I was listening to the dialogue between a Buddhist philosopher and a scientist. The scientist said that science admits quite candidly that it does not know so many things in the quantum world, for example, the particles of dark matter, and that makes science move forward in the domain of the unknown and fosters further enquiries. On the other hand, in our spiritual pursuit, we tend to believe very quickly. A person who does not understand the ABCs of quantum physics will say that by following a particular method, you will get enlightenment, and we follow the path and claim to be enlightened. Now, what is the proof of this enlightenment? There is none. It's a very personal experience.
All of this appears to be a circus. Why would somebody try to run away from what is visible and apparent to realise something that can't be explained? Why would I try to do the quantum analysis of my table? The table may be made of atoms and molecules, but that doesn't affect how I use it. I am not going to get the best out of the table by performing molecular analysis on it. I just need to know about the table's wood and mechanics to get the most stable and durable table on which I can place my laptop and write this blog. The laptop itself may have been programmed by the application designers. This blogger application would also have been designed by the team at Google's headquarters. I don't know what code underlies this application. However, for the sake of writing this blog, I don't need to know that programme.
I agree that an ordinary person who has no knowledge of quantum physics may buy a better table than an accomplished quantum physicist. An ordinary person with no knowledge of neurology may earn more money than an accomplished neurologist. Then we should just stick to the functional utility of the things. Why do we want to go deep down and understand them at the molecular level? Why do we want to understand the deep secrets of the brain? Why are we so concerned about the cosmos? How does it matter to us as to what's happening millions of light-years away from the Earth, where we can never reach?
We are probably not sure of what we are doing in this world. Why do people get into depression even after being a billionaire? Why do people become so fearful after acquiring powerful positions? Why do people become so mean in the closest of their relationships? It is because the human brain cannot make sense of reality. It makes a "meaning" of life, sets certain goals, pursues them and then feels disillusioned having achieved that goal. Just like a thirsty person running from mirage to mirage in a desert. We can't use a machine to its full capacity unless we know all the functions it can perform. Similarly, we can't live to the best of our capacity with a limited understanding of life. How do we set the locus of life?
How will Arjuna choose Krishna unless he knows that neither kingdom nor victory matters before Krishna? How does that realisation come to Arjuna? It comes when we see through things. The purpose of buying the table is to provide a stable platform for the laptop so we can type easily, and the laptop is not for writing the blog or other work. They have a limited functional role. But the purpose of life is to live, and living is full of all the possibilities. If we don't understand life, we will be confined to a very limited spectrum. Whether we understand life at a shallow, functional level or form certain beliefs about the meaning of life, enlightenment, or spiritual experiences, both limit us. That's why Krishna asks Arjuna to fight the battle with complete awareness and equanimity rather than leave the battlefield and sit in meditation. Fight the battle not to win and enjoy the kingdom, but for Dharma. To operate with that oneness with Krishna and the whole of the universe, rather than operating with the ego, which lives with a false belief of being separate. That's not easy. While ego makes us limited, the ego of being spiritual makes us all the more limited.
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