Some Reflections on ‘Science and Religion’ by Swami Ranganathananda (Part 3 of 3)

By Ezenwa Onwugbenu

Science and religion are two phases of one search for truth. Science investigates external nature; religion investigates internal nature; and both are complementary. Let me illustrate this with two examples.

First: Sri Ramakrishna says, “Brahman and Sakti are one… just as fire and its burning power are one… just as milk and its whiteness are one… just as a gem and its brightness are one.”

Two scientific principles can be inferred from this statement: (1) the inner configuration of a substance reveals the cause of its outer qualities; and (2) the inner configuration is microcosmic, and the outer quality is macrocosmic.

The inner configuration of fire is a rapid flux of oxidation reactions. The outer quality is heat and light. If we examine the outer qualities: How hot? How luminous? We cannot find the cause of heat. The cause can only be found through investigation of the microcosm, namely, the chemical process of combustion.

The inner configuration of milk is tiny protein micelles. The outer quality is whiteness. If we examine the outer qualities: How thick? How whitish? We cannot find the cause of whiteness. The cause can only be found through investigation of the microcosm, namely, the light refraction and scattering by casein micelles.

The inner configuration of gemstone is a crystalline mineral structure. The outer quality is brightness. If we examine the outer qualities: How hard? How lustrous? We cannot find the cause of brightness. The cause can only be found through investigation of the microcosm, namely, the three-dimensional, ordered arrangement of chemical units.

Now science investigates the physical universe and its manifold phenomena. It measures planets and stars; it theorizes cosmic forces and sub-atomic particles; but these are all outer qualities, so they cannot reveal the cause of manifoldness. The cause can only be found through investigation of the microcosm, namely, the individual mind in which the vast universe appears. That is to say, the mystery of the universe stirs in man as the mystery of self.

Second: The Vedanta says “Maya is an inscrutable power. It makes a thing appear like what it is not... The world is merely passing configurations possessing only separate names and forms.” But how can it be so? The world appears so tangible and concrete!

Modern physics reveals two orders of existence. At and above the atomic level, the world is made of stable structural forms. Below the atomic level, the world is a constant flux of energies.  We thus learn that the human sensory experience is Maya. The five senses paint a mesmerizing, but entirely false picture of the world. It conjures a field of stable forms and concrete textures. It completely hides the underlying, torrential rain of sub-atomic hadron reactions and resonances. 

Modern physics reveals the existence of the Void. It is a cosmic vacuum that underlies the world of manifestation. It contains an unlimited number of extremely short-lived sub-atomic particles. It generates an unceasing, rhythmic churn of particles coming into being and vanishing. 

We thus learn that the world of independent physical entities is a deceptive appearance. There is only the Void, and what seems to be a plurality is merely a series of different configurations of that Void; and what seems to be stable material forms are merely whirlpools of fleeting existences. This paradoxical situation is produced by an unknown, universal vibration, and that mysterious power is Maya. 

In sum, it was a great joy to study the lectures of Revered Swami Ranganathananda. He makes a most convincing presentation of the non-difference between pure science and true religion.