Integration of Science in the Conception
of Omkarananda Ashram

Introduction

We cannot dismiss anything as unreal without having investigated the thing properly and sufficiently. And it is a statement of ignorance to say that there is no life on other planets and the Earth is all. About the existence of other worlds, any denial would be nonsense, because such a denial is possible only by keeping ourselves blind to the blazing truths and realities. There are worlds interpenetrating our world. Even the visible, material universe is immeasurable and boundless in its dimensions. How much more boundless and wondrous is the invisible universe which is the parent of the visible universe.

Man of today is so much imprisoned in the material world, in the body, that he doubts the very existence of the Spirit. And that which is the Reality of realities, the Seat of intelligence, the Soul of thought, the Source of life and light, is dismissed as unreal. So great is the human ignorance! That is why millions of people, in spite of all technological development, are unhappy. They need wisdom; they need culture; they need better perception; they need higher values. It is these that have to be given. Nobody can ever extinguish in the human heart the desire for peace, happiness, freedom, greater knowledge and striving for attainment of higher values.

The human individual has an interminable destiny before him. Not to give this idea to mankind is a sin. Unhappiness, sorrow, evil, suffering, ignorance are not normal and natural, and therefore have no roots in the human constitution. Immortality is the natural divine destiny of man, and therefore he is consciously or unconsciously aspiring towards it.

If we trace the ultimate goal of science and religion, we come to the conclusion that they are not contradictory to each other but complementary. The scientist touches the ultimate factors in the universe; the sage goes a step beyond and touches the ultimate Reality which is the basis of all ultimates.

The final scientific concepts are best understood by the religious individual, for the religious or the spiritual individual sees the metaphysical, or philosophical, or spiritual implications of the final scientific conclusions. He sees more in the scientific conclusions than the scientist himself. It is, therefore, very easy to synthesize science and religion. This would be exceedingly valuable for the culture of humanity. Such a synthesis is the demand of our century, the demand of our decade. Our intelligence becomes more illuminated by a comparative study of the results of religious strivings and the conclusions of scientific progress.

The scientist is especially gifted to perceive invisible things. And that is exactly what a spiritual individual does, though at a higher level. The spiritual individual is primarily an individual who sees the invisible, and so is the scientist. The greater the scientist is, the more does he uncover the face of the invisible. The greater the evolution, the more sensitive becomes our inner being to higher realities. To perceive the invisible and to draw its essences into our own daily life - this is the genius of man, and this is also the meaning of life.

An 'irrationality' characterizes both science and religion. If the man of God says, 'the table is God', this is something irrational, something incomprehensible to the common man. He therefore dismisses the saintly person as someone who is not normal.

The scientist does the same. Look at the atomic physicist. You say, 'It is a hard table'. He says, 'There is no such thing as a hard table. A hard table is an illusion. What is visible to me is swelling waves and particles!' The table as table disappears for the atomic physicist. So has the table as table disappeared for the vision of the saintly heart who sees the Divine in everything. The language of the scientist and the language of the saintly personality are incomprehensible to the normal person. Both are at a higher stage of evolution. The saintly person has reached this state of inner evolution that is so high that he is in a position to perceive the Invisible. The development of the intelligence in the scientist is so great, his capacity to grasp scientific phenomena is so great, he is intellectually so evolved, that his language is incomprehensible for the ordinary man.

Every normal person would be in a position to make the experience of the scientist and the saint his own personal experience. All that is needed is evolution, growth in knowledge, growth in the inner spiritual nature.

The greater the scientist is, the more open and sensitive is he to the ultimate Reality. If he would try to discover the metaphysical dimensions of Time, he would certainly become a sage, even if he lacks the experience and the maturity of the sage.

Time, space, causation are scientific categories. There are, for instance, numberless concepts of space in science. The saintly heart knows the intrinsic How and Why of space. It discovers the spaceless Reality in space. This is the ultimate that we can attain in the phenomenon of space.

The scientist looks at the cosmos and finds it a wonder. He is baffled by the vastness of the universe. The stars are inexplicable, no matter how many scientific works have been written on the stars. Though time and space are explained, yet there is much in the universe which remains unexplained, and thus leaves man wondering at the mysteries of the universe.

Science reduces matter to a nebula, to nothing. The saintly heart reduces all matter into Spirit. So close seem to be the scientist and the saint, and always it is the saintly personality who takes the final step. Here, in this space, he experiences the spaceless Reality.

Time, which is a problem for science - there are numberless scientific theories concerning time - is no problem for the saintly intelligence. He sees the soul of time in the timeless eternity.

Without the screen there is no possibility of projecting the film. The time-event cannot be unrolled without the screen, or the background of the timeless Reality. The sharper the reason, the more unrelenting the inquiry and search, the more quickly we shall discover the background of time and space.

The scientist occupies himself with such questions as time and space only during specified hours of his life, whereas the spiritual individual cannot look at the space without growing at the same time aware of the spaceless divine Reality.

The scientist, however occupied he may be with the phenomenon of time and its nature, has no knowledge of That which is the essence of time, which is supplying and sustaining time. Whereas the spiritual individual can never grow conscious of time without at the same time being keenly aware of the timeless Reality.

