Spiritual Wisdoms from
Albert Einstein
The ponderings of a man who embodied genius and
wisdom
Albert Einstein is a name you’ve almost most
certainly heard of if you’re alive today, and will likely be a household name
for millennia to come. He is perhaps the most famous scientist of all
time, demonstrating profound wisdom and a capacity for intellect that has yet
to be seen today.
He was wise enough to admit that he could never
fully understand the world from a human perspective. He was an advocate
of using one’s intuition to solve problems, he was fascinated by the mystery of
God in nature, and held high respect for the ideas put forth by spiritual
leaders like Buddha and Jesus.
Searching for The Cosmic Man
It is but one glimpse into a mind like no other, a
mind that sees the world differently. Read through the following passages
that were written by Einstein himself, and explore the space where science and
spirituality meet:
“School failed me, and I failed the school. It
bored me. The teachers behaved like Feldwebel (sergeants). I wanted to learn
what I wanted to know, but they wanted me to learn for the exam. What I hated
most was the competitive system there, and especially sports. Because of this,
I wasn’t worth anything, and several times they suggested I leave.
This was a Catholic School in Munich. I felt that
my thirst for knowledge was being strangled by my teachers; grades were their
only measurement. How can a teacher understand youth with such a system?
Order in the Universe, Disorder in the Human Mind
From the age of twelve I began to suspect authority
and distrust teachers. I learned mostly at home, first from my uncle and then
from a student who came to eat with us once a week. He would give me books on
physics and astronomy.
The more I read, the more puzzled I was by the
order of the universe and the disorder of the human mind, by the scientists who
didn’t agree on the how, the when, or the why of creation.
Then one day this student brought me Kant’s
Critique of Pure Reason. Reading Kant, I began to suspect everything I was
taught. I no longer believed in the known God of the Bible, but rather in the
mysterious God expressed in nature.
The basic laws of the universe are simple, but
because our senses are limited, we can’t grasp them. There is a pattern in
creation.
If we look at this tree outside whose roots search
beneath the pavement for water, or a flower which sends its sweet smell to the
pollinating bees, or even our own selves and the inner forces that drive us to
act, we can see that we all dance to a mysterious tune, and the piper who plays
this melody from an inscrutable distance—whatever name we give him—Creative
Force, or God—escapes all book knowledge.
Science is never finished because the human mind
only uses a small portion of its capacity, and man’s exploration of his world
is also limited.
Experiencing the Universe as a Harmonious Whole
Creation may be spiritual in origin, but that
doesn’t mean that everything created is spiritual. How can I explain such
things to you? Let us accept the world is a mystery. Nature is neither solely
material nor entirely spiritual.
Man, too, is more than flesh and blood; otherwise,
no religions would have been possible. Behind each cause is still another cause;
the end or the beginning of all causes has yet to be found.
If I hadn’t an absolute faith in the harmony of
creation, I wouldn’t have tried for thirty years to express it in a
mathematical formula. It is only man’s consciousness of what he does with his
mind that elevates him above the animals, and enables him to become aware of
himself and his relationship to the universe.
I believe that I have cosmic religious feelings. I
never could grasp how one could satisfy these feelings by praying to limited objects.
The tree outside is life, a statue is dead. The whole of nature is life, and
life, as I observe it, rejects a God resembling man.
Man has infinite dimensions and finds God in his
conscience. [A cosmic religion] has no dogma other than teaching man that the
universe is rational and that his highest destiny is to ponder it and co-create
with its laws.
Einstein & Indian spiritual teacher Tagore,
discussing science and God
Unveiling the Magnificence of Creation
I like to experience the universe as one harmonious
whole. Every cell has life. Matter, too, has life; it is energy solidified. Our
bodies are like prisons, and I look forward to be free, but I don’t speculate
on what will happen to me.
I live here now, and my responsibility is in this
world now. I deal with natural laws. This is my work here on earth.
The world needs new moral impulses which, I’m
afraid, won’t come from the churches, heavily compromised as they have been
throughout the centuries.
Perhaps those impulses must come from scientists in
the tradition of Galileo, Kepler and Newton. In spite of failures and
persecutions, these men devoted their lives to proving that the universe is a
single entity, in which, I believe, a humanized God has no place.
The genuine scientist is not moved by praise or
blame, nor does he preach. He unveils the universe and people come eagerly,
without being pushed, to behold a new revelation: the order, the harmony, the
magnificence of creation!
And as man becomes conscious of the stupendous laws
that govern the universe in perfect harmony, he begins to realize how small he
is. He sees the pettiness of human existence, with its ambitions and intrigues,
its ‘I am better than thou’ creed.
This is the beginning of cosmic religion within
him; fellowship and human service become his moral code. Without such moral
foundations, we are hopelessly doomed.
Improving the World with Ideals, not Scientific
Knowledge
If we want to improve the world we cannot do it
with scientific knowledge but with ideals. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi
have done more for humanity than science has done.
We must begin with the heart of man—with his conscience—and
the values of conscience can only be manifested by selfless service to mankind.
Religion and science go together. As I’ve said
before, science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind.
They are interdependent and have a common goal—the search for truth.
Hence it is absurd for religion to proscribe
Galileo or Darwin or other scientists. And it is equally absurd when scientists
say that there is no God. The real scientist has faith, which does not mean
that he must subscribe to a creed.
Without religion there is no charity. The soul
given to each of us is moved by the same living spirit that moves the universe.
I am not a mystic. Trying to find out the laws of
nature has nothing to do with mysticism, though in the face of creation I feel
very humble. It is as if a spirit is manifest infinitely superior to man’s
spirit. Through my pursuit in science I have known cosmic religious feelings.
But I don’t care to be called a mystic.
I believe that we don’t need to worry about what
happens after this life, as long as we do our duty here—to love and to serve.
I have faith in the universe, for it is rational.
Law underlies each happening. And I have faith in my purpose here on earth. I
have faith in my intuition, the language of my conscience, but I have no faith
in speculation about Heaven and Hell. I’m concerned with this time—here and
now.
It is Intuition which Advances Humanity
Many people think that the progress of the human
race is based on experiences of an empirical, critical nature, but I say that
true knowledge is to be had only through a philosophy of deduction. For it is
intuition that improves the world, not just following a trodden path of
thought.
Intuition makes us look at unrelated facts and then
think about them until they can all be brought under one law. To look for
related facts means holding onto what one has instead of searching for new
facts.
Intuition is the father of new knowledge, while
empiricism is nothing but an accumulation of old knowledge. Intuition, not
intellect, is the ‘open sesame’ of yourself.
Indeed, it is not intellect, but intuition which
advances humanity. Intuition tells man his purpose in this life.
I do not need any promise of eternity to be happy.
My eternity is now. I have only one interest: to fulfill my purpose here where
I am.
This purpose is not given me by my parents or my
surroundings. It is induced by some unknown factors. These factors make me a
part of eternity.”
~ Albert Einstein
Text Source: Einstein and the Poet: In Search of
the Cosmic Man (1983). From a series of meetings William Hermanns had with
Einstein in 1930, 1943, 1948, and 1954
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