- Religion and spirituality are related but distinct concepts, with religion focusing on beliefs and rituals and spirituality focusing on the process of becoming attuned to unworldly affairs. - New developments in physics have found common ground between religion and science in the concept of quantum consciousness or spirituality as the essence of both. - Spirituality is a more personal experience than religion and focuses on love over fear, independence over dependence, discovering truth directly rather than through concepts like heaven and hell. - While religion promotes specific beliefs and codes, spirituality is more abstract and focuses on spiritual practices like prayer and meditation over dogma.

1. Religion, Spirituality & Science

2. For science,
"reality" is
perceivable
reality, while for
spirituality,
"reality" is
ultimate reality.

3.  Rudyard Kipling has famously said, “East is east, and west is west, and never shall the twain meet.”
Even today, human society remains polarized at large into the extremes of Religionists and Science-
believers. Most people either believe in Religion as a given thing without questioning its ‘know-how’
with its ‘know-why’, or believe in Science with its ‘reductionistic, materialistic’ approach treating all
that which cannot be perceived by the senses as falsehood, saying that only ‘Seeing is believing’.
 However, with the coming of ‘New Physics’ in the last 6 decades or so, the prospects of the two
extreme viewpoints, both seeking Truth, coalescing have become bright. What is emerging as
‘common ground’ between the two is Spirituality. It may be said that while Religion has lost its inner
essence, which is Spirituality, Science is gradually beginning to discover its own mother-essence,
which again is Spirituality.
 What is emerging as common ground is ‘Quantum Consciousness’ aka ‘God’, which posits the unity
of all being into something that is beyond the physical. A personal experience of the divine is what
formed the very basis behind formation of Religions by spiritual teachers that came from time to
time. Likewise, Spirituality is now being perceived as the ‘mother of all Science’, to be discerned
within the true body-temple, within which the entire inner cosmos, along with its Creator, resides,
and of which the physical sciences merely form the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
 However, even this appears to be oversimplification due to the innate limitations of the human
frame, bound as its Sutratma- soul string is to the bottom of the cosmic well. It needs a rope in order
to exit this prisonhole, within which its soul perambulates continuously within the cycle of 8.4 mill.
life-forms, bound by its karma. This rope can only be provided by a perfect Master, who Himself is not
bound and knows the path to the True Divine, the pristine Home of the soul, where it needs to return.
 Such a perfect Master alone can give the soul a contact with the Creative Power of the Cosmos-
the inner Light & Sound, known as Naam, Holy Word, Kalma, Tao and so on, the rope of liberation.
Religion, Spirituality & Science

5.  Religion and spirituality are two related yet distinct constructs associated with
faith. Religion denotes "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe,
usually involving devotional and ritual observances and a moral code." In contrast, spirituality can be
defined an experience of the "sacred." The major difference between religion and spirituality is one
of believing versus being. Religion's focus is the content of one's belief and the outworking of that
belief; spirituality's focus is the process of becoming more attuned to unworldly affairs. It's possible to
be religious without being spiritual and spiritual without being religious.
 Spirituality is the most natural thing there is; it is simply one’s own conscious-self recognizing that
you are more than just a body, that you are a soul with infinite potential. However, people tend to
think of spirituality as something very strange and mysterious. People in modern-day society have a
lack of knowledge when it comes to non-material subjects and have a fear of being manipulated.
 Spirituality scores over Religion in various ways: - Absence of dogma, instead, freedom to follow
one’s own heart - Absence of fear, instead, being based on love - Absence of dependence, makes one
independent - Instead of coercion of adhering to concepts such as heavens and hells, it speaks of the
natural law based on Karma - Instead of merely speaking about truth, lets one discover it - Instead of
creating barriers between people, it brings about unity between them; it brings about genuine peace
within and without.
 A religious person accepts a certain set of beliefs as true and observes a certain set of rituals. In
contrast, spirituality is the fact of being spiritual and is usually evidenced by the act of doing spiritual
things. Praying, meditating, reading Scripture, and giving to a charity are all things that a "spiritual"
person might do. Spirituality is more abstract than religion. Religion usually promotes a creed and has
a defined code of ethics; it is tangible. Spirituality exists in the nebulous realm of the indefinable.
Because of this, an increasing number of people in postmodern Western culture view spirituality as
good and religion as bad. Ambiguity is "in" today; dogmatism is "out."
Religion & Spirituality

