, to find ing greater m eaning and pu rpose in you r existence. Som e elem ents of spiritu ality inclu d e the follow ing: Looking beyond outer appearances to the deeper significance and soul of everything : -

Love and respect for God Love and respect for yourself Love and respect for everybody

Religion is most often u sed to d escribe an organized grou p or cu ltu re that has generally been sparked by the fire of a spiritual or divine soul. Religions usually act with a mission and intention of presenting specific teachings and d octrines w hile nu rtu ring and propagating a particular w ay of life. Religion and spirituality can blend beautifully Different religions can look quite unlike one another. Some participants bow to colorful statues of d eities, others listen to inspired serm ons w hile d ressed in their Sund ay finery, and yet others set ou t their prayer rugs five tim es a d ay to bow their head s to the grou nd . Regard less of these d ifferent ou ter m anifestations of w orship, the kernel of religion is spirituality, and the essence of spirituality is God or the Supreme Being. Spirituality is: - Beyond all religions yet containing all religions - Beyond all science yet containing all sciences. - Beyond all philosophy yet containing all philosophy As one becomes more spiritual, animalistic aggressions of fighting and trying to control the beliefs of other people can be cast off like an old set of clothes that no longer fits. In fact, many seekers begin to feel that every image of divinity is just one more face of their own, eternally ever-present God.

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SPIRITUALITY AND MATERIALISM Materialism tells u s to w ork only for those activities in w hich there is sense-gratification. It only tells u s to please ou r senses bu t it is tem porary in natu re. For how long can a person rem ain happy and content in the m aterialistic life. Spirituality on the other hand teaches us to nou rish our soul and walk on the path of self-growth with the ultimate motive of spiritual upliftment and achievement of moksh (the state of constant bliss). Spiritu alism influ ences you r w ay of thinking and so d oes m aterialism bu t w hile m aterialism isolates you from the w orld . Spiritu alism expand s you r self-im age beyond you r physical being and integrates it with the environment. Materialism causes meanness and self-centeredness while spiritualism incu lcates the holistic w ay of thinking. To explain this let us consid er the case of a fem ale and a laborer living in the society. Materialism m akes you think that you are female, and you r problem s are created by a society d om inated by m ales; that you are a laborer and the capitalism is ou t to squeeze blood ou t of you; that you are w eak and helpless w hile the w orld is going to gobble you u p. All you r actions are influenced by such fear if you r aw areness is confined to you r physical self. On the other hand Spiritu alism w ill m ake you think that you are not a w om an; you are a m em ber of fam ily, a d au ghter, a m other, a parent. You protect the fam ily and it protects you . You are not a laborer; you are a part of ind ustry. If the ind u stry prospers, you will too gain in status financially as well as socially. The materialistic approach: The m aterialistic approach relies prim arily on em pirical evid ence provid ed by the five senses w hat can literally be seen, heard , tasted , tou ched , or sm elled . This approach d epend s on the ou ter appearances of things to d ecid e how and w hat to think and feel abou t them . A m aterialistic person fixes w hatever m ay be w rong or ou t of place in his or her world by moving things around and effecting outer changes. The spiritual approach: In contrast, the spiritual w ay is to see beyond m ere ou ter appearances and the five senses to an intu itive perception of the cau ses behind ou ter cond itions. Som eone with a spiritual approach may change and uplift their world by first transforming and improving his or her ow n vision. Spiritu al w ay of thinking w ill change you r attitu d e entirely and establish friendly relationship with the world instead of one of hostility as envisaged by materialism.

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DUALISM The w estern response to m aterialism is d ualism , w hich claim s that there are tw o kind s of things in the u niverse - m aterial objects and souls. The m ajor exponent of d u alism w as Descartes. The soul is regard ed a thinking self-conscious entity w hich interfaces w ith the nervous system through the the pineal gland. From this organ the soul controls the rest of the bod y, w hich is a pu rely m echanical system . Only hu m ans have sou ls, anim als are sim ple automation incapable of any subjective mental experience. Du alism im plies that m ental experience is a rad ically new featu re that only hu mans possess, and a late optional extra slipped into an already well-defined, functional, physical universe. As d u alism in one form or another continu es to be the pred om inant teaching of the chu rch, it is apparent w hy there is so m u ch antipathy from fu nd am entalism tow ard s the theory of evolu tion. It is extrem ely d ifficu lt to envisage how a m echanistic zom bie (animal) cou ld have grad ually evolved into a d u alistic being (hu man). This problem is not shared by Bu d d hism, w hich regard s the mind as being prim ord ial and capable of forming a tem porary association with any sentient organism, as discussed in symbiotic mind.

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Marxist theory of Materialism "You say the m aterialist universe is u gly, " w rote C. S. Lew is to a you ng skeptic in 1950. " If you are really a product of the materialistic universe, how is it you don t feel at hom e there?" N early half-a-centu ry later, Lew is s qu estion still resonates. Mod ern society continu es to operate largely on the m aterialistic prem ises of su ch thinkers as Charles Darw in, Karl Marx, and Sigmu nd Freu d . Yet few tod ay feel at hom e in the m aterialist u niverse w here God d oes not exist, where ideas do not matter, and where every human behavior is reduced to non-rational causes. C. S. Lew is spent m u ch of his life d ebunking the sterility of m aterialist thinking; and his insights are as relevant now as w hen they w ere first offered , becau se ou r cu ltu re remains d ominated by fou r of materialism s m ost d ead ly legacies. Rejection of Reason and Truth: Materialism s first d ead ly legacy is the rejection of reason and objective tru th. N ineteenth-century m aterialists d epicted ou r thou ghts as the irrational prod u cts of environm ent or hered ity or brain chem istry. As a consequence, the intellectu al classes becam e convinced that only the reality w as m aterial, and thu s the only tru e explanations w ere red u ctive. If you w anted to explain a flow er, you d escribed its cell stru ctu re, not its beau ty. If you w anted to explain hu m an beings, you looked not to their greatest achievem ents, bu t to the raw m aterials that m ad e them u p. This sort of red u ctionism perm eates contem porary society, from politics and the social sciences to literature and the performing arts. Denial of Personal Responsibility: If m aterialism has been hard on reason and m orality, it has been equ ally d estru ctive of personal responsibility. By claim ing that hu m an thou ghts and actions are d ictated by ou r biology and environm ent, m aterialism u nd erm ined personal responsibility. The resu lts can be seen in ou r crim inal justice system , our civil ju stice system , and ou r w elfare system . Ever since sin entered the w orld , hu m an beings have sou ght excu ses for their behavior, bu t m aterialism hand ed u s an inexhau stible su pply of excu ses. N o m atter w hat w e d o, it can be attribu ted to a cause other than our own choices: our social environment, subconscious drives, or brain chemistry. Against this m od ern ethic that no one is responsible, Lew is strove to m ake people aw are of ju st how responsible they really are. Lew is cou ntered this m entality not so m u ch by d irect d ispu tation, bu t by trying to place a m irror in front of u s that w ou ld cause us to recognize the evil in ou r ow n souls. This is m ost apparent in his fictional w orks, w here there are key m om ents of self-revelation w hen m ajor characters realize that they are really to blam e for the fix they are in. A New Natural Philosophy : At the end of The A bolition of M an, Lew is called for a new natu ral philosophy that w ou ld u nd erstand hu m an beings as they really are. "When it explained ," said Lew is, "it w ou ld not explain away. When it spoke of the parts it would remember the whole."

