I was an electrical engineer in college, and have a very math and science oriented mind and way of thinking. I know that includes wanting to know how and why things work, and explanations in terms of the observable, tangible, and measurable. But as I got into meditation and spirituality, I became more interested in things that are neither tangible, measurable, or have explanation.
On the incompatibilities of science and religion/spirituality, at the core of religion is belief and acceptance without proof, whereas those who claim to be scientific often believe in rejection without disproof. I think both religion and science would be better served by open mindedness, and acknowledging that a greater understanding will come through inclusion of things which do not fit neatly within the exclusivity of their own accepted beliefs, or that might even alter them. Out of body experiences, synchronicities, spirit interactions, and the complexity of the myriad forms of life and our DNA all show that there is much more to our universe than basing everything on the story of a massive explosion that gave way to the manifestation of this world and all the lifeforms within it out of chaos and random processes. Clearly an intelligence exists that plays a part in orchestrating much of our world and how connected things are. To deny the existence of such an intelligent force, even if it may be very different from religious ideas about “God”, isn’t very scientific or open minded, and isn’t all that different from the religious person who confines their understanding and beliefs about everything to one book. Atheists who intellectualize everything and assume that they are smarter than everybody who believes in God are missing a very real dimension to things, in my humble opinion. They would invalidate countless people and their experiences by simply refusing to include or acknowledge them. True science is open minded and does not work backwards to invalidate things that don’t fit within accepted beliefs, assuming that people who have certain experiences are either lying or crazy. True science would seek to understand, rather than dismiss such things. While subjective experiences cannot prove that any part of religion is true, it is very possible to have experiences that are in the category of “mystical” that clearly show that there are things about our lives that science does not have an answer for, unless it leaves room for the spirit realm and the concept of a soul. A favorite quote from the philosopher Plato: “Atheism is a disease of the soul before it becomes an error in understanding.”
A great reminder is: you don’t know, what you don’t know. Best to be open minded when it comes to God and things that absolutely nobody knows for sure, without blindly believing in religious dogma either. I believe wholeheartedly that our level of open mindedness and how much we cling to to what we think we know can be an aid or a hindrance to a deeper and truer understanding of things, respectively.
Asymmetrical Awareness 