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Originally Posted by guthrio
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind"
But any Science or Religion without Truth is both lame AND blind.
Primarily the difference between religion and science is the method of inquiry for the Truth...such as to this question which encapsulates both: "Where does Creation end and You begin?" Asking such a question deeply as a scientist asks, and being unafraid to continue exploring the answers has nothing to do with either science or religion, and everything to do with the quality of the inquiry.
If by 'science', you mean the current paradigm within which scientific discovery is conducted by continually seeking answers to questions based on evidence that many of its practitioners (i.e. scientists) have validated, quantified, and repeated, then the answer to your question depends on what such "science" excludes from inquiry. Why? Because the practitioners of such 'science' do not recognize or understand the basis for 'evidence' that is outside their established paradigm. So they collectively (and reflexively) declare, "That event or phenomenon or concept (you fill in the blank) is not possible." Obviously such as stance is ripe for refutation by verifiable, repeatable, quantifiable evidence, even by rigorous adherence to the tenants of their OWN paradigm.
If by 'religion', you mean mean restoring, or “binding back” man’s apparent separation from his Creator, this, too, is most unhelpful in its current uses. Over the centuries, accomplishing this task has devolved into continuing attempts by misguided, self-made organizations wrestling (or paradoxically, even warring) with one another to control any ideas concerning the status of mankind and our relationship with our Creator, as vested in one form or another, to a privileged few. This mindset occurs, unfortunately, within all such groups who are primarily interested in maintaining their set of ideas as the ONLY way human beings are supposed to think, act, and live. I’ve come to understand that the basic premise of religion to “bind back” man’s relationship with our Creator, as practiced in the kinds of organizations I’ve described, is profoundly deficient. Why? Because mankind, created as the Spirit and Image of God, could never be, nor has ever been, separated from our Creator.
The history of mankind’s exploration and discovery of both scientific and religiousTruth is replete with examples of this or that scientist or religious prelate pontificating that this or that phenomena is impossible.
…..Only to be subsequently refuted by quantifiable, repeatable, verifiable evidence found by others with a set of different ideas that turned the paradigm of established scientific or religious consensus on its head.
Do the Heavens still rotate around the Earth? Not after Galileo. Are time and space separate from one another? Not after Einstein. Did you get your vaccines this year? Thanks to Pasteur you did. Is the Earth still flat? Ask Erikson, Columbus or Magellan for the answer. Do you have to read this answer in the dark? Not after a little help from one of Edison’s great ideas.
The Principles of Life uncovered by scientists that govern the relationship between mass, gravity, time, and the curvature of space to produce black holes have been in perfect operation just as eternally before their discovery of those principles as is the frequency upon which you enjoy listening to your favorite music; indeed, existent ever since the Universe cooled it into resonance along with the infinite gradations of frequency radiating beside it. These principles HAD to have been in operation just as perfectly BEFORE we discovered how to harness them into technology as they presently operate now. Or we would not be able to continue to utilize them for our technology today, much less build them into technological improvements tomorrow!
This has to include spiritual principles. (And they operate perfectly whether or not you doubt or have faith in the Universe’s operation) From the standpoint of principle, then, understand that spiritual knowledge HAS ALSO been in perfect operation just as eternally BEFORE as AFTER our discovery and application.
What we call miracles is NOT contravention of science. The accomplishment of miracles comes from a knowledge base that science has not yet incorporated into its paradigm of "what is possible". Such as stance is ripe for refutation by verifiable, repeatable, quantifiable evidence, as I mentioned before. The accomplishment of miracles is based on principles, too. And once you discover them in yourself (and they ARE waiting for you to do so) just as scientists have been "discovering" new ways of looking at the Universe, you, too will be able to utilize these principles to accomplish the very same things.
Whether scientists, theologians, philosophers, or laypersons, we “see” through our ideas. We ALL are free to choose to believe that 2+2=5 for ETERNITY until we have acquired FOR OURSELVES the necessary knowledge of the immutable principle that correctly sums the answer.
