CREATION VERSUS EVOLUTION

Ever since Charles Darwin first published his theory of Natural Selection, the subject has been embroiled in controversy. In the case of Darwinism, the explanation for the origin of life on the earth is that it was the combination of certain elements, coming together more or less accidentally, which created the first primary forms. For the creationists, the position is that God created man in his own image.

From my point of view, both explanations are incorrect. The Darwinian hypothesis is weak because it could not be possible for an accidental product to attain to such remarkable variations and complexity during the course of millions of years. Darwinian evolution stretches chance too far. The odds against it are almost infinite.

As for Creationism, it is equally hard to believe that man could make an appearance on earth all of a sudden, as if he had descended from the sky. The fossil record does not support this point of view. We see man as a half-cultured being, before that as a savage, and before that in almost human forms in different parts of the earth. There must have been some sort of a growth, some sort of an evolutionóa process of gradual development.

The human fetus passes through stages from the day of conception to the day it is born from the womb of the mother. It passes through different stages, like a fish, tadpole, reptile, quadruped, and then a fully formed baby. The child stands erect at the last stage, and then is able to walk and talk, which is not possible for it to do during the first couple of years.

EVOLUTION IS PLANNED, NOT RANDOM
But what the evolutionists ignore is that the human seed is already oriented for these later manifestations. Like the seed of the tree, it contains the future man within it. A fertilized human ovum only produces a human child, not any other form of life From this it is easy to infer that in the same way life must have started on the earth as a primordial seed, which by subsequent steps reached to the stature of man or was built up in the various other forms of life. In other words, evolution is planned and not random as the evolutionists say.
The reason for this attitude can probably be found in their antagonism toward the concept of religion. It is a battle between those who believe in religion and those who inherently are opposed to it. Most of the evolutionists array their arguments as if evolution stands proved, but it hasnít. There are many gaps which have not been filled in.

For instance, there is no explanation for how the intellect developed. Darwin explains it by saying that it was due to accident or a random mutation, as in the other cases. But no detailed explanation is forthcoming either from him or from any other evolutionist.

Similarly, there is no explanation as to how the eye was formed, how such a complex organ as that of the organ of sight developed. And there are many other facts not explained, so greater opposition to the theory is mounting up by other biologists and scientists. For that reason, the Darwinian hypothesis does not hold such a sway today as it did fifty years ago.

Is there any reason why we should not ascribe the phenomenon of life to the operation of an energy which is entirely dissimilar to the material energies with which we are surrounded everywhere?

Our senses can perceive only a very tiny fragment of the universe. There are animals and other lower forms of life which have some of their senses developed much more acutely than the senses of man.

For example, in the case of dogs, moths, whales, and migratory birds, there are senses which inform them of their surroundings, and about other matters, far more accurately than they do in the case of man. We have no explanation for the sharpness and the acuteness of their senses. Nor do we have very complete knowledge about the brain, how it functions and what fuel sustains it in its day to day work.

LIFE THE RESULT OF AN UNKNOWN ENERGY
With these gaps in our knowledge, it seems to be unscientific to insist on a doctrine or a theory which still does not stand proven to the hilt. For this reason I think it is better to have an open mind on this question, both in respect of the creationists and the evolutionists, and try to find an explanation which better suits the phenomenon.
The creationist theory stands on the story of Genesis as contained in the Holy Bible. It is not supported by the revealed material of the Vedas or the Buddhists. In the Vedas the explanation of man is more or less of the evolutionary kind. The embodied spirit starts from the lowest form of life, and in a cycle of 840,000 lives it completes the circle before it reaches the stature of man.

There also its future depends on the Karma that it does in a particular life. So from that standpoint, the Indian view is nearer to the theory of evolution, but with this difference: It is not the material elements but the spirit which evolves.

I believe that life is the product of another element of creation which is entirely dissimilar to the material elements. The universe is not only what we perceive through our senses, but it contains other energies and forces of which we have no awareness at all. It is these energies and forces that come into play in psychic phenomena, in the enlightenment of great prophets and in other paranormal or abnormal phenomena of the mind.

Science has rejected all experiences of religion for the simple reason that scientists never experimented with religion itself. If it were to do so along the lines followed in India for thousands of years, their attitude would change, and they too would come to understand the force which is behind the phenomenon of life. However, there is a growing tendencyóeven among scientistsóto believe that mind has an independent existence of its own and that it is not an epiphenomenon or a product of the brain cells entirely. It is only the manifestation of a force which is beyond our comprehension.

Now if it is admitted that mind has an independent existence, and that the human mind forms a part of a whole, which is beyond our observation, this mind must continue to exist irrespective of our bodies. If this is true, then it cannot be supposed that this world of the mindóthis reservoir or this oceanóis without laws of its own. It must have its own laws just as we have laws in the physical universe.

