Even with its nuclear arsenals and contamination of air, water and
earth, it is not science that has become destructive; it is the distortion
and vitiation of the human intellect that is responsible for the present
unsafe situation of the world.
Knowledge can be both constructive and destructive. The ultimate
arbiter is the human intellect. This is the reason why revelation has
always been a necessary instrument for the spiritual progress of the race.
Intellect, unable to see centuries or even only decades ahead, cannot
determine the evolutionary needs of mankind. It is liable to make serious
errors in calculation at any time.
Human life is so complex and the course of evolution so full of
bewildering situations that it is only a cosmic intelligence that can guide
it rightly to the destined goal. Can even a whole galaxy of the highest
intellects, in every branch of knowledge, make an accurate forecast of what
would be the state of mankind after the span of only the next quarter of a
century? Or even what changes will occur in the current concepts of
science, politics and religion?
If not, doesn't it plainly signify that the race is drifting toward an
indeterminable goal at the mercy of forces over which it has no control?
The error of science has been that it has entirely ignored the
spiritual side of man and devoted all its attention to the physical and
organic fields. The outcome is that mankind faces a threat of annihilation
on one side, or death with poisoned air, water and earth on the other, and
of mental distortion on the third.
On the political side, it has become a seething cauldron of
aggression, violence, lust for power and hate. On the spiritual and moral
side we see confusion rampant everywhere. There are as many ideas,
concepts, systems and doctrines as there are scholars or teachers
expounding them.
It is not surprising, therefore, that science has failed to create
that harmonious progress of mankind in the social, political and spiritual
fields.
Science today is suffering from the same distemper of mind which
affected faith during the period of her supremacy, namely dogmatism, vanity
and arrogance. It is amazing to what extent even scientists can be led
astray by vanity. They understand very well that all we know about the
visible cosmos is but a drop in the possible ocean of knowledge. Not a
year passes when they are not forced to revise their opinions about certain
issues.
But with all this uncertainty, most of them display a dogmatic
attitude toward mind and consciousness. It is chiefly because science has
been one-sided in this investigation--ignoring the spiritual side of
man--that it has failed to bring about that wholesome transformation in the
mental and moral sides as it has in the physical.
The neglect of the material side brought about the fall of the
once-highly honored sovereign faiths of mankind. In the same way, the
neglect of the spiritual side is now tending to undermine the position of
ascendancy gained by science.
In either case, it was the intellect that failed to assess the
position correctly and to err in over-emphasizing only one side of man and
neglecting the equally important other side.
Therefore, it is not science itself but the overweening vanity and
shortsightedness of savants and scholars--or, in other words, a faulty
intellect--that is responsible for the destructiveness of modern technology.
The first thing that should be done to bring about a harmonious
development of human beings and the eradication of present-day irrational
beliefs in the spiritual realm is to embark on a scientific investigation
into consciousness.
There is a huge volume of literature available in both the East and
the West, describing methods for attaining the higher states of
consciousness and the nature of these higher states. A documentary
research into these volumes, followed by systematic experimentation, can, I
am sure, lead to an understanding of the biological relationship between
expanded states of consciousness and the brain.
When this is achieved, the next step would be to find the laws
underlying this relationship. Enough material would be available--when
this is done--to enable scholars and scientists to determine the path and
the goal of evolution designed for mankind. They would then be able to
understand the nature of the changes imperceptible occurring in the brain
and consciousness.
It is not only by experimentation on the methods leading to higher
states of consciousness, but also by the observation of the psychic forces
responsible for genius, mediumistic faculties and insanity that these
evolutionary processes can be understood.
The all-inclusive nature of sex energy has not yet been correctly
understood by psychologists. In fact, the very term reproductive, or sex
energy is a misnomer: Reproduction is but one of the aspects of the life
energy, of which the other theater of activity is the brain. The cephalic
activity is so slow and subtle as to be almost imperceptible. But it is
this activity that is the cause of genius, uncanny psychic powers and also
insanity.
Once this fact is empirically demonstrated, we come to a turning point
in our present concepts about mind and consciousness--even about matter and
the universe as a whole.
The first harvest of this change will be the beginning of a new
science dealing with subtle intelligent energies in the cosmos. When this
happens, the gigantic physical world--now dominating the whole mental
horizon of science--will be relegated to its proper position. It is but
the visible peak of an infinite creation, of which the unbounded major part
is sunk below the surface of the space-time ocean, forever hidden from the
sight of man.
It is only in higher states of consciousness that a fragment of the
submerged portion comes into view, causing a state of wonder and
exhilaration which is beyond description. It is only when the evolving
human organism and the cosmos are viewed in right perspective that the
appropriate ways of life and conduct, favorable for this transformation,
can be devised by science.
Try as we might, without a clear knowledge of the goal ahead, we can
by no exercise of the intellect determine the right pattern of life
essential for mankind on the evolutionary path: A united world, abolition
of war, demolition of armaments, disbandment of armies. An environment
more in harmony with nature. A life more natural and simple. Removal of
barriers between man and man, inculcation of altruistic and humanitarian
principles, moral education, social equality and universal brotherhood.
These are some of the basic factors that contribute to the harmonious
progress of mankind.
This may appear idealistic or even fantastic and impracticable to many
people. But the conclusion is unavoidable. At its present intellectual
stature, the alternatives facing the race are either self-caused
annihilation with dreadful agony for myriads, or knowledge of and obedience
to the laws of evolving consciousness.
*This article is from Gopi Krishna's book "Higher Consciousness", published
by The Julian Press. The article appeared in the New York Times October 6,
1973.