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Lew is w as not qu ite su re w hat he w as asking for, and being a realist he certainly w as not convinced that the revolu tion w ou ld actu ally com e abou t. Yet d u ring the next d ecad e it ju st m ight. We live d u ring an era of tu m ultu ou s change, and now here is this fact m ore evid ent than in the sciences. Recent developments in biology, physics, and cognitive science are raising serious d ou bts about the m ost fu nd am ental assu m ptions of m aterialism . In biology, scientists are d iscovering su ch irred u cible com plexity in biological systems that the only reasonable explanation seem s to be a non-m aterial d esigner. In physics, ou r u nd erstand ing of m atter is becom ing increasingly non-m aterial. In cognitive science, efforts to red u ce m ind to the physical processes of the brain have failed repeatedly. In other w ord s, for perhaps the first tim e since the m aterialist onslau ght w e have an opportu nity to bring abou t the collapse of materialism and to re-fou nd both science and cu ltu re along the lines envisioned by C. S. Lewis more than half-a-century ago.

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CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM Consu m erism is the tend ency of people to id entify them selves strongly w ith prod u cts or services they consu me, especially those w ith com m ercial brand nam es and obviou s statu s enhancing appeal, for e.g. an expensive au tom obile, rich jew ellery. It is a term w hich m ost people d eny m aking som e specific excuse or rationalisation for consu m ption other than the id ea that they are com pelled to consu m e . Consu m erism is d riven by hu ge su ms spent on ad vertising d esigned to create both a d esire to follow trend s and make attachm ents w ith the brand s. To those w ho accept the id ea of consu m erism, these prod ucts are not seen as valuable in them selves bu t rather as social signals allow ing them to id entify like-m ind ed people throu gh consum ption and d isplay of sim ilar prod u cts. Few w ou ld yet go so far, thou gh, as to ad m it that their relationships w ith the prod u ct or brand nam e cou ld be su bstitu te for the healthy hu man relationships lacking in m od ern societies. Consu m erism interferes w ith the w orkings of society by replacing the norm al com m on sense d esire for an ad equate su pply of life's necessities, com m unity life, a stable family and healthy relationships w ith an artificial ongoing and insatiable qu est for things and the m oney to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what is bought. Shopping malls have replaced parks, chu rches and com m u nity gatherings. The m arketers, d epartm ent stores, and retail ad vertisers tod ay have tu rned festivals from being a religiou s holiday into materialistic consumerist consumption frenzy. Friend ship, fam ily ties and personal autonom y are only prom oted as a vehicle for gift giving and the rationale for the selection of com m u nication services and personal acquisition. Events like w ed d ings and births have tu rned into consu m er events w ith their ow n hierarchy of d emand s for the things that assu m e a life of their ow n. For exam ple, the brid e's d ress and accessories assu m e far more significance than the bride's state of mind. Financial resou rces better spent on Social Capital su ch as ed u cation, nu trition, housing etc. are spent on prod u cts of d u biou s value and little social retu rn. In ad d ition, the pu rchaser is robbed by the high price of new things, the cost of the cred it to bu y them , and the less visible expenses su ch as in the case of au tom obiles w ith increased registration, insurance, repair and maintenance costs. Materialism is one of the end results of consumerism. Consumerism catching them young Ad vertisers and the com panies are d oing record levels of research to help m arket their prod u cts to child ren. They are relying on brain science, the reports of child ad visers, and extensive vid eotaping of kid s in stores, playing w ith toys at playgrou nd s and in their hom es. We all are w ell w arned abou t ju nk food and its effect on ou r health, how it d om inates ad vertising aimed toward children. Children are living in an environment where they are bombarded with advertisements aimed just at them, but it is influencing them in more ways than their parents might imagine. The average Am erican child is exposed to 40,000 ad vertising m essages each year, accord ing to recent estim ates, and corporations are cu rrently spend ing $15 billion annually ad vertising and marketing to kids up to age 12.

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The Ind ian story is no d ifferent as the total spend ing pow er of the Ind ian you th is abou t $6.5 billion - their ow n d iscretionary incom e plu s w hat their fam ilies spend on them . They carry consid erable econom ic clou t, as w ell as the pow er to influ ence their parents' pu rchasing. Accord ing to Mahind ra & Mahind ra, ''We w ant to grab the fu nky m arket''. ''Kid s persu ad e their parents what car to buy. They determine style and fashion today''. The you th-consu m erism age u shered in Ind ia w ith the MN C s w hich brou ght w ith them a range of experience. The Ind ian you th w as read y to em brace consu m erism and these companies pitched it right at them. Advertisers and media agencies such as MTV take advantage of the insecurities that plague teens to fu rther prom ote m aterialism and consu m erism . Teens like to im agine them selves as being superior in some way to their peers, marketers use teen insecurities in their advertising messages. Indian teens alone buy nearly 60% of the fizzy drinks, chocolates, and jeans sold in India. That's a reality marketers in India are increasingly waking up to, as demographic trends push the number of young consumers higher every year. And unlike their parents, this computer-savvy generation has no qualms about consumerism. There is a ju nk cu ltu re that su rrou nd s them . It is not only m aking child ren m aterialistic, it is making them sick. They are becoming depressed and anxious. They are su ffering from head aches and stom achaches, too. "Logos are everything , as d esigner labels contribu te to their social ranking. This ju nk cu ltu re in kid s has been relentlessly pushed by a nu m ber of m ega-corporations like Disney, McDonald 's, Coca-Cola, N estle, N ike, Levi s Dom ino s, Killer, Cad bu ry. With the kind of m oney at hand , these com panies are prom oting entertainm ent, fashion and apparel, electronics and furnitu re, and health and beau ty aid s. After more than a decade of relentless advertising and marketing the children have adopted the junk values of materialism and the desire to be rich. In Ind ia, in the 1950s, there w ere just tw o cars: the boxy Am bassad or and the equally solid Fiat. The waiting list used to take six years, and customers took whatever color rolled off the assembly line that m onth. N ow there is a choice at every conceivable price point. The consu m er is sim ply spoilt for choice w ith auto m anufactu rers falling on top of each other for a place in the consu m er s m ind and on the road . N ow , Ind ian kid s are getting w hat w e cou ld only read abou t in Am erican comic books. They are w aking u p to consu m erism . And now , Its tim e w e w oke u p to that fact! Still, there are a grow ing nu m ber of people w ho are aw are that these aspects of consu merism are som e of the m ain obstacles to living in a pleasant safe com m u nity, seeing their child ren w ell-ed u cated and living long healthy productive lives, without squander and waste. These articles d em onstrate that, m aterialism throu gh consu m erism is totally prom oted by advertisers and the media. One of the things that makes, materialism and consumerism bad is the insatiable desire for more.

