The science of spirituality

The latest celestial event has rekindled the familiar and as yet unresolved debate over science-superstition-spirituality. So as the moon hid the early morning sun even as it rose on 22 July, while scientists were agitated over the eclipse of science by superstition, the spiritualists were convinced about the fallibility of science as it stands today. So as the last word remains unsaid, the rest of humanity languishing in the huge grey area of self-doubt and safe-way-out, rode the twin track!

Bordering that grey mass are the wise and the fool in white and black who are always sure of everything. The distinction between them is very fine and gets blurred when you add the bias of the beholder too. A bearded, shabby sant looks like a crank while a white-coat clad, spectacled researcher seems intelligence personified. But for all you know, much enlightenment may reside in the former while the latter might be a well-qualified ignoramus. Again, a scientist and a saint do intrude into the other’s domain — as they must because I believe science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive — but the shade of hypocrisy is more pronounced when a scientist breaches his protocol. For a spiritualist with a holistic approach to ‘truth’, science is one more tool and he would see no contradiction to his world-view in adopting it: The sight of saadhus of Varanasi watching the eclipse through special viewing glassses exemplifies this. But how can a non-superstitious scientist get away with a head-bath after the eclipse? I know of many such rational beings. For that matter, even NASA is in two minds on sending space missions on a 13th. And I bet even Sriharikota was built only after a pre-dawn Ganapathi Homam and its mandarins would hesitate sending rockets during rahukalam! Indeed, presently there must be as many scientists studying the auspiciousness of the timing of Chandrayan as there are trying to figure out what went wrong with its mechanism.

This is not to argue that all superstition is sacred; rather it is an indictment of the tendency passing off as scientific temper to sweep all that is traditional and time-worn as wrong and misplaced only because ‘there is no evidence’. It would suffice to say about superstition that ultimately an individual, based on his own experiences, anxieties and knowledge, has to take a call on what is blind belief and what is sustainable spirituality. It is a quest and a trial & error game, as life itself is. No doubt, a seeker must test those time-honoured tenets, but if he were to do it from the standpoint of faith, his vista and vision are likely to be wider and even wiser. Where as, a skeptic, narrows down his own spectrum. But worse is the rationalist, who having imbibed a dangerous cocktail of ignorance and intellectual hubris, makes a blanket rejection of tradition; the latter two actually damage the scientific cause no end by foreclosing a vital avenue. You need an ‘x’ to balance just a mathematic equation and you are ready to place faith in its ‘existence’ first, sans evidence, before arriving at its value; The more profound equations of the earth and the eternal, hold in them multitudes of ‘x’s; but first we need to recognise they are there and that our ancestors have divined methods to fathom those secrets. This calls for humility, a virtue, that the occidental mindset has forfeited from our midst. But oriental wisdom is none the poorer for that and it is upto us, the rightful heirs, to fall back upon them: The rig veda, for instance, has ‘that which is the source of all’ as the starting point for its spiritual sojourn. And then it goes about deciphering that super ‘X’ in as systematic a manner as science the demands. Only that modern scientists are looking the other way.

Now to the topic of eclipses, solar or lunar. It is a fallacy to conclude that all religious rituals and injunctions associated with it are irrational. Study of eclipses and precise predictions of their occurrences are a recurring theme in the astronomical and astrological history of bharat. Taregna, an obscure village near Patna in Bihar, was on 22 July the most sought after location by millions for perfect viewing of the eclipse. But Aryabhatta had set up base there for his space observations several centuries back. How did he zero in on this vantage point? Again, even in ancient times, people were advised to see the eclipse only through a smoked transparent surface, glass or a reflection on water. So when those with such intricate acumen forbid a meal during eclipse, what are the chances of them being wrong? Or of the rationalists, who had hefty breakfasts at ungodly hours just to spite the faithful, being right? Particularly, in the context of scientific findings constantly being updated and even contradicting earlier ‘truths’? Make your choice. But look forward to the day soon when, just as special glasses are being prescribed now, your scientists will be advising a post-eclipse cold, saline shower to diminish the effect of harmful radiations! Or maybe indigestion may come first on the list!

Indian traditions lay much store by the position and movements of celestial objects that include the Sun, the moon and some planets which in their scheme have the most effect on earth and earthlings.While other objects up there find mention, they are of little significance in terms of impact. The Indian almanacs are perhaps the greatest astronomical and mathematical tomes that you can find anywhere. Now, do these space bodies, whose movements have been so perfectly predicted, influence human fate and behaviour, an assumption that is at the base of all the rituals and injunctions? One does not have to gaze beyond the moon for an answer. The moon’s impact on the mind and its moods is not just a poetic fantasy but a proven fact.

In the vedic view, in the body-mind-soul-complex, mind is deemed an extension of the body. Science bears this out by identifying specfic areas of the brain in which various thought processes originate. Many neo-scientists are now rising above the material confines of Newtonian and Quantum physics to talk about the non-physical aspects of existence and even an universal mind to which all minds are linked! Of course, this is not news to us here in Bharat where we have always believed the physical plane of existence is only a minor or miniscule manifestation of the divine. So if indeed, mind is part of matter, albeit a subtle version, and the body being what it is, an intelligent putting together of various physical elements, is it not natural for the mind to be subject to the same influences as the body? So, when even seas and trees, tide and sway to lunar movements, why not humans who are as much prakriti as those aspects of nature? Well, it is not without reason that lunar and lunatic have a semantic similarity! Or that the Amavasya and Pavoornami days generate a heightened mental activity in humans. Doubters can monitor their spouses on those days! So as moon touches the mood, mood influences free will, free will makes you act and your act determines your fate; As you sow so you reap. And an eclipse being a rare alignment, the impact of those grahas is bound to be different, if not always dangerous, than on other days. So is the case with other identified celestial bodies and their combinations. Most religious practices are actually ways to insulate ourselves from those influences, harmful or otherwise, like umbrellas on a rainy day. Indeed, India’s spirituality is nothing but evolved science!

Scientific temper lies not in stepping off the spiritual path totally. And in dealing with the unknown, the grey area is a far safer bet than the fools paradise of absolute certainty. In any case, even if we are to traverse the scientific path only, unfolding our ignorance in every step, we are sure to shake hands with many of our seers who are already there and also cross several scriptural signposts too. So happy journey … to discover what is already there on a platter!

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