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Hinduism - Hindu Religion
Discussion of Metaphysics & Philosophy of Hinduism
Beliefs & Hindu Gods
All is One / Brahman (Reality, Space) is One and Dynamic
Quotes / Quotations, Pictures, Information on Hinduism
Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many.
Brahman is the unborn (aja) in whom all existing things abide. The One
manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms. (Rig Veda)
Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray. (Kabir)
The word Brahman means growth and is suggestive of life, motion, progress.
(Radhakrishnan).
Introduction
(Introductory Quotes)
Hindu cosmology is non-dualistic. Everything that is is Brahman. Brahman is the eternal Now, and in eternity there is no before or after, for everything is everywhere, always. To use the words of Pascal 'it is a circle the center of which is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.' (Sudhakar S.D, I am All, 1988)
The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view - one could almost say the essence of it - is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestations of a basic oneness. All things are seen as interdependent and inseparable parts of this cosmic whole; as different manifestations of the same ultimate reality. (Capra, The Tao of Physics)
In Indian philosophy, the main terms used
by Hindus and Buddhists have dynamic connotations. The word Brahman is
derived from the Sanskrit root brih - to grow- and thus suggests a reality
which is dynamic and alive. The Upanishads refer to Brahman as 'this unformed,
immortal, moving', thus associating it with motion even though it transcends
all forms.' The Rig Veda uses another term to express the dynamic character
of the universe, the term Rita. This word comes from the root ri- to move.
In its phenomenal aspect, the cosmic One is thus intrinsically dynamic,
and the apprehension of its dynamic nature is basic to all schools of Eastern
mysticism.
They all emphasize that the universe has to be grasped dynamically, as
it moves, vibrates and dances. ..The Eastern mystics see the universe as
an inseparable web, whose interconnections are dynamic and not static.
The cosmic web is alive; it moves and grows and changes continually. (Fritjof
Capra, 1972.)
In Hinduism, Shiva the Cosmic Dancer, is perhaps the most perfect personification of the dynamic universe. Through his dance, Shiva sustains the manifold phenomena in the world, unifying all things by immersing them in his rhythm and making them participate in the dance- a magnificent image of the dynamic unity of the Universe. (Capra, The Tao of Physics)
Hinduism
/ Hindu Religion
The
tradition of philosophical thought in India is very rich, ancient and wise.
Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion. The word 'Hindu' is thought to
have derived from the 'Sindu (Indus) River' which is known as Hindu in
Persian. The word was used to describe 'those who dwell across the Indus
Valley'. Hindu religion is often named as Sanatana Dharma in all of its
books.
The first collection of Indian philosophy that was written down was the Vedas. The word 'Veda' comes from the Sanskrit vid, meaning knowledge - the Vedas are 'sacred knowledge'. Their exact date is controversial, it is possible that the knowledge dates back 10,000 years BC, and were first written around 3,000 BC.
The most significant doctrine expressed in the Vedas and the Upanishads (the first philosophical explorations of Hinduism) is that Reality is One or Absolute, changeless, perfect and eternal, Brahman. The ordinary human world of many separate and discrete (finite) things (which our mind represents by our senses) is an illusion. Through meditation, one can experience their true Self which is Brahman, God, the One infinite eternal thing which causes and connects the many things. True enlightenment is Self-realisation, to experience the supreme reality as Self.
Western Physics (with its discrete 'particles' connected by continuous 'forces / fields' in 'Space Time' ) has never correctly understood the Eastern world view of the dynamic unity of reality. It is also important to understand that the ancient Indian philosophers did not actually know how the universe was a dynamic unity, what matter was, how the One Thing / Brahman caused and connected the many things. Thus Eastern / Hindu philosophical knowledge is ultimately founded on mysticism and intuition.
Recent discoveries on the properties
of Space and the Wave Structure of Matter confirm that we can understand
Reality and the interconnection of all things in the universe. The One
Thing / Brahman (Space) has Properties (Wave-Medium) that give rise to
the many things (Matter as the Spherical Wave Motions of Space). Please
see links on the side of the page for more information.
Geoff Haselhurst, Karene Howie
Hinduism Religion
Hindu philosophy is correctly founded on the Metaphysic that One Infinite
Absolute Ageless / Eternal thing Exists and connects the world together
(Brahman). One of the most striking and central of Upanishad doctrines
is the further assertion that Brahman and Atman (the true Soul or Self
Identity) are in some sense the same. Thus the Soul, Atman, is also immortal.
The Buddhist doctrine (which contains a great deal of Truth) importantly
differs from Hinduism in regard to our immortality.
..in general Buddhism rejects, the idea of an individual,
immortal soul and fosters instead the buddhist belief in the unity and
interdependence of living things and the possibility of a harmony, achievable
by means of compassion, that is able to supersede the suffering that permeates
much of human existence. (Cooper, 1996)
' All phenomena, link together in a mutually conditioning network' (Buddha)
The Impermanence and Interdependence of all Things, that everything is
in constant flux is of profound importance to Buddhist philosophy, although
the Buddha himself refused to speculate about the ultimate nature of reality,
being concerned with the more urgent matter of the relief of Suffering.
