All great discoveries and inventions of the world are not new, since that knowledge already exists in the universe. We as human beings are simply mediums to get this knowledge. We cannot discover anything new since our minds are of the same time frame as the universe so we cannot think beyond what already exists. Therefore, all our discoveries, inventions and designs already exist somewhere in the universe. After we obtain them, we share that knowledge with mankind and help in the evolutionary process. 

I also feel that all the great scientists, inventors and discoverers of universal truth in any field are spiritualists, and the process of their discovery is spiritual in nature. Going deeper into any subject leads to spirituality since we go to the essence or the spirit of the object or idea. It is this going deeper and trying to understand the beauty of the subject that makes nature reveal her secrets and gives us awe and a wondrous feeling about this universe.

Spiritual Nature of Discovery

20th April 2025 was the 105th death anniversary of the famous Indian mathematician Ramanujan.  He was a spiritual mathematician and always said that all his equations and mathematical insights expressed the thought of God and considered them as a gift from Goddess Namagiri. Hardcore mathematicians scoffed at his metaphysical pronouncements and yet he pioneered number theory and laid its foundation, which are still being proved and deciphered after 100 years by some of the top mathematicians of the world.

Similarly, the great discoveries of Newton, Einstein, Tesla (the giants of humanity) have all bordered on the metaphysical. Half of Newton’s life was devoted to understanding the scientific principles behind God and he devoted a substantial part of his life in writing about them. Einstein at young age wrote songs about God, which he used to sing to himself. Besides, he was a strong believer in the relationship between science and spirituality. He wrote, “I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research”. 

Tesla - one of the greatest inventors of last century - seemed to periodically pluck his inventions from thin air.  He always said that most of his ideas came in a flash and the whole machines, and their detailed working were “shown” to him. Similar was the case of Barbara McClintock who had a metaphysical experience and “saw” the phenomenon of jumping genes which later on won her the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1983. However, she was ridiculed for almost 20 years because such metaphysical insights are not considered as a part of mainstream science. 

It seems that all the great discoveries, inventions and creative outputs like composition of classical music by Bach, Beethoven, etc. have been the result of mystical experience though most people consider this as a product of a prepared mind. Prepared mind is a result of hard and sustained work. It allows the brain to evaluate a large number of pathways and possibilities and when this thought hologram matches that of the knowledge, which already exists, then it is called a new discovery or invention.

All such ideas which are revolutionary and change the course of mankind’s history and bring in quantum jump in our understanding are a product of a nimble brain which somehow plucks the knowledge like magic from knowledge space. Sometimes it appears that Gods smile on a chosen few who are blessed with a great idea whether in the realm of philosophy, science, mathematics or music.  An element of spiritual connection seems to exist when a great thought or discovery takes place.

Patanjali the great Indian sage has spoken about this connection when he says that any knowledge of the Universe can be obtained by Sanyam on it. Sanyam is defined by Patanjali as a combination of concentration, contemplation and samadhi on any idea. This helps in developing a powerful brain which can concentrate deeply on any subject. Research is therefore like Yoga or deep meditation. Everything vanishes from the vision field. Only the object or subject of research remains.

All great discoverers like Einstein, Newton, Tesla, Darwin etc. had powerful brains and were endowed with tremendous power of concentration. This together with a prepared mind helped them in the discoveries.

Searching for Truth 

A powerful brain cannot sit idly. It needs constant inputs for its large number of neural pathways to function smoothly and form new memories. This makes the brain extremely curious which can only be satisfied by the knowledge from a large number of experiences in different fields.

That is why all great scientists and technologists are also renaissance people. Einstein had more than 40 patents in various fields like refrigeration, sound, light and one on a better design of a woman’s blouse. Besides, he was an excellent violin player and played with some professional musicians.

Similarly, Newton was interested in everything from gravitation to optics, mathematics, alchemy and metaphysics and so on and so forth. Another polymath Leonardo DaVinci the great Italian painter, was also a great engineer who probably designed the first helicopter in 16th century.

History of mankind is full of examples of such great minds and renaissance people. A great scientist searches for truth and is different from mediocre ones who search only for committees!

Examples of Einstein, Fermi, Norman Borlaug come to mind. Same was with Irvine Langmuir who though involved in industrial research never wanted any managerial position and was only interested in finding the deep hidden meanings in nature.

An interesting facet of the discovery process is that most of these great discoverers were self-taught. Their genius flowered at an early age by a single event either by being exposed to a book (in the case of Ramanujan or Enrico Fermi) or to a compass (in the case of Einstein). Such innocuous events triggered in their minds, as if by magic, a tremendous hunger for knowledge. Probably the memories of my last birth may have helped in this process.

