3972050-Science-Spirituality-and-Ethics

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Science, spirituality and Ethics

PrefaceIn science, when there are interactions between various

disciplines, overlapping areas have developed independently.

These include Biochemistry, Biophysics, Physical Chemistry,

Chemical Physics, Astrophysics, Biotechnology, Quantumphysical Chemistry, Plant Chemistry, etc, Science has had little

interaction with concepts and practice of spirituality. In some

faiths, the two did not agree for a long time, even on the shape of

the earth- whether it is flat, round or spherical. There are

instances, when scientists in a European country, who dared to

explain facts, were imprisoned. This is not so in repect to

concepts of spirituality, based on the Veda-s. On the other hand,

there are numerous cases in mythology where the two agree,albeit in their own way, and the application of observation andprinciples of science have enabled better understanding (and

scope) of spiritual concepts.

In this context, two levels of knowledge of sciences areconsidered. One is the lower knowledge from experiments,

observations by established workers, correlated first into a

hypothesis, and later into a theory. These must be reproducibleand be confirmed in established laboratories. In due course, these

become laws. However, in some cases, even established laws


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Science, Spirituality and Ethics

were modified to accommodate observations in other contexts.For example, Newtons law of universal gravitation describing

gravitational attraction was formulated in 1687. According tothis (in modern language): every point mass attracts, every other

point mass, by a force pointing along the line intersection both

points. The force (F) is proportional to the product of the two

masses (say m1 and m2 ) and inversely proportional to the square

of the distance (r ) between the point masses.

Newton could not calculate the proportionately constant

(G, the gravitational constant). In a test of the theory ofgravitation, Cavendish evaluated value of the constant G in1798. The law also succeeded in prediction the existence of the

general position of the planet Neptune, based on the motion ofUranus, but by the end of the 19 th century, it was realized that

the orbit of Mercury could not be fully accounted by Newtonstheory. The controversy was resolved in 1915 by Albert

Einsteins General Theory of Relativity, which accounted for the

discrepancy of Mercurys orbit. In this, gravitation was ascribedto space-time curvature, instead of force. Though Newtons law

has been superseded by Einsteins General Law of Relativity, it

still continues to be used to excellent approximation of the effect

of gravity. Relativity is invoked, only when there is need for

extreme accuracy, or when dealing with gravitation for very

massive objects. Even the theory of relativity was later found to

be incompatible with quantum mechanics, in which gravity is

described in the framework of quantum field theory.Science has advanced this way. Scientists could not

visualize the present day level of knowledge and applications,

even fifty years ago.Other level is the higherknowledge, where distinguished

scientists could think of science culmination into one Reality (ofspirituality). One may wonder, what is a correlation between

atom and the self (atman), practice of ahimsa, the role of science

in promoting social and moral values etc. In this context, thewriter recalls the role of (late) Professor D.S.

Kothari, former Head, Department of

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Physics, University of Delhi, who was a physicist by training, aspiritualist by conviction, a strong believer in ahimsa in practice,

and a philosopher. He in modern times, tried to correlate histhoughts on Veda- based spirituality (focused in his book) and

philosophy with science in different lectures, as an atom and the

self (atman), on science, humanity and practice of ahimsa, on

role of science in promoting social and moral values, etc. The

D.S. Kothari centre for Science, Ethics and Education of the

University of Delhi has compiled his writings and lectures. The

writer, as a teacher in a sister department of the University hadthe privilege of knowing him, meeting him on numerousoccasions, and was impressed by his thoughts and continued

effort on diverse areas, as science and technology, practices ofethics, and of ideal education for generations to come. The

writers interest in spirituality also arose from weekly talks onvarious discourses of Bhagavadgita by Swami Ranganathananda,

(then Chief of Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi), arranged by

(late) Prof T.R. Seshadri, then Head, Chemisty Dept., DelhiUniversity. These thoughts remained latent in my mind for many

years to come.

After retirement form University of Delhi, and

wondering how to make good use of available time, I was

persuaded to attend a discourse on Chapter II of Bhagvadgita,

arranged at nearby Sanatan Dharma temple. The preacher was an

MD with a flourishing medical practice, but had abandoned all,went to Varanasi to study Sanskrit, and took renunciation fromall worldly activities. I felt impressed by his depth of knowledge

and the mode of presentation. It appeared to me that my latentfeeling for spiritual enlightenment had arisen.

Transition from science background to that of spirituality

was not easy. It was like a transition; say from (solid) ice to

(liquid) water. I knew that as long as the transition is notcomplete, even (slow) exposure to heat, brings no apparent

increase in temperature. I needed to be exposed to various

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aspects of spirituality. For that, I continued attending daily one-hour discourses (each of one-month duration), by learned

preachers, arranged at the temple. These included discourses onBhagvadgita, various upanisads (in particular, Katha, Mundaka,

Isavasya, Prasna, various sections of Brihadarnayaka and

Chandogya) and different chapters of Bhagavat Mahapurana. I

sought and had clarifications from the enlightened preachers,

followed by (self) study using the facility of Delhi University

Library.

