I happened to read an article on web which mentions an interview where Stephen Hawking, the famous astrophysicist declares that there is no god, and he says that he is an atheist. I am a student of both the fields- science and spirituality. At the same time, this topic of constant debate around man vs. the divine is of special interest to me.
I completely respect the views and opinions of Stephan Hawking but I necessarily do not agree with the same. It is funny to watch the conclusions which others draw from statements of others. Something similar has happened with this interview given by Stephen Hawking. Of course, the web is flooded with endless discussions and debates.
As I have already mentioned, I respect the opinion of Stephen Hawking which is a result of his own study over the years. At the same time, I trust my own experiences and my own contemplation also. Many times, I am asked this question at different events or talks- Is there a god? Can we find him out? Can man acquire all that is needed to be a god?
The diminishing God
Long ago, man was at a very primitive stage of scientific development and hence, many things were absolutely unknown. This made a large room for believing in a god. Later, as science advanced, and we discovered more and more about this universe, men started to realize- that nothing in this world can remain unknown for a long time. This gave a lot of boost to scientists and explorers. And today, all of them are hoping, soon will come a time when man knows everything, rather, everything about everything. This will completely destroy the room for the god.
It seems, that Stephen Hawking has sensed this right now and hence has concluded that god does not exist. A man of meditation will simply laugh on all of this. It seems that most of the Scientists have not at all understood the concept of god. If they still think that god is the one who has created this world and is busy doing miracles, they are absolutely wrong. If they think that god is a person, monitoring everything which is happening around, they are again wrong.
The sad story about this fellow named god is, people have concluded that their ideas of god is god and then they defeat their own idea and claim that there is no god.
God cannot be reduced to a particle, or to a person like us or even to a super-man who can manage things just at his whim.
Scientists can find out answers to all the problems which they today find un-solvable and still, the god will remain as mysterious as he is. Eventually, man is bound to be able to control the minutest of the things happening around and still, the mystery around the god will get multiplied.
Finding out the god- Is science the way?
In the universe, we get what we look for. So, if that thing does not exist, your mind will create it and then you will get it. Those who want answers, they get the answers and those who are not bothered about knowing and getting answer, they get an actual taste. This separates out scientists from seekers. In case of a scientist, the more he goes on knowing, more he wants to know. I remember reading Richard Feynman, where he had wisely said that a scientist should be comfortable with the fact that there are many things which are beyond his understanding- which cannot be broken down in formulae and mathematical models. Most of the scientists, cannot remain happy if something is unknown to them. On the other hand, in case of a seeker, he seeks something only at the initial stages. As he walks along the path, he is not at all bothered about knowing anything. He no more seeks something. He gets a different kind of understanding. Let us assume that a scientist finds out that there is no god. What next? How is it going to change the lives of others? Keep that aside, has the scientist himself gained anything in the process? Nothing except a few formulae and may be structure of some complex mathematical models. Look at a seeker- he gets transformed on the way. His greed, lust, anger drop on the way. The farther he goes, purer he becomes. He develops a unique sense about him and the entire universe around him- which cannot be captured in any formula or model.
I think this discussion – whether god exists or not is nothing but a question which is constantly being harped by insecure human ego. He wants to make sure that nothing over powers him. He somehow wants to convince himself that he is the one who controls everything. This is a falsity as nature doesn’t operate through the principle of controlling but it operates through the principle of freedom.
Scientists are doing their work and I wish they meet success on the way. As Stephen Hawking has said, there might not be a god who supervised the Big-Bang and is breaching our privacy by controlling our lives. A lover of god is not interested in all this, nor will he get disturbed by reading all this; as he is not interested in any destination but is simply walking the way, enjoying every bit of it, getting transformed every step.
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