6.  Religion must be understood as a "cumulative tradition," i.e., as having gone through evolutionary
stages. Anthropologically, it may have had its roots in animism (deification of the forces of nature) and
magic. Biologically, Religion has been a survival mechanism for humanity. Sociologically, Religion has
social origins as it enhances community feeling. Psychologically, Religion originates from our
unconscious mind. Psychologically, Religion originates from our unconscious mind. Theologically,
Religion springs from God. A modern view has it that Religion is a product of our brain chemistry.
 Religion has 7 dimensions: 1. Myths: Sacred stories: (a) historical myths filled with hagiography and
symbolism, and (b) purely symbolic myths. 2. Rituals: Activities that connect one with the sense of the
sacred. 3. Experiences: Religious experiences of the sacred; a feeling of the numinous. 4. Doctrines:
The philosophy or belief system. 5. Ethics: The moral codes of the group. 6. Social Aspect: The
organizational form of the Religion, and 7. Material Forms: The sacred objects of the religion.
 Religions invariably contain mythology. Ancient polytheistic religions are usually categorized under
the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples or cultures in development are called
"myths" in the anthropology of Religion. The term "myth" can be used pejoratively by both religious
and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one
implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs. Mythology is often
thought of as other people's religions, and religion can be defined as mis-interpreted mythology.
 In sociology, however, the term myth has a non-pejorative meaning. There, myth is defined as a
story that is important for the group whether or not it is objectively or provably true. Examples
include the death and resurrection of Jesus, which, to Christians, explains the means by which they
are freed from sin and is also ostensibly a historical event. But from a mythological outlook, whether
or not the event actually occurred is unimportant. Instead, the symbolism of the death of an old "life"
and the start of a new "life" is what is most significant. Religious believers may or may not accept
such symbolic interpretations.
Religion

7.  Essentially, the term “Religion” (“re”+ “ligere”) means ‘to bind back’. The word “Yoga” (from the
dhatu- root, “Yuj”) also means the same: re-integration of the presently separated ‘soul’ with its
source, the ‘Oversoul’. There is another term in consideration: “Dharma”, which essentially seems to
convey the meaning, “duty’ (as in ‘Bhagwad Geeta’), but in mundane terms, it pertains to the name of
religious institution to which one belongs—whether Hindu, Moslem, Christian etc. However, if one
were to realize that the essential duty of a human-being is to achieve self-realization (khud-shanasi)
and God-realization (Khudaa-shanasi), then the term Dharma acquires the same meaning as Religion
or Yoga.
 In other words, these terms have a lofty, esoteric intent- sadly beyond the ken of the lay
practitioner. “The pearls were not to be cast upon the swines.” Nevertheless, in order to convey
something of worth to the people at large, the esoteric came to be presented as exoteric through the
use of allegory. The ‘milk and fruit’ of the coconut thus came to be encased in a ‘hard shell’ that only
a few could possibly break open. The Upanishads, hence, speak of two types of knowledge: “Para-
vidya”, the esoteric pertaining to the ‘inner space’ inside the human body-temple (dubbed ‘Hari-
mandir’ or ‘Nar-Narayani deha’), the realm of truth, and “Apara-vidya”, the exoteric pertaining to the
‘outer space’, the realm of the shadow of truth. The former pertains to the spiritual faculty of the
human-being, while the latter is driven by the mind and its sensory organs that garner information
from the outer world.
 Religion must be understood as a "cumulative tradition," i.e., as having gone through evolutionary
stages. Anthropologically, it may have had its roots in animism (deification of the forces of nature) and
magic. Biologically, Religion has been a survival mechanism for humanity. Sociologically, Religion has
social origins as it enhances community feeling. Psychologically, Religion originates from our
unconscious mind. Psychologically, Religion originates from our unconscious mind. Theologically,
Religion springs from God. A modern view has it that Religion is a product of our brain chemistry.
Religion