After about seven years, I realized that I couldunderstand and explain the concepts in spirituality, using my

science background. I was hesitant to launch the writings of mythoughts. I recalled the example of an electron confined to a

potential energy well, with insufficient energy to cross theenergy barrier. According to wave mechanics, I know that there

was a finite probability of its crossing the barrier, by tunneling,

as it were, through the energy barrier. I took a calculated risk andstarted writing articles for newspapers columns (as Meditation ofHindustan Times). Later, at my suggestion, Dr. Chandan Mitra,

Chief Editor of the newspaper, The Pioneer, started the column

The Horizons with my article, Four Types of Devotees (Gita,

7..16-17), described to Arjuna by lord Krishna. It was accepted

and appreciated. I felt encouraged. I realized that I had crossed

the science/spirituality barrier. For the next eight years, I

published 156 articles on various aspects of (Veda- based)spirituality. I also write articles on moral ethics in the magazine(for propagation of spiritual ideas and love for god), published

by Gita press, Gorakhpur.In a presentation of series of articles, I have used my

science background to understand and explain, where possible,the interaction of science and (Veda-based) spirituality, and the

extent to which science as interacted with basics of moral ethics.

The basic source knowledge in spirituality is from the

Vedas, considered to have been spoken by Brahma, one of the

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trinities of Hindu faith, and were revealed by hearing (hence alsocalled shruti), to enlightened rishi-s. A question could be: how

was it revealed only to some?

Consider this: The Indraprastha channel of All India

Radio, broadcasts a serial recitation of Ramcaritmanasa, from

6:30 to 6:40 every morning. To listen to this program, one has to

have a radio, tune it to 819 kHz, at the right time and should

have no problem with his listening. Thus alone, one listens to

this musical presentation in the format ofdoha, sortha, chandaand chaupai (meters). Likewise, Vedic verses were revealed onlyto the enlightened, who could tune in their intellect- the format

being- first the name of the enlightened rsi (to whom it wasrevealed), followed by the name of the deity (deva/devi) to

whom it is addressed, and then the meter for proper recitation.For example, Rigveda Samhita (shukta 1) has nine verses, which

were revealed to rishi Madhuchanda Vaisvamitra, are addressed

to Agni (the god of fire) to be recited in Gayatri meter (one ofthe seven principal meters). Total number of gods/goddesses in

Vedas are thirty three, the more important ones being Agni and

Indra.

The verses were learnt, carried in the memory of rsi-s,

and propagated to their disciples, who also learnt and retained

them in their memory. Thus, the verses (and the commentary on

them) were propagated to successive generations of disciples.

Later, Vedavyasa classified these into four parts: Rigveda,Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The last regarded mostrecent is considered to have been added much later.

Rigveda, regared as the most sacred, has 2005 hymns.Samaveda consists of hymns to be recited at the time of soma

sacrifices. Most of the verses in this are from the Rgveda, butmodified in various ways. Yajurveda is the sacrificial prayer

book. Its verses also are largely from Rgveda, but in many cases

broken up to include parts for sacrificial prayers. Atharvavedaoften includes verses for practice of sorcery.

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Each Veda is divided into four parts: samhita,Brahmana, Aranayaka and Upanishad. Samhita has basic Vedic

hymns. Brahmana consists of the commentaries in prose withrespect to sacrifices, and the significance thereof. Aranayaka are

treatise for forest dwellers (in the third/ fourth stage of life). The

Upanishads constitute the knowledge part of veda-s.

Vedic verses are brief and for a proper understanding of

the verses, words and the expressions and the proper recitation,

there are six auxiliaries (Vedanga), generally also accepted aspart of the Veda-s. These are the science of correctpronunciation code of rituals, grammar, etymology, meter (and

astrologyIn spirituality, two levels of knowledge has been

accepted. Lowerknowledge is of the Veda-s, with six auxiliaries,and higherknowledge is that which alone enables realization and

attainment to Imperishable Brahman. The sense of realization is

merely in removing the ignorance about the knowledge ofBrahman (though from the knowledge part of the Veda-s). Thus,

knowledge of both the levels of spirituality is necessary.

Vedic verses are often difficult to understand. For this

reason, in articles to follow in this book, an exegetical approach

has been used, in which purport of the verses are supplemented

with those from Upanishads and from Bhagvadgita, which are

widely read and understood. It should also be kept in mind that

Bhagavadgita is a discourse to Arjuna by Lord Krishna himself,an incarnation of Brahman (also called mahaVisnu), and isaccepted to be based on the Upanishads. This ensures that the

presentation is at the level of the Upanishad (knowledge part ofthe Vedas). These were further supplemented, where necessary

from mythology,Manu samhita, Patanjali Yoga Sutra, andSanakhya Yoga.

