An essay on the bridging of science and spirituality
In this (as yet hypothetical) situation, what type of conversation would take place if Richard Dawkins sat down for a couple of hours to discuss the nature of reality with Eckhart Tolle? From the outset, this meeting is unlikely to take place, because Dawkins revels in debate and challenging dialogue, wherein sharp thinking is given lofty status, and the mind with all its cognitive faculties and abilities is revered as the apex of human achievement – and ultimately, where scientists are lauded the special status of being the only people who are in the position to view the world through rational eyes. To enlightened spiritual masters such as Tolle on the other hand, the thinking mind has long been relegated to the lowly position of an unruly and mischievous monkey – a capricious tool, which is sometimes useful but far more often dysfunctional and destructive. For Tolle, a Cambridge scholar and thus no stranger to intellectual musing, mastering the mind needs to be an overarching p