8.  The Seven Dimensions of Religion are: 1. Myths: Sacred stories of two kinds: (a) historical myths
filled with hagiography and symbolism and (b) purely symbolic myths. 2. Rituals: Activities (usually
repeated) that connect one with the sense of the sacred. 3. Experiences: Religious experiences of the
sacred; a feeling of the numinous. 4. Doctrines: The philosophy or belief system of the religion.
5. Ethics: The moral codes of the group. 6. Social Aspect: The organizational form of the religion, and
7. Material Forms: The sacred objects of the religion.
 Religions invariably contain mythology. Ancient polytheistic religions are usually categorized under
the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are
similarly called "myths" in the anthropology of religion. The term "myth" can be used pejoratively by
both religious and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as
mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and
beliefs. Joseph Campbell has remarked, "Mythology is often thought of as other people's religions,
and religion can be defined as mis-interpreted mythology."
 In sociology, however, myth is defined non-pejoratively as a story that is important for the group
whether or not it is objectively or provably true e.g. the death and resurrection of Jesus, which, to
Christians, explains the means by which they are freed from sin and is also ostensibly a historical
event. But from a mythological outlook, whether or not the event actually occurred is unimportant.
Instead, the symbolism of the death of an old "life" and the start of a new "life" is what is most
significant. Religious believers may or may not accept such symbolic interpretations.
 A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that
relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred
histories that aim to explain the meaning of life, the origin of life, or the Universe itself. From their
beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, people may derive moral and ethical codes, religious
laws or a preferred lifestyle.
Religion

9.  Many religions may have organized behaviours, clergy, a definition of what constitutes adherence
or membership, holy places, and scriptures. The practice of a religion may include rites and
rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of a deity, gods and goddesses), sacrifices, festivals,
feasts, trances, baptisms, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer,
music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture.
 The human quest for the divine is essentially driven by the realization of one’s own mortality. Since
what transpires across the portals of this life is unknown, there is a lurking fear of death, which fuels a
drive to seek out the ‘knowledge of the beyond’. One’s own Religion invariably provides the first level
learning in this regard or may go on to study Religions other than one’s own. Instead, one may
venture into the field of Spirituality, discovering it to be in the core of all Religions.
 The founders of Religion gave out their teachings based on their own individual experiences. These
teachings and practices were suitably tailor-made for the needs of the specific society during those
times. However, as time progressed, after their departure, their followers institutionalized their
teachings into a belief system or Religion in their name. Without the presence of a living Master’s
power, these Religions have, thus, remained mere fossils of the time bygone. They have not been able
to suitably modify themselves for the present day needs and mores of the society, nor adapted to the
needs of different geographical locales to where they have spread.
 Even the rudimentary presence of Religion, the human society would surely become unruly and
disintegrate. Religion has been provided to all human-kind, across the board, as some sort of useful
‘free education’, though somewhat limited in its content, through one or the other Religion. For the
worldly, religious cum social institutions, with set beliefs and rules of living, came to be established-
the outer shell. This set of rites and rituals is known as ‘Karma-kaanda’ (or even ‘Paakhanda’), while
within its shell lies ‘Adhyatma’ or Spirituality, the real milk and fruit, to which only a sincere seeker of
truth could hope to attain if only he were able to reach the feet of a perfect Master.
Religion

