God, Science and Mother

By Terry Reis Kennedy

When the first man walked on the moon I was a young mother with three children under four.  News of the landing did not excite me.  I felt that exploring outer space and stabbing a US flag into the heretofore sacred lover’s orb had nothing to do with my life: Constant motherly vigilance, piles of laundry and continuous pleadings to God, the angels and the saints, for guidance during this challenging time.

How was this quantum jump of science going to help me raise my children? How was I going to instill human values in their hearts when even school curricula focused on gaining knowledge for the purpose of getting good grades, a good job, and earning pots of money? 

Suddenly, stars were no longer mysterious twinkling diamonds in the sky to be wished upon.  Now they were simply destinations.

I felt my children needed a direct link with the Almighty to get them through life. I believed that anyone with a brain knew that it was God, not science, which was going to keep us together when everything around us was falling to pieces. Well, I was wrong.  Science, not God, won out.  But why?

For the most part, we spend our lives in the material world.  We are more impressed by bad money than by good Samaritans.  Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has said, “The discoveries made by the modern scientists are in the realms of matter whereas the sages of ancient India explored the region of the Spirit.

“The scientists are feeding greedily on what was dismissed as trash by our great sages of the past. The narrow-minded scientists do not bring themselves to believe in the great discoveries made by our ancestors.  Whether they believe it or not, the truths discovered by the wise ancestors stand as eternal verities.  It is not science which is anti-God; it is the scientists who are anti-God… 

“It is sheer ignorance on the part of the scientists to be carried away by the proof furnished by the senses.  The scientists should enquire and investigate into their hearts, instead of mechanically probing into machines.”

Of course, I am grateful for the machines I do have.  But when catastrophe crashes into my life, I don’t kneel in front of the refrigerator!  I go to my altar, light the lamp, and unburden my soul.  I feel better believing in a power greater than myself.

Sai Baba assures, “God can be known only by experience and not by experiments.  Sadhana (spiritual practice) is needed for this purpose.  Men who are engaged in exploring space do not make the slightest effort to explore the Divine within them.  Of what use are experiments aimed at exploring space, while there is no genuine cultivation of human qualities and the practice of such basic virtues as showing reverence for the mother, the father and the preceptor.”

Now that I have entered the grandmother years, I find that faith in God is critical.  The world of my grandchildren is even more threatening than the world my children were born into.  Without a strong connection to the Divine, life could be a very disturbing experience.

Sri Sathya Sai emphasizes the importance of communion with God. “The great scientist, Einstein, regretted in his last years that his scientific findings had led to the production of the atom bomb,” Sai Baba said, and “Sir Isaac Newton ended his life in a hospital with a mental affliction.  True knowledge must secure mental peace and enduring joy.  For this, contemplation of God is essential.”