There are two strong forces at work in man’s struggle to understand the universe he lives in: the force of religion and the force of science.
Whereas the religious priesthood was the dominant authority in everything man did in olden times, it has now been largely replaced by the scientific priesthood in modern times. People tend to believe things if science says so, and no longer if the priest says so.
These two forces follow the two seemingly contrasting components of man—spirit and matter. His spiritual nature makes him seek a higher explanation for things; his material or physical side makes him content to stop at the merely physical, quantifiable explanations.
Yet, as has been astutely pointed out by one philosopher, “When it comes to man, what is not visible or measurable is more important than what is visible or measurable.”
But our rational intellect cannot accept such a thought. As far as it is concerned, what is not measurable is not real, or, if real, it is not worth anything at all. Worse, it could only be illusory.
To be sure, the insistence of science to subject everything to strict measurements, quantification and observation has brought about tremendous material progress. Modern civilization could not have developed without it. But at the same time it has brought so many problems (like wars, pollution, sickness and irreversible ecological damage).
On a deeper level, however, the conflict between religion and science is not real, but illusory. It is born out of ignorance and bias and not really because of essential differences. Science and religion are complementary, not opposites. Both are needed for mankind to survive.
An open dialogue between science and religion on the different approaches to life’s deepest meaning can reconcile such differences, and bring enlightenment coming from different perspectives.
But even without such a dialogue, something very significant and fundamental has been happening within the last five or 10 decades within the very core of mainstream science itself. The classical scientific paradigm is slowly but surely breaking down, changing forever how we view the nature of the universe.
With the advent of quantum physics, the much reversed laws of Newtonian classical physics have now been proven to be inadequate in explaining the true nature of physical reality.
Theoretical, quantum physicists are beginning to sound like Eastern religious mystics, and mystics are beginning to sound like physicists.
Dr. Lawrence Le Shan, a psychologist, wrote a very interesting and highly informative book, “The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist (Toward a General Theory of the Paranormal),” where he explained in a very logical and analytical way the difference between what he called “ordinary, sensory reality” and “clairvoyant reality.”
His studies and experiments into these “realities” made him conclude that there may be other realities, within which other goals can be attained. Such other goals could include “healing,” “knowing the past in the future,” and even “communing with the spirit goals.”
In the clairvoyant reality, “science and spirituality become one at the same time.”
