Einstein and the Path to God
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.” - Albert Einstein
One of the biggest articles last week on Digg regarded a letter Einstein penned on January 3, 1954, to the philosopher Eric Gutkind. It features the above quote, which seems to throw water on his famous aphorism, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” (Note: you can read the full article here).
This article caught my attention due to something I heard last week while listening to Episode 9 of the Oprah and Eckhart Tolle webcasts/ podcasts (I am a week or two behind). In this episode, Tolle made the following point: the path to God is not through your mind, but rather through stillness.
This was an “ah-hah!” moment for me. I have a history of over-thinking things, and I believe this has made me wary of the “G word” in the past. Most of my life I have swung between atheism and agnosticism, and it has only really been in the past 6- 12 months that I have come to connect to my spiritual side and believe in something greater…..
So for me what Tolle said rings true. And if you haven’t already guessed the connection, the reason I found the Einstein article interesting was because here we have one of the most brilliant minds ever writing of religious beliefs and the Bible as a “childish superstition”. But, if you are to believe Tolle, a brilliant mind is no closer to knowing God than a mediocre mind as it is stillness, presence and awareness that are the truth path to God (or Higher Consciousness/ the Divine/ the Infinite…. etc).
Just to be clear, my point in this piece is not to persuade you to believe anything that is true for me. Rather, I simply wanted to share my “ah-hah” moment as I am sure there are many people who, similar to me in the past, have only ever tried to find the path to God through their mind.
What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
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16 Comments
May 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Peter:
For more “ah-hah” moments, I recommend reading some of the works of French Philosopher, Rene Descartes, who is widely considered to be “the father of modern philosophy.” He is best known for the quote, “I think, therefore I am.”
He promoted the idea of “dualism,” which says that the world is made of material and spiritual aspects. The spiritual aspects of reality are those capable of thinking, while the material aspects cannot think. For example, our mind thinks but our body does not, therefore they can be separated.
Dualism, in essence, makes it easy for a rationalist, such as me (and I think you as well) to intelligently believe in a higher entity and agree with science at the same time.
For a start, I recommend his “Meditations on First Philosophy.”
Finally, if you are a similar thinker as I, it is helpful to stop the questioning of whether there is or is not a God but, instead, agree that there IS a God but define what that means for yourself.
For another french philosopher, who directly addressed the existence of God, except with the use of logic, I recommend Blaise Pascal. Here is my favorite quote from him:
“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” ~ Blaise Pascal
Now, go define what “He” means for you, read Descartes as well, and you will be well on your path to combine science and religion with your own mind…
Email me if you want to communicate about this offline…
Kent (The Financial Philosopher)
The Financial Philosophers last blog post..Reflections on Wisdom: The End of the Beginning
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May 19th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Well, Einstein also said, “My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” And one of his great qualities was his willingness to admit what he didn’t know. “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.”
I personally don’t think he was denying God in the quotation you used — he was talking about the “word God” and yes, the word God has been abused and overused. This fact has nothing to do with God, but everything to do with humans.
Peter, I am glad you are becoming aware of your spirituality!
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June 7th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
@Akemi -Yes to Me,
Bravo! Great response… and at the end of the day, Einstein was in fact just a simple human, like all of us here. Yet, he was able to expand his limited mind way beyond the average one and thus able to have a more enlightened vision of certain aspects of creation that led him beyond the norm.
“The mysterious” [which he would describe as the part of the universe behind the physical dimension] is what he referred to as “the ether”…. and this is worth anyone’s contemplation.
So enjoy the “details” of creation and spend as much time as you can finding their source, because here in lies the true meaning of life.
good luck!
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Kent,
“Finally, if you are a similar thinker as I, it is helpful to stop the questioning of whether there is or is not a God but, instead, agree that there IS a God but define what that means for yourself.” - well put. I think that is the place I am at, but it is only in the past 6-12 months that I have reached this point so my definition is still taking shape.
Re Descartes: yes, I am familiar with Descartes (I did a unit at university on him). Very interesting man, although I recall some of his arguments (eg the Trademark argument) for the existence of God having some major flaws.
I don’t know if you have read Tolle’s A New Earth, but he has the following to say about Descartes (a little bit off-topic, but interesting nonetheless):
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Akemi,
“I personally don’t think he was denying God in the quotation you used — he was talking about the “word God” and yes, the word God has been abused and overused. This fact has nothing to do with God, but everything to do with humans.” - well said Akemi, I can’t disagree with that.
The last paragraph from the article I linked to:
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Peter:
As with all of the greatest thoughts, there are similarly great objections — sometimes from the same philosopher…
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” ~ Rene Descartes
Also, since history offers thousands of incredible thinkers and thousands of wise thoughts for us to find, it is up to us to seek them, much like treasure in a treasure chest. Once we find thoughts that appeal to us, then we apply them in a way that works for our life, with less regard to how the original source applied them in their time…
“All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Thanks for the post…
Kent
The Financial Philosophers last blog post..Reflections on Wisdom: The End of the Beginning
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I love your blog and read it each time you update (via Bloglines….I have never left a comment before).
Personally after a lifelong belief in God I have recently become agnostic. The God that I was told loved people enough to send his son to die for them also sends them to eternal hell for not believing in him. The anger, hurt, ostracism, and disappointment I have experienced as a Christian are not worth it to me anymore. I won’t go into it further, but I never in a million years would have believed that I could walk away from God - but he’s not there for me, so its really like walking away from nothing.
