Thoughts on Synthesis of Science and Religion

This book presents a unique vision for the New Millennium. It contains a collection of essays and thoughts on the synthesis of science and religion from some of the most prominent thinkers, eminent scholars, religious leaders and scientists of the world, including four Nobel Laureates. This book reflects some possible grounds of synthesis of science and religion. It includes papers presented at the main sessions of the Second World Congress for the Synthesis of science and Religion held in Calcutta in January 1997, as a centenary tribute to Srila Prabhupada who was one of the most prominent spiritual and cultural ambassadors of the 20th Century India. In addition, the volume contains articles and messages contributed by many other luminaries of the world.

"Many scientists will say, 'I can't believe in religion. I can't be religious.' On the other hand, if you ask them, 'Do you think you have some free will,' almost every scientist instinctively thinks so. He has free will. He can choose some things. He can decide to go this way or that way. There is, in fact, no room for free will in present scientific laws and yet almost every scientist essentially assumes he has it."
- Charles H. Townes

"Science and technology alone cannot solve the problems of the new millennium. We need additional guidelines for our actions, for the selection of our research projects and research goals. These guidelines have to do with ethics, with philosophy, and with faith."
- Richard R. Ernst

"... it seems to me that creativity in its finest form contains something that we cannot normally explain by the normal algorithmic process of discovery. It contains a non-algorithmic process, a non-algorithmic operation."
- E. C. G. Sudarshan

"I am saying to modern scientists and theologians: don't imagine that our latest ideas about the Big Bang or the human genome have solved the mysteries of the universe or the mysteries of life."
- Freeman Dyson

"A great breakthrough in the history of integration of science and spirituality has been the experimental verification of the nonlocality of quantum objects."
- Amit Goswami

"If scientific research and theology treat each other with respect and trust, if the scientist and the theologian collaborate honestly and trustfully with each other, then, and only then, true progress for the benefit of humanity will be achieved."
- Maximilian Mizzi

"As scientists move ahead in research and discoveries, they arrive at boundary lines which heretofore have been the domain of religions. The leading questions at these boundaries have to do with the origin of the universe, the nature of time, and the meaning of consciousness."
- William Edward Swing

"... whatever our beliefs or theories, whatever our religious practices or research protocols, it is ever essential to keep in mind the bigness of the universe and the smallness of the human being."
- Oscar Arias

"We can tell you what the DNA of human is, but the essence of humanity and the boundaries of defining what humans should do, is an issue for theology and religion in general."
- Gregory Benford

"Spirituality is not just a bunch of emotions and fantasy. It is the Reality of our existence. Physics lives inside it only."
- Jagadish N. Srivastava

Before science can advance any further, may God reach the hearts and souls and brains of those involved in the science of death and destruction and change their hearts and minds sufficiently, thereby allowing them to work for Life and Creation."
- Betty Williams

"... we should have a University of Spirituality - a university in which all religions are represented. Perhaps the Bhaktivedanta Institute could transform itself into the first University of Spirituality."
- Robert Muller