Child's Play

I have not succeeded in going to bed earlier; the excitement of my pursuits keeps me late into the night. But still I'm trying and hope I'll do better this week. I really do need more rest. Today I'm feeling a bit exhausted, but as always, I'm still keeping my appointment to blog. 

Kenangan Coffee at Subang Parade is my inspirational spot today. It's noisier than usual because there's an ongoing cheerleading event and the now ubiquitous busker is playing in a corner of the mall. But I'm happy with my Americano and settled down into my island of contemplation.

I reread last week's article where I expressed the following thought: 

That impulse to know, understand, connect and experience the world we find ourselves in is the beginning of science and spirituality. 

I write a lot about spirituality in my blog and maybe I'll dwell a bit on science today. When people think about science, they often equate it with technology. Technology is simply the practical application of science in the service of humanity. But scientific thinking itself is a branch of philosophy. Science begins with philosophy; as a matter of fact, it was called "natural philosophy", originating all the way back to Aristotle. Newton's magnum opus on the mathematical foundation of classical physics, published in 1687, had the grand Latin title: Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). 

 My own path towards spirituality actually began with science. My interest in science only blossomed fully when I entered Form 4, science stream, where I was introduced to the subjects of physics, biology, chemistry and additional mathematics. Understanding Newtonian laws of motion, gravity, the structure of matter, chemical reactions and the intricate metabolism of biological organisms opened a world of wonder in me. Suddenly, the world appeared so beautiful. Simply walking into the garden, seeing flowers and leaves under the sunlight, brought me into a kind of spiritual ecstasy. 

I could 'see' energy coursing through all living systems, all obeying simple universal laws which the human mind could grasp. I also saw a kind of pristine beauty in the logical truths of mathematics. Through mathematics, I could fathom the mind of God, the Creator and Master Architect, if such a being exists. 

My deep interest in science led me into the mysteries of modern quantum physics, which reveals the subatomic world to be a mysterious world of ephemeral particles that also behave like waves and come in and out of existence in a probabilistic fashion. Some popular science writers began to equate them with the metaphysical views of ancient mysticism. As a kid, I was completely enthralled. That was the genesis of my science-spirituality enterprise.  

That youthful curiosity to understand the 'mind of God' has never left me, and everything I have written in this blog is basically a continuation of that quest. I'm happy that now I've reached that point in my life where I can dedicate a greater portion of my time towards this 'childish' drive.

The great Newton himself wrote:

 I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

This particular quote inspired me a lot when I was in Form 6. There's a sense of humility and innocent joy in how he saw what he did. He was just a curious boy being occupied by pretty seashells and spending his time with them, all the while being aware of the sheer vastness of the universe out there that's still unexplored.

That to me is the true spirit of science, and that sense of play and discovery is what lies underneath. The whole universe itself, I come to understand, later in life, is at play--Lila.  I'm just participating in it, like any other playful child. Still.