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December 2008 Issue 25

Science and Spirituality Science and Spirituality
Synthesis Synthesis
of of
Views from the Gaudiya Vaishnava Perspective
See DIALOGUE Page 2
The prime contribution of
spirituality is to recognize that
the Supreme Being, God, is the
foundation of reality. He has
created both the animate and
the inanimate objects with a
divine purpose. And, as such,
animate objects are not merely
a product of complex molecu-
lar reactions, but a combina-
tion of inanimate and spiritual
particles (spiritons or atmans
in Sanskrit) or the eternal
living entities. In other words,
the fundamental particles of
mater do not become or evolve
into spiritual particle (spiriton
or life.) They are distinct and
separate entities. But at the
The Science of Interreligious Dialogue
time of creation of the physical
world, the spiriton or atman
interacts with material par-
ticles, a toms and molecules, b
a divine plan and law, forming
into an animated entity called
the embodied living being.
The interaction is described
in the ancient Vedic literature
and Vedanta of India.
Atoms and molecules have no
meaning. They become mean-
ingful, however, only in asso-
ciation with life, the spiritual
entity. For example, a piece of
paper, which is made up of cel-
lulose, has no value. However,
when state ofcials assign cer-
tain values to it in the form of
paper money, it has meaning
and is useful. Similarly, mol-
ecules, which form the human
body, have tremendous value
so long as a person is alive.
However, when the person is
dead, the material body has
no value. Likewise, without
meaning and purpose, atoms
and molecules have o value.
Likewise, without meaning
and purpose, atoms and mol-
ecules have no value. Further-
more, peace is a key ingredi-
ent of meaning, purpose and
fulfllment of life and without
peace there will be no happi-
ness and value in life.
He word meaning has a
special signifcance in any
peacemaking dialogue. It is
the general perception that
the scientifc approach to life
is reductionism and material-
ism. Here the purpose of life
is to promote social and eco-
nomical progress through the
use of scientifc thinking. In
this view, human lifes goal
and meaning will be to earn
as much money as possible
and enjoy as much as one can
without any concern for ethics
and values. Materialists try to
fll the vacuum created by the
denial of God and spirituality
with ideologies like racism,
communism. nationalism, etc.
In our modern scientifc cul-
ture we are experiencing that
some sections of human soci-
ety are materializing religion,
which is certainly the root of
global unrest today. But a false
meaning of life will never be
able to bring lasting peace in
this world.
A solution to the question
of meaning lies in a comple-
mentary approach to science
and spirituality. The spiritual
world view, or the religious
worldview in its purest form,
develops the moral nature of
humanity by understanding
the inner dimension of real-
ity. Science, on the other hand,
helps humanity to compre-
hend some aspects of physical
reality. Thus, when considered
together, these tow systems of
knowledge are complemen-
tary. For example, spirituality
or the pure form of religion
Members of the United Religions Initiative at the Global Assembly in Mayapur, India.
Synthesis of Science and Spirituality The Monthly E-zine of the Bhaktivedanta Institute December 2008
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Synthesis of Science and Spirituality, the monthy e-zine of
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By Dr. T.D. Singh
From DIALOGUE Page 1
See DIALOGUE Page 3
Cells are the fundamental
units of living organisms.
Those that function simi-
larly make up the tissue, and
a collection of tissues work-
ing together forms an organ.
A collection of organs makes
up the organism. The codes
or instructions as to how
each cell should function
is contained in the nucleus
of the cells, as DNA. Units
of DNA form genes and
the collection of all genes is
called the genome. DNA is
systematically packed in dif-
ferent numbers of chromo-
somes in diferent species.
Human beings have 23 that
are found in almost every
cell, and one sex chromo-
some is found in gametes or
cells responsible for repro-
duction. All the cells initially
begin as embryonic stem
cells in the young embryo.
From DNA to
Genome: Is
Genome Life?
guides humanity with the
proper vision for creating a
just and meaningful society,
while science gives the means
and skills to accomplish it,
thus paving the way for a last-
ing world peace.
According to the spiritual tra-
ditions of the world, the uni-
verse is not a product of blind
chance but has been created
by God to facilitate an evolu-
tion of consciousness for living
beings. Just like in schools we
have toys for children and
books on advanced math-
ematics and arts for senior
and mature students, God has
created nature to facilitate the
evolution of consciousness of
living beings from lower to
higher states.
God has also created this beau-
tiful planet, this earth, an excel-
lent blend of awe and beauty.
The human intelligence is
endowed with the ability to
see the mysterious and beauti-
ful quantum world of funda-
mental particles. We are also
stuck with wonder about the
immensity of myriads of living
microorganisms. These are the
gifts of scientifc enterprise.
The unique feature of these
stem cells is that they have the
fexibility to become any type
of cell. Though the genome is
identical in every cell, studies
of genes tell us that the acti-
vation of a diferent combina-
tion of genes induces the stem
cell to specialize in a particu-
lar way, forming an organism
with diferent types of cells.
From the second half of the
20th century, there have been
astounding breakthroughs in
the felds of genetics, genetic
engineering and biotechnol-
ogy. The discovery of DNA
structure in 1953 by Watson
and Crick has since led to sig-
nifcant advancement in these
felds, namely the synthesis
of genes, discovery of restric-
tion enzymes, cloning of ani-
mals, sequencing the genome
of organisms and fnally the
human genome project, which
began in 1997 and concluded
in 2003.
The history of modern genet-
ics started from the garden
of the Austrian monk Gregor
Mendel (1882-1884). Patiently
experimenting in the breed-
ing of diverse kinds of pea
plants, he demonstrated how
their visible characteristics
could be foreseen accord-
ing to simple mathematical
probabilities as they were
passed on from one genera-
tion to the next. He proposed
that hereditary information
was passed from parent to
ofspring in discrete packets,
which he called factors.
