EINSTEIN– A Scientific Genius or Spiritual Master…or both ?

Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany, a physicist who developed the general theory of relativity in 1915, which he considered the culmination (peak) of his life research. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. He was immigrated to the U.S. when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany; he died in 1955, in U.S.

He is considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century.

Einstein clarifies that he does not believe in a God who rewards and punishes humans. Furthermore, he expresses certainty in the view that there is no afterlife for humans, and that people who believe in such a hope do so either because of “fear or absurd egoism.” 

               pic - Einstein discussing Science and God with Indian spiritual teacher Tagore

Why did Einstein, Feynman and Hawking all conclude that the past, present and future all exist simultaneously?

 Surprising as it may be to most non-scientists and even to some scientists, Einstein concluded in his later years that the past, present and future all exist simultaneously.

Einstein's belief in an undivided solid reality was clear to him, so much so that he completely rejected the separation we experience as the moment of now.

He believed there is no true division between past and future, there is rather a single existence.

His most descriptive testimony to this faith came when his lifelong friend Besso died. Einstein wrote a letter to Besso's family, saying that although Besso had preceded him in death it was of no consequence, "...for us physicists believe the separation between past, present and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one."

Most everyone knows that Einstein proved that time is relative, not absolute as Newton claimed. With the proper technology, such as a very fast spaceship, one person is able to experience several days while another person.

 simultaneously experiences only a few hours or minutes. The same two people can meet up again, one having experienced days or even years while the other has only experienced minutes.

The person in the spaceship only needs to travel near to the speed of light. The faster they travel, the slower their time will pass relative to someone planted firmly on the Earth. If they were able to travel at the speed of light, their time would cease completely and they would only exist trapped in timelessness.

So in summary, the universe we see is just a fragment (piece) nested in a timeless whole (everything). All universes exist without beginning or end in the ultimate arena of time, and each moment we experience exists forever.

From the book ‘’The World As I See’’………by Einstein

Question - What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether?

Einstein Answered - Society and Personality When we survey our lives and endeavors we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other human beings. We eat food that others have grown, wear clothes that others have made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs has been communicated to us by other people through the medium of a language which others have created. Without language our mental capacities would be poor indeed, comparable to those of the higher animals; we have, therefore, to admit that we owe our principal advantage over the beasts to the fact of living in human society.

The individual, if left alone from birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly conceive. It looks at first sight as if our estimate of a man depended entirely on his social qualities. It is clear that all the valuable things, material, spiritual, and moral, which we receive from society, can be traced back through countless generations to certain creative individuals. The use of fire, the cultivation of edible plants and the steam engine--each was discovered by one man.

Of Wealth I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always tempts its owners irresistibly to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?

Einstein Quotes on Science

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly (willfully) persistent illusion."

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius --- and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter."

"I don't believe in mathematics, science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."

"I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research."

“If we want to improve the world we cannot do it with scientific knowledge but with ideals. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi have done more for humanity than science has done.’’

 “I believe that we don’t need to worry about what happens after this life, as long as we do our duty here—to love and to serve’’

“I like to experience the universe as one harmonious whole. Every cell has life. Matter, too, has life; it is energy solidified. Our bodies are like prisons, and I look forward to be free, but I don’t speculate on what will happen to me.’’

Einstein Quotes on Religion

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

"I want to know God's thoughts...the rest are details."

"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation.

"Strange is our situation here upon this earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose."

"Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player."

"Do you believe in immortality? No, and one life is enough for me."

"Scientists were rated as great heretics by the church, but they were truly religious men because of their faith in the orderliness of the universe."

"When the solution is simple, God is answering." 

Einstein Quotes on Humanity

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

"Only a life lived for others are a life worthwhile."

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."

"Try not to be a person of success, but rather a person of virtue (quality)."

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value."

"So long as there are men there will be wars."

"I believe in standardizing automobiles, not human beings."

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." 

Einstein Quotes on Education

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty."

"Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach."

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it."

"We know nothing at all. All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. The real nature of things we shall never know."

"You teach me baseball and I'll teach you relativity...No we must not You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball." 

Einstein Quotes on General

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."

"The intuitive (natural) mind is a blessed gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

"We have to do the best we can. This is our sacred human responsibility."

"Where there is love there is no question."

"I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right."

"Those instrumental goods which should serve to maintain the life and health of all human beings should be produced by the least possible labor of all."

"The search for truth is more precious than its possession."

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."

"Isn't it strange that I who have written only unpopular books should be such a popular fellow?"

"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."

"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."

"I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

"I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious."

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keeping your mouth shut."

"The ideals that have lighted my way and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics; I assure you mine are far greater."

"Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them."

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity."

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift."

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

"As punishment for my contempt for authority, Fate has made me an authority myself."

"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details."

"We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranges and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations."

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving."

"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it's only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think its two hours. That's relativity of time."

"The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."

"I admit that thoughts influence the body."

"A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind."

"I am content in my later years. I have kept my good humor and take neither myself nor the next person seriously."