Science and religion meet and greet each other. Science is in pursuit of the hidden realities of the universe. Religion is in search of the ultimate hidden Reality in the cosmos. If the scientist is not content with the progress he makes, and struggles hard to extend his inquiries, he is bound to touch the ultimate divine Reality. Science today has valuable services to render to religion. And science can enrich itself intellectually and rationally by a grasp of the religious truths.

The ultimate object of science and the ultimate object of religion are one and the same: the final Reality. -That which has brought the whole cosmos into existence and is sustaining it. This highest Reality is multidimensional. It is not abstract. It is the most living Reality. It is most living in all things. It is the heart of all that lives. It has million eyes, million ears, million bodies. It is at the same time with everyone, everywhere all over the world, everywhere all around the stars, everywhere in every little corner of the cosmos and beyond. This marvellous Reality has infinite relations with us; rather, It is the very Essence of our being. It is the Heart of our heart, the Intelligence of our intelligence, the Genius of our genius, the Soul of our soul. The greater our knowledge is, the more easily do we understand and know this divine Reality.

The search for God is a scientific search. It is more demanding than the scientific search, and it requires the transformation of the whole personality. The true dignity, worth and value of human life lie in the development of these basic capacities: reason, love, devotion, higher powers of perception.

Every finite individual carries in himself a tendency to be infinite. Every imperfect man carries in himself an imperishable longing to be perfect. It is in the very structure of the human individual to be greater than he is, to strive after the Greatest, the Ultimate. That which is the greatest and the ultimate is God, as religion calls Him, and it is the Truth, as science says.

To be rational in an irrational world,

To be ruled by wisdom in a world which is governed generally by ignorance,

To perceive the invisible in a world of visibilities and corporalities,

To touch the imperishable Life while living in a perishable body,

To know the Truth while we dwell in a world of untruth and illusion,

-This is the true dignity of man. This is of primary importance!

Not to perish but to experience the everlasting life here and now - this is the promise of religion, this is the possibility of scientific evolution.

It was a hundred years ago, and in the preceding centuries, that scientists could afford to be materialistic and mechanistic in their views, but today the leading and greatest scientists are forced to acknowledge and accept some divine Consciousness or Mind behind the universal and cosmic workings. In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the leading scientists to explain anything of the vast, wondrous physical universe without accepting some invisible Principle as the directing and constituting Force. We can more plainly state that God, as a supreme operating Principle, is being put back into the universal scheme by the latest and leading scientists.

This is a tremendous development, and this you would be in a position to understand, if you read the best popular expositions of modern physics, especially the presentations of leading British scientists like Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans. Therefore we find that the scientists who are materialistic or mechanistic in their views, are not those who are the leading ones. The real ones, the great ones are those who are open to broader understanding and knowledge.

Any study of the latest and most reliable work on astronomy will also make you feel a sense of inspiration and an exaltation of your inner being. The sciences are increasingly bringing into our notion the incomprehensible vastness and wonders of the physical universe.

Now let us come down to the field of psychology and take up the leading and latest conclusions and results of academic psychology, or university psychology, around the world today. Behaviourism and other schools of modern psychology are fast sinking in value, in the face of new developments in other branches and schools of modern psychology. Psychology is tapping the subconscious and unconscious regions. And other recent developments in the field of economic and university psychology are pushing their way forward, and their proponents are trying to study the preconscious and other aspects of the human consciousness. Take for instance parapsychology: ESP (which stands for extrasensory perception), telepathy, thought-transference, possibilities of clairvoyance, fall within the field and scope of its study and examination.

In the social field, we find that the social experts in America and Britain are convinced that it is difficult to account for anything rationally and to introduce into the world of social behaviour any harmony, or peace, or order, without taking into consideration supra-social principles as operative in the human individual.

From these three leading modern fields of knowledge, we come to the conclusion that humanity is compelled by the very progress it has made, to fall back upon idealistic principles, views and aims. It is forced to pursue, to envision and consider higher values. All these make it possible and easy for us to bring the divine Principle, the divine Consciousness, or Godhead, into the field of human experience. These great developments and progress in different fields of human knowledge make it easy for us to work for a synthesis between the world of values, truths, light, peace, and the world of human activity and experience.

Especially in the fields of science, technology and commerce, the progress has been so incredibly great that it has thrown up a number of problems altogether unknown to humanity of the preceding centuries; many types of problems that you might encounter each day.

There are international problems, which are in a way being met by great world organizations. There are national problems, met by each nation through its own type of political machinery. There are many other forms of problems, - the social problem for instance, and the social scientists around the world are busy putting up a plan for the solution of some of the social problems. There are also educational problems being attacked and dealt with by leading educationalists around the world. There are moral problems, problems pertaining to crime etc. and dealt with by several forces. There are a number of mental problems, psychological problems, attended to by the psychiatrists, psychologists, etc. There are a number of problems with which humanity is encumbered.

Leaders of thought during the past sixty years, great philosophers, historians, statesmen, have understood the peculiar difficulties of contemporary humanity. They have also been conscious of a series of crises through which contemporary humanity is passing. Some of them state that Western civilization is breaking up, and Bertrand Russell was of the opinion that we are on the verge of total annihilation as the result of nuclear war.