Don't believe me? Try MAKING 2+2=5. Doesn't work, does it? We can ONLY accept its perfect operation, because we CANNOT change Truth.
In this manner, even a skeptical, hard-nosed, evidence-propounding scientist of the current paradigm of scientific discovery can learn to understand that the same Source Who created perfect principles of mathematics which operate undeviatingly to create ONLY 4 as the answer to 2+2, ALSO CREATED US out of perfect principles. Furthermore, he or she can validate that the correct application of such principles enables them to accomplish anything consistent with those principles.
You don’t need faith to do this.
You don’t need beliefs to do this.
You only need Truth to do this.
So where do you search for an answer?
As to scientific treatises and text books, we already know that ongoing discovery of ever-new data proceeds at such a pace that they are virtually obsolete shortly after they are published. How reliable is that?
As for religion and the books many faiths utilize to codify the tenants of their faith, consider that whether called the Qur'an, or the Torah, or the Bible, or the Upanishads, or the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the spoken traditions, Mother Nature, or what have you, these books are only tools, PREPARATORY INSTRUCTIONS for the real lessons. Though not the sacred "territory" they describe, such books can help point back to THAT inside of us from which the real inspiration, and direction comes. Their sole purpose is only to reflect the Divinity of the I AM within OURSELVES. A teacher or a book may tell you or show you what to do with them, but we don't really have to go anywhere for the answers we need. The "manual" is written (not "in"), but AS our very being. Our own being is the "book" to learn from.
As there is really no such place where "you" begin and where Creation ends; similarly, there is no dividing line between a "universal self” and an "individual self".
The 'individual' self and the 'universal' Self are One and the Same. "Individual" really means; cannot be divided from, or separated from, the One Whole I AM into parts.
"I, the individual self" is really the Whole expressing Itself as "a part of the Whole"....you.
God is the I AM of all. And beside Him there is no other.
I AM THAT I AM AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO OTHER.
He is Who we are! It is in Him and through Him that we have our Being.
Therefore, you can ask the Creator of Creation for the answer to ANY question. He is ever-present WITHIN you and will ALWAYS answer true. He IS Truth.
What if you DON’T BELIEVE OR ACCEPT THIS PERFECTION if you are a scientist and / or a religious person?
Neither our belief nor disbelief affects THE FACT that the ONLY way you can know this for yourself is to see the perfect principle in operation IN yourself. Understand, though, that you must scientifically uncover, know, operate, and practice the correct principles within the "laboratory" of YOURSELF! Exactly as any scientist learns to apply the principles of mathematics or any other scientific discipline. We can DO NO MORE than work WITH this infinite system of which we, ourselves, are an inseparable part. No attempt on our part to ignore, change, disbelieve, or rationalize affects its perfection in ANY way whatsoever !! 2+2 is ALWAYS 4.....perfectly.
If the accomplishment of miracles was NOT based on unchangeable principles, Jesus would not have been able to truthfully say "Greater things than these shall you also do." Not so just one person can do it, but so that anybody could do it, following relevant principles. And once you discover them in yourself (and they ARE waiting for you to do so) you, too, will be able to utilize these principles to accomplish the very same things. Exactly as scientists apply knowledge gleaned from ‘previously undiscovered’ ways of looking at the Universe.
THAT is the part you won't hear from those who've sought to keep access to the Truth about ourselves limited to ONLY a self-approved “credo” of beliefs espoused in some religion's scripture, filled with sanctioned interpretations about it.
The true purpose of religion or science is not to bind us to "its" teachings or to "its" traditions,
.....but to lift us to go beyond them so that we can know and learn from the Real Teacher inside us all...
Again, when the quality of the inquiry is based on quantifying, repeating, and validating TRUE PRINCIPLES then the answers to our questions can EASILY be understood by theologians, scientists, historians, philosophers, and logicians, and laypersons alike. If we are REALLY serious about knowing, not just believing, the Truth of ourselves, we would gain the KNOW-ledge for OURSELVES, so that the scientific or spiritual Truth we seek proves or disproves Itself irrefutably within OUR OWN EXPERIENCE.
THAT'S what true science or religion is....
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