Science and spirituality1

Man’s achievements, scientific and spiritual, are the conscious inspiration-light and aspiration-might of the divine’s urge towards the realisation of the body’s countless necessities and infinite capacities and towards the manifestation of the soul’s transcendental vision of the Beyond here on earth in the heart and immediacy of today.

Science is that precious thing on earth which is pushed forward by a glowing imagination and pulled forward by its own growing experience. Spirituality is that precious thing on earth which is carried within by the fulfilling aspiration and later brought to the fore, to become consciously one with God, the Field of experience, God, the Experience and God, the Experiencer.

Within our sure living memory, we see science advancing very fast, while human happiness is receding at an alarming rate. Today’s world is seeing a flickering candle-flame of spirituality but tomorrow’s world will be flooded with the light of spirituality. Destined and decreed.

Science right now mostly deals with the material world. What is the material world, after all? It is the world that does not believe in the inevitable possibility of a divine life. Spirituality right now deals mostly with the inner world. What is the inner world? The inner world is the world that says that the possibility of the divine life on earth is no doubt impossible today, but tomorrow it will be possible, the day after it will be practicable and just the day after that it will be inevitable.

Science has the capacity to show mankind the full development of the mental life. Spirituality has the capacity to show mankind the inevitable possibility of the life beyond the mind, the supramental life.

The outer progress and world-discovery swiftly follow the fruitful imagination in the world of science. The inner progress and self-discovery gladly follow the soulful aspiration in the world of spirituality, the life of the world within.

Science and modern life are simply indispensable to each other. The modern life is the eye; science is the power of vision. Spirituality and the future life of mankind will be indispensable to each other. The future life of mankind will be the fully awakened consciousness and spirituality will be the guiding and fulfilling soul.

Science itself has become an art and this art must now accompany all other arts. No art can ever have its fullest expression in the modern world without the aid of science. Spirituality is the supreme art of our nature-transformation. God the Supreme Artist uses spirituality to divinely reveal to the world man’s embodied divine reality and transcendental Truth.

To fulfil his practical needs, man bitterly cries to science. To fulfil his inner personal needs, man helplessly cries to spirituality.

The sombre despair of ruthless destruction and matchless ecstasy of the outer and human fulfilment have a common friend: science. The most hopeful certainty of a new and pure creation and the life-energising, life-nourishing, life-transforming and life-fulfilling delight of the inner and divine fulfilment have a common friend: spirituality.

Science and spirituality must be united together. They need each other. Without the one, the other is incomplete, almost meaningless. Together they are not only divinely meaningful but supremely complete. Science is the body of God. Spirituality is the soul of God. Science is also God the Body. Spirituality is also God the Soul. God the Body needs God the Soul to realise Himself, His individuality. God the Soul needs God the Body to fulfil Himself, His personality.

God’s Soul and God the Soul say to God in silence: “We loved You before and we shall love You ever.”

God’s Body and God the Body voice forth: “God, we love You now and this love of ours will forever last.”

In the world of Night and Fight Science says to spirituality: “You fool! You are a perfect nuisance!”

In the world of Night and Fight Spirituality says to science: “You rascal! Beneath my dignity to speak to a dead stone!

In the world of Light and Delight Science says to Spirituality: “Brother, I need your Wisdom.”

In the world of Light and Delight Spirituality says to science “Sister, I need your capacity.”


AUM 584. This talk was given by Sri Chinmoy at the Hunter College, New York, on 6 March 1970.