These different personalities, great historians, philosophers, statesmen, social scientists, have pronounced their views and their judgments concerning the nature, characteristics and inherent collapses of our civilization. The causes they attribute to modern problems and difficulties and trials are merely secondary, and not fundamental. They are purely incidental and not intrinsic to the problem at issue, with the result, do what you may, it is impossible for you to liberate humanity from its recurrent stresses, strains and riddles.

It is our view that the really fundamental problems are cast by the very mind and nature of man! The problem of problems, therefore, is man himself. For external difficulties and aberrations of contemporary humanity you can always find internal causes - causes which are almost constitutional in the very mind and nature of humanity. Therefore, the solutions suggested by these personalities of public life are not adequate to the situation.

For a solution of the problems, what is demanded of us is a correction, a change, a transformation of that mind which is itself the creator of the problems.

Illuminate that human mind by a higher knowledge;

Alter its attitude by a better wisdom;

Widen its outlook by the wisdom of a richer experience;

and you will find a number of problems will resolve themselves automatically.

This is the remedy to the central problem of life, to some of the fundamental problems which are shared by even the primitive men of several thousands of years ago, fundamental problems which concern our inner being, mind, our inner nature, and its demands and urges for peace, happiness, joy, and a rich and satisfying and delightful life.

These fundamental demands can best be satisfied, not merely by affording external opulence, not merely by creating economic sufficiency as the contemporary Western world has done, but only by pouring into the human mind an inspiring, illuminating and ever-heightening culture and philosophy. A culture which is bound up with the growth, development and evolution of the human consciousness. A philosophy which enlightens us concerning the intrinsic and innate dignity and divinity of the human individual. A philosophy or a system of knowledge which discloses to man his intimate and dynamic relations with a universal, all-satisfying divine Principle.

Science in its present state of development is still concerned with objects. When it makes phenomenal progress, progress four times that of the outer progress which science has miraculously made, it will tumble upon ultimate facts, ultimate realities which are fundamental. It is then that science will be a guide of life, a cultural force, an enlightening power. The greater the progress of science at the highest level, the greater are the possibilities of human experience and encounter with the ultimate Reality. The greatest geniuses in the human history have tended towards a knowledge of this truth. That is the highest object of human research. It is the highest object of human fulfilment.

In its infant stage, as science now comparatively is, it seems to deny the existence of the ultimate Reality rather than affirm it. In spite of this fact, the greatest scientists feel compelled to be sensible and sensitive to the Reality of the ultimate Being. The greater the scientist is, the more sensitive he is to the ultimate Being. It is from these pioneers in science that we derive this body of knowledge which is most valuable for knowing the ultimate Reality.

This ultimate Reality is everywhere present. The air that we breathe is within this Reality. The whole cosmos that we perceive is within the Reality. And this Reality is all-seeing, all-knowing. This is the fundamental spiritual Truth.

Let us observe the air around. We do not perceive air through the physical eyes, yet it is sustaining us. It is a power. It sustains life - we cannot live without it, even for a few minutes. It is the sustainer of life. All other values rest upon this primary value.

Even so is that Reality which is sustaining the very principle of air that sustains life. It is invisible to the physical eyes, yet It is sustaining the air that we breathe in. It is sustaining the whole cosmos, though It is invisible to the physical eyes. This mighty Reality, called God, is everywhere, even as the air is everywhere in the world. Being infinitely subtler than air, It is more imperceptible. An imperceptible thing can be the very heart of all life. Even as air is indispensable for our existence, so is the Divine indispensable for the very existence of our existence. It is the supreme Sustainer of everything. Its invisibility does not give us any right to deny Its existence.

Space comes into manifestation and disappears in the Divine, in the boundless Divine Intelligence. Look at the sky. The clouds come, and the clouds disappear. The clouds of the universes have come into existence, and disappear. It happens again and again, endlessly. So is the Divine Intelligence.

Science can be an instrument for knowledge of the ultimate Reality. Intuition, devotion, revelation, enlightenment, illumination, - all these are methods for the perception of the ultimate divine Truth. Reason at its best, in its purified form, in its keenness of perceptive power, science in its final development, are also methods for the experience of the Truth. The greater the human spirit, the more penetrating its perceptive intelligence, the more sincere the inner devotion, the greater is the area of the Reality experienced.

No dissemination of any knowledge is so valuable as the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. The human society around the world changes completely by the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. Millions of people will lose their fears and anxieties and find lasting peace, strength and happiness by the knowledge of things spiritual, by the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. That is the fundamental necessity of humanity. The kind of literature people generally read seems to strengthen the forces of ignorance and darkness rather than lead them to light. It is the spread of spiritual knowledge that is of primary importance. The wisdom of mankind gives the spread of spiritual knowledge first place. It is such knowledge that can redeem human life of its trials and limitations.

The knowledge of the Divine dispels the darkness of ignorance, which is the cause of all kinds of human difficulties. In the knowledge of the divine Truth, the unconscious becomes more and more refined and purified; fears and anxieties for the present and for the future will disappear. Man is no more a creature of matter or nature, but a light in the Light of the Divine.

