Science, Religion & Spirituality
Often the terms Science, religion, spiritual and atheism are confused. These terms have difference in the meaning they denote.
In Atheism, body and the sense organs are considered as the only reality. So for atheist only seeing is believing and so even neglect logical or rational thinking. There is no the "Founder" for Atheism, infact every individual are or would have been an atheist at some stage of the life. There are many proponents of Atheism and Carvaka is the most popular atheistic system of Indian philosophy that assumed various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifference. It is also known as Lokāyata.
Religion is based on a belief system, the emotional mind. All religious principles are popularized on the emotional belief system and also very strongly condemn questioning. If any one questions the principle of any religion, they are prosecuted as "Evil" or Satan. This is one reason why religion does not allow the growth of Science. There is no importance to the intellect. The emotional mind (belief) is the only reality in religion.
A religion is usually founded by an Individual, the Master of the philosophy. Religion is a single individual's idea and all the members of the religious group are expected to blindly follow the teachings of the founder.
The religious organization grows by inculcating emotions like fear and belief in the minds of followers so that the organization stays intact even after the life of the founder. The religious organization is interested only in quantity of growth through and through that they feel cozy in the belief system. Followers of Religious organizations feel comfortable only when many people share their belief system. So they try to convert others into their belief system. This is one of the main cause of religious conversions.
This emotional mind is the realm of Ego (discussed later) and so the religious followers declare that their religious belief is only the correct one and all other religions are false and evil. This egoistic approach results in hatred and conflicts and religious wars all over the world.
Being religious one has evolved by going deeper from the physical sense organs to the emotional mind. Therefore religious people are the next evolved beings than the atheist.
Science is not based on belief system. It is based on rational thinking with experimentation, observation and drawing inference. The key force is enquiry and in this process even the reality offered by the physical sense organs are even dismissed. Example, the movement of sun everyday from the east to west in the sky as observed from this seemingly stationary Earth is dismissed as unreal. Only by intellectual reasoning it is understood that Earth is not stationary as perceived by the physical senses but revolve around the Sun.
There is no the "Founder" in Science. it is a continuous dynamic flow of information from various individuals intellectual reasoning which collectively form the Scientific principles. Everything scientific information undergoes vigorous experimentation, observation and inference to be universally accepted by everyone.
Only by Scientific thinking and reasoning can one evolve from the religious state to the next higher state. Science or intellectual thinking only can help mankind to the highest Spiritual Awareness state. Religion should go hand in hand with Science to evolve higher and so does Science with Religion to transcend to the highest Spiritual state.
Intellect in the form of fertilizer should be applied to the roots of a growing plant and not on top of the plant. Similarly the Intellect should be the fundamental in religion to nourish the spiritual plant of Man. - Mata Amritanadamayi Devi.
Faith in the form of flowing water should be the water to be used for the plant and not belief, the solid ice block be used . Unfortunately we find religious people struck to their beliefs and hardly use their intellectual thinking to help themselves evolve Spiritually.
At the same time, many scientists like religious people have taken science blindly and do not evolve to the Awareness state of "Wholeness". They develop the sense of intellectual Ego and are stranded in the path like the religious followers whose growth is stunted by their blind beliefs. In both the religious and scientific organization attachment to their beliefs make them lose the sight of the ultimate "Truth".
Spiritual is when one transcend to the Awareness state, the Ultimate "Truth" and the highest state of Man's Evolution. Inquiry with the help of intellect leads to this awakening. In Spiritual state one experiences what one intellectually understands the concepts of Science, the physical, chemical and Biological laws of nature. In this state, one becomes the witness of the Truth behind all Cosmic laws governing the Universe. It is here when the experience of Spirit and matter (duality) culminates to the Truth the "Oneness" (Advaita).
Like Science in spirituality there is no the "Founder". From the day Man started reasoning and inquiry deeper inwards became the dawn of Spirituality. It is not based like relying on the physical sense organs like the Atheism nor emotional belief system of religion. But strongly using the intellect like the Scientific system, but even going beyond the horizons of the intellect, the inner Self, the Spirit.
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