I have shunned science since schooldays. Physics particularly was one subject I had listened to in fits in the midst of a slumber or from outside the classroom. And I have always held Newton and Einstein directly responsible for inducing such siestas and causing my expulsions. I still remain a certified moron when it comes to neutrons, protons and electrons. But despite such genetic aversion, The Hardon Collider and scientists claim this week that they are close to finding the ‘God Particle’ offer irresistible interest.
Here is some cut and paste ‘scientific research’. The Large Hardon Collider was built to ‘answer some of the fundamental open questions in physics, concerning the basic laws governing the interactions and forces among the elementary objects, the deep structure of space and time, and in particular the intersection of quantum mechanics and general relativity, where current theories and knowledge are unclear or break down altogether. Now you know why I hate physics. In layman’s lingo, the idea is to keep breaking up protons through high-speed collisions till the Higgs boson or the ‘God particle’ is zeroed in on. This particle in one stroke is expected to explain all the mysteries of nature, the primary one being how particles gain mass. Till then the God particle is only a possibility that the aforesaid bloke Higg was sure exists.
The effort is mind-boggling. It represents the highest expression of human curiosity in the form of practical and perfected methods. Scientists aver that very little has been left to chance or choice and every loophole has been plugged so that the most sub-atomic of particles does not slip away from their grasp this time. After all, the Higgs boson ‘is the only undiscovered part of the Standard Model of physics, which describes the ‘basic building blocks of matter and their interactions’. Hence the description ‘God Particle’ as it is deemed the source or core of all that exists. And therein lies our provocation. Newton and E’stein may have put me to sleep but God awakens. Though physicists have used G in a metaphorical sense His very invocation qualifies even ignoramuses like me to jump into the equation.
Some natural, albeit naive, queries arise: Do scientists believe the God particle, if found via the collider, is the last, (or is it first) particle? What is the guarantee that it cannot be broken up further thus belying its ‘Ultimate Particle’ status? Can it be declared non-existent and the search called off, if the Collider fails to find it? If the Collider conks does God vanish? Or is it the Collider that needs to be upgraded so that we have a God Collider first? Being pragmatists, scientists are also simultaneously gathering data to rule out such a particle, in which case a fresh start may be warranted to explain why particles have mass. But being materialists obsessed with matter and mass even that start can only be particle based. But suppose, God, as the origin of all, is not in particle form at all? That surely is a scientific dead-end! But not so for philosophers and spiritualists whose minds have always transcended the physical.
The basic provocation of such human quest from time immemorial, long before the science tag was attached to rational inquiry, was to understand, not find, the inscrutable source of all that is there. The advent of material sciences has actually restricted the search to scrutiny and dissection of matter and matter alone. But is all that exists only hard, tangible matter or at least that which is within the grasp of the sensory organs? On the contrary, all that matters to human existence — mind, awareness, thoughts, feelings, life etc, — are all abstract and incapable of complete physical expression or quantification. This is not a difficult position to hold if we understand the difference as also the link between invisible thoughts and the manifest deeds. The essence of existence is therefore primarily abstract and the physical is just an adjunct or projection. ‘God Particle’ is therefore a contradiction in terms, for no particle can be deemed superior to the invisible energy alias consciousness that derives and drives it. In short, if it can be found physically, it ceases to be ‘Godly’ and will have to drop the prefix ‘God’! ‘God Particle’ actually could give an inferiority complex to God Himself for being such an easy find for humans!
The search for God Particle will no doubt yield some seemingly unbreakable particle, at least till some other scientist breaks that myth and matter too. But God is likely to remain a fugitive so long as the search is on these lines. So, there has to necessarily be a core recognition within the so-called rational community that the laws of the universe are more meta-physical in nature. While scientists are apt to pass off their perceptions as reality, reality can never be perceived merely through the senses and sundry other scientific tools. No search can be complete without delving into the realms of consciousness that actually pervades in varying percentages everything that is there. After all what cannot be found can be felt. Also, the physical effect is proof of the invisible cause. But this is the stuff of realisation through experience and not just the result of real-time experiments.
Scientists, therefore, will necessarily have to sync notes with seers. Otherwise, scientists and spiritualists, despite their common quarry, will remain mutually exclusive, and worse, warring packs of hunters, much to the detriment of the evolution and elevation of mankind that both cherish. For instance, the Hardon Collider’s Proton break-down logic is not new to our Vedic wisdom. The neti-neti polemic of Vedanta uses the process of elimination and regression to theoretically arrive at the origin of all. And once all matter is explained away, what remains is physical nothingness, which the Vedas dub as Brahman, the unmanifest repertoire of all knowledge, existence, consciousness and bliss. But the vedic seers also provide the missing link that the current scientists are so studiously scouting for. According to them the manifest universe of particles is the result of Sankalpa or Divine will of the Supreme Being which also abides in all of creation as the common divine denominator. The idea is not difficult to fathom if we compare it with the way our own free will operates, though within a much narrower band and in a limited way, in creating and lending character to things visible. But scientists can never come to terms with such an abstract concept though they employ it to earn patents everyday!
The topic is fertile. And I am already overstepping my ignorance threshold. However, the Hardon Collider, whether it finds the God Particle or not, has served a limited purpose for me. It has offered a welcome respite from the hardened colliders straddling our explosive Parli and politics!
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