Man's Search for Truth

From the dawn of history until today, human beings have ceaselessly searched for the truth with which to overcome both types of ignorance and attain knowledge. Humanity through religion has followed the path of searching for internal truth, and through science has followed the path of seeking external truth. Religion and science, each in their own spheres, have been the methods of searching for truth in order to conquer ignorance and attain knowledge. Eventually, the way of religion and the way of science should be integrated and their problems resolved in one united undertaking; the two aspects of truth, internal and external, should develop in full consonance. Only then, completely liberated from ignorance and living solely in goodness in accord with the desires of the original mind, will we enjoy eternal happiness.

My life in search of the truth

We can discern two broad courses in the search for solutions to the fundamental questions of human life. In the first, people have searched within the resultant, material world. Those who walk this path, believing it to be the supreme way, kneel before the glories of highly developed science. They take pride in its omnipotence and the material comforts it provides. Nevertheless, can we enjoy full happiness founded only upon external conditions that satisfy the flesh? The advance of science may create a comfortable social environment in which we can enjoy abundant wealth and prosperity, but can that alone truly gratify the spiritual desires of the inner self?

The passing joys of those who delight in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing compared to the bliss experienced by those on the path of enlightenment, who find joy in the midst of simple poverty. Gautama Buddha, who abandoned the luxuries of the royal palace and became enraptured in the pursuit of the Way, was not the only one who wandered about homeless while searching for his heart's resting place. Just as a healthy body depends upon a sound mind, so too the joy of the body is complete only when the mind is content.

What of the sailor who voyages on the sea of the material world under the sail of science in search of physical comforts? Let him reach the coast for which he longs. He eventually will come to realize that it is nothing more than the very graveyard where his body will be buried.

Where is science heading? Until now, scientific research has not embraced the internal world of cause; it has limited itself to the external world. It has not embraced the world of essence, but has limited itself to the world of phenomena. However, science today is entering a new phase. It is compelled to elevate its gaze from the external and resultant world of phenomena to the internal and causal world of essence. The scientific world has begun to recognize that science cannot achieve its ultimate goals without a theoretical explanation of the causal, spiritual world.

When the sailor, who has completed his voyage in search of external truth under the sail of science, adds another sail, the sail of religion, and embarks on a new voyage in search of internal truth, he finally will be headed toward the destination for which his original mind yearns.

From Divine Principle