That there is air everywhere, is a fact, is a truth. That air itself is in something called space, is another fact. That space itself is in some other principle, called divine Truth, or divine Intelligence, is the ultimate fact, the ultimate principle, the ultimate Truth.

More than in air we dwell in the mighty Wonders, in the Love, Beauty and Perfection, of the Divine. To be in tune with such an Intelligence is to exceed and transcend the best rewards of human knowledge.

That which is most visible in life is space. There is always space between your eyes and the object you are perceiving. You can see nothing except it be in space, through space. So is the case with other objects, with other senses. You can hear nothing without the mediumship of space. You cannot take anything outside space. You cannot even transmit your radio-waves without the medium of space. Our movement, our breathing, every activity is rendered possible in space. Space, the universal reality, is the most visible reality, though it is exceedingly subtle.

What is the highest thing in the whole world? What is the greatest thing in the whole world? It is space. All is in the space. All the universes are in the space. Space is vaster than anything in creation; it is greater than the creation. Being 'nothing', it supports everything. It is so subtle you cannot burn it, or cut it, or pollute it. So, outwardly seen it is the supreme reality. It is the visible expression of God. It is a mighty creation. It is ever pure, indestructible, incapable of being burnt or destroyed, even when the worlds collide.

More subtle than space is the Divine! More close than space is the Divine!

As all experiences are founded on space, so the very experience of space is founded on the Divine. There can be no experience without the Divine as the basis of this experience. This universal Reality, this undeniable Reality, this which is most visible to those who are free from ignorance, is most invisible to those who are in ignorance. The human ignorance has a mighty effect, it makes invisible that which is most visible.

Most visible in the whole universe is the Divine, though This is invisible to the human ignorance. That which is sustaining you is just the thing which is hidden from your view! This is the great effect of ignorance, of impurity; it is what Christianity calls a sin. The original sin is nothing but great ignorance, which is the cause of all other forms of ignorance, of all other forms of weaknesses, limitations, evil, error, sinfulness.

Everything in space is changing, but does the space itself change? Certainly not. The clouds come, and the clouds go, the space however remains what it was, always. The world is changing every moment, but the space is not changing. Our mind is changing, our heart is changing, our experiences are changing, our conditions and circumstances are changing, everything is changing, but is the space changing? Certainly not. As the space is unchanging, so is the Truth unchanging. Truth is the unchanging Reality, and space is the unchanging Reality. Truth, which resides in space and extends space, is with all of us. As we cannot escape space, so we cannot escape the Divine Presence.

Though the space does not move, it yet makes everything within it moveable, it makes possible all motion. Though God or Truth does not move, He makes possible every movement.

What connects you with the stars? Space. The space which is there, far, far away, billions and billions of light-years away from you, is also here with you. It is there - It is HERE.

Where is this entire cosmos? In the space. All has its being in the space, subsists in space. Even so, we have our being in the space of the infinite Reality.

Space may be full of energy, full of matter, full of people, full of things, full of worlds, but it is itself something indescribable, something greater than whatever is seen in it.

There may be vibrations, there may be particles in space, but space is other than the particles. The particles themselves are not the space. And so space is inconceivable. It is one of the things which expand the human consciousness and liberate man from his limitations.

There is the moon, there are the planets, and there are the stars. Destroy the moon and the planets, even the whole cosmos, have you thereby destroyed the space? Certainly not. Space is still there. It is indestructible.

Our body is destructible, but not the space in the body. Finer than space is the Divinity in us!

Is the space born? Will it die? It was not born, and it is not going to die. The world is born, and is going to die. The creation is born, is going to perish. Our bodies, our thoughts, are born and will perish, but not the space. Infinitely subtler than space is the Divine!

Now since you are face to face with the space, since the Divine is in the space - more subtle and more pervasive than space - you are face to face with the Truth! And the voice of inner purity tells man, 'My heart and my soul are face to face with the Divine.'

Since we are always face to face with space, we are therefore always face to face with That which is within the space, and of which space does not know anything, that supreme Being or Truth. It is, like space, now in our hands, in our body, around us, within us.

If one were to continuously concentrate on the nature of space, one would become illuminated. So some people can, on the basis of this description, make space an object of meditation. Their mind is expanded, and they dwell in vaster dimensions; their inner consciousness becomes one with this spaceless Reality in space.

If you want to meditate on the Truth, again you reach an inner space. The space in the dream-consciousness is not the outer space; it is altogether a different space. If you are dreaming you are in a vast immeasurable desert, where is the desert? Just here, in this tiny point here! So, when you go inward, you have another, internal space. And when you go deeper, to the source of this space, then you find your Existence, your Consciousness. Inwardly is the Consciousness, and outwardly is the space. The divine Reality inwardly is Consciousness, outwardly It is space.

Superior to the space is the Spirit in us. Subtler than space is the Spirit in us. Space is a manifestation of the divine Reality, of the Truth, of the Absolute, of the Infinite that has brought space into existence. So, the Infinite is greater than the space, and since the Spirit in us is the Infinite, It is greater than the space.

Reality in vibration is creation.