Those of his followers who, broadly speaking, adopt this approach are members
of the Theravada (Teaching of the Elders) school of Buddhism.
The Metaphysics of Space and Motion is very Buddhist in its foundations
(simply because a lot of Buddhism is absolutely true) for it agrees that
everything is interconnected and in a perpetual state of flux / change.
One Thing (Space) Exists and contains within it the wave Motion of Space
which is the second thing that can exist within the One Thing. This Motion
is a Wave Motion so we are simply saying that Space is vibrating, that
Space is a Wave Medium and has Waves flowing through it. Thus the 'Changing
/ Flux' can now be related to the 'Unchanging / Eternal' as the Motion
of Waves (changing) exists in an Infinite and Eternal Space.
Hindu Gods
In
Hinduism, Shiva the Cosmic Dancer, is perhaps the most perfect personification
of the dynamic universe. Through his dance, Shiva sustains the manifold
phenomena in the world, unifying all things by immersing them in his rhythm
and making them participate in the dance- a magnificent image of the dynamic
unity of the Universe. (Capra, The Tao of Physics)
The Vedas depict Brahman as the Ultimate Reality, with the personal god and goddesses, called devas as different aspects or manifestations of one Brahman. Brahman (not to be confused with the deity Brahma) is seen as the Universal Spirit. Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever will be.
Brahman is viewed as without personal attributes (Nirguna Brahman) or with attributes (Saguna Brahman) as God. In Vaishnavism and Shaivism, Saguna Brahman such Vishnu or Shiva is viewed as male. God's power (or energy) is personified as female or Shakti. However, God and God's energy are indivisible, unitary, and the same. The analogy is that fire represents God and the actual heat Shakti. According to Smarta views, God can be with attributes, Saguna Brahman, and also be viewed with whatever attributes, (e.g., a female God) a devotee conceives.
Whether believing in the One source as formless (nirguna brahman, without attributes) or as a personal God (saguna Brahman, with attributes), Hindus understand that the one truth may be seen as different to different people. The philosophy of Bhakti seeks contact with the personal form of Brahman, which explains the proliferation of so many Gods and Goddesses in India, often reflecting the singular inclinations of small regions or groups of people.
Worship of God is often represented symbolically through the aid of icons (murti) which are conduits for the devotee's consciousness, markers for the human mind that signify the ineffable and illimitable nature of the power and grandeur of God. They are symbols of the greater principle and according to the understanding of the worshipper, the concept or entity is sometimes presumed to be present in them (in monotheistic doctrines) and sometimes not (in monistic doctrines).
Some of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses worshipped are Vishnu (as Krishna or Rama), Swaminarayan, Shiva, Devi (the Mother as many female deities, such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali and Durga), Ganesha, Skanda and Hanuman. Also, the Puranas list twenty-five avatara of Vishnu : Catursana, Narad, Varaha, Matsya, Yajna, Nara-Narayana, Kapila, Dattatreya, Hayasirsa, Hamsa, Prsnigarbha, Rsabha, Prithu, Narasimha , Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Vamana, Parasurama, Raghavendra, Vyasa, Balarama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
Brahman - Problem of the One and the Many
The Universe is Brahman, the One that underlies and make possible all the multiplicity; the universal consciousness that is the soul of all existence. It is the primordial no-thingness from which all things arise, the one reality whose oneness is all-inclusive; and includes all that is, or shall be. It is Brahman; the source of the entire cosmos and all cosmic activities relating to the emergence, existence and dissolution of the terrestrial phenomena that form the cosmic rhythm. And this ultimate reality is One- absolute and indeterminable. (Sudhakar S.D. I am All, 1998)
Brahman is the One Absolute Ageless/Eternal Infinite thing
which Exists and connects the world together. If this is all that existed
though, then there can be no logical concepts, (as logic requires two things),
nor indeed any understanding of how this One thing could cause the Many
changing things which we experience in the world.
Reality or Brahman is a unity, oneness or absolute, changeless, eternal,
and such that no predicates can apply to it: in the Absolute there is neither
time, space nor causation. The idea of time cannot be there, seeing that
there is no mind, no thought. The idea of space cannot be there, seeing
that there is no eternal change. What you call motion and causation cannot
exist where there is only one. (Vivekananda)
The central difficulty is known as the problem of the one
and the many which, in the terms in which it presented itself to Badarayana,
is as follows;
'Brahman (the absolute) is eternal, immutable and perfect (lacking nothing):
How can that which is eternal, immutable and perfect be related to what
is temporal, mutable and imperfect, i.e. the everyday world of human experience,
the samsara? (Badarayana)
..the problem of the one and the many in metaphysics and theology is insoluble: 'The history of philosophy in India as well as in Europe has been one long illustration of the inability of the human mind to solve the mystery of the relation of God to the world.' We have the universe of individuals which is not self-sufficient and in some sense rests on Brahman, but the exact nature of the relation between them is a mystery. (Radhakrishnan)
The next serious philosophical issue involved in Advaitism (Non-dualism) arises in the area of epistemology or the theory of knowledge. All ordinary human experience is conceptual in nature, i.e. is organized under the categories in which we ordinarily think. However, Brahman is said to be predicateless, or, in other words, such that in principle no concepts apply to it: concepts presuppose division, and Brahman is a unity. How, then, is any form of awareness of Brahman possible for human beings? (Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
The solution is to realize that while they are correct that there is but
One Material / Substantial thing, this One thing (Space) Exists as a Wave
Medium and Contains a Second Thing (Wave Motion) Within the One Thing (Space).
