Archive · 11 Oct 2026
NASA-Honoured Scientist Bedabrata Pain on Faith, Science and Spirituality
Bedabrata Pain is a scientist who was interviewed about festivals, faith and spirituality.
He remembers Durga Puja as a joyful time with family, travel, food and community.
He worries that efforts to impose rituals or ban meat could harm the festival’s welcoming spirit.
Pain says that words from physics, such as “energy,” should not be used to make unsupported spiritual claims sound scientific.
For him, spirituality is found in people helping one another, creating art and standing up to injustice.
Scientists are still studying how the brain creates consciousness.
Pain says there is no testable proof that quantum physics explains spiritual feelings.
He also recognizes that religious faith can give comfort and strength to people experiencing hardship.
Bedabrata Pain recalls Durga Puja as a season of family travel, nature, food and social gathering in his childhood.
He says the festival’s inclusive Bengali ethos is threatened by calls to prohibit meat and impose rituals.
Pain rejects claims that spiritual energies can be explained by quantum physics, saying such language misuses scientific terms.
He defines spirituality through human empathy, creativity and resistance to injustice, rather than supernatural claims.
Pain says neuroscience studies consciousness, but no testable quantum explanation for it has emerged; he also recognizes faith’s importance to people facing distress.
- Who
- Dr Bedabrata Pain, a scientist honoured by NASA, in an interview.
- What
- Pain discussed Durga Puja, science, faith, consciousness and his view of spirituality.
- When
- The interview date is not stated.
- Where
- The interview refers to Kolkata and Bengal; the interview’s location is not stated.
- Why
- The interview explored how Pain understands spirituality and religious festivals alongside science and social life.
Pain’s views
Contrasting perspectives discussed
Durga Puja and social norms
Pain’s views
Pain values the festival as a broadly inclusive social gathering and objects to calls to prohibit meat or impose rituals.
Contrasting perspectives discussed
He describes voices in Bengal advocating restrictions on meat and the enforcement of rituals; the interview does not provide their reasoning.
Spirituality and quantum physics
Pain’s views
Pain rejects using quantum physics and scientific-sounding terms to substantiate vague spiritual-energy claims.
Contrasting perspectives discussed
He describes spiritual-energy claims that invoke quantum language, but argues that their proponents offer no valid scientific basis.
Faith and hardship
Pain’s views
Pain cites the role of faith in providing strength and meaning to people denied dignity or living with distress.
Contrasting perspectives discussed
He also warns that some people exploit vulnerability to spread hate, division and political diversion.
- Interview subject
- Dr Bedabrata Pain
- Festival discussed
- Durga Puja
- Childhood memories
- Mahalaya broadcasts, autumn weather, train travel, food and social gatherings
- View of spiritual energy
- Pain says invoking physics terms to validate vague spiritual claims misuses scientific authority.
- View of spirituality
- He locates it in human relationships, empathy, creativity and resistance to injustice.
- Consciousness
- Pain says neuroscience investigates consciousness, but no testable quantum explanation has emerged.
- Religious faith
- He recognizes that faith can matter to people facing distress and vulnerability.