Science and Religion
Science and religion were the topic of our Unitarian Universalist church service today. I was lay leader, and as such, I had to write a reflection on the topic. Here's what I had to say:
I was raised by two parents who were searching spiritually. My father called himself an “ancient christian buddhist who believed in Navajo”. My mother was a member of the rosicrucian fellowship and studied quantum physics with the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
I was raised with an open mind as we discussed how the latest quantum physics discovery proved that there was something more out there. I was raised to believe that science was a tool to help us understand our world and that by understanding the universe we were bringing ourselves closer to an understanding of god.
I have recently been reading the books of Amit Goswami. Goswami is the son of a major guru in India, who rebelled against his father’s religion and went to study science . After many years of study in quantum physics he realized that all his studies seem to prove his father right. Goswami says “Mystics, contrary to religionists, are always saying that reality is not two things -God and the world- but one thing, consciousness....quantum physics showed us that we must change that myopic prejudice of scientists...now we have science within consciousness.” Calling his theory “monistic idealism”, he claims it is not only "the basis of all religions worldwide" but also the correct philosophy for modern science. He claims that universal consciousness, not matter, is the ground of all existence.
This makes so much sense to me. I have always believed in the “collective consciousness” as my definition of God. In the Heart Sutra, the Dalai Lama explains that we (as form) do not stand on our own. We all are dependent on each other. We are part of a interconnected web. You are me and I am you. That is my religion.
I love that, for me, science and spiritual belief are one. It makes the science even more fascinating. There is too much out there saying that the objective world is an illusion of our thinking. I have to believe that it is consciousness itself that creates the physical world.
Helen Lutton Cohen, minister emeritus and lifelong Unitarian Universalist, wrote that one meaning of unitarianism is the belief that all that exists is ultimately one, whatever form it takes, and that Universalism entails a belief that everything belongs. I think it is so cool that science is proving those beliefs. That isn’t to say that they weren’t true already. I didn’t need science to do that, I already had faith.
I remember as preteen, leaning against the window in the back seat and staring up at the night sky and listening to my mother explain the infinite distance of the stars, and how our brains just can’t comprehend the true vastness of it all. I think that is also true of God, the Universe and our place within it. We cannot comprehend the true vastness of it all, but we can question and search and open our minds and hearts and explore this world of wonder.
I was raised by two parents who were searching spiritually. My father called himself an “ancient christian buddhist who believed in Navajo”. My mother was a member of the rosicrucian fellowship and studied quantum physics with the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
I was raised with an open mind as we discussed how the latest quantum physics discovery proved that there was something more out there. I was raised to believe that science was a tool to help us understand our world and that by understanding the universe we were bringing ourselves closer to an understanding of god.
I have recently been reading the books of Amit Goswami. Goswami is the son of a major guru in India, who rebelled against his father’s religion and went to study science . After many years of study in quantum physics he realized that all his studies seem to prove his father right. Goswami says “Mystics, contrary to religionists, are always saying that reality is not two things -God and the world- but one thing, consciousness....quantum physics showed us that we must change that myopic prejudice of scientists...now we have science within consciousness.” Calling his theory “monistic idealism”, he claims it is not only "the basis of all religions worldwide" but also the correct philosophy for modern science. He claims that universal consciousness, not matter, is the ground of all existence.
This makes so much sense to me. I have always believed in the “collective consciousness” as my definition of God. In the Heart Sutra, the Dalai Lama explains that we (as form) do not stand on our own. We all are dependent on each other. We are part of a interconnected web. You are me and I am you. That is my religion.
I love that, for me, science and spiritual belief are one. It makes the science even more fascinating. There is too much out there saying that the objective world is an illusion of our thinking. I have to believe that it is consciousness itself that creates the physical world.
Helen Lutton Cohen, minister emeritus and lifelong Unitarian Universalist, wrote that one meaning of unitarianism is the belief that all that exists is ultimately one, whatever form it takes, and that Universalism entails a belief that everything belongs. I think it is so cool that science is proving those beliefs. That isn’t to say that they weren’t true already. I didn’t need science to do that, I already had faith.
I remember as preteen, leaning against the window in the back seat and staring up at the night sky and listening to my mother explain the infinite distance of the stars, and how our brains just can’t comprehend the true vastness of it all. I think that is also true of God, the Universe and our place within it. We cannot comprehend the true vastness of it all, but we can question and search and open our minds and hearts and explore this world of wonder.
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