This then explains how Many material things (matter as Wave-Centers of
SSWs) can exist within One Thing (Space).
Thus I can now say that 'Matter is a Spherical Standing Wave in this one
Absolute Space', and this then provides the relationship between two things
which creates the necessary foundations for logic. (See the Principles
of the WSM)
This metaphysics of nondualism generates a number of profound
philosophical difficulties, of which the first is this: why did the one
manifest itself as the many? Why did the eternal become temporal, the infinite
become finite, the immutable become mutable? Many thinkers in the orthodox
Hindu tradition argue that the answer is delight (ananda): the universe
is Brahman's expression of delight in creation. Vivekananda's reply is
different:
'To ask this question we have to suppose that the Absolute also is bound
by something, that it is dependent on something. Thus we see that the very
question as to why the Infinite became the finite is an absurd one, for
it is self-contradictory.' (Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers,
2000)
Vivekananda is correct in that as only one Material Substance
(thing) exists, Brahman, there can be no boundary as this implies two things,
thus the One thing must be both Infinite, and not dependent upon any other
thing - thus the question 'Why' the One thing exists is simply not valid,
what exists exists and there is no further reason for this. (Aristotle
argues this well!)
Most significantly though, not only does the Wave Structure of Matter in
Space explain and solve the problem of the One and the Many; but also the
WSM Cosmology explains (due to Huygens' sharing of In and Out Waves) how
our universe exists as a Perpetual Finite Spherical Region of Space (the
Size of our Spherical Standing Waves) within an Infinite Space - thus also
solving the Problem of the Finite and the Infinite. Please see;
Cosmology -
The Spherical Standing Wave determines the size of our finite spherical
universe within an infinite Space. Huygens' Principle explains how other
matter's out waves combine to form our matter's spherical In-Waves, which
then deduces both Mach's Principle and the redshift with distance (without
assuming Doppler shifts due to an expanding universe - thus there was no
Big Bang).
This also explains how matter interacts with all other matter in the universe
(why we can see stars) as matter is the size of the universe, though we
only 'see' the high wave amplitude wave-centers / 'particles'.
Metaphysics Problem of One & Many - A Brief History of Metaphysics and Solutions to the Fundamental Problems of Uniting the; One and the Many, Infinite and the Finite, Eternal and the Temporal, Absolute and Relative, Continuous and Discrete, Simple and Complex, Matter and Universe.
On Identity (Atman, Self, Soul)
'The world of ordinary human experience, of individuals standing in mutual
causal relations in space and time (samsara) is not reality. Reality is
a oneness or absolute, changeless, perfect and eternal, Brahman. Again
human nature is not exhausted by its samsaric elements of body and individual
consciousness of mind (jiva): there is further present in each one of us
an immortal element, our true self, the Atman. The Atman has no form, and
whatever is without form is without limit; whatever is without limit is
omnipresent, and whatever is omnipresent and immortal is God. This is the
basis for one of the most striking and central of Upanishad doctrines,
the assertion that Brahman and Atman are in some sense the same:
'Containing all works, containing all desires, containing all tastes, encompassing
this whole world, without speech, without concern, this is the self [Atman]
of mine within the heart; this is Brahman. Into him, I shall enter, on
departing hence.'
It is this doctrine which is summed up in the phrase 'that art thou' (tat
tvam asi), 'that' referring to Brahman.' (Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers,
2000)
While Brahman is Space, Ageless, Eternal, and Infinite, Atman is our Identity
and is a Consequence of our Unique Relationships Between the Motions of
Many Trillions of Wave-Centers that constitute the Matter of our bodies.
Thus the belief of the Advaita Vedanta that the Atman and Brahman is One
(Nondual) and Thus Eternal is incorrect. Humans are Mortal as the Unique
Relative Motion of Our Wave-Centers (our Identity) ends with our Death
(and the breaking down (Decay) of these Unique Relative motions).
It seems though, that the Buddhist philosophy appears to recognize the
impermanence of the Self (contrary to Hindu thought).
'In Hinduism the bliss of nirvana is broadly conceived of as a state of
total union with Brahman, the ultimate and absolute Reality of the universe,
in which individuality is completely abolished. Buddhist doctrine differs
from this in some important respects. For one thing, it does not assert
the existence of Brahman as the unifying and ultimate power of the universe.
It also rejects the concept of the individual immortal soul. It maintains
that the empirical personality consists of five kinds of entity, or skandha
- body, feelings, desires, mental conceptions and pure consciousness -
but that none of these is permanent and so cannot constitute anything that
could be understood as soul. Accordingly, Buddhism concludes there is an
empirical personality that has a psychic or mental aspect, but it finds
no reason to affirm the existence of an enduring soul capable of finding
eternal salvation through absorption into the Brahmanic absolute.' (Collinson,
Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
The World of Illusion (Maya) and the Resultant Ignorance (Avidya)
Our Mind Represents the World (and in fact only Senses a small fraction of Reality) and thus the World we see is an Illusion (Maya) and this Ignorance of the True Nature of Reality is Avidya. Conversely, liberation from ignorance to True Knowledge of Reality (Avidya, Prana) results in Nirvana (Moksa) a Freedom from Desire.
