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study of the protection, nourishment and treatment of our body, mind and senses. Both are related to the indivisible and indestructible existence of life. One touches on the outer man, the other concerns itself with his inner being. The field of spiritual science explores the inner consciousness and the substance of the soul. Natural science includes the experimental study of nature and research into it right from the microscopic atom to the vastness of galaxies. Natural science is thus knowledge of the external world, and spiritual science, which deals with the purification and sublimation of the soul, is the knowing of the inner world.
From this viewpoint, natural science and spiritual science are not in competition with each other, but altogether complementary. Science is experiment, where religion is reflection. Science unveils the mystery of the wondrous powers of nature and establishes their existence by experimentation. Spiritual science lends us the wisdom for their constructive utilisation. It also opens up the mind to
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higher thinking and expunges consciousness of animosity, baseness and fear. It decides when, where and how scientific discovery should be used. It is spiritual science which provides natural science with a discerning vision. How then can anyone say that natural science and spiritual science stand opposed?
Life today cannot just be involved in the aspiration of the soul, neither can it be wholly taken up with the progress of the external self. Life has two aspects, the inward and the outward. Life is about maintaining the right balance between the two and moving forward. Inner wisdom is necessary so as to avoid division and indiscipline in the outer life. The inner life too is dependent on the outer life for the care of their common vehicle, the body. The material and the spiritual can never be mutually exclusive. On the contrary, a qualitative as well as quantitative value should be given to both in order for us to progress. Only then can life be beautiful, useful and blissful. When I think along these lines, it seems that natural science and
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