The misconception that ’science and spirituality are mutually exclusive’ - has been prevailing in the minds of many people since long. At a superficial level, the two streams of knowledge aimed at decipheration of the ultimate truth appear to be contradicting and nullifying each other’s principles. The early period of modern scientific development cultivated a visible or tangible evidence driven reasoning and logic. This advocated a general belief that all progress and intellectual civilization of mankind has been possible only because of the material based scientific investigations and developments.
The misdeeds of the medieval era in the name of religion and the misinterpretation of the ancient sciences of spirituality fueled the simultaneous propagation of the so called rational thinkers and modern scientists that - "religion and spiritual philosophy are tools of the dull day-dreamers which drive people’s credulous minds into an ’intoxicated state’ of illusions and superstitions and thereby revert the direction of intellectual progress." Nevertheless, dedicated saints and sagacious scholars of Human Psychology and spirituality of all ages have shown disagreement with such superficial judgments. Same have been the views of the founder fathers of the modern science who had the acumen to see the facts beyond the perceivable existence of the world. Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya happens to be one of the greatest scholars of modern times who elucidated multiple dimensions of Science, Spirituality and Religion vis-a-vis the limitless expansion of nature and endless depth of human life.
He reviewed spirituality more as a subject matter of science than of religious philosophy. For him the science of spirituality is the ultimate domain of human psychology and all scientific knowledge. The material based modern science and the science of consciousness were described by him as the two sides of the same coin. Both are mutually complementary. The existence of either is incomplete without the other. The edifice of life on the earth rests on the strong foundation of these two pillars. Acharya Sharma has presented detailed analysis, rational arguments and evident examples in support of his views. Present volume is a collection of his related writings. He has elucidated deeper aspects of - deep ecology, cosmic order, esoteric events and yet unresolved secrets of nature, existence of extraterrestrial life, scientific basis of astrology, etc. and eventually proved how every activity and every form of existence - from micro subtler to cosmic levels and the eternal cycle of nature reflect the order of an omnipresent sole controlling power - the invisible Supreme Consciousness which manifests itself in every vibration of energy and pulsation of life. He has also cited authentic reviews and scientific studies which illustrate that - as modern science is advancing from subatomic to subtler forms of matter and venturing into gigantic expansion of cosmic energy, it is becoming clearer that the existence of universe and orderly activities of nature is not a mere coincidence rather, it appears to be planned under the control of a super intelligent, self-existing, eternal ’regulatory mechanism’. Starting from our solar system to its surrounding clusters and the ensemble of their respective galaxies, the author gives a glimpse of orderly movements in the cosmos. Emissions of the energy radiations from the sun - the center of our solar system and the appropriately controlled reception of the same by the earth make life on this planet possible. Similar perfection of gravitational balance and mutual transmissions exist among other stars, planets and planetary systems in the universe. By giving reviews of the scientific research findings, it is shown here - in an easy-to-grasp style that the cosmic expansion is neither disorderly nor an outcome of totally random phenomena. More arcane are the functions of the cellular, molecular, atomic and smaller entities - each of which contains an orderly ’universe’ of its enormous components at gradually subtler levels. These too remark the marvelous self-organizing eternal system of the supreme, self-existing power. We all live in the limitless ocean of consciousness. Same consciousness is vibrating within us, within every component of our body and mind. The difficult subject matter of (bio)physical sciences and the fields of consciousness in above context are dealt with excellent clarity and continuity by the author. This ease with in-depth analysis of complex topics and lucid style of presentation is indeed rare to find. It makes the present volume unique in many respects.
Mysterious manifestations of nature in different parts of the world are also described here highlighting the recent investigations and challenges posed before the scientific researchers in terms of identification of causes and justification for how such things happen in the visible three dimensional world against the yet established laws of science? Inquisitiveness of the readers will also get enlightened on the ever exciting issues of - "Are we alone in the cosmos? Is there existence of life on any other planet? How are the extraterrestrial living beings? UFOs - Facts and myths?" According to Acharya Sharma, the science of spirituality begins where the advancement of material based scientific investigations ends. As the science of spirituality deals with consciousness and its manifestation in visible forms and also in the latent domains of thoughts and sentiments, it can decipher everything which is within or beyond the reach of any other branch of science. We can peep into the depths of cosmic consciousness by creative integration of modern sciences with the ancient science of spirituality. One of the chapters of this volume is focused on the scientific basis of Astrology and the effects of planetary movements on human psychology. It points out the causes of mistakes and misleading trends of practices in this mathematically derived field of knowledge and offers new directions for collaborative research - in Astronomy and Astrology and other branches of (bio)physical sciences - which would offer superb benefits as were acquired and used by the Indian rishis ages ago for the absolute welfare, progress and peace of the entire world. Integration of the science of spirituality with the modern sciences would help elimination of misconceptions and illusions attached with the former and liberate it from the clutches of superstitions and blind faith in the name of religion. The necessity of adoption of the principles of spirituality would on the other hand serve the noble purpose of orienting scientific developments towards the path of true welfare and happiness and prevent the destructive and suppressive use of science and technology - by selfish and aristocratic intellectuals and ’rulers of world economy’ - in the name of technological advancement. This will also save the glory of humanity which appears to be lying at an edge of extinction in today's consumerized and commercialized world. The central theme of the author is to guide mutually co-operating development of (bio)physical and spiritual sciences and related domains of human life so that the complementary of the two would lead to ultimate progress in the righteous direction. Hope the present volume would serve this purpose to make "21st century - bright future" a reality in all respects.
(Vigyana Aur Adhyatma, Paraspara Puraka) Vol-23