Science and Religion - Part II

Response to the comments posted by my friend on my previous blog.

NOTE : When I say religion, I don't mean any specific religion. So in that sense, I mean spiritual. So think of religion and spirituality as same while reading.

What source and destination are you talking about?

I thought your cut and paste itself had the answer for your question.
TRUTH.
People call it by different names, Truth, God, Enlightenment.
And your question is exactly like what I had mentioned, how a pro-science only person would ask the question.

Now, you will ask what is God, or Truth or enlightenment.

In Tamil there is a saying 'Kandavar Vindilar Vindavar Kandilar'.
It means, those who have seen it has not explained it and those who have explained it has not seen it.

Now you might ask what the heck does that mean.

Let me try to explain with examples.
You go and ask a person if he loves his parents. He will say yes. Ask him how much he loves his parents and if he can prove his love towards his parents.
I don't think he will be able to tell or explain how much he loves his parents.
I don't think he will be able to prove that the love exists.
He would most likely say "I can't talk about it, you will have to experience it for yourself"

Ask a person who just went to a cemetery on a moonless night and saw a ghost like figure or a person who just survived a catastrophe, how scary it was. I don't think he would be able to explain it to you. Even if he explains , probably you won't understand. You will have to experience it yourself.

There are so many things in this world, just like that. Things that can't be said and explained. They have to be experienced.

"Are you implying religion is not in its infancy and is mature and found answers for everything?"

Yes.
The answers are always there. You just have to find it. Some people try to find it through religion some try to find it through science and some both ways.

"Oh. So looks like you have solved the classic debate between creationists and evolutionists. I think this is a fleeting statement and oversimplifying things."

Probably you did not read carefully what I said.
I said "Is that African ancestor Adam & Eve?"
I basically asked a question, did not make a statement.
Iam not asserting that mankind started only 60,000 years ago. If that is the case, Ramayana is supposed to have happened in Treta Yuga, millions of years ago. How do you fit that in here?
Iam just trying to keep my mind open, and see the truth. I don't have a narrow mind and shut down avenues.

In my opinion, one can live happy fruitful life without bothering about the WHYs, but its pretty hard to survive without knowing the HOWs.

If your car stops on highway, do you ask 'Why the heck did my car stop in the middle of highway?' or 'How the heck did my car stop in the middle of highway"
Honestly I think you will not even bother to ask how did your car stop. You will ask why it stopped and examine why it stopped and try to fix it.

Next time when something does not work in your lab, observe yourself and see what question you ask first. It will be 'Why is it not working?'

As for as I can see, science doesn't even try to answer the WHYs and religion doesn't bother with the HOWs.

When a space shuttle blows up scientists don't watch the video and see 'How the shuttle blew?'
Instead they ask "why that happened ?"
So saying that science doesn't even try to answer the WHYs is a very generic statement.Or in your words content free empty statement.

Saying that religion doesn't bother with the HOWs shows lack of understanding of the scriptures.
Bhagavad Gita for instance not only talks about the Supreme but also talks about HOW you can reach or realize the Supreme.
The Bhagavata Purana's description of the cosmology is a sophisticated system, with multiple levels of meaning that encode at least four different astronomical, geographical, and spiritual world models.Many of these were written by ancient scientists. They did not separate science and religion. It's all interconnected.

So religion talks about both WHYs and HOWs.

You are saying that "science doesn't even try to answer the WHYs "

So science doesn't have all the answers. Because it does not even try to find out the answers to some of the questions? (WHYs)
So in that sense isn't science having a narrow mind and shutting down things not trying to find out answers? So is science complete?

Religion inspires science.

Empty statement. Doesn't further any point.

Do you know how many Hollywood movies were inspired by eastern religions?
Star Wars. You definitely must have heard about that movie. One of the best science fiction movies ever made.
The concept of Force is noting but what has been described as Prana (India), Qi (Chinese) or Ki (Japanese).
Do you know how many scientific inventions were inspired by such science fiction movies?
Do you know how many researches on the activity or functioning of brain were inspired by the transcendental state or enlightened state of meditators, mostly Buddhist monks?
Dr Satwant Pasricha, additional professor at the Department of Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, has researched over two decades 500 cases of reincarnation. (BOOK : Claims of Reincarnation: An Empirical Study of Cases in India)
Reincarnation definitely came from eastern religions.

These are just few examples.

Imagine this.
What if I say "What if Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution was inspired by our own Dasavatharam" ?
Think about it.