Relevance of Spirituality in an Age of Science and Technology

According to Einstein, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind”. Science is the systematic knowledge derived from hypothesis, experimentation, observation and explanation of the results to test the hypothesis. Spirituality is the final distilled essence of all religious principles. Science is the religion of the known and religion is the science of the unknown. At the same time science does not need religion; religion does not need science; but humans need both.

Science is a great blessing to mankind. The world into which science came was a world of ignorance, suffering and hardship. Science has come to relieve us of our ignorance and to lighten our toil. Man has begun to enjoy innumerable benefits of science in his daily life. These developments let to the belief that man is all powerful and God, only an imaginary concept. People began to loose faith in Heaven or Hell, God or the Supreme power.

The path of science did not prove to be smooth as its worshipers had thought it to be. It turned out to be a mixed blessing. It did provide some physical comforts but at the cost of man’s moral and spiritual development. It turned man into a creature without any faith but only lofty ideas to inspire and guide him. It destroyed man’s simple faith, fellow feelings, affection and kindness. In fact, science alone cannot give peace and happiness to mankind. Science must be related to religion. Mere science makes man materialistic, but spiritualism upholds his faith in the higher spiritual value of life.

It must be admitted that there are more things between heaven and earth than science can actually dream of. The beauty and mystery of human life and moral values can only be learned with spiritualism. But if we are guided by science and science alone, we would all become science drunk!

It is on account of this neglect of moral and spiritual aspect that science has been applied for destructive and immoral purposes. Those who think that science and religion are contrary and cannot flourish together are totally mistaken. Werner Heisenberg, a Nobel Laureate in Physics once remarked, “The first gulp from the glass of natural science will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” Science and religion, in fact supplement each other.

Science as well as religion aim at the investigation of truth for the promotion of human happiness. Their destination is one though their approach, scope or manner of enquiry may be different. Spiritualism is one word which puts man on the highest pedestal of life. Spirituality is the way we find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in life. Science and Spirituality together forms the fabric to which man can lean on to and work for the development of a world in which war will be considered a taboo and violence a rejected creed. The world must be made a safe place to live in. And, “spiritual reconstruction” can help us in achieving this object.