The science of the future will be the science of man, not the science of matter. This change must occur before it is too late. Those scientists who are committed to the investigation of the inanimate are orthodox men, with minds bound by tradition and convention. Men of awareness must come forth to alter the direction of scientific research. Science must strive for knowledge of man himself.
In their efforts to master the material world modern scientists have attained results unprecedented in human history; there is no reason they cannot be equally successful in achieving the same insight into man. Man can be known. He can be mastered; he can be transformed. I see no reason to be discouraged. We can come to know ourselves, and on this knowledge, we can build a totally new consciousness.
A new man can be born; a new life can begin. This has been attempted by various religions in the past, but to see it through, to perfect it, a scientific approach is needed. What religion has begun, science can complete.
In relation to the world of matter, the attitudes of conventional science and orthodox religion have always been dissimilar. In fact, religion has not been concerned with matter at all. In this area, science reigns supreme. But this does not mean religion has nothing of value to contribute. Traditional science must be abandoned, and science and religion must join forces. Only this kind of union can save mankind. What we have acquired through our knowledge of matter is nothing compared to what we will gain by knowledge of the self.
In the human mind, there are latent powers and infinite possibilities as yet undeveloped. And the reason mankind is so miserable is because of the confused state of these untapped energies. When the mind of a man is in chaos, his individual confusion automatically multiplies by the time it merges with the collective consciousness, by the time it mixes with the universal mind.
Society is much more than the sum total of its individuals – it is its individuals, multiplied; it is the expanded effect of our personal interrelations. Whatever happens in each individual will be reflected in society in a greatly magnified form. The cause of all war, the roots of all social degeneration, are within the individual human minds. If we are to change society, we have to change the men who exist within it; if there is to be a new base for society, we have to offer a new kind of life to the individual.
Both poison and nectar exist within the hearts of men. The confusion of energy is the poison; the control of energy is the nectar. And the way in which a man’s life can be transformed into harmony and bliss is through yog.
We must create a science that can fill the inner world of man with glowing health and celestial music – not for any future kingdom of heaven, but for this world, for life on this planet. If this life is bountiful, why worry about any other?
Religion, philosophy and the scriptures have not been concerned with the physical world at all, not as science has been. Matter has been conquered, but the man for whom this has been done has been completely ignored.
Man must come first. Man must become the centre of both science and religion. Science must disengage itself from matter, religion, from the other world. This will give birth to the greatest event in human history; this will give birth to a great creative energy. This union alone will save mankind. There is no other way.
Abridged from Immortal Words, courtesy: Osho International Foundation, www.osho.com
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