| In the third alternative, you may be totally different and separate from Him -- in which case again knowing the Mind of God is as impossible as covering the distance between the Finite and the Infinite. As far as Hindu concepts of Spirituality are concerned, the ultimate Reality (wrongly called as a personal God for argument's sake by authors of Meta-science) is -- and we may quote from Swami Ranganathananda, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'not any extra-cosmic deity of the usual run of monotheism, which is only a logical postulate capable of being enthroned or dethroned by human reason, or merely held by faith but is not capable of verification. But the Brahman of the Upanishads, being the One Self of all is the very basis and consummation of experience'. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The life and teachings of each one of the divine integrators named above bear testimony to this Supreme Lesson of Spirituality: |
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| These Supermen are the towering proofs of Spirituality. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theirs is a long saga of excellent examples of mystical devotion and the acceptance of the Lord as the embodiment pf the Supreme absolute Reality. They all breathe the spirit of genuine bhakti, sometimes born of a naive theory of surrender, sometimes born out of the loftiest intellectual conviction, and very often, of both. Each one of their lives was such that bhakti itself got its several definitions from what they did and preached. In each one of these lives one would also find illustrations of the mirculous descent of the Grace of God. No amount of historical, archaeological, sculptural, or literary research can supersede what they said from their spiritual intuition. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| QUESTIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Does it mean then that one has to listen to these devotees or supermen, believe in their miracles and submit oneself to the supernatural? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| My scientific mind tells me that I can shape my own future and I have the free will to act as I like. But listening to these supermen would make me a slave to the concept of fate and the supernatural. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Should I have to abandon my scientific rationality and have faith in the mysterious and expect Divinity to come to my rescue? |
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| Is this possible in this modern world? And is it desirable? |
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| Free Will and Fate seem to be at two opposite poles. Is it not a reflection of the antithesis between Science and Spirituality? |
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| TO ALL THESE QUESTIONS THE ANSWER IS YES and NO |
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| This is the bottomline paradox of Science and Spirituality. |
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| February 5, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright Ó V. Krishnamurthy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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