Civilization continues to unfold today through the advent of modern science and technology. These discoveries and achievements do have some positive aspects provided we do not disregard the most important aspect of all: humanity.

It's a known reality that the gap between the haves and the have-nots has not narrowed but widened with advances in science and technology. This is in direct contrast to the ultimate purpose of science and technology, which is to enrich the lives of the unfortunates with peace, joy and love.

Today, learning has become a big business where the original purpose of becoming humble, recuperating harmony with nature and promoting unity among mankind is overshadowed by a system that nurtures false pride, vanity and arrogance. Armed with modern education, a few enjoy a life full of unwarranted luxuries while the masses suffer through an unbearable poverty for lack of essentials.

Science and technology should be practiced selflessly for the benefit of one and all alike. To obtain true happiness, there is no place for laziness, carelessness or ignorance in our lives. There also must not be any room for lust, greed and name and fame either. It is inner peace we ought to be searching for through the miracles of science and technology, not the acquisition of a competitive edge for material comforts. Let science and technology be a means to end Maya, or ignorance, and to begin a journey towards Self-Realization. Truth, Love, God or the Creator, whatever be the term, is our real goal. Our real nature is not to succumb to Maya or ignorance.

We have only one God, one Universe, one Family and one Aim: Love. Conventional barriers often cause us to forget the Unity behind diversity. Today the world suffers and becomes a victim of anxieties in the process. Just as energy can be harvested for a constructive purpose or for mass destruction, religions have great potential to unite people and make them peaceful instead of creating and promoting hostility. Lessons learned from the past are quickly forgotten and history continues to chase its tail disguised by religion, education, or culture. Conventional skills, talents and assets nourish only our physical, mental and intellectual needs. They never reach out to our Real-Self, soul or Atman.

Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Shankara, Mirabai, Shri Ramkrishna and Mahatma Gandhi, just to name a few, achieved greatness with love and sacrifice, not with science and technology. Ironically, man often pretends to worship and follow their teachings, but his real actions prove otherwise. Hypocrisy reaches new heights when the rest of the entities live in a perfect harmony with nature's "Law." We try to enjoy physical pleasures, but do we really? Or are we consumed by them?

Says sage Bhratrahari,"It is not an object which is being enjoyed, but we ourselves are being enjoyed by the objects. It appears that we perform religious austerities, but in reality we are being scorched. It is not time that is passing away, but we ourselves are vanishing. Desires never wear out, but it is us who get worn out in the process."

Satisfaction with worldly pleasures is temporary. They never fulfill our eternal desire, and we keep longing for more and more physical pleasures till we are consumed. Whether you go after physical pleasures blindly or try to escape from miseries and sufferings, true peace will always elude you. Therefore, a man should utilize his power of discrimination to differentiate the Real from the Unreal, and channel all his energies of various faculties towards one goal: Universal Love.

Let our education system, religions, science and technology, art and culture, keep this as a goal because whether we acknowledge it or not, we are the sparks of that Great Fire of Love. Until we realize this important fact, our life in vain and we will get engulfed in strife, anxiety and insecurity by the same science and technology that was supposed to make us happy. Only spirituality can guide us. The rest will turn out to be an illusion.