most sci ent ists shy away from the pol it i cal, psy cho log i cal, spir

i tual, and other

di men - sions of their work. Normally, the whole ques - tion of these other di mens
ions is pushed out of the scene. Ste phen Hawking, for in stance, feels the need for
a su per vis ing God who must de cide on what hap pens at the edge of uni - verse.
Yet Hawkings God is only a causal and log i cal prin ci ple. !"here would not #e a
con - nect ion with mo ral ity, he pointed out.$ %n the con trary, in &'(', No# el
physi cist Ste ven )ein #erg e* pressed an idea that is in con so nance with the lan
guage of mys tics, and trag ed ia ns like Sopho c les or Shakes peare. He said, !"he
ef fort to un der stand the uni verse is one of the very few things that lifts hu man
life a lit tle a#ove the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of trag edy.'
"hat is true knowl edge which makes one free from the fet - ters of ani mal im
pulses and makes for di vin ity +s, vidy,y,vimuktaye-, teaches Hin du ism. "his is
ech oed in .insteins cele#rated statem ent/ "he most #eaut i ful emot ion we can
e* per i ence is the myst i cal. 0t is the power of all true art and sci ence. He to
whom this emo tion is a stranger is as good as dead. "o know that what is imp en- e
tra #le to us re ally e* ists, man i fest ing it self as the highe st wisd om and the
most ra dia nt #eauty which our dull fac ult ies can com pre -
hend only in their most prim it ive forms1 this knowl edge, this feel ing, is at the
cen ter 2of3 true re lig ious ness. 0n this sense, and in this sense only, 0 #el ong to the
ranks of dev outly re lig ious men.&4
5eferences &. 6arl 7immer, .vo lu tion +8rr ow 9ooks, :44;-, :;4. :. "he <omp lete
)orks of Swami =ivekananda, ' vols. +<alc utta/ 8dvaita8shrama, &-$, &'$'> ',
&''(-, &.:';. ;. .rwin Schr?dinger, )hat is @ife +<am #ridge Ani ver sity, &'B(-,
&44-&. C. DritEof <apra, "he Hid den <on nec tion +@on don/ Dlam ingo, :44;-, &FC,
&(F, &C&. F. Geepak<hopra,Huan tum Healing +New York/ 9ant am, &'$&-, (&. B.
"he Hid den <on nec tion, &C:, &C&, (&, &F4, &F(. (.
Swami9rahmeshananda,Health, Ied i cine and 5e li gion +<hennai/ Sri 5amakrishna
Iath, :44C-, :C$-'. $. 5enee )e#er, Gi a logues with Sci en tists and Sages1 "he
Search for Anity +@on don/ 5outledge J 6egan Kaul, &'$B-, :4'. '. HeinL Kagels, "he
<os mic <ode +New York/ 9ant am, &'$;-, :($. &4. Gi a logues with Sci en tists and
Sages, :4;.
K9 - I85<H :44F ;C