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The ritual of the second degree enjoins
us to extend our researches into the hidden Mysteries
of Nature and Science in pursuance of which we are exhorted
to study the Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The words 'Research' and 'Hidden' hint
us that this is not an easy task. We have therefore
to dive deep into the Science of Life to unravel these
Mysteries. The Word 'Liberal' refers to those Arts and
Sciences which tend to liberate the soul from the thraldom
of the flesh. The obvious reference is is to Brahmavidya
(the Knowledge of the self).
Certain special qualities are required
of a research scholar in any branch of study. Likewise
the subtle qualities required of a deligent student
of nature for probing these are
1. A purified heart - purified of every
beneful and malignant passion.
2. A chastened intellect acquired by
constant study and reflection; and
3. Faith and a relentless pursuit in
the path of Truth the Faith required is the faith in
the reality of Divine Wisdom and the capacity to attain
it.
The Upanishads declare "God willed
that the One shall become many" and they Universe
came into being from out of Himself. The Mantra portion
of the Vedas contains many expressons of wonderment,
joy and ecstasy at the vision of beauty in Nature's
exuberance and infinite vastness. Our ancient Rishis
in their immoral songs sang the dignity of the Mountains,
the majesty of the Sunrise, the beauty of the Moon the
grandeur of the Ocean, the orchestar of the forests,
the mission of the rivers, the dynamism of the Lightning
and the ferocity of the Storms etc.
All these wondrous phenomena compelled
them to accept an imperceptible cognition of an elusive
Cosmic Power behind these phenomenal creation and happenings.
That Authority, Might or Power belongs to and is The
Supreme Reality - The Self.
At the vastness of Nature, the little
ego should drop down its well of vanity and false strength
and come to stand naked meedly surrendering itself to
the influence of The Cosmic Power. Further, only when
man understands his own individual insignificance in
the context of the Total Universe that true Prayer rises
up.
The world outside is indeed a great
University in which all of us are free students. Nature
(which includes not only the physical world but the
entire field of experiences at the level of the intellect)
is every day, moment to moment, giving us a variety
of chances to learn from innumerable experienes. Man
provided with a mind and intellect is the only being
who can read and understand this unwritten script of
Nature's Language. But most of us even after having
gained knowledge from Nature unfortunately do not act
up to that gained knowledge due to our egocentric stupidity.
Besides the vastness of Nature and
the Cosmic Shakti there is, behind this Universe and
interpenetrating it, the creative purpose of God. His
action in creation was not blind or haphazard; the G.A.O.T.U.
has drawn the Plan or Life on His Trestle Board. Despite
the presence of turmoil and apparent tendency to chaos,
He intends to evolve what our fraternity aims to establish,
namely, a society of enlightened men, ruled by wisdom,
working in harmony for the common good, exalting only
those things found to be worthy when tested by the Square,
the Level and the Plumb and always advancing the cause
of strict loyalty to Truth.
With this purpose, He conducts the
world according to fixed laws of right action - a Cosmic
Dharma and expects us to conform to those laws based
on our nature and station in life. We should therefore
see that our character, conduct and action in life are
fuided by love and friendliness and by the ardent desire
of contributing and by the ardent desire of contributing
to the stability of society, the maintenance of social
and the general welfare and prosperity of all mankind.
This spirit of Dharma should be woven into the very
pattern of our lives.
To know God in His absolute transcendental
form is difficult. But it is easy to approach Him through
His relation with Nature which is a projection of His
unmanifest to the Manifest state. This method is of
course more natural. Towards this method of approach
Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna this hidden mystery - "the
secret of the art of seeing the unseen (unmanifest)
through the seen (manifest)". The Lord gives Arjuna
some specific examples in Nature and thus provides him
with an acid test in knowing what exactly constitutes
the Divine presence in the World He proclaims "whatever
thing there is endowed with glory and grace and vigour,
know that to have spring from me." While all things
are supported by God, things of beauty and splendour
reveal Him more than others. Every dead of heroism,
every life of sacrifice and every work of genius is
a revelation of the Divine. It is of course easy to
comprehend the Divine in Rama; but we must be able to
dive deeper to perceive the same Divinity in the wicked
Ravana. Though manifest differently in Rama and Ravana,
it is the same Supreme power present in both.