Religious revelation has come solely to bring this fact to the notice of mankind. Revelation says that there is something beyond the phenomenal world which is imperceptible to our eyes but which can be observed or experienced by means of certain disciplines and a righteous way of life.

This means there is a law which rules our destiny as human beings with a soul and that this law has been imperfectly and partially revealed in the various scriptures of mankind. It has been my endeavor, also, to reveal this law as far as I have been able to observe it during the course of my long experience in this state of consciousness.

THE LAW DEMANDS A PEACEFUL LIFE
Now this law is very hard to be put into precise words. But the type of a life it demandsówhat kind of behavior, thinking, and societyóis apparent and can be corroborated from a study of all of the worldís major religions.
What this law demands is that people should lead a peaceful, moderate, and harmonious life, according to principles that are good for others and for society as a whole. There should be no exploitation, no aggression, no action or thought which in any way affects the welfare of another human being.

When we compare the commandments issued by the prophets, based on their experience of a higher state of consciousness, we can readily see that present-day competition, both as individuals and as members of a nation or group, brings with it the very reverse attitudes. Everyone tries to have the largest share of the earthís resources, or of wealth, possession, or whatever may be of use or utility to him.

This is the very thing that is forbidden under the law which rules the evolution of the human race. In view of manís many scientific and technological advancement, and progress in so many other aspects of civilization, why does he seem to be even more deadened to the law than man of two hundred or three hundred years ago? Before we can address this question, we must first determine what civilization really is.

Does civilization mean technological advancement, learning, large cities, palatial buildings, elevators, cars, computers, and all the other amenities and facilities provided by science? Or does civilization mean sound, healthy, morally perfected human beings?

Does civilization mean war, with the earth transformed into an atmosphere in which selfish, egotistical, hard-hearted exploiters, black marketers, criminals, and aggressors reside, or one simple community with open fields, natural developments, small homesóa community where there is peace, tranquillity, health, happiness, long life and love among members of a society or of humanity as a whole? Which would you prefer?

WHAT DOES CIVILIZATION MEAN?
Our whole concept of life is sometimes mistaken. Nature does not care if we fly in planes or if we have computers. When we observe the various forms of life we find that we cannot compete with what she has created in the animal kingdom. We cannot fly like an eagle, we cannot dive like a whale, we cannot be as beautiful as a peacock. Other forms of life have their beauties, their abilities, and their special traits of character.
It is not in building spaceships, computers, or television sets that man can excel. It is in his perfection, in his developing more and more mental faculties, in his knowing more of the universe surrounding him. Otherwise, if he competes and dresses himself in satin, eats whatever he craves every day, resides in palaces, and has all the comforts of the flesh and yet dies without knowing anything about himself, he is no better than an animal. There is no difference. There is only the difference in the quality of dress, the food and other things. Otherwise he is as good as an animal. And that is what a number of scientists tries to make of him. Man has not come on earth to stagnate as an animal but to fly as an angel. He has come to become a god.

Our wrong thinking and stress on nonessentials make a beast of him. What we need are thinking men and women, noble, compassionate, loving. If these traits are lost, the consequences will be self-destruction with the forces gained by the advance of science. The very instrument with which we pride ourselvesóour keen intellectówill become the cause of our own extinction.

WHAT IS LACKING IS WISDOM
Our technological advancements and inventions appear superficial and inimical to manís well being because we have overdone them and used them to an immoderate degree. They now have become stumbling blocks to our progress. What is lacking is wisdom. If we were to cast a glance at the history of mankind, we would find that every civilization of the past reached a certain zenith and then fell to the earth, never to rise again. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Indo-Asians, and Chinese, arrived at almost the same point at which Western civilization arrived in the seventeenth century, and in some cases even advanced beyond it.
The more powers man attains, the greater the need for a more disciplined mind to handle them. We went radically wrong when we devoted every ounce of our energy to gain more and more knowledge and control over the forces of nature rather than in becoming more and more self-disciplined and perfect. The very foundation of civilization must rest on the self-perfection of every human being.

We rejected this as a false doctrine, as superstition, as a myth, and the result is that after two hundred years of scientific triumphs, we are now face to face with a contingency where the annihilation of the whole race stares us in the face.

We must ask ourselves, have men become more noble, more honest, kinder, or more benevolent to deal with, or is the position the reverse of this? Is there love and amity between nations or do we find hatred seething everywhere, even between neighbors and erstwhile friends? If this is the position in this age of scientific triumphs and technological victories, what will be the state of society after another 25 years? The answer seems obvious. It would be more tense, more full of alarming situations, more critical, more threatening, and more fraught with danger than what it is today.

How long can the human brain bear this stress and tension? When we look at the present world with all the learning it possesses, with all the knowledge that it has gained, doesnít it mean that something is wrong in the leading intellectuals and spiritual teachers? The future leaders and guardians of the world should have had the experience of their inner selves to understand life better than they are able to do now.

