Followers

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Vedanta - The Faith, Reason Link


A little girl was to undergo surgery . The surgeon told her, “Before we can make you well, we must put you to sleep for a little while.“ The little girl looked up and smiled, “Oh, if you are going to put me to sleep, I must say my prayers first.“She knelt down beside the table and prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep, If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.“
The surgeon said afterwards that he prayed that night for the first time in 30 years. Prayer doesn't change things. It changes people, and they change things. So, don't pray for lighter burdens; pray for stronger backs.
Faith, as em bodied in reli gion, and rea son, as embo died in scien ce, are often but errone ously thought of as being in opposition to each other. Science is not an enemy of religion, only of superstition. Both science and religion are engaged in the search for truth, the main difference lies in the methodologies used.
Science is an investigation of truth in the finite nature outside, the object. Religion is an investigation into the nature of the infinite, the subject. Science aims for universally verifiable knowledge. Religion aims for individual realisation. It is true that universal laws operate regardless of one's beliefs and faith. We are closer to the physical world than to the metaphysical. We respect science, because it is premised on reason.