BATURAM NAYAK describes the elusive yet adventurous search of spiritualists and scientists for the Language of God and the Law of the Universe

The search for a meaning, a pattern, an order or a purpose in the overall phenomenon of the universe is a ceaseless exercise of the human mind. Since the dawn of intelligence, man is in a constant process of spinning a constructive theory for himself in order to arrive at a conclusive theory of the universe.

The beauty of this incessant quest is revealed in the exciting adventure of man along two diametrically opposite directions ― towards the deep-inside as well as the far-outside ― revealing the beautiful tapestry of the microcosm and the overwhelming grandeur of the macrocosmic universe.

Man’s search for the Great Unifying Principle or the Penultimate Theory of the Universe, either with a scientific or with a spiritual zeal, is perhaps the one-point-programme of man across all faiths and beliefs. However, the purpose remains one and the same ― to unravel the truth behind the enigmatic existential reality.

Baturam Nayak

To unravel this enigma the spiritualists venture to see in it the phenomenon of the universe, ‘The Language of God’, which is universal, whereas the scientists venture to see in it, the ‘Law of the Universe’, which holds equally good in the womb of the small as well as in the expanse of the magnificent, in this vast universe.

Displaying a flair for holistic insight about this universal search of man for a meaning in uncertainty, Warner Heisenberg, the Nobel Laureate physicist and propounder of quantum mechanics had this to say: “I have always been fascinated by the relation between the ancient teachings of the East and the philosophical consequences of the modern quantum theory.”

While scientists have as yet been unable to deliver an appropriate theory to describe the Law that governs the Universe, spiritualists have also been unable to define the Language of God, and instead wind up with an indirect answer saying, नेती नेती (Not This, Not This). As a result that Language of God languishes as one attempts to define it and search for that elusive meaning.

In spite of this uncertainty, both spiritualists and scientists equally uphold rock-like faith to decode the meaning behind the Language of God or the Law of the Universe, which is as adventurous as charting along on an as yet unexplored or unmapped path.

As Abraham Maslow so convincingly and optimistically says about the fate of this enigmatic journey in his book Religion, Values, and Peak-Experiences: “…it is possible for all of us…to accept in principle the empirical spirit and empirical methods and to humbly admit that knowledge is not complete, that it must grow, that it is in time and space, in history and in culture, and that, though it is relative to man’s power and to his limits, it can yet come closer and closer to “The Truth” that is not dependent on man.

 This road can be traveled together by all who are not afraid of truth, not only by theists and non-theists, but also by individuals…(of diverse-dimensions).”

Going along this road, perhaps, we can hope to have an indirect glimpse and even direct insight of that wonder-word, that magical-metaphor, which is potent enough to convey the Language of God or the Law of the Universe.

Baturam Nayak, a postgraduate in economics, joined the banking sector in 1983 and retired in June 2020. He is a firm believer in simplicity and minimalism. “My faith is Oneness, एकत्वम्; that’s the way I would express myself and live in harmony with everything,” he says.

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Featured Image: Vishal Kumar from Pixabay