The Infinite God in vibration, in movement, is creation, - manifestation. The Unmanifest is transcendent of vibration. If It were not transcending vibration, It would be involved in vibration, and the conditions and defects and limitations of vibrations would be inherent in the Being of God.

Physical science reduces everything to vibration. But it does not know the spiritual vibrations which are the basis of physical vibrations. And even the physical vibrations of which science speaks, nobody has heard, nobody has seen, nobody has felt. It is something like a hypothesis in science, it is something invisible to science. The scientist deduces invisible vibrations from visible vibrations. The highest science, the Science of Truth, k n o w s that there is a subtler Vibration behind the physical vibrations. Without that Vibration, there is no vibration. And that Vibration is OM.

It is a scientific universe that we live in. There is no irrational force anywhere, or irrational happening. There is no such thing as 'chance'. All is ordered, organized. Everything is interdependent. Though much of the universe is invisible to us, though nothing of the infinite invisible Reality is visible to us, the infinite invisible divine Reality is sustaining this visible universe.

There are vibrations, so infinitely subtle, that in comparison to them radio-waves are like the stream of water or iron poles!

Can the human consciousness be conceived of as a state of vibrations? The outer human consciousness is a state of vibrations: our mind is a state of vibrations, our thoughts and feelings are vibrations, our psychic being is vibration, our inner soul is vibration - but not the Reality in the soul. That is the Centre of everything. It is more than vibration, It is the source of all vibrations. It is above all vibrations, It bears in Itself all vibrations, It can withdraw all vibrations into Itself.

Are the human mind's vibrations too low, or too slow, to make it possible to perceive spiritual truths? As the human mind by its very nature is limited, full of lower tendencies and crude vibrations, how can these vibrations be refined, how can man find unity with the infinite Truth? One of the most marvellous methods among the dozens and dozens of methods to achieve this goal is the method of knowledge: to analyse yourself, to know yourself to be apart from and above these vibrations, an examiner, a viewer, a seer, and everything that you experience is the seen.

Everyone of us is a centre of forces, vibrations and influences. How beneficent our forces and influences are, rests upon how much contact we have with the infinite divine Reality; and also how much the other person who receives something from us is in a position to respond to these beneficent forces. If the receiving person is enclosed in weaknesses, he receives less, almost nothing. If the receiving person is full of love and devotion to the giver, he receives most.

Just imagine what a beneficent force that mother in prayer is, who is seeking a blessing for her child. How great is this woman in prayer that she seems to shake the Infinite Itself to do a service to her baby! All Nature seems to delight in her at that time. She releases into the cosmos a beneficent force.

People are constantly releasing into the world vibrations and forces. All kinds of forces are released through the eyes, beneficent and malevolent. Somebody looks at us and we feel uneasy; with others we feel elated, joyous. Exactly so, everyone's character is a force, exercising a definite influence on Nature. Nature may delight in a person, or feel sad in a person, dependent upon the kind of influences that he emanates. There is a rudimentary consciousness in the plants and the flowers, and that responds to the beneficent forces emanating from a prayerful heart.

The spiritual individual constantly fills the whole cosmos with the Vibrations of the Divine by repetition of divine Sounds. He lives in these Vibrations. He breathes in these Vibrations. He works in these Vibrations. He is completely attuned to these Vibrations which are released into the cosmos as a beneficent Force. These Vibrations are themselves Light. They are part of the nature of the Divine. They can produce everything, they can fulfil every wish, they are all-wonderful.

Merely to say 'Om' is sufficient to keep the whole cosmos vibrant in a way with the spiritual vibrations. Merely to think a divine thought is sufficient to make the brain emanate vibrations of spirituality. Merely to entertain a divine feeling is sufficient to make the heart emanate strong spiritual vibrations. Thus the spiritual individual, by filling the cosmos with the vibrations of divine Sounds, purifies it. He makes the whole cosmos permeated with the Joy of the Divine, with the Beauty and Peace of the Divine, with the Consciousness and Light and Love of the Divine.

Your body is full of energy. Your feelings and thoughts are full of energy. Everything is a product of energy. Energy, force and vibration are one and the same. A wrong thought is a wrong force, a negative and dark energy. Knowing this, the spiritual individual struggles hard to sustain himself in a state of divine vibrations. Any kind of wrong thought, anything that affects his radiant spiritual vibrant state, he avoids, because it causes much harm to himself and to the world. Everything that encourages this inner state is employed. A good feeling, a noble thought, emotions caused by devotion, by love of the divine Truth, love of the divine Knowledge - such emotions are uplifting, they are divine forces.

Everyone has an aura around his head and body. There is a radiant energy around the head, around the body of everyone. Dependent upon the nature of the person, the aura is good or bad. If the aura is not so good, automatically some persons are repelled against this person. When the aura is good, all are attracted to this person, regardless of his outer personality.

Those who are constantly expressing devotion to the Divine, have in their aura the Image of the Divine. It is always there, as long as the energies in the heart and mind and soul and body are surrendered to the Divine, are in the service of the Divine. And this living Presence of the Divine in the aura of a person protects that person, works wonders for that person, silently takes away all problems of that person. If he is to fly by plane to New York, this Divine Presence in the aura at once sees what is going to happen to that plane. If there is to be an accident, at once the Presence of the Divine in the aura changes the circumstances of this person, without his knowledge, with the result that this person is unable to leave by this plane but leaves by the next plane. That is how the Divine protects Its devotees. If there is to be some misfortune to be experienced by this person, it can happen only when the Divine is absent from his aura; and that happens when the person is inwardly in his heart detached from the Divine.

