Science and Spirituality

The Growing Interface - Spirituality at the Work Place

By : Lt. Col R K Langar

Introduction

A common belief that science and spirituality are not in unison with each other is not true. Results of science can be observed and demonstrated and so can be of spirituality. Spiritual experience can be clearly seen in the conduct and behavioral pattern of spiritual persons. A spiritual person is pure at heart, gives warmth to those who come in his contact, is a well wisher of all and attract others with his caring conduct. He believes in humanism, a philosophy which recognizes the dignity of man by virtue of his being Divine at the core and which establishes oneness, unity in diversity and interconnectedness of all. A spiritual person is ever willing to help others as he has a never ending desire to uplift others having himself reached a high state of consciousness. He has a commitment to make the world a better place to live. He is recognized by the level of comfort, peace and love which he spreads all around. He is capable of enlightening the ignorant and strengthening the weak. Spirituality is an inwardly affair whereas science pertains to investigation of the outer world. Both science and spirituality seek the truth, one internally and the other externally.

In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna states that true knowledge is the knowledge of both Field and Knower of field which means Knowledge of both matter and spirit or science and spirituality. What it means is that by being spiritual we need not discard the world and being in world we should not neglect the spirit. While scientific knowledge brings about worldly prosperity, spiritual knowledge accounts for your inner growth. There is a general tendency that when we lean towards spirituality we disregard the world and science. This is not to be adhered too. Scientific knowledge has contributed immensely in the outer world and has dispelled darkness of mind. Scientific knowledge prepares one for higher spiritual wisdom. Science and spirituality are to be considered as two wheels of a cart where both are necessary for its smooth movement. Therefore spiritual wisdom is not discontinuous from scientific knowledge.

Science tells us how to do a thing but it does not tell you whether to do it or not. Spirituality tells us always and every time to discriminate between right and wrong and follow the right. Spirituality tells us how to put scientific knowledge for the good of humanity. While spirituality is founded on morality science is amoral in character. Science prolongs life through its medical discoveries , while on the other hand spirituality make you dive deep into our inner self to live the prolonged life with a sense of purpose for the good of one and all. Science liberates us from the tyranny of environment but it cannot liberate from the hold of our inborn nature on us. Napoleon realized the utter usefulness of spirit when he said that "Sprit will conquer the Swordâ€. Science is the work of last 350- 400 years whereas spirituality dates back as far as the Vedas.

What is Spirituality?

Only a person who is spiritual in true sense can apply spirituality at place of work. Therefore it is essential for a man to understand spirituality and be spiritual in totality.

Spirituality is the backbone of Indian philosophy and culture. It aims at living the life at the highest level of consciousness involving maximum awareness. It must be always remembered that the foundation of spirituality is morality. One has to become ethical first before becoming spiritual. And there are no shortcuts for becoming spiritual as it requires constant practice of moral values till these are infused into our blood. Spirituality aims at recognizing the divine principal in a man and growing with it to bring about harmony and freedom. In its deepest sense Spirituality is also a science. In the Gita Lord Krishna states that of all the sciences I am the science of Self. More than 2500 years ago Greek philosopher Plato had said that the best science is the science of the Self. Another western Saint Augustine also echoed this when he said that the goal of man is to achieve complete union with God which is referred in Indian philosophy as Moksh or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Our Upanishad says that there are two kinds of knowledge, the lower Knowledge or Apara Vidya and the higher Knowledge or Pra Vidya. Lower knowledge is described as the knowledge of Vedas, Grammar, etymology and astronomy etc. While the higher knowledge is that knowledge by which one clearly knows the changeless Reality or Brahman or Supreme Self. The Upanishad also states that higher knowledge includes the lower knowledge as 100 includes 50. It does not mean that a person who has higher knowledge could manufacture TVâ€™s or Cars at once. It only means that the higher Knowledge will enable a person to take part in worldly activities skillfully.

Spirituality tells us that the main end of life is not pursuit of material happiness but it is a discovery of our divine nature. Spirituality asks us to look inward to know ourselves first which would give us complete understanding of the world around us.

Spirituality at the Work place

What does Spirituality at the work place mean? It means that we should perform all actions with a Spiritual outlook considering work as a means of self illumination. It means performing our work for the work sake and not for our own sake. Spirituality at the work place is performance of all duties with Love as love becomes an energizing agent when applied with the work at the workplace. When we consider a work as duty we do not need any incentive because duty idea is a great incentive itself besides being a discomfort reliever. Another by product of spirituality at work place is that we remain loyal to the work whatever type of the job we have in our hands. With a spiritual outlook man sees all others without any exception as his own self as God resides equally in all. With this attitude we work selflessly as working for others is as good as working for own self. This is the application of the principal of sameness or oneness at the work place. When you see sameness in all, you perceive others as part of your own self and get beyond the idea of differentiation. When you see otherness in others you are highlighting the difference between you and others which is non spiritual. The wonderful idea of sameness is beautifully highlighted in the Gita where God says that I am same to all. Applying spirituality at work place is a potent tool for bringing about welfare of the society as we replace self interest with social interest. Selfishness is our biggest impurity which prevents us to look beyond our own self. Swami Vivekananda calls selflessness as life and selfishness as death.

Bhagavad Gita further proclaims that spirituality is efficiency in action. We are quite familiar with the word efficiency. We want to see efficiency in others who work for us. We want to see efficiency in teacher who teaches our child, we expect to see efficiency in Doctorâ€™s who treat our diseases. While we expect others to be efficient we tend to overlook our own efficiency while dealing with others. Efficiency is a great word. When we work efficiently we can bring about a change for the good around us. By efficient work we enrich human life. By efficient work we remove many ailments from the society like corruption, violence, crime backwardness and poverty.

The other factor which counts towards our efficiency is the motive behind the work. If our motive is selfless we shall remain totally committed to work. Today our society is morally unrefined because we are not functioning from the spiritual level of our personality. This results in work for self sake and not for work sake. This trend has to be reversed.

Shri Sathya Sai Baba talks about five basic human values which are truth, non violence, righteneous, love and peace. When we transform our life on the basis of these five principles we develop a spiritual attitude in the work we undertake and this attitude changes our aptitude for the good of all. Spirituality at the work place exhorts us to remain alive to the fact that there is a society we live in which is very much a part of our self and which is our extended self. This tells us that we should not live for our own sake exclusively but also contribute towards the smooth functioning of the society by working in a spirit of service. The Gita calls this as LOKASAMGRAHA. Gita labels them as thieves who cook for their own sake and eat it without sharing with others. Man is not an island. He is dependent on others for living and like wise others are dependent on him. In other words there is complete interconnectedness within all living in the world. Mahabharata underscores this when t says that the whole world of mortals is an independent organism. Therefore man has a responsibility towards the society he lives in and he must fulfill his obligations towards the society by sharing with others, by caring for them and by helping others with good work. Everything other than man himself is environment for him and it is his duty to safeguard it which includes ecological environment.

Science and Spirituality

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