Walking Aways last blog post..Stuff I Heard at Work Today
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May 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
@Kent:
You are like a treasure chest of incredible quotes
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Peter
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May 19th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Walking Away,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your first comment. As you say, here is probably not the place to go into the whole story of your changing beliefs but I will have a look at your blog - I’m curious about why you have moved in the opposite direction to me.
Peter
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May 20th, 2008 at 5:10 am
I don’t have any particular religious beliefs. Where religion and God fail me is that some believers who take the moral high ground are anything but moral in their actions. Particularly when religious beliefs are used as a justification and validation for the death and/or physical or mental torture of innocent bystanders. I am not singling out any one particular religious faith here.
The paradox though is that some believers do an immense lot of good for humanity and lead very moral lives.
I’m not a libertarian either, or at either of the hard ends of the political spectrum.
I guess if I have a strong belief it is the following; when I wake up and I plan on having a positive and productive day I will have one and will handle any unexpected problems with a sense of humor, if I wake up and am in a negative mood I will have a miserable day and not have much patience in dealing with unexpected problems. This kind of sounds like the law of attraction, but the law of attraction has been hijacked by some and presented in terms of material greed. At this point in my life, my readings in “Positive Psychology” are what have struck the deepest chord with me.
Cheers
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June 7th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
@Ben,
typically, we Americans are full of churchianity, not spirituality. We are A young country, diverse politically and religiously, yet we are steeped in materialistic ways which most often block the way to a true spiritual path. Albert Einstein said it correctly, when he stated “The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility”, as these words have the potential of unleashing the human endeavor to find God. Take a moment each day and gaze behind creation, contemplate the natural world and let your mind lead you to the messenger… and here you will find the answers that beckon your soul to its origins beyond this physical plain. Good luck.
Oh yes and one more thing, be aware that all men are on different spiritual paths in life… always respect another’s, but choose your own wisely.
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May 20th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Interesting post, Peter.
I think a lot of the argument comes down to the definition of “God”. It’s easy to get into arguments unless you can define exactly what the word means to you. Some people see God as being a manifestation of nature. Other people see Him as a bearded old man in the sky.
-Scott
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May 20th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I tend to separate a few key concepts: religion, spirituality, and god. I find religion doesn’t require spirituality but may lead to it. Spirituality doesn’t require religion by may lead to it. God [deliberately and ambiguously capitalized at the beginning of a sentence] is merely a word in my first language often used to describe moments of spiritual awareness.
Given those distinctions, I don’t find it surprising at all the Einstein could have a firm understanding of the ‘superior spirit’ and find religion to be less than useful.
Best of luck on your journey. Remember not to “try.”
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May 27th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Can’t get to got through your brain. I always go back to the apophatic tradition of medieval spirituality - we cannot say what God is, only what Gos is NOT.
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August 14th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
This quote makes much sense to religion and knowledge. It was the tree of knowledge that God forbid adam and eve to eat from. Once they ate from the tree, they were casted out of the garden of eden and pretty much cut off form God. The knowledge they attained, I believe, was the knowledge of them selves, individuals separate from God. The individual and self thinking, is what causes sin. Therefore, a thinking mind will not find God, a silent mind will find God. Through meditation amazing things are possible. I have found the light of God by stilling my mind. My mind will question this after meditation, but when in meditation I truly understand, that is where my soul lies. That is why I think the bible says live in the world but not of it.
livin in this world but not be of this world
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December 31st, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Thinker: What you said here about the tree of knowledge was very interesting. I think you’re on to something with that idea. It reminds me of what Kirkagaard said, to paraphrase, “Life is lived forward but understood backward.” To me this means that there are certain things, such as the Bible and God’s work all around us, that may someday be understood and make perfect sense once different, maybe new light is shed on them.
Science, in my opinion, comes closer all the time to shedding this light. There is no conflict between science and God, only what our current culturally-biased understanding doesn’t yet fully fit with for many people. (After all, science is studying and attempting to understand God’s creation, is it not?) I think that someday people (or maybe their spirits) will look back with all the wisdom they have in the future (or through meditation etc) and have one unimaginably intense “Ah-Ha” moment.
Recommended reading:
1. “Why Faith Matters” by David J. Wolpe (excellent, excellent, excellent book!)
2. “Can a smart Person Believe in God?” by theoretical physicist and Christian, Michael Guillen
3. “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn (a radical and highly source-cited textbook, virtually, about Heaven)
4. “The Reason for God: Belief in and Age of Skepticsm” by Timothy Keller (This one is ok, but not as good as #1 in my opinion.)
Something to think about:
The Fibbonacci Sequence - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89… and so on forever. The next number is the sum of the previous 2 numbers. In nature, this sequence is literally everywhere. Every plant has this pattern, ever spiral, every honeycomb, ever sequence of flower petals - it’s everywhere. Take for example a sunflower: It’s petals and seeds are almost always 34 one way, 55 the next, 89 the next! It’s mathmatics (regular, predictable, solid addition) combined with beauty and nature. Randomess (with a capital R) is statistically so unlikely, that it is no longer the “horse not the zebra” compared with the idea of a thinking creator. This is the thought of many in the scientific community. Who am I to say what the truth really is, but the world is amazing, and that is something to really think about.
Also, as far as religious violence etc. goes, that is so sad. But for every terrible thing we hear about in the news, there are dozens of unknown acts of kindness and goodness inspired by the near-universal instinct of faith and spirituality that no one will ever hear about.
Zoe
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