Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
What is the empowered soul? What is the source of its unlimited wisdom? The soul is all-knowing because it is a part of God. Anyone who has a belief in God assumes that God knows everything. Parents tell children, “Beware. God is watching your every thought, word, and deed.” In the Old Testament, Adam and Eve, who were forbidden by God to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, disobeyed Him. They tried to hide their disobedience, but they discovered there was nowhere to hide from God, the all-knowing being. God expelled them from the Garden of Eden, and we, their children, have been trying to find the gate back to the garden ever since.
Our search to find the garden can be seen in our exploration to find answers to the nature of our physical universe. For example, in a large lab in Batavia, Illinois, scientists accelerate atomic particles at high speed through a giant ring deep inside the earth, only to smash them to bits. They are searching for the “God particle” – their name for the particle that will give them answers to how our universe began. Along the way, they have discovered numerous subatomic particles with exotic names such as bosons, quarks, mesons, etc. While they have learned much about the nature of matter they have not yet found the ultimate answer they are seeking.
Other scientists measure the distance of the farthest quasars in the universe to calculate how long ago the theorized “Big Bang” took place in which they believe the whole universe emerged from the ignition of dust particles. They believe that they know much about that transpired in the first few milliseconds after the Big Bang, but aggressively seek to find out what existed before the Big Bang. From where did the first particles come? Science has so far failed to answer this question, but the race to be the first to solve the mystery continues.
In medical research labs throughout the world, scientists are working to unravel the genetic code of human DNA. With the help of computers, every part of our genetic make-up is being analyzed and coded to categorize the portions of our DNA that determine every aspect of our life, from our physical body and brain to how our body contracts and fights certain diseases. Does our genetic code hold the mystery to who we are as human beings?
Are we alone in our search for the answers to life and the universe? They wonder if we are the only life forms in creation. Some scientists beam impulses far into deep space in the hope that one day a response will come back from a distant galaxy. How big is space? Is it truly infinite, or do the ends of space meet, making the galaxy one, large sphere? If it is a sphere, what lies beyond it? These questions tempt humanity to undertake dangerous and expensive voyages into space in the hope that someday we can venture far enough to find out about the nature of our universe.
In computer labs, engineers experiment with artificial intelligence. Will they succeed to build a computer that thinks like a human being? Are human beings merely like complex computer programs whose function can be replicated by robots, or are they unique beings, inhabited by a nonmaterial soul, that defy man-made replication?
Some physicists are using the mathematical formulae of physics to prove the existence of God and the soul on paper. According to some of their interpretation of the statistics of the universe, there is a supreme power that both created the universe and sustains it, and that will draw the universe back unto itself in the distant future.
Geologists and paleontologists in remote parts of the world excavate the earth, searching for fossils and rocks to understand the nature of early human beings and other forms of life. Each new discovery pushes the date of the earliest life forms back. Scientists hope to either prove or disprove earlier scientific theories of evolution, but how such marvelous creatures came to be still eludes both sides.
In emergency rooms throughout the world, doctors listen intently to the experiences of patients who were revived from clinical death. These near-death experiences challenge the scientific world by their frequency of occurrence and striking similarities. They add anecdotal evidence to the theory of existence beyond the physical realm and shatter the egocentric thinking of humans that the earth and this universe are alone in creation.
The researchers and methodologies may differ, but at the heart of all of this searching lies the same burning questions: What is this world about? How did it come into being? Does God exist? Do we have soul? Where did the soul come from and where does it go when physical life ends? Is there a purpose to our life?
Scientists, researchers, engineers, and doctors spend their whole life researching pieces of the puzzle. The mystery is so vast that no one person can study all its aspects, but each must specialize in one small area. Some explore the puzzle through biology, others through astronomy or geology or physics. But the physical sciences have their limitations. A lifetime of seeking the answers to our place in the universe through science has not, so far, yielded conclusive results. The reason that this outer search has not succeeded is that the answers to life’s mysteries lie not outside, but within each of us. The mystery of the macrocosm is contained in the microcosm.
Science tells us that the universe is composed of matter and energy. But how do matter and energy explain consciousness? We know there is a difference between a living person and one who has died, but the matter that makes up both is the same. The body that has died is composed from the same material that composes the body when it was alive. But the part of that human being who communicated to us, that created, that controlled movement of the body, has departed. The being’s consciousness has departed.
We recognize that human beings are conscious beings. A person whose heart and breathing have stopped is said to have “lost physical consciousness.” But where does the consciousness encased in matter originate? If our soul is the conscious part of us, then there must be a source from where the soul originates. Is it created out of the matter and energy of the universe? We know that there is no consciousness in matter. We know there is no consciousness in physical energy.
Many modern scientists no longer believe that they have to be atheists to keep their scientific “faith”. In fact, the more the scientists discover about scientific laws, the more they acknowledge the possibility of the existence of a higher intelligent power that designed creation. The miracle of the human body, the wonder of the earth, and the awesome universe with its seemingly countless galaxies all seem to be more than a chance accident of nature. Indeed, the mysterious atom, the complex genetic code, and the creation of this entire universe seem more a proof of God’s existence.
While science grapples with questions about God and the soul, another segment of humanity has been doing research using different methodology. Known as prophets, saints, mystics, enlightened beings, and spiritual masters, these enlightened ones have had a profound impact on humanity throughout the ages. Their discoveries have touched a chord in the human heart, causing millions of people to proclaim themselves disciples or believers. World religions have grown out of the teachings of these enlightened individuals. Why are their messages so powerful that they can inspire the lives of people centuries after they have departed the physical world?
The answer lies in the fact that they discovered answers to the questions that every human being faces at one time or another in his or her life. They discovered the unlimited wisdom of the empowered soul. They found that the soul is of the same essence as God. Ia particle or drop of the entire ocean that is God.
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