Science and Spirituality - A Jugalbandi or entwined twins!

Hello all,

Namaste! Until now we tried to discuss some Spirituality, Vedic astrology and Metaphysics. There is another area that is very close to my heart, which I want to discuss today. I want to write about Science and how I feel Science and Spirituality are stronger together than being apart and how after deep contemplation we may come to realize that one cannot stand apart from the other. I myself am not sure how to put my thought process into words. But I will give it my best try!

To start with what does the word Jugalbandi means? 'Jugalbandi' is a performance in Hindustani classical music where a duet of two solo musicians is rendered. According to Wikipedia, it literally means 'entwined twins'. In the performance, both musicians act as principal players and they complement each other to bring a competitive spirit to the performance. So here I am trying to say Science and Spirituality are two lead performers creating their music together to bring out a great symphony.

Science has helped to make much progress in our life from the antibiotics we use against deadly diseases to the hybrid cars, which we use on our roads. It has given us the electricity, internet, computers, mobile phones, all the household items and what not. Even though many times we don't realize fully Science has catapulted us to very progressive times with global travel, information at our fingertips and a penchant for everything technology.

But many times we or the scientist involved in research don't come to the realization that often there is an underlying Spirituality involved with science. Scientists are inspired by ideas to pursue unique paths that lead to discoveries and inventions. Let us first analyze the word 'inspiration'.

According to 'Online  Etymology Dictionary', the word inspiration came from the old French word 'inspiracion', which means inhaling or breathing and from late Latin, 'inspirationem', which also means 'breathe into' and in Middle English, it literally means 'breathe spirit into'. So that means thinking and bringing an idea forth by literally blowing in the spirit or the life into it. Then the question arises what is Spirituality? The etymology says it as concerned with 'the spirit or the animating or vital principle in man and animals'. So if we have to breathe Spirit into something by inspiration, then, of course, the Spirit or the matters concerning to Spirit or in other words Spirituality comes into the picture.

So now let us try to elaborate how Science and Spirituality are interwoven together with a few examples, shall we?

1, Sewing Machine: The invention of the sewing machine with a new design called 'the needle with the eye at the point' by Elias Howe. In his original model, he was planning to keep the needle in the eye near the heel of the machine. But he was not happy with that design and was thinking hard to come up with another idea and later when he slept over it a new idea came in a dream.

Elias Howe
Image courtesy-Biography.com

Howe dreamt that he was going to be executed by warriors who carried spears that were pierced at the tip and later he interpreted the dream and came up with the idea of the needle with the eye at the point. With this new design of the needle, he was able to secure a patent for the sewing machine on September 10, 1846, and later collect royalties from Singer and other companies. Without his 'spear dream,' he would not have been able to secure the patent. The new design helped to stitch clothes more easily and thanks to Elias Howe's dream, it led to revolutionizing of the cloth industry and today we are able to wear different kinds of attire.

2, Penicillin: Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered as the substance Benzylpenicillin (Penicillin G) by the Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming in 1928. He was a brilliant scientist and researcher famous for his invention, though his laboratory was deemed untidy. But this untidiness may have been the grace, which helped in the discovery of Penicillin.

Dr.Fleming had been on vacation and returned to his laboratory on 3, September 1928, to find that among the plates of his disease-causing Staphylococci bacteria culture, one plate had been contaminated with a fungus and the colonies of Staphylococci very near to the fungus had been destroyed. He showed it to his assistant Merlin Price who reminded him this was exactly how he had discovered another enzyme previously. Dr.Fleming  on a hunch proceeded to grow the mold in pure Staphylococci cultures and found that the mold 'Penicillium notatum' was able to kill the disease producing Staphylococci bacteria. Using this fungus he was successful in developing the first antibiotic, Penicillin that was able  to treat a range of diseases like scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis and diphtheria. 

 

Alexander Fleming
Image  courtesy - famousscientists.org

If Alexander Fleming had ignored the hunch he felt from his 'accidental discovery' to look more deeply into the fungus that was destroying the disease-causing Staphylococci bacteria, the first antibiotic would never have been discovered. The Penicillin discovery later led to discoveries of numerous other antibiotics and humans were able to get a hold on the fatal bacterial diseases that were ravaging the early twentieth century. 

