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Baha'i teachings stress that in his search for knowledge man should look to both science and religion. Science deals with the discovery of facts, religion with their meaning; science helps with the material needs of man, religion with his moral and spiritual requirements.. (45:2) "Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism." ('Abdul-Baha) (45:3) If religion clashes with science and is irrational then there is something very wrong with that religion. (45:4) "Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality, and religion is essentially reality and pure reason; therefore the two must correspond. Religious teaching which is at variance with science and reason is human invention and imagination unworthy of acceptance, for the antithesis and opposite of knowledge is superstition born of the ignorance of man. If we say religion is opposed to science we either lack knowledge of true science or true religion, for both are founded upon the premises and conclusions of reason and must bear its test." ('Abdul-Baha) (45:5) ..One religious method of search is meditation which frees a man from his environment, frees his mind from conscious direction and allows it to contemplate the essence of being: (46:2) "...In that state a man withdraws himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is immersed in the ocean of spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves. To illustrate this, think of man as endowed with two kinds of sight; when the power of insight is being used the outward power of vision does not see. This faculty of meditation frees man from the animal nature, discerns the reality of things, puts man in touch with God." ('Abdul-Baha)
(46:3)
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