IS
SPIRITUALITY AN ART OR SCIENCE?
While I was reading the
quotations on Art and Soul that appeared in sacred space column of TOI (June11, 2011)
as a mark of respect to legendary artist M.F.Husain, a question arose in my
mind – Is spirituality an art or science? Is it both art and science or
neither?
The quotation by Rabindranath Tagore describing art as the response of
man’s creative soul to the call of the Real appeared to align spirituality to
art. The quotation of Claudia Lady Bird Jhonson describing art as window to
man’s soul, quotation of Theodore Dreiser describing art as the stored honey of
human soul and that of Hafiz describing art as one that makes divine silence in
the soul break into applause speak of art as an expression of spirituality and
vice versa
Swami Sivananda explains that both science and spirituality are engaged
in search of truth. Their attitudes are same but fields of application vary. Science
analyses, classifies and explains phenomena whereas spirituality transcends phenomena
to attain immortality. Another great saint of 20th century Acharya
Vinoba Bhave explains that science investigates universal self (vishvatma) whereas spirituality explores
inner self (antaratma). Science light
ups the exterior whereas spirituality enlightens inner self. Both are mutually
supportive and lead to expansion, unity of mankind and world at large.
The science relates to objects and is therefore objective in nature
defined by rules of external world whereas adhyatma
or spirituality refers to content, innermost essence of the experiencing
subject and is a subjective matter. The objective world (drashya/seen) and subject (drashta/seer)
appear two distinct entities but Vedanta explains that in the ultimate analysis,
object and subject are not different. The
substratum behind the objective world is called universal spirit (Tat/that) and substratum behind
experiencing subject (Tvam /Thou) are
not different and hence thou art that (Tat Tvam Asi) is the core message of
upanishada. In other words, Iswara, the lord of manifested universe and jiva,
the inner ruler are same in essence.
The whole debate reminds me of a lesson learnt by me in college days
that tablet coating is an art than a science. The fact is that tablet coating
is profoundly scientific process based on several kinetic and dynamic
principles. Yet it requires an art, a subjective judgment of the coating process
to be able to execute it skillfully and successfully. This can be safely
extrapolated to infer that spirituality also entails both art and science. The
working of body, mind and intellect (BMI) has to be tuned in an orderly and
disciplined way in any spiritual practice and hence it is profoundly scientific
as clearly felt in Raja yoga practice. At the same time spirituality refers to
raising our consciousness from BMI equipment to divine consciousness, from
plurality to one and non-dual principle transcending body mind intellect and is
an art as clearly experienced in transcendental meditation. Spirituality is
thus both art and science.
From another point of view, doctrine of negation, spirituality can be
described as neither science not art but absolute consciousness and bliss that
remains after subletting all manifestations in the domain of art, science or
anything else for that matter. Chidananda rupa sivoham sivoham, the
finest message of Adi Sankaracharya in Atmashatak/Nirvanashtak
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