Quotes from Einstein and the Gita
This article is not a general presentation of Albert Einstein. It’s a series of selected quotes with a few commentaries connected to spirituality in general, and to the Bhagavad-gita in particular.
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Everything is determined by forces we do not control; for the insect as for the star, human beings, vegetables or stardust, we all dance to the rhythm of a mysterious tune played in the distance by an invisible flute player.
If you ask anyone in India ---Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain--- who the Flute Player is, they will all give the same answer: “It’s Lord Sri Krishna.” Of course Einstein did not have Krsna in mind in the above quote. He is not known to have studied the Bhagavad-gita, as did other great names like Gandhi, Thoreau, Emerson and Oppenheimer, to name a few.. Einstein’s use of “the invisible flute player” is more likely a coincidence; a metaphore like the expression,“dancing to someone’s tune.” In 1926, the great scientist expressed his discomfort with the idea that the universe could be governed by chance ---“I cannot believe God plays dice with the universe.” He believed every event must have a cause and a logical explanation. Ignoring that explanation is the human condition. Einstein used to joke about it,“ Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous.” Yes, because if anyone chooses to remain unknown, God is certainly the best at it .
Another famous Einstein phrase is: "I'm not an atheist... I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings". Here again, we find a connection with Krishna’s statement that human beings are not the doers they think they are: "The bewildered spirit soul, under the spell of delusion, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature". BG.3.27.
In other words, as per Einstein’s wish, God does reveal Himself through the orderly harmony of nature regardless of human interference or co-operation. So far as fate is concern, karma is precisely the law that God came up with so as not to interfere with human free-will.
Unknown does’t mean unknowable, however. “One can understand Me as I am only by devotion.” Bhagavad-gita 18.55. Studying the life of anyone may yield so much information about them, you may even get to meet them in person and become friends. Yet their intimate side will remain a secret until you start loving them. Through love and devotion nearly all secrets about that person are revealed. So is it with God.
Great men like Einstein have approached what he called “the Mysterious”. Yet he did not believe in a Supreme Person. If devotion is the ultimate path to realize the Divine, people like Einstein may eventually fathom God’s secret by pursuing their approach with love and devotion. Until then, according to Krishna at least, the hidden Lord will have to remain a great mystery.
Finally, there is the mindset that Einstein considers a must for all scientists: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.”
And while we’re at it, let's end with an anecdote (true or false). Marilyn Monroe once jokingly told Albert Einstein, “We could have a baby together. He would come out beautiful like me and smart like you.” Einstein replied, “Yes, but imagine if he got my looks and your intelligence!”
The twist, which Einstein's imagination didn't seem to penetrate, is that Marilyn's IQ was alledgedly 165 ---five points higher than Einstein's.
And who would have imagined that?
