The Meaningfulness of the Universe

The Meaningfulness of the Universe

1992 3-4 March-April 8 The Meaningfulness of the Universe (330) Arthur Koestler has quoted Albert Einstein in Janus as saying: I maintain that cosmic religiousness is the strongest and most noble driving force of scientific research. A contemporary has said, not unrightly, that the serious research scholar in our generally materialistic age is the only deeply religious human being.

The meaning of religiousness in the above saying means belief in the unseen meaningfulness. When a scientist sets about his research, the driving force in his work at that point in time is this hidden belief in him that there is unity and meaning in the universe. If he is bereft of this belief, he can never be serious in his research.

Thus it can be said that in reality there is no difference between a scientist and a religious-minded person. A religious person performs certain acts of devotion with the object of pleasing God, or of finding a reward in the hereafter. The religious person neither sees God nor the Hereafter, yet he engages in his religious acts with extreme devotion and concentration. The reason behind this devotion is· his absolute faith in the unseen realities. Exactly similar is the case of the scientist. He devotes his whole life to the investigation and research of a certain reality. The reality lies hidden in the unknown world. Nevertheless, the scientist has this prior belief and conviction that what he wants to discover lies hidden in the universe, although it has yet to come within his purview.

The essence of religion is to believe in the meaningfulness of the universe, a meaningfulness which has yet to come before our eyes, for, in this world, all higher realities lie hidden. The scientist then stands, in his quest for knowledge, on the same ground as the man of religion, for the higher the form of research, the greater the emphasis on the unseen. It is in the hidden realities of the universe that both the scientist and man of religion must seek divine significance.