This shows that we should thank the intuition of Dr.Fleming, and his presence of mind to pursue his hunch, which led to the discovery of antibiotics and by that more health and longevity to humanity. Also if such an accident of a fungus growing on a bacterial culture had not happened, then the first antibiotic would never have been discovered. May be we can look at it from a serendipitous point of view.

3, Nobel Prize:   All of you would have heard about the prize given every year by the Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific improvements. These prizes were established by the will of the industrialist, entrepreneur, and inventor Alfred Nobel. Nobel amassed huge amounts of wealth by the invention of the 'dynamite', which was used in the cannon and other armaments. In a mistakenly published premature obituary, Nobel was chastised for making money from sales of arms, which deeply disturbed him. This later led to the bequeathment of his will to the setting up of the Nobel prize.

 

Alfred Nobel
Image courtesy- Nobelprize.org

 

 

 

Today Alfred Nobel is world famous not for his dynamite invention or his industrial achievements, but for the prize set up in his name given out every year for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace and  Economic sciences.

Nobel prize
Image courtesy - Wikipedia.org

 

The Nobel laureates are treated with respect and reverence world over and scientist in every discipline dream about achieving this worldwide respect.

From all these examples what can we infer? When Science becomes entwined with the 'breath of spirit' through intuition, dream, vision, an attitude of service for humanity or the greater good, then the discoveries and inventions take a life of their own and serve towards a higher cause. This type of Science later develops into missions with greater purpose like relieving the humanity from diseases, recognition of service of Science to the world or a simple dressing up of the world.

When Science is not performed with a passion towards serving the humanity or for a greater cause, then it becomes just another everyday task, which does not fly high and wide.This type of Science put to use towards selfish reasons or for individual or business greediness, may bring in the wealth but never withstands the test of time.

But when a Scientist or an industrialist uses his/her passion, along with inspiration, intuition, service for humanity and an eye towards greater good, then that Science becomes divine.This grace of spirit or in other words Spirituality creates a beautiful ' Jugalbandi' where Science is a lead performer and Spirituality is another lead performer, strong in their own power, but stellar in their togetherness. This kind of Jugalbandi leads to healthier humanity, wealthier in their outlook and an eye towards not personal gratification but towards a greater purpose.

Another point is Science is discovering matters of the Universe, which has existed for 13.8 billion years. Just thinking from a scientific perspective it may give us some critical things to chew on. But when we mix Spirituality into that Science and then think that we are part of a Universe that has existed for 13.8 billion years and we humans and all the things existing on this earth are made up of the same star dust, doesn't it takes a magnificent dimension? Doesn't it feel miraculous that we are indeed an important part of this beautiful Universe that is sustaining and nourishing us? Doesn't it feels like a marvelous phenomenon that at this particular moment in time of the Universe, in a planet named earth, a species called humans have progressed very much technologically to travel by air, to connect across the world to another country in a few seconds and to send space missions to Pluto and Jupiter?

When we think of Science with an underlying spiritual perspective then Science takes on a magnificent status, where we are decoding the secrets and matters of the Universe. It then brings in the awe and wonderment at how using Science as a tool we are able to at least make some sense of this 'great unknown' known as the Universe. Science has many more avenues to unravel and many more mysteries to solve and one day we may reach a point where we suddenly realize that Science and Spirituality are indeed two sides of the same coin, only the language that was used to describe or decode the Universe was different. In Science, we use the proof of scientific concept while in Spirituality it is narrated from a point of experiential perspective.

From all the above said points we can infer that Science is indeed entwined with Spirituality through intuition, hunch, inspiration, dreams, ideas, visions, and concepts. Only many times when we think of Science we don't realize that the idea or the inspiration behind it may be coming from another realm about which we have absolutely no idea. To conclude, I am giving a quote from one of the most famous scientist mankind knows, Albert Einstein.

Image courtesy- izquotes.com

I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉

Next week: Ask! The Universe will bring rainbows! - A personal experience

Note: Images taken from  Biography.com; famousscientists.org; nobelprize.org; wikipedia.org; izquotes.com.
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried". 

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