Silent Thunder

There is No End.

Chapter Nine

THERE IS NO END!

 

“Jnanena Akasakalpena, Dharmanyo gaganopaman; Jnayabhinnena sambuddhah-tam vande dripadam varam”(4^th.c-1sl.of Mandukya Up. )

I bow to that best among men who by means of knowledge, which is like space and non-differentiated from the object- of –knowledge, has realized the nature of the individual selves, which are again like space.

This stanza gives ample glimpse of the Vedanthic truth that the individual- Self is itself the Supreme, All-pervading Reality. The analogy that the individual Self as well as the Universal-Self are like space, have already been discussed in the second chapter.

“Asparsayogo vai nama sarva-satva-sukhohitah; Avivado-aviruddhascha desitas-tam namamyaham.”( 4^th c-2^nd S)

 

I salute this yoga called Asparsa, taught through scriptures, the Yoga which promotes the happiness of all and conducive to the well-being of all, which is at once free from strife and contradictions.

 

*^{1 “}Now salutation is made to the yoga taught by Advaita Philosophy. The word Asparsa yoga in the text means the Yoga which is always and in all respects free from sparsa or relationship with anything and which is of the same nature as Brahman. This Yoga is conducive to the happiness and well- being of all beings. For, it never changes its nature. The idea of duality and change, implying loss, is at the root of all miseries. This Yoga enables us to realize the Self which is free from all ideas of change. Moreover this Yoga is free from strife, that is to say, in it there is no room for any passage- at- words, which is inevitable in all disputes consisting of two opposite sides. For this is non-contradictory in nature. The non-dualist knows that even those who come to quarrel with him are, in reality, his own Self. He does not look upon any one as his opponent. One, who knows everything as his own Self, does not contradict others, for one can not contradict his own Self.”.

 

Swami Ranganadhananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mission says that the theme explained above must be the Motto of the United Nations.

“Joy and sorrow are an integral part of human life and the Endeavour of the spiritual texts is to help beings develop equanimity to deal with these appropriately. When we consider material objects as source of happiness, or get attached to people, we are bound to face disappointments. We identify ourselves with the body rather than the Self that leads to the feeling of possessiveness (the sense of I and mine) with regard to people and possessions. Swami Dayananda Saraswati pointed out in a lecture, that every individual is to realize the dichotomy between the body and Self. Once we realize that we are all part of the Supreme Being and learn to shift our focus from the material and the transient to the everlasting and permanent, and then there is a gradual understanding of the world and our place in it from an impersonal and objective angle. It is the subjective approach that is the cause of all worry. That which really matters and exists is only the reality of Supreme Brahman and the Self exploration is the only worthwhile pursuit that can be a panacea for worldly miseries. The Upanishads state that fear arises from duality (Dwaitha) Fear is a major factor affecting the lives of all beings. This is because each being is differently endowed, (Physical and mental abilities, nature etc.) So when some one is seen to be more powerful, there is reason to feel threatened. A cat feels threatened by a dog while a mouse fears a cat.Human beings are a threat to the environment while they are threatened by their many worries- livelihood, boss, friends, enemies, family etc. These goals are transient, and one realizes the need to seek the ultimate goal worth pursuing, one beyond which there could be nothing higher.   (Courtesy Hindu dated 1st July 2009.)

Bhagavan Sri Gouthama Buddha in his second lecture delivered at Saranath near Banaras, said that ‘This body is not Self. Self is not this and that, but the one which eliminates all this and that is Self. There is a profound meaning in this. The more you think of it the more you get enlightened. Most modern western Philosopher Bertrand Russell says ‘Whatever you see, you see yourself.” The greatest Scientist of the millennium, Einstein says “In the universe, there are particles and energy field. Both can not be true. Field alone is true. Particles are temporary manifestation of field energy only.”

 

Gaudapada, Sri Sankara’s master’s master, in Mandukya Upanishad karika, (verse 10) says:

“Nivritteh sarvadukhanam-isanah prabhuravyayah; Advaitah  sarvabhavanam devasturyo vibhuh smritah.”

In that which is indicated as changeless and Supreme Lord, there is a total cessation of all miseries. (What else you want?) It is the One without a second among the plurality; it is known as the Thuriya, the ever effulgent and All-pervading.

 

Happiness is the goal sought by every human mind. The means employed is the enjoyment. Man demands a total satisfaction, not sense gratification. Desires create mental agitations and a mind agitated is a mind in sorrow. By removing desires, the thoughts subside and a quiet mind itself is a glow of happiness. ‘No desires’, is a state of thoughtlessness, a state of infinite bliss, the Self. One gets plenty of enjoyment by acquiring the manifold objects of the senses. Surely one can not be happy without renouncing them all. Lesser the desires, the agitations are less and more the Joy. The desire-less one has no praise for the calm nor blames the wicked. Contended and same in happiness and misery, he finds nothing to be achieved. Desires procreate thoughts and thought flow is mind.

 

Before I conclude, let me share with you a portion    of modern science from a book “The Tao of Physics.” Written by Prof. Fritjof Capra, of Berkeley University, U.S.A.  Tao means the divine way in Chinese language. Till the 19^th century, the classical physics was based on the concept of solid, indestructible particles moving in the void. In the early part of 20^th century, advent of  Einstein’s Theory of relativity and Heisenberg’s ‘Principle of indeterminacy, ‘quantum mechanics’  and other rapid developments in Cosmology and sub-atomic nuclear  physics brought about a radical  revision of this picture. In these ‘quantum field theories’, the distinction between particles and the space surrounding them looses its original sharpness and the void is recognized as a dynamic quantity of paramount importance.

Prof. Capra says*³ “Matter and empty space-the full and the void-were the two fundamentally distinct concepts on which the atomism of Democritus and of Newton was based. In general relativity, these two concepts can no longer be separated. In Einstein’s theory, then, matter can not be separated from its field of gravity, and the field of gravity cannot be separated from the curved space. Matter and space are thus seen to be inseparable and interdependent parts of a single whole”. (Poorna madah; Poorna midam.)

Prof. Capra continues*³ “Hence the concept of ‘quantum field’, that is, of a field which can take the form of quanta, or particles. In these ‘quantum field theories’, the classical contrast between the solid particles and the space surrounding them is completely overcome. The quantum field is seen as the fundamental physical entity, a continuous medium which is present everywhere in space. Particles are merely local condensations of the field; concentration of energy which come and go, thereby losing their individual character and dissolving into the underlying field. In the words of Albert Einstein: “ We may therefore regard matter as being constituted by the regions of space in which the field is extremely dense…..There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the Field is the only reality.”

“The concept of physical things and phenomena as transient manifestations of an underlying entity is not only a basic element of the   quantum field theory, but also a basic element of Eastern world view Like Einstein, the eastern mystics, (Vedantins of Hinduism, Taoists of China and Sufi mystics.) Consider the underlying entity as the only reality; all its phenomenal manifestations are seen as transitory and illusory. This reality of the Eastern mystic can not be identified with the quantum field of physicist because it is seen as the essence of all phenomena in this world and, consequently, is beyond all concepts and ideas. (Modification of mind is a concept.) The quantum field on the other hand, is a well defined concept which only accounts for some of the physical phenomena. Nevertheless, the intuition behind the physicist’s interpretation of the sub-atomic world, in terms of quantum field, is closely paralleled by that of Eastern mystic who interprets his or her experience of the world in terms of an ultimate underlying reality. (Sat.) Subsequent to the emergence of the field concept, the physicists have attempted to unify the various fields into a single fundamental field which would incorporate all physical phenomena. Einstein, in particular, spent the last years of his life searching for such a unified field. The Brahman of Hindus, like the Dharmakaya of the Buddhists and the Tao of the Taoists, can be seen, perhaps, as the ultimate unified field from which spring not only phenomena studied in physics, but all other phenomena as well. (Kshetrajnam cha api mam viddhi sarva kshetreshu Bharata-“Know Me as the knower of field in all the fields”  Sri Krishna Bhagavan in Gita ch.13. )

 

In the eastern view, the reality underlying all the phenomena is beyond all forms and defies all description and specification. It is therefore often said to be formless, empty or void. But this emptiness is not to be taken for mere nothingness. It is, on the contrary, the essence of all forms and source of all life. Thus the Upanishad says: “Pranam vai Brahman, Cum brahman, kham Brahman”.- Chandogya Upanishad.)

Brahman is life. Brahman is joy. Brahman is the void…Joy verily, that is the same as the void. The Void, verily, that is the same as Joy. The Taoists ascribe a similar infinite and endless creativity to the Tao and again call it empty. ‘The Tao of heaven is empty and formless’ says the Kuan-tzu, and Lao Tzu uses several metaphors to illustrate this emptiness.”

No doubt it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to grasp the subtle concepts of quantum field theories and the theory of relativity of Einstein. So also it is almost next to impossible to understand the profundity of Self Knowledge. But what you gain when you can at least understand even technically the knowledge of Self is infinite bliss. If you can realize Self, then there is nothing more you need do. “Brahmavid brahmaiva bhavathi” the knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. Lord Krishna says:”Bahunam janmanam ante, jnanavan ma prapadyante; Vasudeva sarvam iti, sa Mahatma sa durlabhah” At the end of many births, the man of knowledge directly reaches Me, realizing, “Vasudeva is all”. Such a great soul is extremely rare. Out of billions of people, only a few hundred might have climbed Mt. Everest.

Technological advances on cosmic scale have helped us even to land on moon and study and understand the cosmic play. Similarly expansion of Knowledge field at the speed of light can help us at least to technically grasp the profundity of Self knowledge also known as Atma -Vidya or Brahma Vidya. Let us at least take a few steps, and then the divine spark in us will help us to proceed further. Our elders have said that if we take one step, God will take hundred steps to reach us. Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras are our nuclear powered submarine cum space ships.

However, let us try to understand subtleties of field of Self knowledge from our simple day to day observations of Nature. You go to a calm beach resort and sitting in a comfortable position try to observe a bubble on the surface of a wave in the ocean. If you can not afford to go to a beach resort, just close your eyes in a calm, closed room and imagine that you are sitting in a calm beach and observe the bubble. We are experts in imagination. We have already talked about this special attribute of human beings. Now the bubble on the surface of a wave, the wave and surf associated with it and the ocean all are only water. Only the name and form differ. If the wave subsides then, only ocean   remains. Bubble, wave, surf and ocean are all made up of water only. Swami Vivekananda says: “I may be a bubble in the ocean. What if! The entire Ocean is behind me.”

Astavakra Maharshi, Master of king Janaka, of Ramayana fame, about 35 thousand years back said: “Yatha na toyato bhinna tarangah phena budbudah: Atmano na tatha bhinnam visvam atma vinir-gatam.” As waves, foam and bubbles are not different from the waters, so the universe, streaming forth from the self, is not different from the Self.  He further says in Astavakra Gita: “Mayya nantha maham bhodhav ascaryam jeeva vicayah Udyanti ghnanti khelanti pravisanti svabhavatah.” Wonderful!  Marvelous!  In me, the limitless ocean, the waves of individual selves, according to their nature rise, jostle about, play for a time and disappear.

Adi Shankara in Vivekachoodamani says: “Mayyakhanda sukhambodhou bahuda Visva veechiya; Utpadyante vileeyante mayamarutha vibhramat” “In me the ocean of unbroken bliss, endless waves of the universe are created and destroyed by the play of the storm of Maya.”

When the surface of the bubble is exposed to the heat of cosmic radiation, water evaporates and the water vapor runs towards Sun. When Sun moves away, (Sun does not move. Only earth moves and relatively we see as if Sun has moved away. All the information that your sense-organs convey may not be the correct knowledge. Hence discrimination, ‘Viveka’ is required.) Cool breeze starts moving and water vapor condenses and carried away by strong winds. In its journey it gets contaminated with dust and becomes a black cloud. When the clouds meet congenial atmosphere, clouds start raining and water again takes the shape of water bubbles. Though you can not observe water bubbles in the pouring rain, you can infer their presence by the formation of ‘rainbow’, which is due to the refraction of Sunrays through the water bubbles. Rain drops may fall either in the ocean and complete the cycle, or it may fall on the Himalayan mountains and become ice, or it may fall in a roadside gutter of Hyderabad.  In course of time all the water runs into Ocean, whether it takes one birth (janma) or ‘bahunam janmanamante’, after various births, as each transformation is taken as a birth. Only we do not talk of rebirth or re-incarnation for water bubble since they are simply bubbles. What if! Whether they are bubbles, foam, waves, water vapor, rain drops or Ganges water, Himalayan ice or ocean, it is always water and water only. Due to difference in space and time, water takes different shapes and names. Water un- contaminated is pure, odorless and colorless. Chemically it is always H2O. It has taken its birth billions of years ago, after the formation of hydrogen and oxygen elements. Both Hydrogen and Oxygen are the progeny of primordial soup, which is nothing other than the primordial energy, the infinite, non dual, homogenous ‘Divine energy- Sat-Chit-Ananda’.

Our ancestors have conceptualized the above theme into a beautiful verse: “Akasam patitam toyam yadha gachchati sagaram; Sarva jeeva sanskaram smasanam prathigachchati.” Just as all the water in the sky, reaches Ocean,  all ego centric Jeevas reach the grave yard. In the grave yard you observe the ash. The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi and a road side terrorist look the same. When once the individual ego reaches the graveyard, after it is burned it turns into ash and no further individuality is recognizable. This is a fact and any one can verify it. Science is the knowledge, verified and verifiable.

Let us observe other simple phenomena which we invariably face in every day life of ours. You might have faced power cuts any number of times. When there is power cut, where the current goes? Just question yourself. Does it go back to Nagarjuana Sagar from where it has come?  Or does it go to the nearest Transformer? In a recent T.V. advertisement, when the current goes of, a small girl runs to nearby power project and the operator there symbolically pours current in her hands, which she carries to the working place. Are we children of yesteryears to believe that? Current does not go any where. Only the connection from the carrier to the instrument is removed. (In spiritual language the instrument is called Upadhi, our body like thing.). When the electrical energy is in highly dense form in the Transformer, when there is a proper connection, highly volatile quanta of energy push the adjacent field of energy and a sort of ripple effect is produced, which results in the apparent movement of electrical energy. This phenomenan, the ripple effect you can observe very clearly in a calm beach. Waves move as if water is being transmitted. No! Only the ripple effect is there.  A quantum of water particles forming one wave pushes the water to the other wave and the ripple effect is transmitted. Let us see how the electrical energy is generated. The clouds that gathered in the sky, rain when favorable atmospheric conditions are created. Most of the water that falls in a river basin runs into river. At the Hydro-electric power station, necessary conditions are created such that the water body drops with sufficient gravitational force on the Turbines. Up till now gravitational energy plays. Now the Gravitational energy is transformed into mechanical energy, which in turn breaks the magnetic field and converts into electrical energy. Just observe. Only one type of energy is transformed into another type.  No energy is created or destroyed, only transferred. The electrical energy is transmitted through proper conduits to the object of utilization. When the electrical energy passes through a zero watt bulb it gives that much light. When it passes through 1000 W bulb it illumines more area. Through fan it gives cool breeze and through stove it gives heat. All through, whether it passes through bulb, fan, transformer, or power station, it is only electrical energy. Before that, it is magnetic energy and before gravitational energy. All through, it is only energy, a field of energy, only name and form differ as per change of space and time. Einstein says “In the universe both field and particles are there. But field alone is true. Particles are temporary manifestation of field only.” In the universe, nay! Both inside and outside of universe, only Sat Chit Ananda, the eternal primordial source of energy, from which the entire universe has come and into which the entire universe merges, that is Brahman, exists. That you are!

 

Vatican, the most powerful arm of Christianity, called for a conference on Cosmology in 1981 and it was well attended by most of the renowned scientists of that day including Stephen Hawking, the scientific icon of 20^th century. At the end of the conference, even Pope agreed with the arguments of Scientists regarding evolution of  universe after big bang. At the big bang itself, the universe is thought to have had zero size and infinitely hot. But as the universe expanded, the temperature of the radiation decreased. About one hundred seconds later, the temperature would have fallen to one thousand million degrees, when nuclei of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) are produced. Later helium and also small amounts of heavier elements, lithium and beryllium are produced. As time went on, the hydrogen and helium gas in the galaxies would break up into smaller clouds that would collapse under their own weight. Gradually nuclear fusion reaction starts and the heat given off would raise the pressure, and stop the clouds from contracting any further. Stars like our sun might have formed about five thousand million years ago out of a cloud of rotating gas containing the debris of earlier supernovas. A small amount of the heavier elements collected together formed earth like bodies that orbit sun.

As the earth cooled off, possibly as a result of chance combinations of atoms into large structures, called macromolecules which were capable of assembling other atoms in the ocean into similar structures, life must have started in the ocean. They would thus have reproduced and multiplied. During the process of evolution, more and more complicated, self-reproducing organisms might have developed. The first primitive forms of life consumed various materials including hydrogen sulfide, and released oxygen. This gradually changed the atmosphere to the composition that it has to day   and allowed the development of higher forms of life such as fish, reptiles, mammals, and ultimately the human race.

Thus the entire universe, comprising stars, planets and primitive to most advanced forms of life, all started from the homogenous, cosmic energy. In common parlance, the sun light is the ultimate energy source of all life. Sun provided not only the energy required for the development of life on earth, but also it pummelled every square millimeter of Earth’s surface with a fusillade of photons. Probably about 4000 million years back, a simple molecule, that just happened to have the property of self-copying- a replicator, arose from the primeval soup, a weak broth of simple organic chemicals in the sea. Mutation and natural selection form the basic ingredients of evolution. Life seems to have arisen during the first half billion of the earth’s 4.5 billion years. Genes, (which build human parents), give rise to genes (which build human children). Nowadays, the replicator that matters on Earth is the DNA molecule. DNA is like information by which a body makes another body like itself. Every body contains genes, and genes are all just DNA instructions, and they all say, in one way or another, briefly or longwindedly, ‘Duplicate me.’ The entire DNA in the world at a given time, such as now, has come down through an unbroken chain of successful ancestors. (For detailed study readers may refer Richard Dawkins’s climbing Mount Improbable.)

*⁴ Since the dawn of knowledge, we are in search of fundamental particle/entity out of which the entire universe is built. First we thought that atom is the fundamental particle, then proton, neutron and electron. Then particles like quarks and anti-quarks, later bosons and fermions appeared on the horizon. It is only our technical inability to divide the particles that inhibit our search for new particles. With the advent of more powerful particle accelerators, we may further divide the particles. Schrödinger, the famous nuclear scientist has said that the only indivisible entity is ‘Consciousness’ Consciousness is singular and there is no plural for the same. It can not be divided; ‘Sat Chit Ananda’ can not be divided.

Sufi mystic Jalaludden Rumi,  said: “Consciousness is sleeping in rocks and other inert material. It is slightly awake in plants and animals. It is more awake in human beings and highly manifested in saints and sages.”

Consciousness, when manifested in individualized egos conditioned by name and form which are in turn conditioned by time and space, is like electrical energy passing through a zero watt bulb. It illumines only a limited area. More evolved people are like 1000 watt and more powered bulbs, where Consciousness is more awake. Saints and sages are like hydro electric power projects, as they can receive cosmic, divine energy and convert it into such form of energy that can be useful for human beings. ‘Sat Chit Ananda’ is the source of all energy.

Lord Krishna in Gita says:

“Vishtabhyaham idam krutsnam ekansena sthito jagat” (10c-42v.)

“I exist, supporting the whole world by one part of Myself.”

                                         Aum.  Aum.  Aum. 

“Na nirodho na chotpattir;na baddho na cha sadhaka;

Na mumukshur-na vai muktha, ityesha paramarthata.”(2c-32v /M.Up)

There is neither dissolution, nor birth; neither any one in bondage, nor any aspirant for wisdom; neither can there be a seeker for liberation, nor any liberated as such. This alone is the Supreme truth.

 

Aum Shanti! Shanti! Shantih!

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

*¹ Mandukya Upanishad translated by Swami Nikhilananda,

published by   Advaita Ashram^, Calcutta.

*² Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Chinmayananda.

*³ The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, published by Shambhala,

U.S.A.

*⁴ Lectures on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Swami

Ranganadhananda.