'In a psychological sense Maya is the human tendency to
regard appearance as reality and reality as appearance. In an epistemological
sense it signifies human ignorance concerning the difference between appearance
and reality. In an ontological sense it refers to the creative power of
Brahman.'
'At the higher level of comprehension it is possible to comprehend the
ultimate oneness of reality; at the lower level, everyday experience leads
us to think of reality as a multiplicity of individual persons and things
and at this lower level there is no escape from samsara. Moksa, the release
from samsara, is obtained only by an experiential realization of oneness
at the higher level of comprehension. According to Sankara, the lower level
of experience is Maya, often translated as illusion.'
'Release (Moksa) is not a mode of being which will be had after death in
a special place or heaven. It consists in the transformation of the inner
life which occurs after mystic union with the one, identical to direct
awareness or knowledge (Vidya) of Brahman. It is not the destruction of
the world but the shaking free from the false view of it which is Avidya.'
(Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
We do represent the world, a red apple is not really a red apple, it is a structure of many trillions of Spherical Standing Waves the size of the universe, whose Wave-Centers have evolved into this complex structure that has electrons / Wave-Centers trapped in particular frequency 'orbits' that resonantly couple with electrons in my eye due to oscillating interactions of their In and Out Waves. This particular frequency is represented to my mind as red. The Metaphysic of Space and Motion does not yet explain this representation, but it does explains the Cause of the Representation. Most importantly though, neither Space, nor (Wave) Motion are Representations, but are in fact 'What Exists' such that we can exist as Matter in Space and have a mind that 'Represents' these Spherical Standing Wave Motions of other Matter in Space.
The Cycle of Life and Rebirth (Samsara) and Action (Karma)
The Vedic concept of Rita anticipates the idea of karma which was developed later to express the dynamic interplay of all things and events. The word karma means 'action' and denotes the 'active', or dynamic, interrelation of all phenomena. In the words of the Bhagavad Gita, 'All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of nature.' (Capra, The Tao of Physics)
The idea of an origin of the universe is an alien one to many religions. Hinduism, for example, assumes a cosmos characterized by infinite cycles of development and decay.
' The Brahma Sutra begins from the most important insight
of Vedic traditions, that reality is not the ordinary world of everyday
experience, the world of individuals causally related in space and time,
the world of relentless mutability which is the samsara, but instead is
a perfect, changeless, eternal oneness or absolute. Brahman, from which
everything (in some way to be explored) arises.'
'If reality is Brahman, eternal, immutable, perfect, then an account must
be given of the origin and status of the ordinary world of change, the
samsara. The view given in the Upanishads to explain the existence of the
samsara is that it is lila, or sport, an expression of Brahman's constitutive
delight (ananda). The samsara is not reality but illusion (maya), and to
take the phenomenal world to be the ultimate reality is to be in the condition
of avidya or spiritual blindness. By means of suitable disciplines, we
can overcome the condition of avidya and pierce the veil of maya: if this
is done, our true self is revealed, and this true self is Brahman. To achieve
this rare state is moksa or release from the cycle of birth and death which
is the samsara, and moksa is the goal of life in the Upanishad philosophy.
Only by attaining release can we be liberated from the law of karma, the
otherwise inescapable visiting on us of the consequences of our actions
which rules the cycle of repeated births and deaths in the samsara.'
'In Hinduism the doctrine of reincarnation, or transmigration of the souls rests on the general belief that all living things are besouled and that souls become incarnate in a succession of different types of bodies. Which body a particular soul migrates into depends on the kind of life lived through its previous body and this conditioning or determining of its next incarnation is karma, the universal law that governs the distinctions between embodied souls and also their particular deeds. Reincarnation is thought of as a more or less perpetual bondage to samsara, the wheel of life, a bondage maintained by the individual's passions and cravings.' (Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
From the Metaphysic of Space and Motion we can now understand the true relationship between the mortal and the immortal, between the changing and the unchanging, between the world of illusion and that of Reality. Space (Brahman) is Ageless, Eternal and Imperishable, but the Relative Motions of Wave-Centers (the Cause of the Identity of Material Objects including ourselves (Atman)) is Changing and Perishable. Thus there is no eternal Soul, we die when these relative motions cease to exist. The changing and perishable (relative Motion of Wave-Centers) is not separate from the eternal (Space), rather it is the Second thing that can Exist within the One thing.
