The Universe as Fingerprint of the Eternal One (Swami's Teaching and science)

[Guest guest]

Light and Love Swami in His Works has frequently compared the science and

spirituality from fifties - until today. Nearly during 60 years science has

quickly developed. It seems to me that it has developed towards spirituality.

Holistic standpoint accepts integration science with spirituality. By academic

standpoint science and spirituality both occupy two separate realms of human

experience. Science is a particular way of knowing about the world. In

science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and

experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. By Swami science

deal with external world, spirituality - with internal world of human beings.

"Science is concerned with all the phenomena in nature. It furnishes what is

required for the physical body. It is doubtless essential to take care of the

body. But the body should not be deemed as the sole truth. However, one should

devote all efforts to its maintenance and comfort. All achievements are

dependent on the body. Even the Divine can be realized through the body. But

the body is not yourself. It is only an instrument for realizing God. Moreover,

the Supreme Atmic Principle (Paramatma) is immanent in it." (Sathya Sai Baba.

Guru Poornima Discourse: "Quest for Truth" 9 July 1998, Prasanthi Nilayam).

Swami pointed also that, ”It is not essential to know the secret of life; one

should know the purpose of life. That is very important. The goal of our life

is Truth which is symbolized by the principle of Atma. Instead of enquiring

into the goal of life, man is trying to know the secret of life." (Sathya Sai

Baba. The Divine Discourse: "Experience of Unity is Real Satsang." 1 March

2003, Prasanthi Nilayam). But one of the quality’s of human beings is

curiosity. Science tries to know the secret of life. Progress in science

consists of the development of better explanations for the causes of natural

phenomena. Truth in science, however, is never final, and what is accepted as a

fact today may be modified or even discarded tomorrow. Science has been

successful at explaining natural processes, and this has not only increase

understanding of the Universe but also modified technologies. The last may lead

not only to humans' welfare, but to environmental destruction and disasters.

However, science is far not the only way of acquiring knowledge. There are many

other ways, such as spiritual experiences, religion, literature, the arts,

philosophy, etc. Scientific knowledge has to integrate with spirituality,

aesthetic and moral perceptions, but modern academic science find that these

subjects extend beyond science's realm. Scientists are closely touched at

the order and complexity of nature. Many scientists are deeply religious

through their research works they reached to the standpoint that there must be

a Creator (Cosmic Consciousness, God, Absolute, etc.). God created the Universe

and the various processes driving physical and biological evolution and that

these processes then resulted in the creation of galaxies, our solar system,

and life on Earth. Below is a brief description of the latest

discoveries (mainly 2003 - 2006) done by academic science WMAP (Wilkinson

Microwave Anisotropy Probe) satellite observations. The WMAP measurements

reveal conditions as they existed in the early Universe by measuring the

properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation over the full sky.

These measurements reveal the size, matter content, age, geometry and fate of

the Universe. They also reveal the primordial structure that grew to form

galaxies. WMAP data reveals that its contents include 4% atoms, the

building blocks of stars and planets. Dark matter comprises 22% of the

universe. This matter, different from atoms, does not emit or absorb light. It

has only been detected indirectly by its gravity. 74% of the Universe is

composed of "dark energy” that acts as a sort of anti-gravity. This energy,

distinct from dark matter, is responsible for the present-day acceleration of

the universal expansion. (See also attachments. One of them what illustrates

these discoveries is as exact confirmation of Swami's words, that it is little

what science knows (see Swami teaches... 19 - 21 March, 2006). Atoms and

dark matter, energy what they are? We ourselves, computer, the air we

breathe, the stars are all made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons

