Part 1 of an 8-part series
Guru Nanak (1469-1526) the founder of Sikhism and the first Guru (Master) of Sikhs was born at Talwandi Rai Bhoi in Punjab, now known as Nankana Sahib, Pakistan to Mata Tripata on April 15, 1469. His father, Shri Kalu Ram Mehta was the revenue official of the village. He studied the Indian Languages and culture as well as accounts from Pandit Hardyal and Arabic and Persian languages and culture as well as maintenance of Revenue records from a Maulvi in village mosque. He attained enlightenment in Sultanpur Lodhi after long deep meditation. Soon after enlightenment he gave up his service as a storekeeper and set out to preach the divine message. He travelled worldwide in four itineraries, known as Udasis and came in contact with saints, seers, preachers, siddhas, thugs, murderers, man-eaters, kings and the common and redeemed them. He spread the message of love, equality and fraternity and laid emphasis on the observance of (1) recitation of Naam or Name of the Lord and Gan or singing the praises of God. (2) Dan: charity towards all; (3) Ashnan-purification by bath (4) sewa or service of mankind and God and (5) Simran or constant repetition of the Name and prayed to God for His Grace and Deliverance or self-realization.
The period of his life - The latter half of fifteenth century and the first half of sixteenth century, was a period famous for turmoil and tribulation. In this period of political upheaval and religious bigotry in India, human values were a casualty. The Indians were gripped with slave mentality enforced into their minds through barbarism of the Mughals. No free thinking existed or was allowed to exist.
If one does a critical analysis of science and religion, it can be seen that science was always considered a part of general studies along with religion till the sixteenth century. It started developing as a separate entity thereafter, until it reached a stage where it broke all its connection with religion and became a sacred cow and considered untouchable by religion. This form of science, separate from religion can be termed as modern science and is being dealt with as such in this paper.
Before we go any further let us take a look at the history of the origin of modern science. Before the period of the Guru Nanak there was nothing like the modern scientific theories as exist today. Religion remained a major subject and anything about science was a part of religious and language studies. Hinduism was dominant in India, Buddhism in East Asia, Islam in Central Asia and Christianity in Europe. USA was not yet known to the outside world. All these religions were caught in dogmatism and confusion. Darkness of ignorance prevailed all around. Indian Saints tried to bring some light to humanity. However, they restricted their areas of action to India alone. It was Guru Nanak alone who travelled the world around, exchanged his thought process with all communities and religions and enlightened them about truthful living, the Truth of universe and the Supremacy of the True Lord.
In Europe, the domination of the Pope was on the wane. Since a French Archbishop was selected as Pope in 1305 A. D. the seat of the Pope moved from Rome (Italy) to Avegenin (France). As a result, the Romans selected a second Pope in 1378 A. D. This created a great divide known as "The Great Western Schism". In 1409 AD the Council of Pisa cancelled the appointment of both the Popes and handed over the functioning of Church to "Occumental Council". Instead of two Popes there became three religious' authorities. This caused utter confusion in the minds of believers and the faith of the Christians declined in Christianity in general and Popes in particular. The Renaissance changed the mindset of the people from soul to body and from religion to science.
Modern science gained currency in Europe in this melee. After Guru Nanak (1469-1526) the new thought process of Copernicus (1544), Galilee (1609), Newton (1687) Bacon (1561-1625) and Descartes (1586-1650) spread in entire Europe. The scientific thinking process, industrial revolution, age of technology and new material attachment changed the orientation of the pattern of life from the natural to the mechanical system and religion to material gains. Scientific inventions were aimed to control, rule or convert the nature for personal gains. Francis Bacon used to say, "The aim of science is to beat the nature to slavery so that it can serve the humanity."
The theory of Darwin challenged the belief originated in the Bible that the creation of the human race was from Adam and Eve. The Evolution theory of Darwin linked the man to apes and monkeys from where, through transformation, man took the present shape. The intellectual mind of the West was very badly caught between the Theory of Creation propounded by religion and Darwin's Theory of Evolution. One side there was faith and the other side, were the facts based on reason. Finally, the fact and reason tilted the balance of faith towards its favor. Gradually the Western mind tilted towards the glamour and glitter of science and went into the lap of materialism. The development of science was comfort and material oriented. It had no place for the third dimension of the human being i.e., the soul which actually was the hub center of the entire philosophy of the East and even the West's religious philosophy. Pomp and glory became the aim of scientific achievements while the real bliss and internal happiness was neglected.
With faith becoming a casualty and reason, experimentation and the so-called empirical fact becoming the basis of scientific thought, the human being got so much into the world that it lost the reality of God and universe. "The world is too much with us' felt a thoughtful poet. Being with the world i.e., the maya of the God too much with the man, he lost into pleasure and lust and forgot his real destination. The transmigration could not be proved as the previous and future life could not be put to reason or experimentation and not observable were totally discarded. The truth of the man also got tied up to the transient worldly things and the fact of ultimate truth was lost sight of.
The dictionaries of the West based on the above experience, define Truth as (1) the true facts about something, rather than the things that have been invented or guessed; (2) the quality or state of being based on fact; (3) the fact that is believed by most people to be true; universal truths; and (4) the true facts about a situation specially when not known by other people. The most important aspect of truth is the fact. Fact is used to refer to a particular situation that exists and to a thing that is known to be true, especially when it can be proved. A truth that can be proved remains the core of the fact.
The methodologies of finding out Truth also differ. The fact formation or finding out the truth in modern science is based on what can be found through five senses. Structure and behavior of natural and physical world restrict this fact finding to mind and body and do not take into account the soul and spirit which are the prime movers of the universe. The senses remain the means of finding out the truth. It does not go beyond observable and perceivable limits either underneath or beyond. It closes around the upper layer of earth and surroundings and a few stars and planets that it can observe but does not go beyond to the vast unfathomable universe. It does not answer the following questions either:
- Who has created this universe, why, when and how?
- What is the beginning and end of the universe?
- What is the functional system of universe?
- How is this functional system controlled and who controls it?
- What is life? What is death? Is there a life and death cycle?
- What all exists inside the earth, the stars, planets and their satellites?
- How and why do human beings, animals and plants have so many
different varieties, colors and shapes?
- Why do have human beings so many different mindsets?
There are many more questions that remain unanswered. This is because means of Truth adopted by the scientists are faulty; the scope of finding facts is limited; the phenomenon they are working in is closed; the methodologies are linked to five senses and the experiences and analysis are based on limited channels and faulty methodologies. It considers facts in parts and does not bother with the bigger picture. It includes facts connected to body and mind and does not account for the soul.
True science visualizes the overall picture of the universe. Keeping this overall picture in view it tests the framework of the parts. However, the present practice is quite opposite. It tests the parts first and then combines the results to find the overall effect. The modern scientist is lost in small parts and does not even imagine the vastness of the universe, which is too large for his testing and experimentation. This is fallacious. With the present system of scientific discoveries and innovations he may not be able to physically explore even the nearby stars in the next century never mind anything about the study of the universe. Interestingly, modern science is working on parts of the models that have already been studied in detail in the past and the results declared. But the modern scientist does not believe in earlier results because these do not stand the test of the modern methodologies. The man wants to know the real truth about the known and the unknown, but the present system of science will not be able to deliver. He has to ultimately shed away these systems and realize the already experimented systems and accept concepts, theories and doctrines already established.
Guru Nanak is the greatest source in modern times to provide such theories built on the real scientific lines.
