An international technological exhibition was held in New Delhi in 1961, in which a large number of countries participated. The American pavilion became the centre of people's attention, drawing the crowds away from other pavilions because it had an air motorcar on display.
The visitors, (myself included) gathered on a field to watch the spectacle, The driver first drove it on the ground like an ordinary car, then raised it: about 4 feet above the ground, circled the field several times, then brought it down on to the ground again.
It was explained to us that such cars drew air from above and released it at high pressure: below the car, thus building an air pad between the car and the ground over which it could glide like a boat sailing on water.
Among the visitors there was a young Sadhu. Clad in saffron clothes, his long, tangled hair falling into curls and knots, he kept gazing at the car with rapt attention for about 20 minutes. Seeing his state of absorption, a newspaper reporter approached him to ask what his impressions were of this air ear. The Sadhu replied quite seriously "After watching this air motor car, I am faced with a new problem, that is, whether or not I should forsake the spiritual life for the material, and thus fulfill my ambitions by way of material achievements. This exhibition has caused me to have second thoughts about which of the worlds, spiritual or material, it is better to be attached to. (The Hindustan Times, 20 November, 1961)
Such events as this seem to show a contradiction between scientific and spiritual development. It would appear that the one can be gained only at the cost of the other. But it entirely depends on what one's interpretation of spiritual is. If being spiritual means forsaking the world altogether and taking to jungles and mountains, renouncing all contact whatsoever with the world, the scientific and spiritual appear to contradict each ether.
But we find no clash between the two, if we regard the spiritual life as one in which one purifies one's self, body and soul of base motives. In this way being spiritual means only to rectify one's relationship with other human beings and is far from meaning the renunciation of all contacts with the material world.
The spiritual is by no means the opposite of the scientific; it is actually the opposite of the material. Because a spiritual person is not materially minded, it does not mean that he cannot think scientifically. One who is spiritually inclined resorts constantly to his inner mental life something which no one can take away from him. Such a man possesses inner contentment, and is far above all material gain and loss. Inner peace is something which he holds dearer than anything else, for he needs look no further than his own inner resources for his satisfaction in life.