10.  The spiritual Masters have been clear regarding Truth. Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj states that the
Truth lies within the ‘home’ (i.e. one’s own body), and not in the outside. Those who foolishly look
for it in the outer world shall surely be deluded. Sant Kabir Sahib bluntly declares that God resides not
in the temples, mosques and churches built by human hands, nor in places of pilgrimage; He resides
but within temples built by Himself, i.e. within each one of us. Closely examined, the outer places of
worship are but a replica or model of the human-body itself.
 Outer religious practices- such as charity, pilgrimage, ethical virtues, Samskaras- sacraments etc.
can, at best, serve merely as preparatory exercises to Spirituality. The intention here is to think-speak-
practice the good, while abjuring the bad, i.e., the making of an “Accha” (good) person; while
Spirituality aims at making a “Saccha” (true) person. There is no doubt that while the former
constitutes an “essential stepping-stone” to Spirituality; by itself, it is not an aspect of Spirituality per
se, which lies beyond the duality of good and bad. If due caution is not exercised while doing good
deeds, they too- like bad deeds- become karmically binding, leading to re-birth. Good deeds should
be done selflessly without expectation of reward and should be ascribed to the divine/Guru.
 Not having being understood properly, Religion has not served the human society well. In fact,
most of the ills of the human society can be ascribed directly to Religion, which has only served, in
practice, to divide it. Clearly, something better and higher is called for: Spirituality. Spirituality
comprises the exclusive, esoteric knowledge, in which the exoteric practices of Religion essentially
become redundant. Sadly, only a miniscule, unworldly type persons alone seek and benefit from it.
This comprises the higher, divine knowledge that leads to liberation.
 It is said that the difference between Religion and Spirituality is that while in Religion, we
communicate with God, in Spirituality, God communicates with us! It is also said that while in
Religion, we go by belief in someone else’s experience, in Spirituality, we go by our own. We ourselves
have been described as spiritual being, undergoing a human experience.
Spirituality

11.  From a rational standpoint, there are two aspects of genuine Spirituality to contend with: 1. Ishta
or deity of choice that is the object of adoration and forms one’s spiritual destination, which ought to
be one and only one, and 2. Sadhan or means whereby one may reach the same. As regards the
choice of Ishta, one first needs to know the spiritual hierarchy of the entire macrocosmos. Logically,
the only the very highest deity (the Supreme Lord) ought to form one’s deity of choice, much as in the
court of the king, by bowing to the king, one automatically pays regards to the rest of the courtiers.
This comprises the theoretical aspect of spiritual science.
 The Sadhan to reach the Supreme Lord can only be provided by one who has Himself reached and
merged with Him, and is authorized to take others to Him. He is known as a perfect Master, Sant-
Satguru, or Murshid-e-Kamil. He provides a first-hand connection of the initiate with the divine
creative power (inner Light and Sound, known as Naam, Kalma, Holy Word etc.) within the laboratory
of one’s own body-temple, which when detached from the outer world and empowered through
regular meditation, results in the journey of the soul into the inner worlds, during which the Master
accompanies the initiate within, until his soul is united with the Oversoul or God. This is known as
‘Surat-Shabd Yoga’ (Yoga of Soul-Celestial Music), comprising experimental aspect of spiritual science.
 There are several degrees of Spirituality available. The Yogas of the Yogis provide attractions of
Riddhi-Siddhis, but remain limited to the very prison that jivas are presently confined in, and cannot
show a way out. The higher class of Yogis—the Yogishwaras and Yogishwaranands also cannot rid the
jiva of the karmically induced bondage of Chaurasi- the cycle of constant birth and death on earth in
8.4 mill. life-forms, for they themselves are bound to the triple Gunas or qualities in ‘Brahmand’- the
grand triple region. The Sadhus, no doubt, lead to liberation in ‘Paar-Brahm’, but fail to provide
complete contact with the Lord. It is the Sants, who alone can provide the jiva the gift of self-
knowledge in ‘Sach Khand’ and the Param Sants take the jiva to merger with the ultimate, unmanifest
form of the Supreme Lord, described only as an ‘Ocean of Love’.
Spirituality