It is a mysterious universe in which we live. And all this mystery emerges from the One Reality, which is the Mystery of Mysteries, grand and indescribable.

The spiritual life is a great and exact science. More exact than that two and two make four, because 'two and two are four' is an external statement. In the objective world the truth is very difficult to find, it is limited by its very nature. More real is the Truth within, the subjective Truth, the infinite Truth, the Divine Truth.

It is unalterable. It is timeless, spaceless, beyond all measure. And what is beyond time and space and measure is always the same, ever the same, never changing. All other things are changing, 'two plus two are four' is changing. All that is manifest, expressive within limitations, objective, phenomenal, is subject to all kinds of untruth. Whereas the central noumenal Reality is not at all subject to these things. It is eternal, timeless. Therefore, science is possible only in relation to That.

And as we have also seen, even the knowledge of the external things differs widely. You say an object is blue. Someone who has colour-blindness does not say it is blue, it is no colour for him at all. Another man, defective in vision, says it is yellow. So, many external things are subject to untruth. External statements are not valid: standpoints differ, modes of experience differ, methods of knowledge differ. One person sees a thing through jaundiced eyes, so his method of knowledge, jaundiced eyes, brings him wrong information. Another man with normal eyes sees it differently. Whereas a man with supernormal eyes gives a different report on the object. With relation to the inner divine Reality there can be no difference. There is only one divine Reality. And the method of knowledge is direct: it is Self-knowledge. You know yourself to be the timeless Reality, - not through the mind, not through the heart, not through the senses, not through the words of another man, but directly, by being your Self, the inner 'I', the ultimate 'I' in us, the ultimate Consciousness in us, Existence in us. You know That by being Itself.

That space is empty is a truth that is not everlasting, it is today's 'scientific' fact. Tomorrow another scientist may say, space is never empty, it is full of invisible germs. Or another scientist may say, space is not empty but it is full of energy. Or another scientist may say, space is nothing, it is an illusion. So, these 'scientific facts' can be untrue, true in one place and untrue in another place. Such knowledge is not real knowledge. Real knowledge is that which is true in all conditions, at all times, and is experienceable by all people at all times. It is uncontradicted knowledge. It is unconditioned knowledge. It is everlasting knowledge.

So, when we have the central and absolute Truth as the real Science of sciences, around this Science we would like to interpret all other sciences. This Truth - what is Its nature? It is Life. So, all life sciences must come to this Truth. Their final studies, their conclusions - let them bring them here. We integrate them with this Truth. If not integrated with this Truth and not related with this Truth, what happens? The sciences will perish, will have limited value, will not do much good.

The spiritual life is a great science, the science of Man, the science of Truth.

We have chemistry, biology, physics, astrophysics, psychology, sociology, the science of making tools, furniture, plastics - we have all kinds of sciences. They are valuable in their own field of appearances, phenomena, time and space, but they are meaningless for the peace, the joy, the perfection, the happiness, the fulfilment of life. Biology studies only the physical aspect of the physical life. We need the science of Truth, the science of Life in man, the science of the Self in man. There can be true science only in relation to That which is never changing.

In saying, 'The human individual is the embodiment of infinite and absolute Truth', we are stating a fact, we are presenting a truth. When saying, 'That is a man' it is not a statement of truth, because today biochemistry and other chemical sciences can so alter the human glands that they make a woman of a man. A statement of Truth has reference to That which was, is and will always be.

How can we distinguish between what is real and what is an illusion? The real is that which does not change, which does not pass away, which does not disappear. Appearance is all that which is limited, ending, changing, perishable, passing away. If someone loves you, and that love is lasting under all trials and circumstances and conditions, then you say it is real love. But if that love quickly changes into hatred, or is withdrawn from you, then you say it is not a real thing, it does not last, it is an appearance only.

Everything in the world of time and space is an appearance. The invisible dimension in the world of visibility is the Truth. The invisible things are the determinant agents, and they are more real than the visible things. Life is inexplicable to us on the surface, because we do not see the invisible things, the invisible causes determining the visible. Therefore men try to make their own hypothesis in order to explain it away. They make a science of their own faulty hypotheses and say things are like this or like that. But things are totally different!

Scientists do not know what life intrinsically is. Otherwise, they would have created life long ago! They do not know intrinsically what mind is. No scientist has a proper definition for mind. Their definition is confined to what is visible on the surface. Even as men see God only because His Wisdom and Love are operative. From that they infer the existence of God. God, as such, they do not see, because of the very heavy limitations in which the human intellect and reason are set.

There can be no science more exact than the science of the Divine Reality, the science of Truth, because it is direct knowledge. All other knowledge is indirect, and therefore defective. And that direct knowledge is exactly the central kernel of our 'Science Synthesis' as pursued by Omkarananda Ashram. Upon this nucleus, there can be no science of anything outside the divine Reality. Upon It all other things are built up. All other sciences are integrated in this central Science of the Divine Reality, of the ultimate Reality in the cosmos, in matter, and in man.

