Science addresses only that which is measurable, numerable, experienceable and perceivable through the senses. And there is a lot that involves human welfare, but cannot be the material subject of any science, technology or mathematics. That must be addressed, otherwise the entire area and produce of science will be channelised only towards devastation.
States of Consciousness
The relationship between the subject and object needs to be understood. Usually, the subject operates in its lowest state, and that lowest state or consciousness of the subject can be called a belief or superstition. In its lowest state, the subject sees an object, and the subject certifies that the object definitely exists because the subject is seeing it. In other words, the subject is taking his own perception
as absolute.
You are looking at an object, and while doing so, you get certain ideas about that object that have come to you from tradition, or stuff that you have either read, have somehow cooked up or concocted, and whatsoever is your idea regarding the object, you are placing absolute certainty in it. And you do not want to enquire, explore, experiment, investigate—these words are anathema. You don’t want to really question your belief. Unfortunately, most of us dwell most of the time in this lower state of consciousness. Religion is practised in such a manner. Higher than this is the scientific state of consciousness.
A Superstitious Mind and a Scientific Mind
The similarity is that even in the scientific state, the subject unconditionally and absolutely agrees to the existence of the object. The subject, who is the scientist here, says, “Water is visible, therefore water is.” And this was something the observer or the subject in the lowest state too was averring. But science will not admit the fancies of the subject. So, water exists. But if you will say, “Well, you know, water has a lot of nitrogen in it,” then science will just not take the assertion of the subject at face value. Science will say, “Fine, you are claiming that water has a lot of carbon or nitrogen in it. We will check, we will experiment.”
Here, science gains superiority over superstition. There is honesty and authenticity in the scientific method compared to the method of the superstitious mind.
Higher Consciousness
Then comes something that is higher than science: faith. In both superstition and science, the subject is taking himself as the certainty, as an absolute, and therefore, as the truth. “I am, and we will not question this. We won’t investigate this.” So, superstition and science both operate from an inner place called the ego.
The faithful mind has no such centre. It looks at the subject as well and says, “How am I so sure that I am? Should I not look at myself first?” The more faith looks at itself, the more it finds itself unreliable. And if something is unreliable, if something has been assembled from bits and pieces from here and there, how can it be absolute? Therefore, the higher state of consciousness refuses to take the subject as an absolute.
The subject is so conditioned. The subject has no authenticity, nothing original about itself. The subject looks at the object, the object influences the subject. Some part of the subject’s consciousness comes from its genetic origins, some part comes from the experiences it has had during its lifetime. How can this kind of an assembled subject be called an absolute?
Beyond Faith
Therefore, faith starts looking for something that is higher than the subject. To begin with, that which is questioning the subject is higher than the subject, and that is commonsensical. The investigating agency has to be higher than the investigated object. But then, the agency that is questioning the subject is itself some layer of the subject, so even that layer would be contaminated by conditioning and even that layer has to be transcended. So, you move to the next layer, and then to the next layer, and so on.
Finally, you place absolute trust only in something that is not at all conditioned or contaminated or subject to be influenced by anything. The Absolute has to be something that is not a product of conditioning or physical processes, space, or time. That is faith. And this is also the spiritual approach which is honest and rigorous.
Acharya Prashant is a Vedanta teacher, author, and the founder of the PrashantAdvait Foundation
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Life Style News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
