The links between science and spirituality

The Goan: You are a scientist, an innovation coach, and an author. What made you turn to this quest - to try to know what is beyond the material world? Was there any turning point?
Dr Ashok Prabhu: Yes, the turning point came a few years ago when I went through a heart bypass surgery. I went through four hours of surgery and woke up after about 12 hours of being under the influence of anaesthesia. When I woke up I was alone in the ICU. It was the most peaceful I have ever felt. It took me a while to come down to Earth (as they say) and reflect upon what had just happened. At that time I realised that it was my second chance to re-examine my purpose for being on Earth.
While I was recovering at home for a couple of weeks, I had time to think about the significance of life. At that time I also realised that whatever importance I had given to my professional career up to that point was fine and going forward I had to start spending the remaining time seeking the true meaning of life.
Tell us about your journey towards spirituality.
The first step was to build knowledge regarding God beyond what we were taught as children. This meant reading books on Vedas. I was guided by folks to the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan book store in Mumbai where I found numerous books on Vedic history, scriptural teachings and stories of saints.
What was the purpose of your visits to holy places of worship and ashrams?
I wanted to visit the places of historical and mythological significance and relate them to what I had read in Vedic history books. I also went to these holy places to pray which greatly satisfied me. These visits have provided a better perspective for the events in Vedic history. We rebuilt two temples - Dakshina Kali and Shiva, in our village and during the ceremonies, I got the opportunity to understand and appreciate the Vedic processes behind energising idols.
You have also been involved volunteering activities post retirement
During my travels to temples and ashrams I came across poverty in many regions which compelled me to think about what I can do to eliminate it. I thought of sharing my professional experiences with youngsters. That is where my volunteer activities began - giving lectures on thinking big, innovation, succeeding in business start-ups. I also helped start-ups in an advisory capacity. I gave talks to students on importance of studying science. I am working with an organisation in Pune which is trying to provide inquiry based supplementary education to youngsters. I also completed a few years of voluntary services as a part of the SCORE organisation to help common people in the US start businesses.
Is there anything common between science and spirituality?
To me spirituality deals with the human quest to seek God, reach God, and become one with Bramhan, the creator of the universe. Science is systematic study of nature and behaviour of the universe from observation, experimentation, measurement and formulation of laws.
What was the purpose behind penning down Sensing the Essence?
The scriptural teachings were fascinating in terms of human relationship with the creator, the ultimate goal of salvation and ways to reach it. Given the exposure we have from our technical education regarding the need for physical mechanisms for processes to take place, I began to relate the scriptural teachings on salvation to what I had learnt in science. This led me to read about recent discoveries in sciences. I began exploring how the spiritual nature of the universe may be related to the physical nature of the universe.
I was amazed by corroboration between ancient revelations and modern scientific discoveries. I began to think whether neurosciences can explain how new information such as that gathered during enlightenment can register in the brain, and be available to transmit to others through normal means of communication. Both the sets of information came from the products of the same force of consciousness: the human brain. Hence, it made sense that they are connected to the same substratum.
What I found exciting was how modern scientific discoveries corroborated with ancient teachings and also suggested a possible physical mechanism for the brain to sense the consciousness force and thereby make it possible to reach the stage of enlightenment thus giving comfort to people that the ultimate goal of salvation is possible in this life provided the scriptural teachings are followed with knowledge, commitment and dedication. I was eager to share all of this with others.
What are your hopes with this new book?
Clearly one book, one lesson, one practice session are not going to be sufficient. But then you have to take the first step to reach anywhere. I feel that spirituality and science are on their way to merge and with the right information one can seek knowledge, achieve spiritual progress, and find some peace in this chaotic material world. One day, this life will be over. But this rare opportunity given to us with this exceptional gift of thinking should not be used only for materialistic benefits. Each one of us must focus our efforts on spiritual progress.
Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Your pondering on this
From the basic cell point of view, purpose of life would be to live comfortably and reproduce. But that cannot be the sole purpose. Let alone individuals like us, even if the whole Earth or for that matter entire solar system disappears tomorrow, there will be no dent in the universe which has trillions of galaxies and where stars and planets are disappearing and being born every second.
Therefore, given that this entire universe is a manifestation of Brahman and that each object, each atom is part of Brahman, it seems there is a higher purpose in giving only a tiny, tiny fraction of universe objects an ability to think about the Creator, seek Him, and become one with Him. Thus the purpose of life is: to utilise the opportunity to become one with the creator