There is also a certain psychological danger in dismissing
the world of change and illusion and asserting that only the One absolute
Brahman is real, as Radhakrishnan importantly observes;
Brahman alone is real, and to many thinkers it has seemed to follow that
the many (the ordinary world) are unreal, even an illusion (maya) and so
unworthy of attention. Radhakrishnan was deeply conscious that nondualism
has sometimes been so interpreted as a justification for ignoring the world
and its suffering, and this he regarded as morally unacceptable. (Collinson,
Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
' karma - that is, the fact that in the deterministic cosmos we inhabit, we inevitably experience the consequences of our own actions and thoughts..' (Freeman, 1996)
Karma is true to a certain extent, but it is only by understanding Reality
that we can finally explain the limitations of Karma correctly. In general
terms Karma can be understood by the fact that we exist as Structures of
the Universe, thus every time we move (and this includes the motion of
matter when we are thinking) then this causes changes in the shapes of
our In and Out Waves, which then flow out into the Universe (limited by
the velocity of Waves c) and cause a slight adjustment in the motions of
other matter in the Space around us. Now these effects are very tiny, but
nonetheless they exist, so it is true that everything we do does flow out
into the world around us, and further, that as we change other matter around
us, then their changes flow back into us - so you see that there is continual
two way communication between all the matter in the Universe.
However, we are overly optimistic in believing that Karma is an absolute,
that if you do bad things, then this will come back on you - though I think
there are strong human Psychological reasons why this may largely be true
- that those who treat us poorly are treated poorly in return (to act in
like kind) .
'It may be objected to the law of karma that it is false to the facts: that the wicked often prosper at the expense of the good. This difficulty is accommodated by the doctrine of reincarnation: we will inevitably reap what we sow, if not in this life then in a future one.' (Freeman, 1996)
Although quite clever, Reincarnation is not a solution. Identity is determined
by the Relative Motions of the many trillions of Wave-Centers that make
up the Matter of our bodies, and these are necessarily perishable and changing.
There is no immortal soul! That the wicked may prosper at the expense of
the good is because Karma is not an Absolute. As Chance exists within an
infinite Space (all things are necessarily connected but are not pre-determined
- See Cosmology Section) then there is a chance that good people will suffer
at the expense of bad people.
Karma works psychologically in that if you treat others well, (humans,
animals, nature ...) they will most probably in turn treat you in like
kind. There are many examples of the cyclical nature of good deeds and
thoughts, but as many examples of 'bad, evil' people leading privileged
lives. But the fact that everything is subtly interconnected tells us that
Karma is important. An obvious example of this is our interconnection with
Nature, and that certainly if we treat Nature brutally (as we currently
do), then it seems most likely that this will cause 'bad karma' for Humanity,
for as our Natural world and climate changes rapidly due to our influence
there are bound to be brutal consequences flowing back onto Humanity.
The Path of Enlightenment (Nirvana) of True Knowledge of Reality
Buddhism is often spoken of as 'dharma'. The word derives from the root dhr, 'to uphold', and has numerous meanings. Chiefly it refers to the ultimate reality of nirvana, the law or nature of the universe, the moral life, right conduct and teaching, and the insights of enlightened understanding. It is this belief, that we must know and understand the truth about how we exist to be wise, which is the underlying motivation for all my work, and the very reason for the existence of this Treatise on the Metaphysics of Space and Motion. How does it help us? By liberating us from false myths that harm us, and by making us realize that we are indeed interconnected with all other Matter in the Universe. (Thus in a sense liberating us from our individual egos.)
.. abide islands to yourselves; taking refuge in no other: islanded by the Dharma, taking refuge in the Dharma, seeking refuge in none other. (Buddha)
Suffering comes about through the non-satisfaction of desire,
and the only way to be free of suffering is to be free of the desires which
cause it. Desires are properties of the ego, and therefore the only way
to be free of desires is to dissolve the ego. When the ego dissolves, what
follows is enlightenment, and the condition of being free of self and desires
is nirvana.'
'..the Buddha, in the forty-five years he lived after his enlightenment,
did not withdraw from the ordinary activities of daily living but spent
time in the midst of people, teaching them and sharing his thoughts with
them, treading a middle way between extreme asceticism and the pursuit
of pleasure, and refraining from making definitive pronouncements concerning
the nature of nirvana.' (Collinson, Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
Causation and Necessary Connection
'Buddhism adopts a fundamentally evolutionary viewpoint
on all topics. It is chiefly concerned with the cultivation of the human
mind and higher evolution. But as well as seeing an evolving mind, its
vision of what reality is like, on all levels and in all spheres, is of
reality as a process, as is evolution. This is what the Buddha stressed
when he tried to convey his enlightenment experience. All phenomena, he
said, link together in a mutually conditioning network, and everything
arises in dependence on the network of conditions present at birth. This
is 'conditioned co-production', the network of causality that gives life
and the world its dynamic patterned structure.'
'The universe, according to this view, is not fickle or haphazard, it is
law-governed, yet not necessarily fully predictable, not predetermined.