12.  How may we enter the Kingdom of God? With the help and guidance of one who has himself
entered it and who can guide us there. If all of these physical sciences that belong to the realm of
‘Apara vidya’ and are studied and mastered on the plane of the senses, require the help of a teacher,
the need of a teacher is still greater for spiritual science, ‘Para vidya’, knowledge of the beyond,
which is an inner process far beyond the ken of the senses, to be studied in the depths of the mind
and experimented with in the laboratory of the soul.
 Spirituality/Yoga has body focus at its lowest level and spirit at the highest. Sadly, most people
choose the former focus—for, after all, body, unlike spirit is ‘tangible’! Also, it is not sufficient to
merely intellectualize or to read/recite holy scriptures—no doubt, the valuable records of inner
experiences of Masters in Spirituality. As light comes from light, so does life come from life. Life
impulse must be transmitted into the soul of the seeker to quicken it with real life, the life of the
Spirit. Hence the need for a living Master. Only one who can open the inner vision and show us the
Light of God, and make the inner ear hear the Voice of God—the Word—is the real Master.
 Knowledge of the Self precedes the knowledge of God because it is the inner conscious Self which
alone can know God—the All Consciousness. This is in consonance with the hidden laws of Nature, of
which we have as yet no knowledge. This is the one common goal for all humanity. Man is the highest
of all creation. If he does not attain his goal, he is lost. “What does it profit a man if he gains
possession of the whole world and loses his own soul?”
 Rather than the outer science that rests upon its validation on our imperfect outer faculties, the
Spiritual science is validated by our hitherto dormant, perfect spiritual agencies of inner vision
(known as Nirat) and of inner hearing (known as Surat), awakened by the grace of a perfect Master by
opening of the Third or the Single Eye. This inner science perfectly fulfils all qualifications to be called
a ‘Science’. Which is why it is considered to be the very ‘Mother of all Science’. This is a science with a
true and eternal worth to jivas.
Spirituality

13.  Presently, most of our attention is going outward into the world and outside the body. We are
aware of the world and our body through the faculty of our attention. Our attention is drawn by the
five senses into the world outside. We are pulled by our senses into the world of sight, sound, smell,
taste, and touch. Through these senses we perceive the world. If we withdraw our senses to a point
within us, known as the seat of our soul or awareness, located between and behind the two
eyebrows, our attention will focus there. When all our attention is closed off from the physical world
and our body and concentrated at this still point, we will be able to see the inner Light and hear the
inner Sound. Through further concentration on the inner Light and Sound, the conscious part of
ourselves will withdraw into it and we will emerge into a realm of higher frequency of Light and
Sound.
 There are no hard and fast rules, no ceremonies, no offerings of gifts or payment during the
Spiritual Initiation. In this process, the Master acts as an external catalyst, enabling the unification of
the soul with Oversoul. A disciple has only to enter into the laboratory of his body and proceed. A
firsthand experience of withdrawal of the Soul-current, the opening of the inner vision and hearing of
the Sound-current—the ‘Voice of God’—is invariably given by the Master to the disciple at initiation,
which experience is developed from day to day by regular meditative practice.
 The key to a successful meditation is the withdrawal of the sensory currents to the eye focus or the
‘Third eye’. Once there, it requires a constant gaze into the middle of whatever is lying in front of us
without any distractions of thought. On one hand, it is an easy process as it does not require any
difficult Asanas or postures. It does not even require breathing exercises, or any austerities. Although
it is simple, it takes a lot of practice to do it accurately. We begin with finding a time to meditate when
there is no disturbance—preferably the wee hours of the morning. Our pose should be comfortable
enough to sit in that position for the longest possible time. Our job is to go on looking sweetly and
lovingly into the middle of whatever is lying in front of us and repeat the names of the Lord.
Spirituality

