Faithful Heart, Joyful Heart

We often hear of waterproof cans and bulletproof vests, but what about aircraft­proof gadgets? Even the twin tower designers could not do that. But do we not see aircraft­proof technology in action just overhead? An “ordinary” cloud is a massive, mobile, airborne water tank, which is aircraft­proof; an entire plane pass­ing through it causes no leakage! And what are the raw materials that fabricate this incredibly hi­tech prod­uct? Mainly water vapor and dust! What a masterpiece of design! No wonder Lord Kelvin remarked, “If you think deeply enough, you will be forced by science to believe in God.”

For most pioneering scientists like Isaac Newton, Nicholas Copernicus, Michael Faraday, Johannes Kepler, James Clerk Maxwell, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck and Srinivas Ramanujam, scientific research was always imbued with a sacred vi­sion of the universe as a masterpiece of God’s superintelligence. This reverential attitude is stated by emi­nent scientist Albert Einstein as follows: “I believe in God – who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of the Universe. I believe that intelligence is manifested throughout all nature. The basis of scientific work is the conviction that the world is an ordered and comprehensible entity and not a thing of chance. When I sit here and watch the mighty ocean, I can imagine the treasures hidden below the bed of the sea; when I see the clear blue sky above, I feel sky is the limit. When I cast my eyes around I see the wonders and beauties of nature. Science must learn to live in harmony with all these magnificent gifts of God to humanity.”

Atheists counter: if God exists, why does He let His own children suffer? But does sickness prove the non­existence of doctors? Can sickness not be due to the patient’s neglecting the doctor’s prescrip­tions for good health? Similarly can our suffering not be due to our neglecting God’s guidelines for happy, harmonious living? All God­given scriptures advise us to restrict sensual pleasures and seek spir­itual fulfillment. Scientific findings have vindicated this scriptural counsel. Indiscriminate indulgence is hazardous ­smoking ruins our lungs, alcoholism our liver and illicit sex our immune system. Mil­lions worldwide are benefiting from spiritual practices like medita­tion, yoga, prayer and chanting. Thus the scriptural prescriptions and proscriptions have both been found to be empirically benefi­cial. Hence if we let the facts speak, it is atheism or faithlessness that turns out to be a form of faith; a blind, unreasonable and unprovable faith that God doesn’t exist. We must protect ourselves from faithlessness if we wish to avoid suffering and achieve happiness.

Once an atheist challenged Srila Prabhu­pada, the founder of ISKCON, “You have dedicated your whole life to serving Krishna. What if after death you find that Krishna doesn’t exist?” Srila Prabhupada countered, “What if all your life you don’t serve Krishna and after death you find that Krishna exists? What will happen to you then?”