At first, science and spirituality both were understood as opponents of each other. Science was considered as something practical and spirituality as something hypothetical. As the time is passing now, more and more people are realizing how hypothetical science is and how practical spirituality is.

Now, a large group of people is being formed who think science and spirituality are nothing but the same. These people synthesize these two seemingly opposite approaches. Many people have wasted their lives in pointing out the similarities between scientific research and spiritual scriptures. And if we look at the situation today, science is also considered as a way to the divine.

I agree that both science and spirituality are dealing with the same truths, same laws, and same divinity. Both are focusing themselves on the same thing. But, there lies one very minute difference which distinguishes science from the spirituality. In general, all the saints, all the mystics and holy people had an approach of being dissolved in the truth. They never wanted to know. They never wanted it as nourishment for the brain. Those saints, who initially had this approach of knowing, it later dropped down.

The first point to be noted is that, both Science and Spirituality are in search of something. Some eternal truth as mystics say or some eternal unifying laws as scientists say. But it has been a very common experience that the more science tries to clear out the things, the more are they mystified. Whereas, we can find a little number of mystics who claim that they have seen or experienced the divine.

I think, here we should take a note, that science wants to know. Now, what is meant by knowing? Knowing means, someone tries to get every detail and information about something. So, when a scientist is in search of divine rule, he wants to know them. Now, who is the one who wants to know? I think, it is the person or in other words, the ego of the person. It is ego of the person which wants to know everything. Here I remember a poem from Kabira -

The Lane of Love is a narrow one.
Only one can remain in it; either you or god.”

So, if you have this desire of knowing the things, you are like a glass full of water. The rain water cannot enter in this glass even if it is placed in rains. Unless and until, this ego dies, you cannot be the part of divine. When you empty your pots of ego and make the space for divine inside you, you will not receive it.

And the other point is that, when you want to know universal truth with pity human brain, it simply means that you are trying to empty the sea with a help of small glass. Truth can be experienced in a thoughtless state. You cannot bring it into the words, you cannot make it a subject of your mind simply because our mind distorts the things and hence we cannot perceive them as they actually are.

It is said that enlightenment is like a salt doll going to survey the sea. When it enters, it dissolves. These mystics and saints were ready to dissolve, to become a part of the truth. They never tried to make truth a subject of their knowledge, i.e. subject of their mind and thought. Science is also exploring the same truths. But, science wants to know the things; not to get dissolved in them. Thought is fragmented, so is our mind. The very basic nature of thought has an uncertainty in it. The more thoughts are close to the actuality, they will go away from totality and conversely, more the thoughts are total and unifying, more away from the actuality they are. So, thought at a time can never be total or consistent and also practical. The beauty of spirituality is that, it believes in thoughtlessness and that’s why, the ultimate truth can be received more often by a mystic than a scientist.