Everything that happens is the outcome not of a single chain of cause and
effect, but of a potentially infinite net of conditions operating in one
or more of the orders of conditionality. '
'According to Buddhism, every event or phenomena, including every event
in the mind, arises in dependence on a network of other phenomena which
are its conditions, and it in turn forms one of the conditions for innumerable
other phenomena. The details of just how phenomena are connected together
is incredibly complex and subtle.' (Cooper 1996)
The Metaphysics of Space and Motion explains how all phenomena do link
together in a mutually conditioning network. The Out-Waves of one SSW become
the In-Waves of other SSWs in the Space around them thus each SSW in the
universe depends on all the other matter in the Universe, which in turn
depends upon others to Infinity. This sharing of waves shows how everything
is interconnected and dependent upon everything else in the universe, one
SSW does not exist on its own. Further, as we have explained, any change
in Velocity of the Spherical In-Waves, as they interact with other wave
structures in the Space around them changes where these In-Waves meet at
their respective Focal-Point (Wave-Center) which we see as the Accelerated
Motion of the Point Particle, and thus explains the 'Necessary Connexion'
between 'What Exists' . (More precisely, this is the cause of Newton's
Law of Inertia Force equals Mass times Acceleration.)
Although matter is necessarily connected, only Wave-Centers trapped in
repetitive Cycles of relative Motion are deterministic in their behaviour,
for their Future Motions, being necessarily repetitive/cyclical can thus
be logically predicted.
On the other hand, our Finite Spherical Universe exists in an infinite
Space, and thus it is never possible to pre-determine information about
these future In-Waves. Thus the Universe as a whole is not determinable.
This explains how both Determinism and Chance (Limited Free Will) exist
within the Universe. (See Cosmology)
Let us lastly point out another common error of Eastern Philosophy relating to Causation;
'causality presupposes change and that this disposes us to adopt a view of reality as consisting of momentary events, since it is absurd to speak of change with regard to what is permanent. But as change involves a process of change requiring continuity, there cannot be a process of change in relation to events which are merely momentary. Deployed thus, the dialectic reduces all three accounts of causality to incoherence and there appears to be no way in which to enunciate an intelligible causal theory.' (Nagagarjunap, Fifty Eastern Thinkers, 2000)
As previously explained, the Metaphysic of Space and Motion solves this problem very simply and sensibly. Space is Infinite, Ageless and Eternal and Exists as a Wave Medium. Thus Space Contains a Second Thing (Wave Motion) Within the One Thing (Space). It is the Second Thing, Wave Motion, and thus Matter as Spherical Standing Waves in Space, that experiences Time/Change, not Space itself. (As Space is Continuous, so is the Wave-Motion of Space, thus so is 'Time/Change'.)
Choice, Chance and Positive Thinking
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is. (Bhagavad-Gita)
'The almost unquestioned assumption in the scientific community is that consciousness is an effect of which the body (brain) is the cause. In Buddhism, while body and mind mutually condition one another, it is consciousness that is said to be primary. The world as we perceive it is largely a product of evolving consciousness. Ultimately, Buddhism questions the whole basis of the mind-body problem: the very distinction between 'inner' and 'outer'.' (Cooper 1996)
There is no real 'inner' and 'outer', as the body (and the resultant mind / consciousness) exist as the Relative Motions of Wave-Centers between the Matter of our bodies and all the other Matter in the Universe. Thus the Mind does not exist solely in the brain within the body, it is dependant, as all matter is, on the whole of the universe. There is nothing separate in Space, we are intimately connected to and a part of the Cosmos! This obviously explains why we can see stars across the Cosmos (and thus also think about them, for they are a part of us, and thus a part of our Mind.)
G.G Simpson defines the evolution of consciousness as;
'an increased awareness and perception of the environment and increased ability to react accordingly.'
Unfortunately, our initial increased perception of the environment has been quite limited and allowed humans to exploit, degrade and destroy what they are dependent upon. For the continuation of human existence and life on this planet, humans desperately need to evolve Cosmic Consciousness, an awareness of how they exist as a Structure of the Universe, rather than existing in the separate human realm (as separate 'Particles'). We have the capacity to connect with a much larger sense of self, by extending our sense of identification beyond the usual narrow focus on ego to a infinite sphere of relationships. Buddhism recognizes this limited view of self and conception of 'ego', and the inherent problems it causes humanity and the universe.
'..An intense sense of self leads to separateness. And so egotism and anxiety, with all their appalling consequences, are prominent at the human level. The next evolutionary step for a self-aware humans is to leave behind the tight and isolated ego for more expanded types of consciousness.'
'..the Buddha taught that the advance of consciousness consists in the destruction of barriers, not only within the individual psyche, but between people as well. Some schools of Buddhism go so far as to claim that effort on the path of higher evolution ultimately fails to bear fruit unless it is for the sake of all ... Consequently, Buddhism emphasizes compassion as much as wisdom, the unity of humanity - indeed of all life - as well as a vision of transformation. Conditioned co-production reveals the changeability of all experience, and so encourages attempts to direct change by conscious intervention. It also reveals the interconnectedness of all phenomena, so that actions for the benefit of others will rebound to the benefit of oneself as well. '
'The Buddhist doctrine of conditioned co-production says that the unsatisfactory and restricted aspects of life have identifiable causal origins, as do the satisfactory and open aspects. Consequently, it is possible for one to follow a path of deliberate self-transformation that gradually eliminates the causes of the unsatisfactory side of life, and promotes the causes of the satisfactory side.' (Cooper, 1996)
'We can eliminate negative characteristics by developing
beneficial ones: in the words of the Yoga Sutras, 'Undisturbed calmness
of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion
for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.'
(Patanjali)
'Whoever speaks or acts with impure mind, him sorrow follows, as the wheel
follows the steps of the ox that draws the cart.' (Dhammapada)
Deliberate self transformation with positive thinking has been shown to work (e.g. Psychology / Cognitive Therapy). Humans have evolved the ability to use Chance as a way of creating new ideas and better ways of thinking, thus allowing a certain degree of choice. (As Space is Infinite we can never absolutely be certain of the Future and this lack of Knowledge results in Chance.)
'The emergence of culture in the course of evolution is to be viewed therefore as 'a new niche that arose from the experimentation of animals with multiple choice behaviour,' and it is to this evolutionary innovation that the rise of cultural adaptations in the human species is traced. We thus have before us, as a result of the researchers of the previous decades, a view of human evolution in which the genetic and the cultural are distinct and interacting parts of a single system, and this means that, for anthropology, 'the evolution of choice behaviour is the key.' (Freeman, 1996)
It is also obvious that Human Culture, defined as a result of human agency and choice, is dangerous both to the planet and humans if it is not governed by Truth. Without true knowledge we cannot escape from the Chance that the things that we choose to do will be damaging to us. (How can one make a 'good' decision without any sort of true foundation?)
'..the potentiality to do good is also the potential to do evil, and this means that we humans, with impulses and propensities coded in our neuropeptides and in the limbic systems of our brains as the result of millions of years of evolution by means of natural selection, and possessing a freedom, through imaginative choice to enact these impulses and propensities in virtually an infinity of ways, are existentially in need- as are no other animals- of a code of ethics by which to order our behaviour. We are truly the changelings of possibility.' (Freeman, 1996)
Hinduism Beliefs - Quotations
The first evidence of philosophical thought occurs in the great collection of hymns we know as the Vedas. As Radhakrishnan puts it, in the Rig Veda one finds generally 'the earliest phase of religious consciousness where we have not so much the commandments of priests as the outpourings of poetic minds who were struck by the immensity of the universe and the inexhaustible mystery of life'.There are four Vedas: Rig; Yajur; Sama; and Atharva. The composition of the 1 017 hymns of the Rig Veda probably began around 1200BCE and went on for some time, perhaps centuries. The word 'Veda' comes from S: vid = knowledge: the Vedas are 'sacred knowledge'. (Fifty Eastern Thinkers. Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson)
The world of ordinary human experience, of
individuals standing in mutual causal relations in space and time (samsara)
is not reality. Reality is a oneness or absolute, changeless, perfect and
eternal, Brahman. Again human nature is not exhausted by its samsaric elements
of body and individual consciousness of mind (S: jiva): there is further
present in each one of us an immortal element, our true self, the atman.
The atman has no form, and whatever is without form is without limit; whatever
is without limit is omnipresent, and whatever is omnipresent and immortal
is God. This is the basis for one of the most striking and central of Upanishad
doctrines, the assertion that Brahman and atman are in some sense the same:
Containing all works, containing all desires, containing all tastes, encompassing
this whole world, without speech, without concern, this is the self [atman]
of mine within the heart; this is Brahman. Into him, I shall enter, on
departing hence.
It is this doctrine which is summed up in the phrase 'that art thou' (S:
tat tvam asi), 'that' referring to Brahman.
If reality is Brahman, eternal, immutable, perfect, then an account must
be given of the origin and status of the ordinary world of change, the
samsara. The view given in the Upanishads to explain the existence of the
samsara is that it is lila, or sport, an expression of Brahman's constitutive
delight (S: anada). The samsara is not reality but maya, (S: illusion),
and to take the phenomenal world to be the ultimate reality is to be in
the condition of avidya or spiritual blindness. By means of suitable disciplines,
we can overcome the condition of avidya and pierce the veil of maya: if
this is done, our true self is revealed, and this true self is Brahman.
To achieve this rare state is moksa or release from the cycle of birth
and death which is the samsara, and moksa is the goal of life in the Upanishad
philosophy. Only by attaining release can we be liberated from the law
of karma, the otherwise inescapable visiting on us of the consequences
of our actions which rules the cycle of repeated births and deaths in the
samsara. (Fifty Eastern Thinkers. Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson,
p 64-5)
Sankara (788-820 A.D)
Sankara's system of thought is known as Advaita,
a term that classifies it as nondualistic. Its central theme is an examination
of the relation between Brahman, the divine power of the cosmos, and atman,
the individual human self.
Sankara held that reality is ultimately one and that the apparent plurality
of the individual selves and entities of empirical existence is illusory:
what seems to be an individual self, or atman, is in fact not essentially
different from the one Self (Atman), just as the space contained in an
individual jug or pitcher is not different from space as a whole. The one
Self, he maintains, is identical with Brahman and the aim of the individual
human being must be to obtain release from the illusory conceptions of
the differentiated self by achieving a full realisation of the identity
of Self with Brahman. (Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000.
p120-1)
Sankara derives much of his account of the
nature of things from parts of the Upanishads that assert that there is
a sense in which Brahman and atman are one. But within this fundamental
unity he develops the notion of comprehending the world at two levels or
from two points of view. This distinction permeates all his thought and
provides the basic structure of his account of the nature of reality and
human experience. At the higher level of comprehension, he maintains, it
is possible to comprehend the ultimate oneness of reality; at the lower
level, everyday experience leads us to think of reality as a multiplicity
of individual persons and things and at this lower level there is no escape
from samsara. Moksa, the release from samsara, is obtained only by an experiential
realization of oneness at the higher level of comprehension.
