DAAJI explores the way we learn and discover new things. He also addresses how modern-day research fits into this framework, and how scientists can refine their minds so that they are superb instruments for correct thinking and right understanding in the pursuit of knowledge.
There is an ever-growing body of scientific research about contemplative practices, neuroscience, and epigenetics that includes many studies on the effects of meditation on well-being, happiness, and consciousness. This research is bringing awareness to people around the world about the benefits of meditation, encouraging everyone to make it a habit in their lives. The idea that transcending states of consciousness can improve human performance is now in the mainstream, especially when it comes to integrated healthcare solutions.
We are seeing a growing integration of spirituality and science, where science is enriching spirituality, and spirituality is part of the base of science, so that we can improve ourselves at all levels of existence. Scientific research relies on the scientists’ abilities to observe, record, and analyze data, and then infer outcomes from those results, and this is one very valuable aspect of the process. Yet when we study the great scientific discoveries throughout history, we learn that scientists also use other complementary methods of inquiry, based on inspiration and direct perception. To develop this heightened level of awareness, spiritual practices help in many ways.
Think of the organic chemist, Kekulé, who dreamed of a uroboros, a snake eating its own tail, which inspired him to propose the structure of the benzene ring. Einstein played the violin and daydreamed when he needed inspiration, the Archimedes Principle was discovered when Archimedes was relaxing in the bathtub, and Ramanujan’s mathematical genius was inspired in the temple of the Goddess Namagiri. He received knowledge by divine insight, but his colleagues at the Royal Society of Mathematics insisted he provide supporting mathematical proof, which he did, confirming what the divine insight had already shown him.
When a scientist, an artist, or a mystic becomes so immersed in their subject that they effectively “live” it, insight comes in many ways, including via direct perception. When we become one with something, we understand it through the heart. We don’t need to think it. A special osmosis happens, in the same way as we automatically feel warm when sitting next to a fire.
Actually, a lot of everyday learning happens this way; for example, children learn so much from parents and teachers naturally, lovingly, without a formal pedagogical process. In fact, most learning happens in the subconscious and superconscious realms of the mind, not in the conscious realm, which makes up such a narrow band of the full spectrum of consciousness.
So, how can we cultivate this capacity to learn by osmosis and through direct perception? It happens when we relax and open the heart to our infinite potential through a daily spiritual practice. Direct perception emerges from a deeper awareness that is associated with the heart. In fact, we can say that scientific research is the rigorous validation of hypotheses that are often first known through other means like inspiration.
The idea that transcending
states of consciousness
can improve human performance is now in the mainstream,
especially when it comes to
integrated healthcare solutions.
Knowledge is continuously evolving
There will never be an end to knowledge. Many scientific theories of the past are no longer valid, and new discoveries are changing our understanding of the universe every day. Our learning is a continuous evolution.
Knowledge demands inquiry. In science, the inquiry is observable and measurable. In meditation and spirituality, the inquiry is also often observable and repeatable, although not always measurable, but it goes far beyond rational awareness. Science is limited to objective knowledge, while spirituality takes us further into the great unknown. As our consciousness expands through meditation, more and more of that unknown becomes accessible through experience.
Along this continuum, there is no clear-cut separation between objective and subjective. For example, we know from physics that the consciousness of the observer has an impact on the outcome of any experiment. And where does that impact come from? We know from spirituality that it comes from personal bias, from our belief systems, from the complexities that color our consciousness.
The mind as an instrument of perception
Our perception becomes accurate when our consciousness is pure. Impurities and complexities prevent us from perceiving clearly, so the purer our consciousness, the less bias we will have. That is the reason why the yogis of ancient India set about purifying their own consciousness before they tried to understand the world around them. They knew that the level of awareness from which they perceived the world determined the accuracy of their results. The same is true for us; the level of insight and the accuracy of observation depend upon the clarity of our perception. A pure mind is a beautiful instrument. It captures the essence of inquiry in all dimensions, both scientific and spiritual.
The level of insight and
the accuracy of observation depend
upon the
clarity of perception.
When the mind is pure, and it is directed toward any topic, our awareness effortlessly focuses there. An unbiased non-judgmental approach arises from a still balanced mind. This applies to any type of knowledge, whether it is about space, gravity, atoms, viruses and bacteria, the arts, architecture, or music. It has its own beauty, and always begins with an inner question and some level of wonder.
Science as the dominant worldview
A few centuries ago, religion was the authority, and scientists had to convince religious leaders of their discoveries. For example, in the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church did not accept the findings of Copernicus and Galileo regarding the Earth moving around the Sun.
Today, science is the authority, and we demand scientific proof of spiritual truths. For example, we want to measure the effects of prayer and meditation, and define the mind of God through scientific principles. While scientific research can show the physiological and psychological benefits of meditation, it cannot measure the more profound benefits.
There is a famous statement of the physicist Stephen Hawking: “If we do discover a theory of everything … it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would truly know the mind of God.” But how can we know God when God is beyond qualities, beyond matter, and beyond energy?
How can we know God when
God is beyond qualities,
beyond matter, and beyond energy?
Think of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle where the uncertainty of the position of an electron and the speed of its movement remains indeterminate. The moment we try to see the position of the electron, the very beam that sees the position changes the speed. If the beam were to be lighter than the electron, then perhaps position and speed could be determined simultaneously.
The question arises, why would we want to measure them at the same time? What purpose would it serve? Maybe Heisenberg had some purpose behind establishing the same. In order to understand subtle, we have to become subtler. Heavier cannot understand subtle. God being the subtlest, how could we ever understand unless we were to surpass that ultimate subtlety?
Science deals with the measurable, the definable; spirituality takes us into the invisible, the undefinable. So when we only apply conventional scientific methods to contemplative practices, we limit the results. Research results help us measure things like stress levels, happiness indices, compassion indices, gratitude indices, sleep benefits, and brainwave frequencies, etc. They show us that emotional intelligence, compassion, gratitude, and empathy increase our levels of serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin, and activate the ventral vagus nerve, bringing well-being. These are all important markers of benefits, but think about this: every mother goat or donkey has higher levels of oxytocin in her bloodstream when feeding her babies!
The most authentic
scientists are those who have
mastered the senses
and the mind, who perceive
the world through the medium of pure
consciousness.
So while I am a big fan of research in the contemplative disciplines, it does not show us the full range of what spiritual practices do for us. It is just the beginning! For how can we describe what happens when we meditate at the deepest level of our consciousness and beyond, when we touch the realm of God, the realm of our true potential?
Quantum physicists have shown us that science is subjective. Observation depends on the senses, and inference depends on the mind. So the most authentic scientists are those who have mastered the senses and the mind, and who can perceive the world through the medium of pure consciousness. And it is meditation that results in both depth and purity of consciousness. What can we learn from this? Scientists will become better scientists when they also meditate regularly, and their research findings will become more accurate.
Over the years, I have learned to let spirituality and science remain in their own dimensions. They both have a part to play and the beauty happens when they complement each other, bringing correct thinking and right understanding. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the field of research.
Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL
Daaji
Kamlesh Patel is known to many as Daaji. He is the Heartfulness Guide in a tradition of Yoga meditation that is over 100 years old, overseeing 14,000 certified Heartfulness trainers and many volunteers in over 160 countries. He is an inn... Read More
