There is a specific mention of Om tatsadii | in the Bhagavad-Gita. This verse (shloka) is a remarkable one where Bhagavan Sri Krishna tells Arjuna about the sum and substance of the universe. The beginningless beginning or the endless one is the Lord Himself and none else. Om is the beginning and end of all that exists. we open our mouth with 'aa' and close it with 'mm'! The auspicious sound 'a' is 'brahmn'. The two other manifest forms of this brahmn are: the 'sat' and 'anand'. The entire universe rests on these two fundamental concepts!
Now
coming back to our main issue of "Existence", it may now be stated
that, "Our existence is a myth!" Time is a myth. Time does not exist! This is the reason why we qualify everything
with the words- 'in point of time'. Everything is at a point of time? What
is real or unreal is not discernible when it is covered by the myth of 'time',
kaal! We do not exist in any point of time as such and such as a result of this
'fleeting time' that brings changes with it! Childhood is soon past and the
adolescent and the youth presents itself and, that too, soon merges into old
age and disappearance of the jiva in a flash of time! Then where is 'life'
left". All jivas are a flash of the past memories and future hopes and
aspirations, full of tension, and that is our “ex is tenc(s)e”? After all, what
is a span of a hundred years of a jiva
in a million years of history of life, and a billion years of life of earth, so
far? Is there any meaning for all these?
The Embodied Soul (Jivatman): The jiva located on this planet earth, in any form for
that matter, is a mysterious one! The earth is supposed to be an ideal place
for living beings (jiva rashi) to be
alive for a short duration- breathe, eat and drink, and survive and propagate.
It is now clear from research findings in the fields of astronomy, physics,
chemistry, biology and genetics that a few fundamental particles like hydrogen,
carbon, oxygen (H + C + O), along with nitrogen, calcium, and other gaseous or
non-gaseous, metallic and non-metallic, elements go to make the entire living
entity- the biotic world. Even the universe consisting of the galaxies, stars,
planets and their satellites are mainly gaseous elements that later condensed
into gross solid, liquid, or semi-liquid gaseous objects. The subtler and
subtler invisible atoms only have become gross elements and compounds, Thus,
the living beings (jiva-rashi) and
all that we find here on earth are essentially atomic energy ( € ) that
radiates in the form of heat, light, electromagnetism, electricity, magnetism,
and gravitational force. Even the human mind, the thoughts, ideas, images,
imagination, dreams, aspirations, desire and will, as well as, resolve to act
on the desire and forces that promote actions, the air we breathe, the
life-force (prana), and consciousness
(chit/prajnya), etc are all functions
of this ‘quantum energy’ (derived from the Stars)!
However, evolution of life, especially the
human species is a slow process. It has just entered the third important level
of Mind, starting from just a simple life-force (prana) in biotic and animal kingdom! The fundamental principles are
just prana and annam, food to sustain it in the body, and ways and means of
finding food. The humans are endowed with intellect, mind and thought force (chitta vrutti), and creative energy and
skill to perform action (kriyashakti
and kriyashilata). Basically,
elements that go to make life are the fundamental particles that are subtler
subatomic particles (as in a shooting Star), a meteorite that burnt out as it
enters the earth’s atmosphere, that radiate energy and light. This has prompted
the scientists to speculate whether the life force (prana) of the jiva has come
from the interstellar space, as also, other forms of life exist in space!
The four types of physical forces that
govern the universe are classified as: 1. Gravity, 2. Electromagnetism, 3.
Strong Nuclear Forces, and 4. Weak Nuclear Forces. The true nature and power of
Gravity are yet to be clearly understood. While the Strong Nuclear Forces binds
atomic nuclei. The Weak Nuclear Forces cause radioactive decay (like Uranium
becoming lead) and it also creates earthquakes and continental drift. Yet another important essential missing force
which acts as a catalyst, or that binds all these, is believed to be there, yet
to be discovered! Some scientists have identified a rare phenomenon and called
it as ‘chiral’ that enters in and falls out creating bonds and disbands! The
fermions transmit energy to bosons which turns into matter that is later
identified as neutrons, protons, electrons. This is the beginning of all
matter- metallic and non-metallic, organic and inorganic, living and
non-living, entities and enable the living beings to breathe, eat and drink,
hold on and survive and propagate.
It is the Gravitational Force that holds the
Universe together. It acts as an invisible powerful force that attracts every
ionic particle and holds the Universe intact. This has been described in the Rk
Veda in Madhu sukta.
The concept of ‘Space’ in scientific
literature is different from the one- Akasha that is used in Vedantic texts.
The term ‘space’ as used in science is a vast thin elastic matter (as well as
energy since it contains electric charges) But, Akasha as stated in Vedanta is
the very Subject brahmn- kham brahma
| that holds all! Akasha and brahmn are one and the same. Not only
that the Akasha is there far above,
but it is much deeper within! There is no place where this Akasha does not
exist. “Everything is Akasha, brahmn”.
Thus, there is Akasha within us, as well as, outside of us! These inner (antar) and the outer (bahir) Akasha are separated by the physical
component (body) like a pot; the space within and without the pot are the same,
but for the separation by an earthen wall; and, the inner and the outer become
one again when the earthen pot is broken. This is what is done symbolically as
‘breaking the pot (during cremation of the dead body in our rituals).
Ancient scriptures give classification that
is not much different from the present-day scientific one. The language may be
different but the sum and substance are the same. Briefly, the scientific
method is one of experimentation, observation, generalization and universal
application. However, the findings are subject to further investigations and
change; nothing is certain. They have thus presented hypotheses, postulations,
theories of probability, etc. But, this is not the case with the scriptures
that are intuitional statements, each one personally experienced by the learned
ones through deep contemplation in transcendental meditation. These have been
pronounced as final! There is no further question about it. Thus we have the
opinions of the Spiritual scientists (vedantin) and the material scientists
(padartha vijnyani). The views of the great sages are in aphorisms or cryptic
verses, coded language with symbolism, imageries, and esoteric verses, and
these need be properly decoded with the help of learned teachers; so also, the
mathematical equations, formulae, and the theories of great mathematicians and
scientists! Thus, nothing is easy. The common man remains ignorant and do not
even bother to know about the spiritual aspects and simply live on. So, the question of ‘what is it I am doing here’ remains unanswered. The search goes on.
The Search: The search for ‘truth’
(‘sat’) is an endless one. In its true nature, this ‘sat’ always exists without
any change. It is eternal, immutable. All else found hare as phenomenal objects
are subject to change over time and as such, do not qualify for the ‘sat’. They come within the influence of
time, space and causality. There is enormous literature both in science and
philosophy regarding this. But the spiritual literature is scarce. Whatever
little we know from the spiritual texts give us a clear idea about the problems
and the answers to them in cryptic aphorisms, code words, signs and symbols, imageries
and formulae. Some of these are quite interesting. These are found in the
ahirbudhnya samhita, sattavata samhita, Jayakhya samhita, Lakshmi tantra, Shaivagama shastra
and other 250 samhitas of pancharatra agama. Many scholarly works are available
in print.
What these spiritual texts simply state is
that “What we seek is our Self only, nothing but the Self”. The search ends
with the seeker knowing his true self. Here the seer and the seen become one.
What we seek outside is not permanent since all that is found outside of us is
subject to limitations of time, space and causality. What we seek is the
‘truth’ the intransigent, permanent, that which is eternal. This, the ‘sat’,
Truth and “That’s it”-. “tat sat iti |
No comments:
Post a Comment