on the spirituality of science

Spirituality is the quest to know the place of our essence within the deep time of evolution and the deep space of the cosmos
-Michael Shermer, Scientific American, Dec 2005

Being spiritual is an in thing today if you note the number of Indian TV channels which start their day with this Baba or that just like the channels here start the morning by getting people to watch others exercising. In the US too many Indian (and other) movements have ample followers.

Spirituality is about the soul - about its origin. Getting to know the "creator" of our soul, of getting close to Her. Most people take this in a very theistic fashion. In his "skeptic" article Michael connects our ability to make, listen to and believe in extravagant claims about arbitrary things (including but not limited to Divine and Satanic encounters) to a large cortex coupled to a fertile imagination - both of which are clearly the outcome of a long evolutionary process.

Following Carl Sagan from Cosmos he then goes on to say how atheists can be (or, really, are) spiritual to the dot as they too are after origins, trying to decipher who we are and where we came from with an unwavering faith in the methodology they follow and answering all questions that are thrown at them.

In Sagan's words, it is a congregation of billions upon billions of atoms contemplating on exactly what made them conscious ... star stuff wondering about stars .... The important thing is that all assumptions get tested for their truthfulness with the bare minimum kept. One day we will get there. We all need to strive for it. We owe it to the ancient and vast cosmos wherefrom we have sprung.

Normally people keep their spirituality to themselves as they slowly advance in their quest. However, unfortunately, today there are so many spiritual sounding movements that are out there which are really after the blood of those who do not follow their methods - not literally, but practically. If one pauses for a moment and reflects upon it, one will realize how very anti-spiritual it is.


Be spiritual to the core. Let others practice their dharma too.