The ultimate Reality in man,

the ultimate Reality in matter,

the ultimate Reality in the cosmos,

the ultimate Reality in the Divine,

are one and the same!

This divine Reality alone permits an exact science, as opposed to other sciences, which are not exact, - however exact they may be relatively, - like physics, chemistry etc. The theories of Einstein are outdone by theories of some other great scientist. So, these theories are always changing and are subject to falsehood. Something that is changeable is no real science.

The greatest scientists have now proved that all scientific notions are subjective; they are dependent upon the peculiarity of the judgement of the scientist, the studying scientist. There is always the personal element introduced into the knowledge of the great scientists. Though it can be objectively complete, it has its inherent defects. It cannot be extricated from these inherent limitations.

Then where exactly can we be safe? Only in the Truth which is one, absolute and unmanifest. The whole meaning of the spiritual life lies in leading us to an experience of the Truth, or God, or Presence of the Divine.

From every side, from every field of contemporary knowledge, we see a heavy diminishing of the dignity of the nature of the human individual. Humanistic tendencies do not recognize the true and innate dignity, meaning, value, worth of the human individual. And in the technical age that we live in, machines, too, seem to humiliate the importance of man. For a few centuries now, man has begun to recognize almost the nothingness of our world. It has become a popular knowledge that our world is nothing but a tiny dust around the little ball of the sun. Upon this tiny dust, where is the place of man?

It is not only from the field of astronomy that the dignity and uniqueness of the human individual is being humiliated. From other fields of knowledge and sciences also we find that the uniqueness and dignity, and meaning and significance, of the human individual is being diminished:

- From biology we are looked upon as biological organisms. Since the birth of Darwin, the human individual is looked upon as one of the denizens of the animal kingdom. And other fields of science are also trying to deprive the human individual of his dignity.

- With the birth of Freud, an enormous terrain of the unconscious, and the lowest energies, urges, tendencies in the human individual, has been uncovered.

- Behavioural psychology, specially, looks upon the human individual as devoid of any humane values. Our reason and its functions are explained away as rationalization for unethical impulses. The human freedom is dismissed as illusion, and the ethical systems are then further dismissed as rationalization for unethical impulses in the human nature.

But yet, the human individual remains unique when seen from the standpoint of the experience of Truth. He is too complex a creature to be dismissed by any of these designations. Fundamentally, he is a creative individual, not only capable of understanding the mind of a Plato, but capable of exercising his intelligence along highest forms of logical and rational lines. He has a higher nature in him which is imperishable. He has all capacities latent in him. And behind all the inner complex psychical structure, there stands the wondrous Truth. It is the ontological Being in us, with infinite dimensions, while It is all the time dimensionless. That is the heart of man. That is the central genius of man. Therefore, the best definition of the human individual would be: an imperishable being in a perishing form. The imperishable immortal Truth in a perishing, fleeting physical organism.

When we look at man from this standpoint, we are totally liberated from the attacks of astronomy, biology, and psychology on the human dignity.

In the illimitable Infinite, the Milky Way and the stars are nothing more than a point, and the earth is almost invisible; in that we are nowhere perceivable. In spite of it, look at the dignity and greatness of man! Though he is nowhere seen, like our atoms are not seen, he yet bears in himself not only the Milky Way but the whole Infinity!

That this invisible speck of dust should bear all the Infinite - is this not the marvel of marvels? And look at the way how man, this invisible speck of dust, in his pure state, is capable of expanding his consciousness beyond the manifest universe; it pervades everything in the whole cosmos, and makes the cosmos itself, in relation to him, become an invisible speck of dust!

Man carries in himself a timeless, spaceless, infinite Consciousness; and there are capacities in him which can consciously experience this timeless, spaceless, infinite and absolute Reality. We find in the history of all cultural and spiritual experiences, illustrious examples of personalities who have had a conscious experience of the timeless, spaceless Reality in themselves.

Man is not a creature of Nature, as he is supposed to be. That he is a creature of Nature is only a partial fact concerning his perishable body. Basically he is a metaphysical, ontological Reality. He transcends nature. He bears in himself the Kingdom of Heaven. He bears in himself the very Creator!

To measure Man, we need to measure him against the background of the Creator. He carries in himself all the infinite potentialities and possibilities of the Divine. This fact has been perceived again and again, all over the world, through every cycle of civilization and culture.

We have an intuitive knowledge of the Truth. We have intimations of our immortality. We are capable of understanding the nature of Truth, and are made for striving towards perfection. We are builders of systems of knowledge, pursuers of beauty. All this is possible because there is an inexhaustible Source of every conceivable faculty and capacity in us. We have merely external and functional relations with Nature; whereas we have organic, dynamic and unbreakable relations with the divine Reality which is the Infinite. Our knowledge of the Divine is far more direct than the knowledge we have of each other through the instruments of physical knowledge.