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EFFECTS OF MATERIALISM Materialism has contaminated tod ay s society, as money and material good s have becom e the m asters of hum ans. Of course, m oney may be regard ed as a m eans for attaining other things, bu t instead of being a requirement, it has become our obsession. These days people work 24x7 in lure of these material good s. As Society has started to attach su ccess of an ind ivid u al by the possession of his m aterial belongings, w e are only head ing sou th as regard s the m oral valu es. It has started to show significant effects on the psyche and behaviour of people. As w e have seen d uring the last tw o d ecad es there has been a significant shift in the stress and d epression levels of people. As m an constantly strived for these m aterial possessions, along w ith it came frustration, greed, jealousy, anger, agony and the human life became miserable. These are among the conclu sions em erging from a three-year research project on Religion and Econom ic Valu es at Princeton University. A national representative su rvey of the active (em ployed ) U. S. labor force in w hich m ore than 2,000 people participated . More than 150 people w ere interview ed from various faiths and occu pations in greater d epth. Their responses provid e new insight into our deepest obsession -- money. In the su rvey, 89 percent agreed that "ou r society is m u ch too m aterialistic"; 74 percent said m aterialism is a seriou s social problem ; and 71 percent said society w ould be better off if less em phasis w ere placed on m oney. Many of the peop le w e talked to d escribed the corrosive effect of m aterialism on their fam ilies. You ng ad ults reflected on how hard their parents had w orked . The result w as a com fortable life, bu t one sad d ened by em otional d istance. Even m ore com m on w ere the you ng parents w ho talked abou t their ow n child ren being corru pted by television and by ad vertising. N inety percent of those surveyed agreed that "child ren tod ay w ant too m any material things." Another ind ication of how attached w e are to ou r possessions is that w e readily admit our attachm ent. When asked how im portant "having a beau tiful hom e, a new car, and other nice things" w as to them , for exam ple, 78 percent of the people su rveyed said "very im portant" or "fairly im portant," w hile only 22 percent said "not very im portant." The responses w ere sim ilar w hen people w ere asked abou t the im portance of being able to travel for pleasure, w earing nice clothes, and eating out at expensive restaurants. Most of us d raw su ch a tight connection betw een m oney and other aim s that m oney itself acqu ires great valu e. Freed om , for instance, is one of ou r d eepest valu es, and in the su rvey 71 percent agreed that "having m oney m eans having m ore freed om ." Or, to cite another exam ple, feeling good about ourselves is a basic value, and 76 percent agree that "having money gives me a good feeling abou t m yself." The su rvey also show ed that w orrying abou t not having enou gh m oney is significantly correlated w ith not feeling good abou t oneself. Most people d o give lip service to the view that money and happiness may not necessarily go together. In the su rvey, for instance, only 11 percent said w ealthy people are generally "happier than other people." Yet m any of us harbor the conviction that having ju st a little m ore m oney w ou ld ind eed make u s happier.

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Thinking that m aterialism is a seriou s problem , how ever, seem s to have little connection w ith how w e actually live ou r lives. Money and m aterial possessions are, in fact, among the things w e cherish most deeply. Our consumer habits are one indication of their importance. We spend huge su m s on consu m er prod ucts, m ou nt increasing cred it card d ebts, and perceive ou rselves to be u nd er enormou s financial pressu re. In the su rvey 63 percent said the statem ent "I think a lot abou t m oney and finances" d escribes them very w ell or fairly w ell, and 84 percent ad m itted "I w ish I had m ore m oney than I d o." On m ore specific questions, virtually everyone m entioned having serious financial concerns. Religious trad ition provid ed earlier generations w ith a m oral langu age that helped cu rb the pu rsuit of money. Faced , as w e now seem to be, w ith a sense that m aterialism has gotten ou t of hand and that w e are u nable to resist its pow er, som e of us m ight hope that religiou s faith w ou ld still be a source of w isd om and guid ance in these m atters. Yet the results from ou r stu d y are at best m ixed . Faith is certainly m ore of a factor in how w e u se m oney than econom ists m ight su ppose. Bu t it is u nd ou bted ly less of a factor than religiou s lead ers w ould like it to be. Most Am ericans d o believe their faith is relevant to their finances. Only 22 percent of those su rveyed , for example, agreed that "God doesn't care how I use my money." What religiou s faith d oes m ore clearly is to ad d a d ollop of piety to the m aterialistic amalgam in which m ost of u s live. We d o not feel com pelled to give u p any of ou r m aterial d esires, only to pu t them "in perspective." When finances w orry u s w e pray, and that gives u s strength to keep on w orking. Ou r faith helps u s feel better abou t ou rselves w hether w e are w orried abou t ou r finances, whether we have money in abundance, or whether we fall into both of these categories Money Can't Buy Happiness for the Materialistic N EW YORK (Reu ters H ealth) - Even m illionaires can be u nhappy in life if their m aterial d esires are bigger than their bank accounts, new research suggests. In a series of stu d ies of college stu d ents, researchers fou nd that participants' satisfaction w ith variou s hypothetical incom es d epend ed u pon w hether they w ould be able to bu y the things they d esired . Even "very com fortable" six-figu re incom es often w eren't enou gh if participants felt they would be missing out on the toys wealthier people enjoyed. In one of the stu d ies, w hich asked the stu d ents to envision them selves in the year 2050, participants w ere less likely to be happy w ith an annu al salary of $150,000 if they fou nd ou t they w ou ld n't be able to afford the "tele-transporters" that fu tu ristic folks w ou ld be u sing to w hisk themselves around the globe--among other "desirable" possessions. In another stu d y, participants d escribed the type of hom e and other possessions they hoped to one d ay have, and their fu tu re incom es w ere estimated based on the careers they w anted to pu rsue. Overall, incom e satisfaction w as sim ilar am ong the stu d ents--until som e fou nd out they w ou ld have a tou gh time reaching their m aterial aspirations, send ing financial satisfaction d ow nhill. And if people aren't happy w ith their buying pow er, they m ay be unhappy in general, accord ing to stu d y au thor Dr. Ed Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Materialistic people have been fou nd in m any stu d ies to be less happy," he told Reu ters H ealth. "For one thing, materialism can distract people from things such as social relationships, which are more important to happiness."

