Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

ALTHOUGH science and technology have made rapid strides, man has not acquired the divine qualities. Technology is the child of science. But very much anterior to science is the Veda. Science seeks to know all about creation, but the Veda reveals the knowledge about the Creator. All the natural sciences are concerned with knowledge about created things.

But there is a Creator who is the source of all of them. In the quest for understanding the objects in creation, man is forgetting the Creator. By forgetting the Creator, man is failing to develop the quality of love. Why? Because God is Love and Love is God. When we forget Love, we forget God. When God is forgotten how can Love grow?

Science has been enormously helpful and has achieved many wonders. But, simultaneously, it has done incalculable harm. Science as such is not to be blamed for this. It is the wrongful use of science that is responsible. Science discovered for man the secrets of nature and the cosmos. But what is the benefit we delve from knowing these secrets? Knowledge is one thing; its proper utilisation is a different thing. Of what avail is it to know the power of the atom if we have not learnt how to put it to good and beneficial use? The knowledge delved from science should be used for sacred and righteous purposes.

We need today a science that can promote love. Instead of Spirit of Love, we are witnessing today a "splitting of Love." The Spirit of Love is being broken up and destroyed. Thereby love is receding to the background. Imagine what should be the state of man in an age in which science and civilization have advanced to such a degree far beyond anything conceivable in an earlier era. Yet, in the so-called dark ages of man, without much knowledge, man led a purer and nobler life. Man today indulges in greater cruelty than wild animals. It would be an abuse of language to regard as human beings people who indulge in large scale killing of each other. Man has lost respect for life. Where, then, is our boasted progress?

Man has explored the secrets of Nature and has even acquired control over the five elements. But he is not aware of his own true nature. Long time ago, in an earlier epoch, the young lad Prahlada told his father, "In a brief period you have been able to conquer all the worlds; but you have failed to master your senses and your mind." Likewise, today we are acquiring mastery over the external universe, but are unable to control our senses. It is only when we use science for control of the senses will we be able to bring Science and Spirituality together and integrate the two. Today love seems to be absent even between parents and children, between husband and wife. Science must seek to discover means of promoting love and turning mankind away from the path of self-interest.

There is an internal relationship between Nature and Divinity. The ocean, the moon and man are interrelated. The ocean swells on Full Moon day. What is the connection between the ocean and the moon? The mind and the moon are inter-related. Without our being conscious of it, our minds are affected during Full Moon days. Mental afflictions are aggravated during those days. The scientist should develop an integral approach towards Nature, Man and Spirit. Only then can he realise the underlying divinity that unites the man and the cosmos. Men today act upon what is stated in an almanac. But when the Vedas declare "Thath Thwam Asi" ("Th at Thou Art") they are not prepared to believe in it. Men who are prepared to believe in some tale in a newspaper or a novel, will not believe in the Vedic pronouncement of their inherent dignity.

Many scientific inventions are extremely useful to man. But if they are not properly used they can cause great harm.

For instance, television can be valuable means of educating and entertaining people. But how is it being used today? As soon as a boy returns from school, he throws away his books and starts looking at the TV. His mother serves him food near the TV set. Both mother and son keep watching TV without regard to their other duties. Several hours of precious time is wasted in watching TV. The fault lies not with the television, but with the excessive and wrongful use of the instrument. It is like a knife which can be used for slicing vegetables or stabbing a person. It is only when science is linked to spirituality that the results of science can be fully harnessed for the good and elevation of mankind.