and neutrons are bound together into nuclei and atoms are nuclei surrounded by

a full complement of electrons. Astronomers call atoms - all material made up

of protons, neutrons and electrons "baryonic matter." Until about twenty

years ago, astronomers thought that the Universe was composed almost entirely

of this "baryonic matter", ordinary stuff. However, in the past decade, there

has been ever more evidence accumulating that suggests there is something in

the Universe that we can not see. By measuring the motions of stars and

gas, astronomers can "weigh" galaxies. The Earth, for instance, moves around

the Sun at 30 kilometers per second. The Sun moves around the Milky Way at 225

kilometers per second. It is possible to use this velocity (and the velocity of

other stars) to measure the mass of our Galaxy. The mass that astronomers infer

for galaxies including our own is roughly ten times larger than the mass that

can be associated with stars, gas and dust in a Galaxy. What is the nature

of the "dark matter", "dark energy" this mysterious material and energy that

exerts a gravitational/ antigravitational pull, but does not emit nor absorb

light? Astronomers do not know. However, received information helps to

pinpoint when the first stars formed and provides new clues about events that

transpired in the first trillionth of a second of the Universe. WMAP found that

the Universe is 13.7 billion years old. The Universe began with an

unimaginably enormous density and temperature. This immense primordial energy

was the cauldron from whence all life arose. Elementary particles were created

and destroyed in the first moments of the Universe. The new WMAP support

established theories on what has happened to matter and energy over the past

13.7 billion years since its inflation. The result is a tightly constrained and

consistent picture of how our Universe grew from microscopic quantum

fluctuations to enable the formation of stars, planets and life. "This

energy, present in man and in other objects, has been characterized as cosmic

energy. What is this cosmic power? The Sun derives its energy and effulgence

from this cosmic source that accounts for the power of the human mind and the

marvelous power of the eye to see the most distant stars." (Sathya Sai Baba.

The Divine Discourse: "Three Forms of Energy," 14 Oct 1994, Brindavan).

However, depending on the outcome of the observations, the theories will need

to be abandoned, revised or extended to accommodate the data. The Big Bang

model is not complete. For example, it does not explain why the Universe is so

uniform on the very largest scales or, indeed, why it is so non-uniform on

smaller scales, i.e., how stars and galaxies came to be. (The Big Bang

model is based on the Cosmological Principle which assumes that matter in the

Universe is uniformly distributed on all scales - large and small. This is a

very useful approximation that allows one to develop the basic Big Bang

scenario, but a more complete understanding of our Universe requires going

beyond the Cosmological Principle). The other questions without answer by

science are: What types of matter and energy fill the Universe? How much of

each? How rapidly is the Universe expanding today? How old is the

Universe today? What is the overall shape of the Universe? Open, flat,

closed, or otherwise? How is the expansion changing with time? What is

the Ultimate fate of the universe? All these questions belong to the

category "secret of life" by Swami. Science without spirituality cannot finally

solve them. By Swami what human beings would solve at first is science about

Self. "For 26 years Buddha sought the realization of the Self by studying

scriptures, meeting sages and saints and listening to their teachings. He found

that by these means he could not experience reality. He realized that the

knowledge of the Self has to be gained through an inward search. Through his

enlightenment, he discovered the importance of Dharma and wanted to make it the

basis of society." (Divine Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba: "The Essence of

Buddha's Teachings." 11 May 1998; Brindavan). The other attachment

pictorially shows our Universe. Look at the light as the Creator of the

Universe. You can observe by picture as the academic science has reached to the

spiritual standpoint, of existence of the Eternal One, Initial Principle, God,

Absolute, etc., Unity expands into diversity. Many scientists do not see it

yet. "It is not possible to consider creation and the creator, Nature and

God, as different or separate. Can we say that waves are separate from the sea?

Human too is of God, with and from God. The bubble is born in water, stays in

water and is lost in water as water. The Cosmos too is a bubble born in the

Absolute, exists as the Absolute and merges in the Absolute or Paramatma.

Recognize this truth this world, cannot be conceived as without God." (Sathya

Sai Speaks, Vol. 15. "The Universe - the Guru," Chapter 15). Latest

discoveries will constrain the model of our Universe, but there is a need for a

radical spiritual rethinking of our scientific understanding of cosmology.

"Both the cognizable and non-cognizable have emanated from the same One

Indivisible Consciousness. Each is full and complete in itself. The individual

consciousness is the manifestation of the Cosmic Consciousness. When the

material sheath falls off, it merges in its source. The Vedas declare, "That is

full; this is full. From the full, emerges the full. When the full is taken from

the full, the full remains full." So, the Cosmos, the world, the individual -

all are embodiments of the Full. Nothing can be fractional or incomplete."

(Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 15. "The cleansing process," Chapter 4).

References: http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov (homepage). Charles Seife.

"Breakthrough of the Year: Illuminating the Dark Universe." Science, 302,

2038-2039 (2003).

Site with the additional information (The source of attachments).

http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm.html; Namaste - Reet

Attachment: (image/jpeg) UniversePie75.jpg [not stored]

Attachment: (image/jpeg) CMB_Timeline75.jpg [not stored]