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"It is just that the strong d esire for m oney can be self-d efeating becau se one can never get enough," Diener said. "People 50 years ago m ad e less than half of w hat w e m ake tod ay," he said , "bu t they w ere abou t as happy as we are." The ups, downs and vices of materialism Accord ing to a stu d y released by Reu ters, on Ju ly 3, 2001, Materialism has a link to Depression And Anger. Designer labels and fast cars may be the d ream of m illions, but craving material possessions can cause d epression and anger, show s the research released . Even the Australian acad em icians fou nd a positive correlation betw een m aterialism -- or an "excessive concern" for m aterial things -- and negative psychological phenom ena. While there is grow ing concern over the environmental effects of materialism and global consumerism, little attention has been paid to its psychological effects. One sou rce of d epression am ong d ed icated consu m ers w as the fact that the property they acquired tend ed to lose valu e qu ickly. Shau n Sau nd ers, one of the au thors of the report from the University of N ew castle, Australia, said it cam e as no su rprise to d iscover that money can't buy you love. "If your self-worth is invested in what you own, as can be the case in our market-driven society, then these things may not hold their value for very long," he said. Wanting a sports car w ou ld not necessarily cau se psychological problem s, how ever, because som e enthu siasts could take a genuine interest in the perform ance of the vehicle and how it is made. Bu t in m ost cases m aterialism is based on people u sing possessions to d efine their place in society. This applies both to the "haves" and the "have-nots," Sau nd ers said . "People w ant to compare themselves to others. In our society the criterion tends to be what you own. "It can be a very frustrating experience trying to stay ahead of others, which can be a precursor to anger expression." It also lead s to conform ity, based on the notion that the self in a m arket-based society is treated as a commodity whose value is determined externally. So before head ing off on a shopping spree to lift the gloom , retail therapists shou ld take note: "This may give a person a sense of control throu gh ow ning something, bu t the research show s that materialism is negatively correlated with life satisfaction," Saunders said. Accord ing to a stu d y cond u cted by Au stralian researchers it w as fou nd that m aterialistic people w ere m ore likely to suffer from d epression and anger. They w ere also more likely to be conform ist. H ow ever, they w ere less likely to be satisfied w ith their life, or to be interested in the environment. The d octors said : "While the possession of conspicu ou s good s m ay be equated w ith su ccess, happiness and seen as a goal in itself, it is associated neither w ith global life satisfaction and psychological health, nor with a love of life or concern for the environment." Giorgio Armani and his disgust with luxury Accord ing to Reu ters, Milan, Italian fashion d esigner Giorgio Arm ani, creator of som e of the w orld 's m ost expensive clothes, says he is fed u p w ith lu xu ry. "I'll tell you som ething. Luxu ry d isgu sts m e," the d esigner w as qu oted as saying. H e u rged you ng fashion fans to pu t their craze

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for d esigner labels into perspective. "I w ant you ng people to u nd erstand that tod ay's w orld is false. They must understand that it is absurd to steal just to get a designer bag because they think that without it they are nobody," he said. Dalai Lama calls for rejection of materialism at Buddhist gathering in eastern India By ABDUL QADIR, Associated Press Writer GAYA, Ind ia - The Dalai Lam a led Tibetan Bu d d hists' highest w orship ceremony, calling for the rejection of materialism, greed and violence. "Money breed s greed , jealou sy and other social vices. It can never bring joy," the spiritual lead er said Su nd ay, as he led 20,000 Tibetans from across the w orld in the prayer cerem ony called Kalchakra, or Wheel of Time. It is the biggest annual gathering of Buddhism's Mahayana sect. The Dalai Lam a fled Tibet in 1959 w ith thou sand s of su pporters after a failed u prising against China. Since then, he has headed a government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala. H e w on the N obel Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent struggle against Chinese rule of his homeland. The prayer cerem ony is held in the eastern Ind ian city of Gaya, w here the religion's fou nd er is believed to have attained enlightenment.

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SPIRITUALITY AND CELEBRITIES. Hrithik Roshan The feeling of being content and happy, of being in com m u nion w ith one's soul that is spirituality for m e. It is reaching a higher level of consciousness and rising above the pain and su ffering one experiences in life. When a person d evelops total focu s, spiritu ality begins to manifest itself within the soul. I am reminded of the example of Prince Siddhartha, who saw grief and d istress in the form of illness, old age and finally d eath and w ond ered to him self abou t the pu rpose of life, w hen it's only eventu ality w as d eath. It is w hen he realised that one has to live beyond one's problem s and celebrate life, that he attained enlightenm ent and becam e Gau tam Buddha. Am I spiritual? Well, in a lot of w ays, all of us are spiritual. Let's just say that like m y bod y, I believe in keeping m y sou l fit as w ell. I m u st ad m it that I connect w ith the Alm ighty m ostly in tim es of pain. And w henever I d o, I m ore often than not begin w ith an apology for not having touched base more often. I believe in the theory of karma a balance of good and bad that w e accu mu late in ou r lives. I am not a religious person but there are certain rituals that I adhere to strictly. I believe that parents m ust lead by exam ple. And , no m atter w hat, child ren alw ays mirror their parents. I am the person I am tod ay prim arily d u e to the fine exam ple set by both m y parents. And I am glad for that. It's alw ays a challenge to have som ew here new to go, a new trail to blaze, a new victory to fight for. I believe that the 'id ea' of happiness or su ccess is a m u ch bigger high than the actual experience.

Raveena Tandon Thadani Spirit ualit y Is W it hin You Spiritu ality is w ithin you. Many people w aste their tim e and m oney trying to look for spiritu al solu tions on the ou tsid e, w hen all they need to d o is search w ithin. Reach ou t to you r soul and you w ill tou ch the greatest highs, the highest su m m its. I believe every person is spiritual. Instead of letting ou r inhibitions hind er our inner person, w e m u st em brace ou r spiritu ality. A lot is lost in day-to-day materialism. In fact, the essence of life what makes it beautiful to live lies in its simple pleasures. I believe that most truths are ephemeral. It is the spirit that actually lives on. I am not u nd u ly ritualistic. I think the religion of hu manity is the biggest religion of them on. Whether a person is a H ind u or a Muslim should not m atter. In the end , w e are all human with the same joys and the same fears. I com e from a God -fearing family. As a child , I remem ber visiting Ajmer-e-Sharif and Shirdi. I still

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do. Do I believe in God? Yes, I do. I believe in a power that watches over me. I don't need to have a timetable to fit God into. I make my own private time with the Almighty. I don t need t o hav e a t imet able t o fit God int o. I make my ow n priv at e t ime w it h t he Almight y . Fortu nately, I have alw ays reached out to God w hen I have been happy. And w henever I've prayed , I've asked for the strength to follow the right path, the ability to fight throu gh testing tim es. I am not overtly su perstitiou s bu t w ear a black thread from the last religious place I visited. I am at peace at hom e, w hen I am surrou nd ed by people I love. I d on't think one need s a tem ple to find peace and connect w ith God . In fact, the one place w here I've been m ost at peace is Hampi in Karnataka, w here m y u nit w as shooting far aw ay and I took m yself for a qu iet w alk. I remember I just sat and listened to the sounds of nature it was most peaceful.

Rahul Dravid I think m ost of m y d rive and d eterm ination to play the gam e is inborn. Even as a you ng boy, I have alw ays been focused on m y cricket. In fact, I think that's the only thing I've been consistently serious about. I don't know w hat spirit ualit y means. Is it medit at ion? Is it a connect ion w it h a higher pow er? Is it a state of being one with your spirit? I hav e no idea. If I've ever felt rem otely spiritual, it's on the cricket field . There are tim es w hen I'm so im m ersed in the gam e that I'm obliviou s to everything arou nd m e. That - I think - is as far as my level of spirituality reaches. When I'm having a tou gh tim e - either personally or professionally - I am m ost prone to looking inwards. I find a lot of strength and courage within myself. It is only when I can't sort out a problem in my mind that I look outwards or upwards for solutions.