14.  Spirituality is the most perfect of all science—indeed, it is the very ‘Mother of all Science’! From a
rational standpoint, there are two aspects of genuine Spirituality to contend with: 1. Ishta or deity of
choice that is the object of adoration and forms one’s spiritual destination, which ought to be one and
only one, and 2. Sadhan or means whereby one may reach the same.
 As regards the choice of Ishta, one first needs to know the spiritual hierarchy of the entire
macrocosmos. Logically, the only the very highest deity (the Supreme Lord) ought to form one’s deity
of choice, much as in the court of the king, by bowing to the king, one automatically pays regards to
the rest of the courtiers; much as in the corporate hierarchy, where there is a Chairman of the Board,
a Managing Director, various level Managers and Supervisors, a worker who directly knows the
Chairman need no longer deal with the rest! This comprises the theoretical aspect of spiritual science.
 The Sadhan to reach the Supreme Lord can only be provided by one who has Himself reached and
merged with Him, and is authorized to take others to Him, as well. Such a Master is known as a living
perfect Master, Sant-Satguru or Murshid-e-Kamil. He provides a first-hand connection of the initiate
with the divine creative power (inner Light and Sound known as Naam, Kalma, Holy Word etc.) within
the laboratory of the body-temple, which when detached from the outer world and strengthened
through regular meditation, results in the journey of the soul into the inner worlds, during which the
Master accompanies the initiate within, until his soul is united with the Oversoul. ‘Surat-Shabd Yoga’
(Yoga of Soul-Celestial Music) comprises the experimental aspect of spiritual science.
 True Spirituality comprises the complete unveiling of the various Koshas- coverings comprising the
duality of mind-matter, and driven by Prana, that shroud the soul as it descends from its pristine
Home into the lower worlds, in order to be able to function in them suitably. Once this is achieved,
the individual soul is said to shine with the lustre equivalent to 16 allegorical suns! It is bathed in
ecstasy and bliss that life in the lower worlds could not provide. The ‘Prodigal Son’ has returned to his
Father, who lovingly welcomes him Home.
Spirituality

15.  Science has always sought to explain the unexplainable, solve the unsolvable, and know the
unknowable. Scientists devote themselves to finding answers to the mysteries of life. It is driven by
the innate curiosity of every human being to find answers to the questions of what, why, and how.
When we think about all the scientific research that have driven humanity since the dawn of time, we
find there is at the heart of all these advances is the desire to answer several burning questions: who
are we, what are we, why are we here, how did we get here, where do we go when we die.
 Science is the practice where people, usually as collectives, make controlled observations and
testable predictions. This is done in the hope of constantly refining their models and understanding of
the world. A scientific method seeks to explain the events of nature in a reproducible way, and to use
these findings to make useful predictions. This is done partly through observation of natural
phenomena, but also thru experimentation that simulates natural events under controlled conditions.
Observability, Testability, Repeatability and Falsifiability are the hallmarks of the scientific method.
 Based on observations of a phenomenon, scientists may generate a model. This is an attempt to
describe or depict the phenomenon in terms of a logical physical or mathematical representation. As
empirical evidence is gathered, scientists can suggest a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon. When
a hypothesis proves unsatisfactory, it is either modified or discarded. Experimentation is especially
important in science to help establish a causational relationships (to avoid the correlation fallacy).
Operationalization also plays an important role in coordinating research in/across different fields.
 Once a hypothesis has survived testing, it may become adopted into the framework of a scientific
theory. This is a logically reasoned, self-consistent model or framework for describing the behaviour
of certain natural phenomena. A theory typically describes the behaviour of much broader sets of
phenomena than a hypothesis; commonly, a large number of hypotheses can be logically bound
together by a single theory.
Science & the Scientific Method

17.  The philosopher of science Karl Popper sharply distinguishes truth from certainty. He writes that
scientific knowledge “consists in the search for truth,” but it “is not the search for certainty...All
human knowledge is fallible and therefore uncertain.” A modern Saint, Param Sant Kirpal Singh Ji
Maharaj has said, “Truth or God cannot be known by the senses, intellect, or Pranas—only soul can
experience the Lord, and this can happen only after it has come to know itself.
 The human being is composed of body, mind and soul. We are extremely careful to develop
ourselves physically and mentally, but understand very little about the soul, which is the power ruling
both body and mind. Soul is the conscious entity in man. To know our Self is not a matter of feelings,
emotions or drawing inferences. It is really one of rising above body-consciousness by self-analysis to
know practically who we are.
 There needn’t be a dividing line between Science and Spirituality. Western science draws that line
because it begins with the assumption that the world is composed of ‘matter’ only. Many successes
have come from that assumption, but it doesn’t explain everything. Once upon a time, Science and
Spirituality were synonymous. This knowledge was not systematized, but verbally passed down the
wisdom of their society elders.
 Larger indigenous societies, such as the Mayans, are still stupefying scientists, who can’t figure out
how they knew so much about the stars or how they managed to build their pyramids. One thing all
so-called ‘primitive’ societies had in common was a marriage of the spiritual and scientific. They
intuitively discovered which plants were good for what. Plants didn’t simply have healing chemicals in
them, for example, they had healing energy.
 This intuitive approach to science is so foreign to us today, we call it ‘spiritual’ or even ‘miraculous.’
During the Middle Ages, they burned ‘witches’ at the stake for having ‘supernatural’ powers. Today,
they are ‘burned at the stake’ by the ridicule of the high priests of science and technology.
Science & the Scientific Method