A NEW DIMENSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Man is not what he appears to be from what we can know of him from the observation of his body and his physiology. He is something much more. He is a soul. He is a mind. He is a conscious entity about which, at the moment, we have very little knowledge. Therefore, it is those people alone who have greater knowledge of his soul, his mind, his consciousnessócombined with the knowledge of his physiology and the world in which he livesówho will be able to guide him correctly on the path.
What the world needs are mystics, or in other words people who have had the experience which Christ, Buddha or Socrates underwent, coupled with full knowledge of temporal things.

There is a psychosomatic mechanism in the human body which is operative in the race and which can be accelerated with certain disciplines. This was done by thousands of men and women over the past 3,000 years. This center of psychic energy is responsible for genius and paranormal gifts. All great mystics and enlightened sages were in possession of this active center, which raised them to the level of a new dimension of consciousness. In that dimension they could experience what is hidden from normal vision.

It is for this reason that every religious book is written in a mandatory tone, because the message it conveys was received from a higher source of consciousness, a source which gave the authors the confidence that it was infallible. If it had been the result of their own reasoning they would have been more cautious in their expression and tried to argue out what they were saying. But the scriptures are expressed in an authoritative tone, as if what the prophets are revealing has the sanction of a power or a mind far above their own.

In the case of geniuses, a large percentage were eccentric in their behavior or had mental problems at one time or another. The same is true of mystics. But since mystics have been treated as a class apart, men and women in communion with divinity or God, their eccentricity has been ascribed to spiritual intoxication. Both mystics and geniuses, however, are under the impact of an awakened Kundalini and are not able to maintain their balance like ordinary human beings. They need special lifestyles, special ways of thinking, behavior, discipline and moderation, in order to live healthy, sound and happy lives, with the gifts they possess.

A SPIRITUAL RESEARCH PROJECT
The scientific experiments I have in view will give us much more information about the lifestyles those with an awakened Kundalini have to follow. People who are already neurotic or unstable will not be suitable candidates for such a research project. It would be better to have sound-bodied and sane candidates who are able to bear the stress and pressure of the awakening and the new experiences they will endure. We have to consider that awakening of Kundalini is not an easy undertaking, for it means acceleration of the evolutionary processes at work in the body
People who have psychic or spiritual experiences often have an activated Kundalini, and this imposes certain conditions on their bodies which must be fulfilled by them. Since knowledge of this mysterious mechanism is still very slight, still shrouded in mystery, those who have an active Kundalini have tended to be hysteric, neurotic, unstable, or even insane.

This is also the reason why many men and women of genius, including great mysticsóboth the result of the activation of Kundalinióhave also been unstable, neurotic, disoriented. Gen-erations may be needed for the emergence of ideal candidates who are perfectly suited for such experimental projects. It will not only be the candidates themselves who will be able to achieve that state of perfection required. but a part of this work will also have to be done by their parents. This is the most potent method for ensuring that generation after generation there is an attempt at self-perfection among human beings. People will soon come to believe that it is far better to leave their children with a healthy heredity than unnecessary and super-abundant wealth or position.

A period of five or six years may be necessary for those candidates who already have the seeds of the awakening in them and whose nervous systems have attained a stage of maturity where an awakening is possible in a healthy way.

THE GUARDIAN OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
While the mechanism of Kundalini is operative in all the race, its operation is accelerated in highly talented and gifted individuals, and where the conditions are favorable. In many people, there are visionary and other experiences which tell them that something new is happening in their mind but for which they are unable to find the reason.
Many people describe experiences heat in their system, currents going up their spine, lights before their eyes, sounds in their ears, and other symptoms of an awakened Kundalini. When once this knowledge becomes widely known, these people would be able to understand their own condition and also to use other methods that can bear the best fruit for them.

Kundalini is the guardian of human evolution and the key to the mystery of existence. There is nothing in the whole mass of knowledge, gathered by mankind so far, of such paramount importance as this. A new science with a fresh outlook on the Riddle of existence is therefore needed to open the still hidden horizons for the elevation of the race.

If this is not done, the fires of ambition and desire, smoldering in every human breast, can never be extinguished. Each war, however deadly, would but provide the base for a still deadlier one. The only remedy lies in changing the direction of the human mind from temporal to spiritual objectives. This has to be done in order to conform to the evolutionary change in the human brain. The aim of nature is to lift man to another dimension of consciousness, to be a superman in his own right, possessed of amazing powers of body and mind. All the achievements won by science are but a means to this sublime goal.

Once this evolutionary goal becomes the subject of discussion in the halls of learning and the media, the long-standing controversy between evolutionists and creationists will come to an end. Then the whole of humanity will begin to take a new direction towards peace and universal brotherhood.


Written by: Gopi Krishna