Jonty Rhodes Fait h is all t hat t here is My faith has allowed me to define my success. I believe God had a plan for me to play cricket w hich is w hy he gav e me t he abilit y t o play cricket . My faith in the Almighty took a lot of pressure off me and allowed me to enjoy my game. It is the key to my success. Am I a spiritual person? Well, people would chide me that I never visited church but I believed that my God was everywhere and was not restricted to four walls. I can be equally close to God at backward point, as while sitting in the front row of the church. I draw my strength from my spirituality. It has taken me through the toughest times. Especially when I am all by myself, away from home.

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Faith is all there is. When m y good friend H ansie Cronje d ied , it w as his w ife's faith that took her throu gh this terrible tim e. I believe that God helps you at ju st the right m om ents. And I'm not talking abou t w inning a tou gh gam e or playing a good bow ler. God w as never an ingred ient for my success on the field. God is meant for better things. If there is one philosophy I live my life with, it is to be the best that Jonty Rhodes can be, with the talents I am blessed w ith. I w ant to be su ccessfu l in every sphere of m y life be it personal or professional. There is a distinct difference between religion and faith. And w hile m y parents gave m e a religiou s u pbringing, it w as m y w ife Kate w ho tau ght m e the valu e of faith. She is a spiritual person and infu ses m y life w ith positive energy. I have an am azing relationship w ith her. And if you consid er the d ifficult lifestyle I've led , it's no short of a miracle.

Gurinder Chaddha Spirit ualit y is t aking t ime out t o t hink about y ourself, y our life and t he liv es of t hose w ho mat t er t o y ou . It is discovering how you are and who you are. It is realising how to live your life. And living it in a way that makes you proud and happy. There is no substitute to peace of mind. One can have all the awards, all the riches, all the fame in the world, and still be unhappy and dissatisfied. I was never a spiritual person. But I began looking inwards about five years ago when my father died. Today, I am a much stronger human being. Not because I have achieved what I have professionally, but because I have begun to make time for my inner Self, my spirit. I remember while shooting for Bride and Prejudice , we spent a few days at Amritsar. The night we got there, everyone was tired and weary but somehow had the enthusiasm to take a trip to Darbar Sahab. The lights of the gurudwara reflected in the water below and made for a spectacular sight. Just sitting there, soaking in the scene, immersing myself in the surroundings was a moving experience. It was the nicest, quietest spiritual experience I have had in recent times. I have always believed that life is the greatest teacher. When the world is against you, when everything around you seems like it's falling apart, look inwards. Take every failure in your stride. I have never taken any adverse circumstance personally. There always has to be a reason for things to happen. To be able to recognise a problem for what it is worth, to deal with it to the best of one's ability, to learn from it and then to move on - that is what inner strength is all about.

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SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM INTRODUCTION: Mod ern scientists, especially geneticists, have gone so far that it appears as if the d estiny of m an lies in their hand s. They proclaim that in the featu re they w ill m ake hu man beings accord ing to demand and necessarily. This sort of scientific revolu tion started in 1543 w ith the pu blication by Copernicu s, the polish astronom er, of the heliocentric theory (i.e. the prem ise that planets revolve arou nd the su n) E.E Snyd er, in his book history of physical sciences w rites since an u nd erstand ing of the natu ral w orld w as possible through science that m an shou ld be able to alter the w orld to his ow n end s and there by im prove his natu re. The bu rd en for m an s progress, than w as on m an, not god . God created the u niverse so that it obeyed certain natural law s. These law s w ere d iscovered by m en (scientists); therefore god w as not particu larly necessary except in a personal sense. My concern is to show that god is still as necessary as ever, and that the fu rther ad vancement of science itself is necessarily d epend ent on this u nd erstand ing, w e have reached a point in ou r technological capability w here hu manity, w hose ind epend ence is the cornerstone of the scientific ed ifice, is threatened by its ow n achievem ents. Doom sayers abou nd , bu t w eather the end com es by bom b, pollu tion, au tomated loneliness or w hether it com es at all, there can be no d ou bt that a fundamental error is being committed in thinking that humanity alone has all the answers. Science-that is, observation and hypothesis- is a basic fact of the m echanics of thou ghts. What is lacking is the pu rpose. So instead of centering one s consciou sness arou nd temporary machines, one should transfer his consciousness arou nd temporary m achines, one shou ld transfer his consciousness to god , the su prem e scientist, know ing that he is the central point for all activities there can be innu m erable concentric circles arou nd a com m on center. Sim ilarly, all scientists, philosophers, bu sinessman, politicians etc, can engage in god s consciousness, keeping god in the center of all their activities. Because even zero, if it stand s alone has no valu e. H ow ever, w hen a one is pu t before it, it becom es ten. Sim ilarly, all activities have no valu e u nless god is included within these activities. When we think calmly and carefully about this wonderful universe, we can see that everything in w orking u nd er the control of a su prem e brain. The arrangem ents in natu re are perfectly ord ered . Things w ou ld be at rand om w ithou t the careful planning of a scientific and engineering brain. It is a com m on u nd erstand ing that there is a cause behind each action. A m achine cannot ru n w ithou t an operator. Mod ern scientists are very prou d of au tom ation, bu t there is a scientific brain behind au tom ation also. Even Albert Einstein agreed that there is a perfect brain behind all the natu ral physical law s. When w e talk abou t brain and operator , these term s im ply a person. They cannot be im personal. One m ay inquire w ho this person is. H e is god , the su prem e scientist and engineer, under whose kind wills the whole cosmos is working.

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SCIENTIFIC EXAMPLES : N ow let u s look into a few sam ples from the lord s creation, and u pon contem plating these exem plary aspects, one shou ld d evelop a better u nd erstand ing and appreciation of the existence of the m ost pow erful brain, i.e., god . The su n that w e see d aily is the nearest star. It is one hu nd red earth d iam eters across and is ninety-three m illions m iles aw ay from the earth. Every d ay the su n su pplies the solar system w ith a trem end ou s am ount of heat, light and energy. The very tiny of the su n s energy is estimated to be 100,000 tim es greater than all the energy u sed in the w orld s ind u stries. The total energy the su n em its in a single second w ou ld be sufficient to keep a one-kilow att electronic fire bu rning for 10,000 m illion years. In other w ord s, it has contributed so much for the human beings. Yet, it is one of the countless numbers of stars floating in the sky in every d irection. With the m aterial scientific brain, the therm al, electrical and nu clear power houses have been made. These can supply heat, light and energy to a small, limited extent, bu t god is supplying the w hole planet w ith an u nlim ited source of energy ju st from one sun. H e has arranged the planets so accordingly that they revolve in a systematic path around the sun. Scientists have gained great acclaim for m aking a few space ships, w hereas god effortlessly prod u ces gigantic spaceship, su ch as planets and stars, w hich are perfectly equ ipped and m aintained . Thu s w e never see su n rising in the w est and setting in the east. The Colorful rainbow that w e observe w hen the su n is shinning d u ring a show er is only visible w hen the su n is behind the observer, d ue to the law s of refraction. Also, each year the season changes qu ite periodically, producing symptoms unique to each season.