18.  Spirituality is studied as is science. In the scientific method, we begin with a hypothesis. Next, we
make a plan of the procedure and or materials we want to use to test the hypothesis. Then, we follow
that plan exactly and record the data or findings. When complete, we analyze the data and report on
the results. Was our hypothesis correct or incorrect? The data either proves of disproves our
hypothesis. We prove our hypothesis when we can replicate the results under the same conditions.
 Any belief not based on personal experience and verification of facts has little value. The ‘Science
of Spirituality’ deals both in theory and practice with man’s true nature and his relation to God. It is
purely a personal, practical and a natural science, not subject to change or time. In it, if there is a
hypothesis required to be proven, it is that ‘God exists’.
 The ‘Science of the Soul’, also known as ‘Sant-Mat’ means the knowledge taught by the perfect
Spiritual Masters. It is neither an intellectual scholastic system of philosophy nor a mere code of social
or moral conduct, though both of these are elementary steps on the way of Spirituality.
 Although ‘Sant-Mat’ is a pristine, unchanging spiritual knowledge, it does present itself from time-
to-time in the ‘language of the day.’ Since, the intellectual path finds wide acceptance in the present
times, this knowledge is also being made available in the paradigm of science i.e. as the ‘Science of
Spirituality.’ In it, if there is a hypothesis to be proven, it is that ‘God exists.’
 The Upanishads describe two kinds of sciences: (i) ‘Para’ (Transcendental) the superior Pratyaksha
(direct), and (ii) ‘Apara’ (Terrestrial) the inferior Paroksha (indirect). Apara is preliminary knowledge
consisting of study of scriptures, codes of rituals, book learning, worship, fasting, giving of alms, etc.
Para knowledge is by far the Nature’s science of approach to God or the ‘Science of realized Truth.’
This science is and has been at the root of all isms, faiths, Religions and all beliefs throughout the
world, in all ages past and present, and will remain so for the future.
The Science of the Soul

20.  The Science of Para vidya teaches us how the spirit is to be liberated from the bondage of mind
and matter, to come in contact with the Spirit Divine in order to realize and regain the Kingdom of
God, the Garden of Eden, our True Home, which is now a lost province. It integrates the individual
systems of science, psychology, philosophy, Spirituality and Religion into a unified system that
describes the multi-dimensional nature of man and the universe. It provides a more comprehensive
description of reality than science can offer and explains the mechanisms behind an array of
paranormal phenomena that science chooses to ignore.
 The scientists of Spirituality have found that when we invert our attention, we find a source of light
and sound not evident through gross scientific instrumentation. They have uncovered higher
frequencies of existence far beyond that of the physical universe. They discovered that at the heart of
their physical body and mind is an essence that consists of light and sound that is conscious and
imperishable. Today, as scientists in quantum physics split the atom and atomic particles in particle
accelerators, they find at the heart of each of these particles dancing packets of energy radiating light
and sound. It has taken physical scientists considerable number of years through the development of
refined instrumentation to prove what scientists of Spirituality had already discovered thousands of
years ago.
 The scientists of Spirituality have found that there are a series of regions, each more ethereal and
functioning at higher and higher vibration levels than those below it. When they crossed this
threshold they were ultimately able to merge into an Ocean of Spirit. At this point at their journey,
they came to know all there is to be known. They experienced oneness with all creation. They
experienced a state that brought about ineffable happiness, love and bliss.
 Today, during the darkest part of Kali-yuga, as the ‘Science of Spirituality’ opens up to human-kind,
it has been prophesied that a ‘Golden Age of Spirituality’ is about to dawn, liberating countless souls.
The Science of the Soul