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EDITORIAL May 13, 1999 VNN3847 Evolution, God & Science? BY MADHUDVISA DASA EDITORIAL, May 13 (VNN) — You have said evolution does not necessarily leave God out of the picture and certainly one could speculate in that way, that God somehow used the evolutionary process in His creation, but He was behind it, setting it into motion and directing it. It's a nice speculation of course. And that's what so-called science is about-- nice speculations. Of course it's a way of getting some knowledge and it's ultimately a spiritual process also as if one tries to understand the world around him through science ultimately he will see there has to be someone behind this wonderful creation. But speculation is always imperfect. We get knowledge through our senses then make some hypothesis and test it by observation and experiment. That's the "scientific process." But the problem is that all of us, including the greatest scientists, have four defects. We have the tendency to cheat, we make mistakes, our senses are imperfect and we are illusioned [we accept something as a fact which is not actually true]. So all the scientific hypothesizes and experiments and observations are flawed by these faults. So one can't get perfect knowledge by the "scientific" process. The only way to get perfect knowledge is to find a perfect person and hear from him. If you can hear something from someone who knows perfectly the subject matter then you can get the right information. It's true even in mundane education. If you want to become an expert builder you have to find and expert builder and learn from him. You can't just speculate and become a builder by yourself, that will not be very successful. So the idea that God used evolution may be a nice speculation, but that's all it is. To get the real information we have to consult God Himself and find out how he created the world. So you can read that in the Bible. He made Adam and then made Eve from his body. So the Bible clearly states God made Man, it does not say man comes from monkeys... In the Vedas, the scriptures from India, the creation is described in far greater detail than in the Bible and there it's described that first Lord Brahma was born ["made" by God] and he was empowered by God to create the planets and to populate them with living entities. Actually the universe was created by God and the living entities were placed within it by God, but Lord Brahma was entrusted with the job of the secondary creation. The main point is the first living entity in the universe was Lord Brahma, and he's the most intelligent person in the universe... So there's no question of single cells somehow coming into existence by chance and gradually evolving into higher and higher forms, culminating in human beings as the scientists have speculated... The most intelligent person, Lord Brahma, was the first person in the universe. So there is NO EVOLUTION. The highest form of intelligence is there right from the beginning and he organizes to create the various planets and populate them with the different varieties of living entities... This is not a speculation, it is the word of God and as God is a perfect person, his words are also perfect. The scientists can speculate until the cows come home, but they will never reach the proper conclusion in this way. The proper conclusion can only be reached by surrendering to and serving God and hearing the knowledge from Him... Of course we may not be able to see God ourselves, but if we can see His pure devotee, the bona fide spiritual master, and get the information from him it is as good as getting it from God personally... Because the bona fide spiritual master DOES NOT SPECULATE. He simply delivers the message given to him by his spiritual master. He does not correct it, he does not change it, he does not add to it, he simply presents the message that has come to him through the disciplic succession and that is his qualification. "When a touchstone touches iron, it turns the iron to gold. Parvata Muni called Narada Muni a touchstone because by his touch the hunter, who was lowest among men, became an elevated and perfect Vaisnava. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that the position of a Vaisnava can be tested by seeing how good a touchstone he is--that is, by seeing how many Vaisnavas he has made during his life. A Vaisnava should be a touchstone so that he can convert others to Vaisnavism by his preaching, even though people may be fallen like the hunter. There are many so-called advanced devotees who sit in a secluded place for their personal benefit. They do not go out to preach and convert others into Vaisnavas, and therefore they certainly cannot be called sparsa-mani, advanced devotees. Kanistha-adhikari devotees cannot turn others into Vaisnavas, but a madhyama- adhikari Vaisnava can do so by preaching. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised His followers to increase the numbers of Vaisnavas. yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa (Cc. Madhya 7.128) "It is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's wish that everyone should become a Vaisnava and guru. Following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His disciplic succession, one can become a spiritual master, for the process is very easy. One can go everywhere and anywhere to preach the instructions of Krsna. Bhagavad-gita is Krsna's instructions; therefore the duty of every Vaisnava is to travel and preach Bhagavad-gita, either in his country or a foreign country. This is the test of sparsa- mani, following in the footsteps of Narada Muni." (Cc. Madhya 24.277) Hope you are well, Madhudvisa dasa About the Author | Other Stories by this Author Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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