N ow let u s look into som e aspects of the lord s creations at the m olecular level. Chemists find that the d ifferent colors in flow er are d u e to chem icals called anthocyanine, and his d ifferent arom as are m ostly d u e to chem icals called trepans and terpeniod s com pou nd s. The m olecu lar fram e w orks for these compou nd s range from very sim ple structures to very com plex netw orks. Cam phor, for exam ple, is a terpenoid com pou nd , and the characteristic od or of lem ons is d u e to the m olecule called lim onene, w hich is one of the sim ple trepans. Sim ilarly, the characteristic color in carrots and tom atoes are d ue to m olecule called cartenoid s, w hich are higher forms of trepenes. The m olecular fram ew ork for each d efinite color or arom a is w ond erfully u nique. A little change in position of a few atom s in the m olecu les, a little variation in the geom etry of the molecules or a slight change in the size of the molecule can cause the color to change from orange to red , a m ild , pleasing arom a to becom e repellent and pu ngent, and a Flavor to change from sw eet to bitter. On one extrem e w e find the sm allest m olecu le, the H 2 m olecu le, on the other extrem e w e find giant m olecules su ch as the proteins and nu cleic acid s (DN A, RN A), w hich contain innumerable atoms, made for a definite function. Similarly, the crystalline pattern of each d ifferent m olecu le is u niqu e .The geometrical shape for sod iu m chlorid e, graphite and d emand s are all d erived from the sam e elem ents, carbon, and yet the shinning and transparent d em and is extremely hard, where as graphite is soft, black and opaque. This is d u e to the d ifference in the crystalline form s of these m olecu les .In the crystal lattes of the d iam ond , each carbon atom is tetra hard ly surrou nd ed by four other carbon atom s at a d istance of 1.54 angstrom s .In graphite, by contrast, the three bond s of each carbon atom are d istorted so as to lie in the sam e plane, the fou rth bond being d irectly perpend icularly to this plane to link with a carbon atom of the neighboring layer.

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In this w ay, w e can site innu m erable exam ples of m olecu lar netw orks so fantastically and d elicately arranged that chem ists cannot bu t w ond er. Abou t the most expert hand and brain w ho is making all these wonderful artistic arrangements in his laboratory. Indeed, the intelligence and ability of the su prem e scientist, god is inconceivable. There is no scientist w ho can d eny it. H ow then can any chem ist abstain from appreciating the w ond erfu l w orks of the suprem e lord ? Thu s one shou ld m ed iate u pon the su prem e person, w ho is the m aintainer of every thing, w ho is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. At best the scientist can only try to imitate the wonderful artistic works of the supreme lord. They cannot d o this properly, and m ost of their attem pts lead to failu re and d isappointm ents .For exam ple, Prof R. B. Wood w ard s of H ayw ard , a noble prizew inner in chem istry (1965) and Prof. A. Eschenm oser of Zurich took 11 years to synthesize the vitam ins b12 m olecule. Altogether, 99 scientists from 19 d ifferent cou ntries w ere involved ju st to accomplish this one sm all task. Yet, god is making this entire complex molecule at will. Interestingly enou gh, w hen scientists fail again and again in their attem pts to m ake som ething, they consciously or unconsciously pray to God for help. Does this not indicate the existence of the su prem e scientist in the natu ral su bord inate position of all other living entities? A cru d e exam ple is the explosion that occurred insid e the Apollo 13 spacecraft d u ring its attem pt to land on the m oon on April 11, 1970. The Apollo capsu le w as mad e by hu nd red s of scientific and technological brains and cost m illion of d ollars. N o one cou ld pred ict that there w ou ld be an explosion. When it happened , how ever, and the lives of the three astronau ts w ere in d anger, those involve in the m ission requested all the people on earth to pray for God for the safe retu rn of the astronau ts. Su ch is the situation. At tim es of d anger, m ost people tend to rem em ber God , although at other times they forget Him. N ow let u s look in to som e very simple and graphic exam ples of the artistry of the Lord s creation. We see that among the low er form s of living entities, social organization is very sm oothly m aintained . For exam ple, in a bee colony the queen bee is nicely taken care of by the d rones (male bees), w hile the w orkers collect nectar from the flow ers all d ay long. It is quite am azing to consid er how the bees, w ith their tiny bod ies, can collect su ch a great am ount of honey for them selves as w ell as for other living entities. In this w ay, colony is m aintained in beau tiful ord er. Similarly, the loving relationship betw een a m other and her baby is quite clearly visible even in very sm all forms of living entities. Du ring the m onsoon season in tropical countries, when there are torrents of rain, the small ants run to find shelter, carrying their eggs on their head s. The spid er m akes its w ond erfu l w ebs w ith great architectural skills to serve as shelter as w ell as to catch its prey for survival. Silkw orm s spin hund red s of yard s of fine thread s to form cocoons for their shelter d u ring their pu pa stage. Insid e a tiny seed , smaller than a size of m u stard seed , the w hole potency of a big banyan tree is present. In this w ay, w e can see the wonderfu l arrangem ents of the su prem e Lord , w ho is creating, maintaining and gu id ing all living entities, small or big. The m ain trou ble w ith m aterial scientist is that they generally neglect the m ost im portant and fu nd am ental aspect of their inqu iries. For exam ple, w hen N ew ton saw the falling of the apples, he asked w hy and how the apple fell. H ow ever, he d id not inqu ire w ho caused the falling of the apples. As an answ er to his inquiry, he d iscovered the law s of gravitation. H is answ er w as that the apple fell becau se of the law of gravitation. Bu t w ho m ad e the law s of gravitation? Because the apple d id not fall w hile green bu t w hile ripe. Therefore, N ew ton s gravitational theory w as

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not enou gh to explain the falling of the apple. There is som e other cause behind the total scene of the falling and thereby, behind the law of gravitation. That cau se is God . Further m ore, scientists have to know that the little ability they have is also given by the god. By various m echanical m eans (telescope etc), assu m ptions, em piric theories and conceptu al m od els, cosm ologist and astronom ers are trying w ith trem end ou s vigor to u nd erstand w hat the u niverse is, w hat its size is, and the tim e scale of its creations. At the present tim e they are specu lating that there m ay be a tenth planet in the solar system , and they are trying to locate it. How far they will be successful in finding real answer to their attempts only time can tell. But the fact is that they w ill never be able to fully d iscover the secrets of natu re, w hich is the prod u ct of creation of God , the Su prem e scientist. Any thou ghtfu l person can u nd erstand how foolish he is even to d ream of m easu ring the size of this u niverse, since he d oes not know com pletely the natu re of the Su n, the nearest star. For exam ple, the philosophy of Dr. Frog w ho lives in a w ell of three feet and has no id ea how vast the pacific ocean is bu t w ho specu lates that the pacific ocean m ight be five feet, ten feet etc. Com p aring to his w ell. The point is that com prehend ing the u nlimited know led ge beyond by ou r lim ited m eans is sim ply a w aste of tim e and energy. All the know led ge is alread y there in the au thorized scriptu res, the Ved as. One sim ply has to take the knowledge from the supreme authority, God. Certainly, the secrets of the u niverse cannot be u nfold ed by the tiny brains of material scientists, w e should agree w ithou t a d ou bt that m an s vision in all d irections is extrem ely lim ited by the inad equ acies of his senses, his technology and his intellect. N one can d eny the existence of the supreme scientist, God . H e is the proprietor and know er of everything and only fools w ou ld argue about the existence of the supreme Lord.