Since there are no well- defined overlapping areas ofscience and spirituality, an attempt has been made to use

established science concepts (of lower knowledge) to explain

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and provide a basis of rational understanding of concepts inspirituality (of lower and higher knowledge), by analogy with

laws, observations and principles in science. Typical exampleschosen demonstrate that spiritual concepts, based on Indian

mythology, Bhagavadgita and the Upanishad part of Veda-s, etc,

are mostly notantagonistic, to principals and laws of science.

However, the limitations of the basis of spiritual

concepts, on one hand, and the rapid advances of knowledge and

understanding of physical phenomena, and various aspects or

biological sciences, should be kept in mind. The spiritualconcepts were developed from intense thoughts ofrsi-s, or thosepreached by various incarnations ormahaVisnu millions of years

ago, and have never been updated. Still most concepts inspirituality are not inconsistent with present day (lower)

knowledge of science. On the other hand, advances in physicaland biological sciences have enabled better understanding of the

spiritual concepts, (and also point to their limitations). For

example, and understanding of the basis of yoga practices, hasenabled a longer and healthier lifestyle and has given greater

faith in spiritual practices. Of late, some institutions in India

have departments of yoga science and of Scientific spirituality.

In the absence of overlapping areas in science and

spirituality, it was desirable, that essential basics of both are

given to enable a better understanding of the interaction of

science and spirituality. Those with a good background in eitherof the two may skip over the basics.

Science has little to interact with moral aspect ofspirituality, leading to the code of ethics. When the mass- energy

equation (E = mC2), where C is the velocity of light (108

meters/second) was first given by Einstein, he had realized the

implication of the its possible misuse in developing atomic

devises, based on the loss of mass in radioactive disintegrationprocesses. He was not wrong. We know that on 5th August 1945,

a nuclear weapon named Little Boy, was dropped by the US

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Army on Hiroshima, Japan, directly killing an estimated 70,000people. Approximately 69% of the citys buildings were

destroyed. In the following months, an estimated 60,000 peopledied from injuries and several hundreds more form radiation.

Another (plutonium) bomb was used in the planned

bombing of Nagasaki on 9th July 1945.. Nagasaki was an

industrial centre for major part of the coast of Kyushu. Although

following a conventional raid on the city, which led to partial

evacuation of mainly school children three days before the

bombing, there were nearly 200,000 people in the city when thebomb exploded. Though Nagasaki had much less world attentionthan Hiroshima, the damage was extensive nonetheless. An

estimated 40,000 died immediately, with 60,000 injured. ByJanuary 1946, the number of dead approached 70,000,

comparable to that of Hiroshima.

This was no interaction of science and spirituality with

respect to moral aspect of ethics preached by spirituality. Onemay then question the use of inclusion of ethics in this book.

Wars were not uncommon even in spiritual texts, e.g. attack on

the army of Ravana, led by Bhagvan Rama himself, and the war

at Kurukshetra, between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. In the

latter, Lord Krishna played an important role. Both Rama and

Krishna are incarnations (full manifestations) of Brahman. Lord

Krishna explained this (the necessity, reason and purpose) of

incarnation in Bhagvadgita as follows:

Though I am unborn, undecaying by nature, Lord of the

beings, yet subjugating my Prakriti, I come into being by myown Maya (Gita, 4.6). Maya of Brahman (of three gunas).

Whenever there is decline of virtue (dharma) and

increase of vice (adharma), then I manifest Myself, for the

protection of the pious and destruction of evil-doers andestablishing virtue (dharma) (Gita, 4.7,8).

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The intention is that it establishes a certain level ofvirtue (dharma). It is for the destruction of the wicked kings or

leaders, and those with them, but is not intended for killings ofthe innocents also. In olden times, as in all world war 1, the army

fought with the army. These days, besides the army fighting each

other, a demoralizing effect is produced by hitting industries

(even if they are not involved in production of weapons), and the

unarmed civilian population.

In recent history, there is also a mention of the Kalingawar, fought on the 8th year or Mauriya king Ashoka (about 261BC). Ashokas father had previously attempted to conquer

Kalinga, but had been repulsed. After a bloody battle for thethrone after his fathers death, he succeeded after a savage war in

which 100,000 Kalinga civilians and than 10,000 of Ashokasown men were killed. Consequences changed Ashokas views on

war, and though already a non-engaged Buddhist, he decided to

devote the rest of his life to ahimsa (non- violence) and tovictory through dharma. He ruled his empire for 40 years of

peace, harmony and prosperity. He practiced the ethical code of

moral ethics.

However, there are strict codes on conduct when there is

one-to-one interaction, as in medical ethics. The codes of applied

ethics, in medical and other areas that follow moral ethics, are

based on spirituality. This justified the inclusion of ethics, in thecontext of science and spirituality.

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3972050-Science-Spirituality-and-Ethics

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