Therefore there is no inevitability to the limitations in which we subsist today. We can transcend the barriers of the mind that we dwell in. In contemplative consciousness, here and now, we can experience the timeless, spaceless Reality. Here and now we can taste the boundless Beauty, and Delight, and Peace, and Stillness, that belong to the infinite Truth within us.

Though man thinks he is a creature upon this speck of dust that our world is, he has dimensions in his inner being that far transcend the cosmic interstellar spaces!

The greatness of the human being is indescribable!

Our glory is unassailable!

Our position in Truth is indestructible!

All our capacities, possibilities, potentialities are in this boundless, infinite and immortal Truth!

Therefore, we see that the human individual can redeem himself from the insignificance and meaninglessness into which he has worked his way through pursuit of external knowledge. We have to extend our inner knowledge, deepen our wisdom, acquire new perceptions, in order to perceive and apprehend these greater realities and the infinite Truth within us. All our struggle to make tremendous progress in the field of modern sciences and fields of knowledge, technology and so forth, is merely an empirical, outward expression of our inner nature of perfection.

We are not tied to an evolutionary nature. There is in us an eternal, perfect, non-evolving, wondrous Reality. With the aid of this Reality, with the aid of the Light of this Reality, we can skip forward the evolutionary steps and obtain the perfection of the Divine.

All mechanistic, materialistic, naturalistic interpretations of the human personality fall short of the true being of man. They are partial realities, belonging to the natural world order. Fundamentally, man transcends the natural world order. The consciousness in him enjoys an autonomy and total independence of the matter in which he dwells. He enjoys a freedom which is boundless. Through disciplines of knowledge, through contemplative states, through deep reflection, he can grow sensitive to this boundless Reality within him.

This boundless, infinite Reality in us, which is the source of every conceivable capacity and quality, has also its function as the Creator of the universe. It has a dimension that is executing the functions of the Creator, and is theologically termed GOD.

To the measure we are in contact with this Reality, Divinity, do we exceed the nips and traps of instances of knowledge emerging from various sciences. We recover our original, infinite dignity. It is in this Divinity that we recover an interminable destiny of happiness, peace, power and perfection.

Our dignity is too great to be described. It is derived from our organic, inseparable inner relation with the boundless Truth. No problem in the world, no limitation, either subjective or objective, can really challenge the human individual. All his limitations, whether material or mental, moral or spiritual, are temporary. There is no inevitability in them; we are not bound to them.

We are born to outgrow these limitations to a degree which is unimaginable.

The human individual is the meeting-point of God and Nature. His resources are numberless. The key to the whole creation, the key to the problems of life lies in the heart of man himself.

Mysterious is the creation of the Divine. All the mysteries are resolved when the human heart deeply loves the Divine. One's own being stands fully illuminated by the divine knowledge. That is the final fruit of devotion, of divine Love.

The Whole Creation Is a Manifestation of Colours. Everywhere there is some colour or the other. It is a world of colours. It is a world of appearance.

What is the world of Truth? It is the white colour, the original colour, the supreme Reality. From that one colour, these hundred different colours have come into manifestation. From that one Reality, all the different things, millions of things that you see in the universe, have come.

All the different colours can be re-resolved into the white light. Even so, all the creation, all the many things that you see around you, all the different universes, the whole cosmos with its million different things, can be re-resolved into the One Divine Reality.

Only unwise people are unaware of the white colour when they see the blue, and the red, and the yellow. Even so, only the unwise are unaware of the Divine when they see human beings, stones, plants, and the different things in the universe.

Those who are learned in this science of colours, and those who have Grace, who preserve a sharp power of judgement, know in the blue, in the red, in the violet, in every colour, there is the white. It is the background. All colours can be finally re-resolved into the white colour. Even as the unwise miss the white colour when they perceive the different other colours, so the normal human individual does not perceive the one Reality when he perceives many other things around. The saintly heart, the pure heart, the wise heart, the blessed heart, is conscious of the Divine while perceiving the many things. It is always face to face with the Divine.

When it looks at any 'colour', at the same time it looks at the Divine behind it, above it. Even as the specialist in colours is conscious of the white when he sees different colours, the saintly heart perceives the Divine, even while perceiving the many things and many persons around. It associates every colour with the Divine.

Yellow is the Wisdom of the Divine, the infinite Intelligence of the Divine. Therefore it cannot see the yellow colour anywhere without at the same time experiencing the infinite Intelligence of the Divine.

It cannot perceive the red without at the same time perceiving the infinite Love of the Divine.

It cannot perceive the white colour without at the same time growing conscious of the infinite, boundless, nameless, formless Reality.

So with regard to all other colours. The good heart, the saintly heart, is constantly in communion with the Divine. When it sees the blue, or white, or red, or green, or yellow, no matter what the colour is, what the form is, what the name is - it perceives the Divine, it dwells in the Divine.

Even as the white light is divided into seven different colours, so the supreme Truth, the white, infinite, boundless, absolute Existence - God, Truth, Reality - manifests Itself in the form of the variated universes, in the cosmos.

To transmit this Science and this Knowledge is the primary purpose of the activities of Omkarananda Ashram. The presence of Omkarananda Ashram is primarily meant for the experience of this Divine Reality, and so is all life in the Ashram.

- Swami Omkarananda