One of the main themes of SoulLaboratory.com is that science is not the universal system of truth some would have us believe. While science is, to paraphrase renowned scientist and outspoken Christian Francis Collins, the best system for deriving truth about the physical world that we have, it is not without limits. In previous posts I outlined the philosophy of the objective/subjective divide, which limits science to phenomenon observable by two or more people. I have also described the practical problems science has with observing and explaining rare physical phenomenon like raining frogs, or forming testable hypotheses about past events like extreme physical miracles. And those are just the limits I’ve gotten around to describing. Others limits, such as our inability to observe events before or outside the physical universe, or determine the truth of simple statements like “all ravens are black,” are just as important. In summary, there are many kinds of truths and science can’t address them all, and some it can’t address well. This is the end of science, beyond which there is “space” for something else, as alluded to in the tagline for SoulLaboratory.com.
Among the most important kinds of truth are those that are relevant to our personal lives. Questions such as why am I here? and what is the purpose of my life? are forever beyond the domain of science because they relate to our personal, subjective experience, as evidenced by the use of the first person personal pronouns “I” and “my.” Related questions, such as why are we here, or what is the purpose of our lives are fundamentally different, and maybe answerable by science. While those answers are enlightening, and may serve as a roadmap for personal growth, they may or may not be specific enough to guide us in the way that we need. So we are all left with the task of finding some way or system to help us make sense of our own personal experience. Spirituality is one such system, although not the only one for sure, and, by way of example, I would like to describe to you the way that spirituality guides my life and my science.
When I wake in the morning, I say a special little prayer, the modeh ani, thanking the creator for returning my soul to my body after its night journey to the upper world. I then wash my hands and say another blessing, the netilat yadyim, to remove the residue of negative energy. Then I drink a little coffee (not ideal, but I have my limits), and then, eventually, say the morning prayers of shacharit. Within shacharit are many “connections,” individual prayers or spiritual actions, each with its own purpose. I put on a tallit to connect me to the or makif (surrounding light). Tefillin helps me balance energy in favor of the right column. On Mondays and Thursdays, I listen to the reading of the Torah, a special handwritten scroll of the five books of Moses, the connect me to a higher energy. After prayers, I study the sacred Zohar, the sourcebook of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
How you view and understand these actions depends on your personal worldview. A materialist atheist will view these actions as the worst kind of superstition. Unsupported assumptions drive every action, and the supernatural qualities are evidence of a total lack of reason. If you are a religious Jew, you might see these actions as mitzvot, honoring the creator by following his laws. Practitioners of other religions might view these actions with sympathy, or antipathy, depending on the nature of that religion. Moreover, these judgments are mutual. For example, the religious types might view the morning activities of the atheist – reading the paper, drinking coffee, listening to NPR (as all atheist do 🙂 – as empty of any meaning beyond selfish fulfillment.
But what about my perspective? For me, Kabbalah is an all-encompassing worldview, the goal of which is to help me effect change in myself that allows me to receive all of the amazing forms of fulfillment that this grand universe has to offer. Kabbalah offers an ages-old history of discussion of right action against a backdrop of metaphysics of cause, colorful descriptions of creation, and understanding of the purpose of the universe as I just described it. Those morning actions, described above are tools that I use to help me connect to and appreciate all the universe has to offer me, and to change in a way that helps me receive it. That’s what Kabbalah means, by the way, receiving. For me, prayers are tools of consciousness and in that sense Kabbalah is technology of the mind. The evidence that I have of its truth is that I lead a richer, more fulfilling life now than I did before, thanks to the teachers at the Manhattan Kabbalah Centre, and the Rav and Karen Berg, who created the center.
So these actions that may appear to the outside as being superstitious, irrational, stupid, wrong or blasphemous, are in fact not attempts to magically avoid the laws of nature, nor to cajole a supernatural entity to intercede on my behalf. All I’m trying to do is change myself to make my life better. The test of my success is whether my life is better, not whether you see my life as having improved. That’s the sense in which spirituality, at least in the form I practice it, is an entire subjective phenomenon, and entirely outside the domain of science. Notice though, that my spirituality is not outside the requirement of cause and effect. I still demand that my actions have consequences, albeit subjective ones.
None, of this is to say that spirituality can’t be studied by science in some way. You may impose additional objective standards and study them scientifically. For example, one might want to see that on average those who study Kabbalah, or some other system, report being happy and less depressed than others. This is a standard question in clinical research. Now, let’s say for the sake of argument that one conducted such a study and found that for most people, there lives don’t improve. That just means that you may not want to prescribe Power of Kabbalah 1 instead of prozac for random unhappy people. It does not prove that Kabbalah doesn’t improve the lives of some people some of the time, it just falsifies the notion that it has the predicted effect in the general population.
So, what is the end of science and the beginning of spirituality? It’s the point were we stop asking questions about everybody and start asking questions about our selves. This isn’t all there is to spirituality. One has to act as well.