Unity in everything

Also, all these great thinkers talked about oneness of everything.  Half of his life Einstein struggled to develop a theory of everything in which he wanted to connect every aspect of the universe. Similarly, Ramanujan, Tesla, McClintock etc. all talked about oneness of life and they all wanted to see the inter connections in everything surrounding us. 

With deep thought or sanyam on a particular thing for a long time the human brain can become very sensitive and a powerful receiver of knowledge. Such a sensitive brain can identify itself with any idea or object in the world and gets a feeling of oneness of the Universe. Once Sri Ramakrishna, while in a heightened state of awareness, saw a person walking on the grass and felt as if that person was walking on his chest.  He had identified himself with the grass as if it was an extension of him.

All seekers of truth, no matter in which field, also tried to understand what makes our world and universe tick. That gave them a feeling of awe and also showed that probably what they thought was an original idea and thought was nothing else but existing knowledge in the knowledge space that was channeled through them.

Nevertheless, it is the human mind which is the receiver of the idea or knowledge, and there is a curiosity to know what is the mechanism by which it happens. 

Perception of Knowledge

Knowledge is of two types – internal and external. The internal knowledge is the outcome of memory and information stored in the brain and its churning and processing by sanyam. External knowledge is gained when deep thought interacts with the object of perception. This interaction takes place when the prepared mind produces a thought whose template starts actively matching with the object of perception and with sanyam on it the thought template eventually matches the object in a lock and key type interaction leading to its complete knowledge.

The knowledge about the Universal Consciousness or God or what is the structure of the Universe already exists in knowledge space (KS) and is accessed whenever the earth passes through this space in its long journey around the Milky Way. Hence it is time-dependent and not person-dependent. Even if there were somebody else other than Newton or Einstein, they would have received the knowledge provided they had a prepared mind. It is also the reason why quite a number of people with prepared minds get similar ideas simultaneously and independently. The renaissance period in Europe and spiritual awakening in India in the late 1800s are some of the examples when a large number of enlightened souls pushed the frontiers of knowledge.

As the earth passes through the KS it somehow attracts great thought which comes in a human form. This may be the easiest and energywise most efficient way for knowledge seeding of earth. Thus Christ, Buddha, Ramakrishna, Einstein, Newton, Ramanujan and many more like them were all great spiritual beings who came on this planet earth to increase the knowledge of mankind.

Personal Experiences

On a personal note, I did fleetingly experience the great joy of deep research and felt and understood the exhilaration and joy that the great discoverers of human thought might have experienced during their journey. This happened during my University of Florida days when the mind flowered and it seemed the whole universe simply opened up with all its knowledge for me to grasp.  Nothing seemed impossible.

Thus, I took courses in physics, mechanical engineering, plant science, deep mathematics, sleep/dreams, film appreciation, etc. All of them gave me great joy because the curiosity was tremendous.  It also allowed me to look at the marvels of nature. I am sure all great scientists and inventions have experienced that feeling.

The pursuit of knowledge gave me joy and was akin to very deep meditation. I felt that I touched the universal truth – though fleetingly. So, I can imagine those great scientists with a powerful brain and continuously engaged in understanding the truth; how joyful it would be to them and to my mind that is almost like Bhavya Samadhi.

Suggested Readings

Robert Kanigel; The man who knew infinity – the life of Genius Ramanujan; Rupa & Co. Calcutta (1992); pg 67.

Abraham Pais; Subtle is the lord – The Science and life of Albert Einstein; Oxford Univ. Press, N.Y. (1982); pg 38.

Albert Einstein; Ideas and opinions; Rupa & Co, Calcutta (1979), pg 39.

Anil K. Rajvanshi, “Nikola Tesla – The creator of the Electric Age”.  Resonance, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2007 (pg 04-12).

Evelyn Fox Keller; A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock; W. H. Freeman (1983) http://friends-of-wisdom.com/readings/Keller.pdf

B. K. S. Iyenger; Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; Harper Collins Publishers (India) (1993).

Anil K. Rajvanshi; Nature of Human Thought (Second Edition); NARI, India (2010); pg 29.

Emilo Segre; Enrico Fermi – Physicist; The University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1970); pg 1.

Anil K Rajvanshi, What is Thought? Published by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, April 2025.

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian engineer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra.  He can be reached at anilrajvanshi50@gmail.com/@anilraj24.bsky.social)