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MEDITATION As from our previou s d iscu ssion w e can u nd erstand that w hat is m aterialism , w hat are its causes and consequ ences, how hum ans are d ifferent from other species of life and this cond itioned sou l u nd ergoes the threefold miseries in this w orld w e can now really und erstand that w e need to get ou t of these m iseries and realizing ou r self, u nd erstand ing the eternal relationship betw een this jiva and paramtma is meditation. Thou gh m any of u s u nd erstand m ed itation to be som e process in w hich w e concentrate on a particular object to experience relief from stress and achieve som e physical relaxation bu t this is not the objective of this d ivine art. Any process of m ed itation has to u ltimately lead you to platform from w here you can enter into an eternal relationship w ith the su prem e lord . If this objective is not achieved in the process of m ed itation then that p ractice is nothing m ore than mundane activity with no permanent results. Before going into d etails of the matter lets first get acquainted w ith how in general any sort of m ed itation w orks. In m ed itation the person fixes his attention completely on the central object of all activities, that is the supreme lord, the maintainer of all activities that is beyond imperfections, m iseries, contam inations of m aterial natu re and w ho is the m aintainer of all souls, then he starts experiencing the pleasing aspect of that process. The person starts m oving beyond the physical, he starts experiencing the transcend ental, the true bliss and he rejoices in that state of life continu ing in that state w ith faith ultimately lead s him to realization of GOD, w hich enlightens him and he attains Moksha - the state of constant bliss. After a person has attained that state of perfection he is free from the effects of m aterial natu re. H e is neither joyou s in times of ecstasy nor is he sad in period s of gloom . H e m aintains a life of constant m ental state w here there are no confu sions, no d istortions. H e lives a life w hich is beyond perplexions of material life, the d o s and d ont s of every d ay. After attaining this state of perfections the soul is free from the cycle of birth and death.

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THEORIES OF MEDITATION THE INDIAN THEORY OF MEDITATION: Most of the Ind ian practices of m ed itation are based on Yoga and u nd ertaking penance. Althou gh now ad ays yoga is u sed for physical w ell being bu t originally its inception w as not meant for this purpose. It was meant for some elevated purpose of life. Penance, w hich is m ore im portant in Ind ian philosophies because it helps us to get d etached from m aterialistic illu sion of the w orld and concentrate on you r vital energies to get linked with the su per soul. Also this w ill help to open the d oors of know led ge and w isd om to an ind ivid u al where he gets enlightened (attains Nirvana) after constant untiring efforts. The scriptures corroborate this fact: Tad-Buddayas tad atmanas tan nisthas tat parayanah gacchanty apur-avrttim jnana-nirdhuta-kalmasah (Bhagvad Gita 5.17) When ones intelligence, m ind faith and refu ge are all fixed in the Su prem e then one becom es fu lly cleansed of m isgivings throu gh com plete know led ge and thu s proceed s straight on the of liberation. Ihaiva tair jitah sargo yesam savye sthitam manah nirdosam li samam brahma tasmad brahmani te sthitah (Bhagvad Gita 5.19) Those w hose m ind s are established in sam eness and equ alimity, have alread y conqu ered the conditions of birth and death and thus they are situated in Brahman.

N a prahsyet priyam prapya nodvijet prapya cpriyam sthira-buddhir asammudho brahma vid brahmanisthitah (Bhagvad Gita 4.20) A person w ho neither rejoices u pon achieving som e thing pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant who is intelligent, who is un bewildered and who knows the science of god is alread y situ ated in transcend ence.

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Bahya sparseva asaktatma vindaty atmani yat sukham sa brhma-yoga-yuktatma sukham aksayam ashute (Bhagvad Gita 4.21) Su ch a liberated person is not attracted to m aterial sense pleasu re bu t is alw ays in trance enjoying the pleasu re w ithin. In this w ay the self realized person enjoys u nlimited happiness, for he concentrates on Su preme. The Srimad- Bhagvatam further substantiates the reason to meditate (5.5.1) N ayam deho deha-bhajam nr-loke Kaman arhate vid bhujam ye tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam suddhyed yasmad brhma saukhyam tv anantam My d ear sons there is no to labor very hard for sense pleasu re in this hu m an form of life. Su ch pleasu res are available to the stool eaters (hogs). Rather you should u nd ergo penances in this life by you r existence w ill be pu rified and as a resu lt you w ill be able to enjoy u nlim ited transcend ental bliss. Further the Padma Purana says: Ramante yogino nante satyande cid atmani iti Rama-padenasau Param Brahmabhidhiyate The m ystics d erive u nlimited transcend ental pleasu res from the absolu te tru th and therefore the Supreme absolute truth the personality of God head is also known as Rama. Therefore a liberated person enjoys happiness by factu al experience. H e can therefore sit silently at any place and enjoy activities of life from w ithin. Su ch a liberated person no longer d esires external m aterial happiness this state is called Brahma-Bhuta attaining w hich one is assured of going back to God head, back to home. THE WESTERN THEORY : The w estern philosophies are basically Epicu rean in natu re. I say so because it tells you to eat, d rink, enjoy you r life w ithou t m u ch introspection. It d oes not encou rage you to know m u ch abou t you r relationship w ith Lord m u ch thou gh you m ight be w orshiping Lord d aily. Du e to lack of austerities in the western practices there is lack of amount of concentration you develop in your practice, which is the most important part pf the practice.

