Even with its nuclear arsenals and contamination of air, water and earth, it is not science that has become destructive; it is the distortion and vitiation of the human intellect that is responsible for the present unsafe situation of the world.
Knowledge can be both constructive and destructive. The ultimate arbiter is the human intellect. This is the reason why revelation has always been a necessary instrument for the spiritual progress of the race. Intellect, unable to see centuries or even only decades ahead, cannot determine the evolutionary needs of mankind. It is liable to make serious errors in calculation at any time.
Human life is so complex and the course of evolution so full of bewildering situations that it is only a cosmic intelligence that can guide it rightly to the destined goal. Can even a whole galaxy of the highest intellects, in every branch of knowledge, make an accurate forecast of what would be the state of mankind after the span of only the next quarter of a century? Or even what changes will occur in the current concepts of science, politics and religion?
If not, doesn't it plainly signify that the race is drifting toward an indeterminable goal at the mercy of forces over which it has no control?
The error of science has been that it has entirely ignored the spiritual side of man and devoted all its attention to the physical and organic fields. The outcome is that mankind faces a threat of annihilation on one side, or death with poisoned air, water and earth on the other, and of mental distortion on the third.
On the political side, it has become a seething cauldron of aggression, violence, lust for power and hate. On the spiritual and moral side we see confusion rampant everywhere. There are as many ideas, concepts, systems and doctrines as there are scholars or teachers expounding them.
It is not surprising, therefore, that science has failed to create that harmonious progress of mankind in the social, political and spiritual fields.
Science today is suffering from the same distemper of mind which affected faith during the period of her supremacy, namely dogmatism, vanity and arrogance. It is amazing to what extent even scientists can be led astray by vanity. They understand very well that all we know about the visible cosmos is but a drop in the possible ocean of knowledge. Not a year passes when they are not forced to revise their opinions about certain issues.
But with all this uncertainty, most of them display a dogmatic attitude toward mind and consciousness. It is chiefly because science has been one-sided in this investigation--ignoring the spiritual side of man--that it has failed to bring about that wholesome transformation in the mental and moral sides as it has in the physical.
The neglect of the material side brought about the fall of the once-highly honored sovereign faiths of mankind. In the same way, the neglect of the spiritual side is now tending to undermine the position of ascendancy gained by science.
In either case, it was the intellect that failed to assess the position correctly and to err in over-emphasizing only one side of man and neglecting the equally important other side.
Therefore, it is not science itself but the overweening vanity and shortsightedness of savants and scholars--or, in other words, a faulty intellect--that is responsible for the destructiveness of modern technology.
The first thing that should be done to bring about a harmonious development of human beings and the eradication of present-day irrational beliefs in the spiritual realm is to embark on a scientific investigation into consciousness.
There is a huge volume of literature available in both the East and the West, describing methods for attaining the higher states of consciousness and the nature of these higher states. A documentary research into these volumes, followed by systematic experimentation, can, I am sure, lead to an understanding of the biological relationship between expanded states of consciousness and the brain.
When this is achieved, the next step would be to find the laws underlying this relationship. Enough material would be available--when this is done--to enable scholars and scientists to determine the path and the goal of evolution designed for mankind. They would then be able to understand the nature of the changes imperceptible occurring in the brain and consciousness.
It is not only by experimentation on the methods leading to higher states of consciousness, but also by the observation of the psychic forces responsible for genius, mediumistic faculties and insanity that these evolutionary processes can be understood.
The all-inclusive nature of sex energy has not yet been correctly understood by psychologists. In fact, the very term reproductive, or sex energy is a misnomer: Reproduction is but one of the aspects of the life energy, of which the other theater of activity is the brain. The cephalic activity is so slow and subtle as to be almost imperceptible. But it is this activity that is the cause of genius, uncanny psychic powers and also insanity.
Once this fact is empirically demonstrated, we come to a turning point in our present concepts about mind and consciousness--even about matter and the universe as a whole.
The first harvest of this change will be the beginning of a new science dealing with subtle intelligent energies in the cosmos. When this happens, the gigantic physical world--now dominating the whole mental horizon of science--will be relegated to its proper position. It is but the visible peak of an infinite creation, of which the unbounded major part is sunk below the surface of the space-time ocean, forever hidden from the sight of man.
It is only in higher states of consciousness that a fragment of the submerged portion comes into view, causing a state of wonder and exhilaration which is beyond description. It is only when the evolving human organism and the cosmos are viewed in right perspective that the appropriate ways of life and conduct, favorable for this transformation, can be devised by science.
Try as we might, without a clear knowledge of the goal ahead, we can by no exercise of the intellect determine the right pattern of life essential for mankind on the evolutionary path: A united world, abolition of war, demolition of armaments, disbandment of armies. An environment more in harmony with nature. A life more natural and simple. Removal of barriers between man and man, inculcation of altruistic and humanitarian principles, moral education, social equality and universal brotherhood. These are some of the basic factors that contribute to the harmonious progress of mankind.
This may appear idealistic or even fantastic and impracticable to many people. But the conclusion is unavoidable. At its present intellectual stature, the alternatives facing the race are either self-caused annihilation with dreadful agony for myriads, or knowledge of and obedience to the laws of evolving consciousness.
*This article is from Gopi Krishna's book "Higher Consciousness", published by The Julian Press. The article appeared in the New York Times October 6, 1973.
Written by: Gopi Krishna
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment