editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES IN SCIENCE
AND SIKH RELIGION
HARDEV SINGH *
ABSTRACT
Religion and Science are both engaged in the exploration of
ultimate reality, but they are following two different routes, viz;
consciousness and material world. However, the quantum theory has
broken the barrier between the two modes of perception by accepting
the role of consciousness in both theory and experiment. The conflict
between Science and Religion which started in Europe during 15 th
century is yielding place to an era of reconciliation and dialogue during
recent times. Inter-faith dialogue and global perspectives of sciencespirituality
dialogue have an important role to play in this era of
globalisation. Global perspectives in Science find an echo in the
philosophy of Sikh religion.
INTRODUCTION
Human life is based on the interaction of physical, cultural and
even religious forms of life. Man is part of nature. Human mind has
access to reality through four modes of knowledge : sensory experience,
discursive cognition, intuition, and revelation. In the first two modes, the
subject-object duality remains intact. Hence the religious experience,
which transcends this distinction, does not belong to the realm of
these modes. While mysticism involves intuition, spiritualism bases
its self-certifying validity on revelation. The revealed word has no
transcendental source, but is immanent in the cosmos and is revealed
to and heard by the sages. This is how the Vedas were revealed as
shrutis.
* # 360, Sector 71, SAS Nagar (Mohali),