The Science of Religion!

Religion. It has intrigued me since I can’t even remember. More wars have been fought over religious differences than any other. Religious conspiracies are an all time favourite of thriller fiction. Many awesome writers like Dan Brown, Alan Folsom and others have created spine tingling thriller stories revolving around religious conspiracy theories. Dan Brown, in particular, can create marvels. His novels, especially The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, blurred the boundaries between science, art and religion.

But then probably, these 3 were never very different to begin with. Some of the greatest minds of all time were ardent believers in religion. Many great artists, architects and creative geniuses were keen students of religion too, and this reflects in their work. They have left many references in their works, some obvious and others not so palpable, and that is why their works are still admired after all this time.

Now science and religion also have existed together before the idea of either was actually conceived. No one can tell when religion came into existence; the same is true of science. Maybe their definition has evolved over time, but science, religion and art have existed ever since the human being has.

So maybe I got a little carried away; what I basically wanted to talk about was how religion and science are not as different as we have always been told to believe. Even though many a great scientists & philosophers have been exiled or murdered in the name of religion, there are many incidences where our religious scriptures have been in consistency with science!

Let’s not venture too far from home; let’s just focus on the Hindu scriptures for the time being. Now we might have heard a lot of stories in the Hindu mythology, particularly the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Now at first glance, we might dismiss them as stories, but on closer inspection, we see some really mind boggling revelations!

Consider Ramayana. We all know about Ravana. Yeah, he’s the guy with the 10 heads. Fewer among us know about his “Pushpak Vimana”- a vehicle made from flowers that could fly. Now looking past the strange name and the fact that it was made from flowers, it’s a vehicle, which could FLY! And all this was recorded in scriptures that date back to I can’t even remember when! A similar case happens in Mahabharta. There was this guy, Samjay (my mom told me his name, my knowledge of Hindu mythology is passable at best), who recited the whole battle of Mahabharata, which was happening so many miles away. Now maybe you might differ, but this sounds a lot to me like LIVE television. And these scriptures are centuries old. Astounded? Join the club! Maybe the saying “history repeats itself” has a more literal meaning than we realised!

Science is not the only thing hidden in these scriptures. Reading through these fabled tales, you’ll see the logic embedded in them. Take the simple example. Lord Shiva, the legendary god, has a snake as his ride. One of his sons, our dearest Ganesha, has a mouse as a means of transport (don’t laugh please, I’m not making this up, it’s all written in the scriptures). Now his other son, the less famous Kartikeya, rides a peacock. The astute reader must’ve already figured out by now- mouse, snake, and peacock. Oh my God! It’s a food chain!

Now you can find many more similar examples and incidences in these scriptures. This really makes your mind turn, right? I mean, how can people who exited centuries back even IMAGINE these kinds of things! While some questions probably can’t be answered right now, we can safely assume that these religious scriptures are merely not a collection of abstract stories. They are rooted in logic, and they pave way for the future. Maybe that was what different religions were created for. As a way to understand nature, to understand life itself. But over the centuries, these religions have distorted into something else entirely- an unexplained way of life, a collection of mythological tales, an assortment of idols to which we pray every morning, not even realizing that they are just symbols which characterize different traits in humans!

So yeah, a debate over religion never gets old, and I’m sure I’ll be back with some more opinions over this one. But as of yet, I leave you in peace! Bye!