Hello and welcome to episode 70 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today is part three in the discussion about science and spirituality and why spirituality will always dominate science.
If you have not read the last two articles I would strongly suggest you do so before reading this as it will give you a better insight into what we are talking about. The debate has really heated up and I have had a lot of questions coming in. Today I want to put perspective on things and make it really simple.
Let’s quickly recap. In the last two episodes we spoke about science and its attempt to answer ‘why’ by solving what, when and how. We spoke about how untrue this was and that it is really only spirituality that can answer why.
Consciousness and nature
We talked about phenomena and how every element is equal to the consciousness plus the nature of the element. The consciousness is already there inside of every living being and spirituality focuses on connecting with that consciousness because everything else is irrelevant. If consciousness did not exist then nothing of your nature would make any sense. Those of a spiritual nature are interested in how the consciousness can broaden the personality but science is only interested in discovery.
Science causes confusion and yes it’s true that religion can also cause confusion but that’s only because people don’t understand that all that really matters is the consciousness. All the other differences are minor.
We also learned that the consciousness can appear as a devil or an angel but it is just that, an appearance. The consciousness always remains pure and happy no matter what happens on the outside.
Krishna says: “Him the weapons cannot cut, fire cannot burn, water cannot wet, wind cannot dry. The self cannot be cut, dried, burned or wetted…Eternal, all pervasive, stable, immovable, everlasting the Self Reigns”
Now I want to speak about the final reason why science will always come second to spirituality. It will help you to overcome any confusion you may have.
Two states
The sages figured out that there are two states of being. One is ignorance and the other is a state of synchronicity. They also discovered that there is context and content. All the content and the actions we take are based on the context. If the consciousness is in the body then it has become the body. If this is the cases then your content will always be instinctive and you will always be in the senses. If the context is intellectual then you will suddenly become intelligent.
When the context is in the jiva then our content is inspirational. This is because we know that anything that happening around us is only an appearance. We know that this is the only work that has to be done and we are detached from the script. We also understand that all our baggage(karma) is because of the gunas and it is why sometimes we are intellectual, instinctive or inspirational. By drawing the gunas in, we know that the consciousness has become the body, mind or intellect.
Context and nature
By changing the context completely to the consciousness you can make your life inspirational. You’ll be able to draw yourself in and become detached from any outcomes. Science is so focused on the body, mind and intellect that it misses out on this wonder. Changing the context changes the nature of your experience. Doing this can make all mental suffering completely disappear. It can be done by simply changing the context.
We can re wire thing so that when you draw your three gunas in and become detached it changes the context of your thinking. You can move from the body, mind and intellect to the jiva, the spirit. When someone says they are sad it is because they are in the body. When someone disagrees with someone’s opinion it is because they are in the intellectual. When you are in the inspirational you know that everything comes from the consciousness. You know that you are a medium for the consciousness. You are the machine and god is the operator. You should be detached from the script and know that there are the three contexts: the body, mind and intellect. You need to withdraw from them and be seated in the consciousness.
Let’s say you want to go from New York to Washington. It takes about 4 or 5 hours. If you went by car it would take you 4 to five hours but if you walked it would take days or even weeks. If you went by plane it would only take an hour or two. The time taken to cover the distance depends on the method of transport that you take. Each way brings with it its own set of challenges. You can choose to do things the easy way or the hard way. Changes the context changes the nature of the experience.
15 years in 15 minutes
I want to ask you a question. Take your last 15 years of experiences. If you were to explain the last 15 years of your life to someone how long would it take? It wouldn’t take most people more than 15 minutes to remember the most important or memorable things.
The great sages say that the last 15 years of your life are worth only 15 minutes of experiences and the rest is maya, it is an illusion because for most of it you were caught up in the body, mind and intellect. When you take this perspective and dig a little deeper it is an amazing thing to realise. 15 years can come down to just 15 minutes.
If you were in the jiva for 15 years you would only need one minute because you would know that everything is consciousness. Sometimes your consciousness becomes an angel and sometimes it becomes the devil. The more you go towards the light the more compact your experiences become. Our whole lives are worth little more than an hour’s experience. The rest is an illusion. In the consciousness there is nothing to experience because it itself is the experiencer.
The body, mind and intellect is only a mould which we must use to form the gold image of the consciousness. Our only concern should be to draw our minds in and become detached. Revel in the gold image of the consciousness.
The spiritual race
We spoke before about the three types of help. Spiritual help is so great because it helps you to form this gold image. Science is so stuck up in discovering the what, how and when that it just cannot see this.
The greatest help you can give to yourself is spiritual help because when you get this right everything else will come after it. Consciousness is auto corrected by the greatness of spirituality. Nothing is more important than connecting with the god within.
The race between spirituality and science is the same as the one between the tortoise and the hare. The hare only looks like he is ahead but it is always the tortoise who wins. He always knew he would win. Like spirituality his moves were silent and gentle and this payed off in the end.
I hope I have answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.