Diferent factors were respon-
sible for distinct aspects of a
pea plants appearance, such
as seed shape or fower color.
However, the secret of genetic
inheritance was unlocked in
April 1953 when Watson and
Crick proposed a double-
helical structure of DNA. The
era of molecular genetics in
the feld of biochemistry thus
began.
Scientists, now knowing the
molecular structure of the
genetic molecule, could begin
both to elucidate and manip-
ulate its function. These new
studies were, however, depen-
dent on the discovery and use
of the many enzymes that are
able to modify or join exist-
ing DNA molecules, or to aid
in the synthesis of new DNA
molecules. As methods of
visualizing DNA were being
developed in the 1950s, a new
tool was discovered: restric-
tion enzymes. Werner Arber
identifed the frst restriction
enzyme in 1968. Restriction
enzymes are protein mol-
ecules that cut DNA chains
into defned fragments.
During an atack of an invad-
ing bacteriophage (virus
that atacks/infects bacteria),
the bacterium releases a so-
called restriction enzyme
that recognizes the DNA of
the invading bacteriophage
and cuts the DNA into
pieces, thereby disabling
it. Simultaneously, the bac-
terium releases another
enzyme that defends and
protects its own DNA from
being cut by the restric-
tion enzyme. It seems that
even microorganisms have
some sort of built-in intelli-
gent system. The restriction
enzyme of a bacterium cuts
the viral DNA of foreign
origin to safeguard and pre-
serve its own identity. What
a beautiful system nature
has! Life displays such
unique qualities even at the
level of microorganisms.
This article is an excerpt from
Dr. T.D. Singhs book Life,
Mater and Their Interactions.
Read more about genomes in
next months issue.
On the other hand, we can
also appreciate the wonders of
Gods creation such as the high
mountains, the waterfalls, the
lakes and the vast oceans with
many small and large beings
within them. We can also enjoy
the sights of great forests, vari-
eties of fragrant fowers and
Synthesis of Science and Spirituality The Monthly E-zine of the Bhaktivedanta Institute December 2008
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From DIALOGUE Page 3
At the Global Assembly, Mayapur
many colorful birds singing
and cooing in their mellifu-
ous and melodious voices, in
the peaceful bosom of nature,
continuously proclaiming the
glory f the Almighty. Thought-
ful individuals can see the
perfect blend of science and
spirituality in the vast labora-
tory of nature. Einstein saw
this quality on his journey
of the scientifc and spiritual
path. He remarked, The most
beautiful and most profound
emotion we can experience is
the sensation of the mystical.
It is a sower of all true science.
He to whom this emotion is a
stranger, he who can no longer
stand rapt in awe, is as good
as dead. To know that what
is impenetrable to us really
exists, manifesting itself as the
highest wisdom and the most
radiant beauty which our dull
faculties can comprehend only
in their most primitive forms
this knowledge, this feeling is
at the center of true religious-
ness.
In nature, provisions have
been made for all forms of life
to raise their consciousness
from lower to higher conscious
state through the process of
spiritual evolution. Thus one
can see he plan of God for all
grades of living entities. Just as
an electron cannot be seen but
its existence can be inferred by
its symptoms, similarly mate-
rial eyes cannot see God but
His existence can be inferred
from His creation. The spiri-
tual traditions of the world
teach us to discover the pur-
pose, vision, and plan of God
behind the wonderful cre-
ation. Further, they teach us
how to act in accordance with
His cosmic plan.
Acting in accordance with the
spiritual understanding and
knowledge would require us
to realize the unity of all living
entities as being children of
God and to appreciate that the
cosmos is one whole family.
Thus we are all His children
tied together by a rigid bond of
brotherhood and sisterhood.
One can observe this propen-
sity in that many persons keep
pet animals and birds and
love them as their own family
members. Thus spirituality
transcends all walls of separa-
tion.
The more we recognize that
we are brothers and sisters of
a common spiritual family,
the easier will it be for us to
understand the meaning of a
universal connection with one
another. Thus, an important
part of the peace process is to
appreciate and support one
another despite cultural and
religious diferences. Then
again, a culture of partnership
among diferent religious com-
munities and nations includ-
ing the partnership of science
and religion will catalyze and
facilitate further progress in
peacemaking.
At this critical juncture when
human existence is faced
with many crises, the only
way to survive is to pick up
the threads of understanding
among individuals, commu-
nities and nations in order to
establish peace and harmony
on a spiritual foundation.
However, recognizing God
as the source of creation and
acting within a divine realm of
reality would require a ratio-
nal or semi rational approach,
which is very much lacking.
Due to lack of proper under-
standing of the meaning of
scriptures, religious traditions
are often overpowered by
fanaticism and various kinds
of materialistic goals. Thus,
because of fanaticism, reli-
gions sometimes clash with
each other and humanity is in
danger. So, under the present
scenario, it is very important
that religious traditions should
imbibe a scientifc and rational
spirit.
On the other hand, we are all
aware that although recent
advancements in science and
technology have brought tre-
mendous benefts to human-
ity, they have also increasingly
raised ethical concerns. Ethi-
cal values have not been able
to keep pace with the explo-
sive developments of science
and technology. This trend is
a serious threat to humanity.
There is an important need to
generate ethical guidelines in
our scientifc temper and spiri-
tual values should be ensured.
Although there have been sev-
eral atempts for world peace,
within the felds of religious
traditions, scientifc com-
munity and political groups,
progress towards world peace
will remain a dream if a coop-
erative efort of science and
spirituality doesnt take place.