There are two kinds of sciences - the
secular and the spiritual. They are not contradictory
to each other but are on the other hand, complementary.
The growth of the one without the other is not conducive
to the good society.
The achievements of Science and Scientific
technology in the various fields have been stupendous
within the last quarter of century. But this growth
has outmatched the necessary spiritual wisdom and enlightened
conscience to use them well. Science places in our hands
gifts of its labour but the question of ends not its
task. It is for us to judge and apply them to just and
proper use gulded by the principles of ethics and morality.
Atomic energy, for example, can be used for peaceful
means like production of electric and motive power.
It can also be used to efface the whole human race from
this world.
Science however has its own limitations.
In truths are relative. It grows from less precise to
more precise, less perfect to more perfect and less
comprehensive to more comprehensibly things. In other
words there is no finally scientific knowledge. It is
therefore represented as a never resting and never ending
march to an ever receding goal. It is also incapable
of grasping the Absolute Truth.
Newton regarded space as a fixed entity
but when he could not provide a logical proof, he took
shelter in God. To him then space represented the omnipresence
of God in Nature. The failure of the human intellect
to comprehend mystery beyond was humbly acknowledged
by him thus. "I do not know what others think of
me but for myself I am like a little child picking a
few pebbles here and a few she there on the sea shore
while the great Ocean of Truth is spread before me."
Einsein too when faced with similar situations in his
studies sorted to the theme of God. He was converged
more than any other about the cosmic telligence behind
the creative mechanism of Nature. Little wonder that
most of the grest scientists all the world over are
intesely religious in their general outlook on life.
The scientist has little light to throw
on what we feel and why we feel elated on hearing the
melody of a Subbalakshmi, or looking at the frescoes
at Ajanta or reading a Kalidasa or a Shakespeare. There
are no scientific instruments to measure the depth of
a mother's love for her child or that of the husband
for his beloved. Science can only say how the silkworm
produces silk but not why it produces. Where Science
ends philosophy begins.
Science has given us much confort and
ease but it has not increased the happiness of mankind.
A great scientist once remarded: "We have learnt
to fly through air at supersonic speed and trael on
land and sea with astounding rapidity but we have not
learn how to live on earth in peace. There is everywhere
in the world, trouble, tension and turmoil; the spirit
of hatred, jealousy and lust has darkened man's horizon
individually and in a collective way. For the resolution
of these criese, it is therefore necessary to cultivate
the higher or spiritual values of life. For man's integral
evolution, his natural progress must keep pace with
spiritual principles and standards. Albert Einstein
the most eminent scientist of the present century said
Science without religion is lame and
religion without science is blind." By religion
he meant of course the Universal Love and Service to
mankind.
To conclude, we must comprehend through
spiritual practices the Supreme as the G.A.O. T. U.
who controls the many sided actions of Nature and dwells
in the heart of every being in it. We have to discover
our spiritual unity with God and so with all His creation.
As the children of Hindu culture who understand this
Divine Principle as the source of all beings in the
world, we cannot but respect every other member o four
society as we respect ourselves.
We should then be able to understand
and appreciate this Spiritual Socialism which is the
panacea for the ills of the World. As Aurobindo pertinently
puts it "We should achieve a synthesis between
Science and Spirituality which and harmonious Society."
And what then is the Hidden Mystery of Nature and Science
? It is TRUTH.
POWER OF PRAYER
There is eternal struggle raging in
man's breast between the powers of darkness and of light,
and he who has not the sheet-anchor of prayer to rely
upon will be a victim to the powers of darkness.
The man of prayer will be at peace
with himself and with the whole world; the man who goes
about the affairs of the world without a prayerful heart
will be miserable and will make the world also miserable....
Prayer is the only means of bringing
about orderliness and peace and repose in our daily
acts... Take care of the vital thing and other things
will take care of themselves. Rectify one angle of a
square, and the other angles will be automatically right.
MAHATMA GANDHI
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