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THE PROCESS OF MEDITATION An im portant point to note here is that these variations in m ethod ology of m ed itation are not baseless bu t in fact are very im portant as they are com prehensive w ith the age in w hich they are practiced . Accord ing to the Ved ic literatu re the life on the earth has been d ivid ed into fou r period s or Yugas i.e. Satyuga , Dwaparyuga, Tretayuga and Kaliyuga. All these yugas had d ifferent characteristics of people w ho w ere present in that Yuga. For exam ple in Satyuga people had u nu sually long life span of thou sand s of years, they had brilliant m em ory, hu ge and u nlim ited resou rces etc. Therefore in Satyuga people u sed to m ed itate by m eans of u nd ertaking penance. Bu t as the ages passed life of hu man being became shorter, his m em ory started failing, there began scarcity of resou rces etc therefore in Dwaparyuga w e had Deity w orship and in Tretayuga w e had fire sacrifices. The present age, w hich is the age of Kali or Kaliyuga, the process recommended by the scriptures is one of Namasmaran or chanting. In this m ethod of chanting w e repeated ly call ou t the nam e of our su prem e Lord and concentrate on the transcend ental sou nd vibrations of the God s nam e. These transcend ental vibrations purify our soul and we start becoming spiritually elevated. PRACTISING MEDITATION : As alread y stated m ed itation can be d one in many w ays. Som e d o it by controlling their breath and som e other like to m ed itate by repeating certain Mantras. There are persons w ho like to d o devotional service. In fact in the present age this form of meditation i.e. devotional service to God and chanting is one of the m ost profou nd im portance because the flexibility it provid es to individuals at the same time transforms him both intellectually and spiritually. Looking at how it w orks w e can take the exam ple of the m ed itation w here concentration is placed u pon the breath passing throu gh the nostrils. In this w e sit qu ietly w ith back straight on chair or ground and set you r attention on the breath passing throu gh your nostrils. Every tim e you inhale you say silently to you rself IN and every tim e you exhale you say OUT Because this breath is the only evid ence of you r life and all em otions are ju st activities of the m ind therefore you start connecting your em otions, thou ghts and id eologies w ith you r breath. Every tim e you exhale you actu ally exhale lu st, fear, anger, greed and w hen you inhale let in com e tru th, joy, peace. Basically if w e see then these tw o eastern and w estern philosophies of m ed itation are at tw o extrem e end s there seem s to be no com prom ise on either of the tw o sid es. So looking at this one m ight speculate of the existence of some m id w ay. Actu ally speaking in the term s of the Ind ian Vedic literature there is no midway to attain liberation. But still for the materialistic beginners we can have some theory, which imbibes the best from the east and the west. One of such attempts is the Osho s philosophy.

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OSHO S PHILOSOPHY Osho s philosophy is a blend of the best aspects of life from both east and w est id eologies. It consid ers all the aspects of existence together. It d iscard s the Epicurean philosophy of the w est, w hich believes in eating, d rinking and m erry making [ Epicu riou s (341-270B.C.) w as a Greek philosopher, Epicu reanism, a school of philosophy based on the belief that pleasu re w as the only worth while aim in life ]. People in w est are fed u p w ith Epicu rean philosophy w hich states that there is no need for d oing any introspection and search for truth. Osho also cond em ns the eastern philosophy in w hich eating, d rinking, having excessive sense enjoym ent consid ered to be sinfu l. It d oes not believe in ascetics, m ahatm as and yogis because according to him a life of so many regulations destroys the soul and the body. Osho s philosophy is a com bination of Epicu rean id eology and Bu d d ha s principle. The philosophy is epicurean in the sense that it believes in sense gratification w hich is prohibited u p to a certain extent in the Ind ian philosophy. Bu t Osho s philosophy at the sam e tim e also imbibes the truth seeking principles of Buddha. It believes in meditation From the fu sion of these tw o philosophies com es ou t one of his m ost essential id eologies, that is, of Love and Meditation.

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LOVE & MEDITATION Since now w e have very clear-cu t perceptions of the various philosophies of m ed itation w hich can help u s to liberate ou r self from the cycle of birth and d eath. One thing that is very im portant and true is that all of us have a tendency to love and in turn to get loved. Although this instinct is m ore or less ou r present state of m ind is m aterialistic bu t this is so because w e have not properly u nd erstood the m eaning of the w ord love and w e have contam inated it to the extent w here w e think that it s essential to keep it ou tsid e the bou nd aries of spiritu alism . Bu t this is not the real case. Love in its tru e essence is spiritual. To u nd erstand this w e first need to u nd erstand w hat is love, truly speaking it is care, protection, affection w ithou t physical, m ental or intellectu al exploitation. So som ething w hich is beyond m aterial contam ination and follow s this d efinition is bound to be spiritual. There fore we can use this love as a medium of meditation. Tru e love is spiritual becau se it is not contam inated by d esires and expectations. Therefore su ch love offers you pleasure, true pleasure. Osho says that there is no conflict in m ed itation and love and in fact the m ore you m ed itate, the m ore you becom e capable of love, the m ore you love the m ore you becom e capable of m ed itation The highest possibility a m an can arrive at, the greatest sym phony is w hen you can love and meditate together.

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EPILOGUE

From m atter to spirit, a metam orphosis w hich is the final goal of any hu m an end eavour. A qu est for u nd erstand ing the absolu te tru th, to obtain the highest state of perfection, the least perturbed mind are the final objectives of any spiritual practice or scientific venture. Life is a jou rney, an opportu nity, a preciou s one to u nd erstand the cau ses of ou r suffering from tim e im m emorial, the pain of repeated birth and d eath, to be liberated from all the m iseries, to be free from this - Dukhalayam and enter the real w orld , the w orld w ith the su prem e lord at it s center, where there is no place for dualism, no pain, no suffering, just bliss an eternal bliss. So, before w e close, w e w ou ld once again like to say that w e shou ld rise above this cru d e matter, and try to realise the spirit inside you and others. Nourish the soul, not the body. This matter will dissolve in matter, but this spirit will still exist, as neither was it born nor will it annihilate.

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REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

BHAGVAD GITA. SRIMAD BHAGVATAM. BRAHAM SAMHITA. PADMA PURAN. CHANDOGYA UPNISHAD. ISA UPNISHAD. INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUALITY. - JAYANTBALA ATHAVALE (SANATANA SANSTHA) 8. LAMA YESH E s WISDOM ARCH IVES. - BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHER. 9. THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS. - H.H. BHAKTI SVARUPA DAMODAR SWAMI. (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST) 10. SAVIJNANAM SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION FOR SPIRITUAL PARADIGM ,Vol. 1.2002. (JOURNAL OF BHAKTI VEDANT INSTITUTE, 2002) 11. ORIGIN HIGHER DIMENSION SCIENCE. (JOURNAL OF BHAKTI VEDANT INSTITUTE.) 12. SPIRITUALITY FOR DUMMIES. - SHARON JANIS, 2000. 13. Dr. JOHN G. WEST JR. ARCHIVES (ACTION INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND LIBERTY,1996.) 14. LIFE COMES FROM LIFE. - A.C. BHAKT IVEDANT SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA. (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST) 15. SCIENCE OF SELF REALIZATION - A.C. BHAKTI VEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST) 16. EASY JOURNEY TO OTHER PLANETS. - A.C. BHAKTI VEDANT SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA. 17. LAWS OF CIVILISATION. - A.C. BHAKTI VEDANT SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA. (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.) 18. THE ECONOMIST. - MATHEW BISHOP, THURSDAY, JULY 3 ,2001. 19. JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 20. REUTERS NEWS NETWORK ARCHIVES. 21. THOUGHTS ON SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION. (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.) 22. READINGS IN VEDIC LITERATURE - SATSVARUPA DAS GOSWAMI. (BHAKTI VEDANT BOOK TRUST.)

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