According to Sankara, the lower level of experience is maya, often translated
as illusion. (Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000. p121-2)
In a psychological sense maya is the human tendency to regard appearance as reality and reality as appearance. In an epistemological sense it signifies human ignorance concerning the difference between appearance and reality. In an ontological sense it refers to the creative power of Brahman. (Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000. p122)
It is not a deception, nor is it a falsehood, but rather an erroneous or inadequate conception of reality, the result of a misunderstanding which vanishes when it is ousted by knowledge. Sankara maintains that the world of appearances is neither real nor unreal. It is simply an incorrect conception of the true reality. (Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000. p122)
Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Reality or Brahman is a unity, oneness or absolute, changeless, eternal, and such that no predicates can apply to it: in the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation. The idea of time cannot be there, seeing that there is no mind, no thought. The idea of space cannot be there, seeing that there is no eternal change. What you call motion and causation cannot exist where there is only one. (Vivekananda, Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000. p142)
The Atman or soul has no shape or form, and if it has neither shape or form is without limit, and whatever has no limit or boundary logically cannot be located in a particular place. Again, time, space and causality, the preconditions for and generators of the phenomenal world of individuals, pertain to the mind but not to the soul. If Atman is infinite it must be One. If Atman is omnipresent, infinite One, Atman and Brahman must be one and the same: thus Vivekananda returns to the classical doctrine of the Upanishads.(Collinson, Plant, Wilkinson, 2000. p143)
This metaphysics of nondualism generates a
number of profound philosophical difficulties, of which the first is this
: why did the one manifest itself as the many? WHy did the eternal become
temporal, the infinite become finite, the immutable become mutable? Many
thinkers in the orthodox Hindu tradition argue that the answer is delight
(S: ananda): the universe is Brahman's expression of delight in creation.
Vivekananda's reply is different:
..To ask this question we have to suppose that the Absolute also is bound
by something, that it is dependent on something. Thus we see that the very
question as to why the Infinite became the finite is an absurd one, for
it is self-contradictory. (Vivekananda, Collinson, Plant
and Wilkinson, 2000. p143)
The truth behind the imperative to altruism is the nondualist assertion, the 'eternal truth' that " I am the universe; this universe is one". Or else where is the explanation? WHy should I do good to my fellow men?.. It is sympathy, the feeling of sameness everywhere. I do good to others because they are myself. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p145)
(Mahatma)
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
At the base of Gandhi's system of beliefs is
his view of the nature of ultimate reality. This he refers to not as Brahman
(as is usual in advaitism) but as Satya (S: Truth), a term derived from
sat, or Being, Satya or Truth alone can truly be said to be real:
It is That which alone is, which constitutes the stuff of which all things
are made, which subsists by virtue of its own power, which is not supported
by anything else but supports everything that exists. Truth alone is eternal,
everything else is momentary. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p150
(Gandhi)
..Gandhi stresses that Truth is not a property of God, but is identical with God: 'it is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth.' Further, where there is Truth there is knowledge (for which Gandhi uses the term :S: chit), and where there is knowledge there is bliss (S: ananda), and so Gandhi can accept the classic Hindu description of ultimate reality as sat-chit-anada. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p151 (Gandhi)
“What I want to achieve- what I have
been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years- is self-realisation,
to see God face to face, to attain moksa (liberation). I live and move
and have my being in pursuit of that goal. All that I do by way of speaking
and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to
this same end.”
(Fox, 1995. p109 (Gandhi)
“Man is not at peace with himself until he has become like unto God. The endeavor to reach this state is the supreme, the only ambition worth having. And this is self-realisation. This self-realisation is the subject of the Gita, as it is of all scriptures… to be a real devotee is to realise oneself. Self-realisation is not something apart.” (Fox, 1995. p109 (Gandhi)
“I am an Advatist and yet I can support Dvaitism (dualism). The world is changing every moment, and is therefore unreal, it has no permanent existence. But though it is constantly changing, it has something about it which persists and it is therefore to that extent real .. Joy or what men call happiness may be, as it really is, a dream in a fleeting and transitory world ... But we cannot dismiss the suffering of our fellow creatures as unreal and thereby provide a moral alibi for ourselves. Even dreams are true while they last and to the sufferer his suffering is a grim reality.” (Fox, 1995. p110 (Gandhi)
Gandhi was committed to Advaita Vedanta (i.e.
monistic or, more literally, nondual Hinduism), to the belief that all
life comes from “the one universal source, call it Allah, God or
Parmeshwara.” He expressed this belief by conceiving of all entities
as drops in the ocean of life:
“The ocean is composed of drops of water; each drop is an entity and yet
it is a part of the whole; ‘the one and the many’. In this ocean
of life, we are little drops. My doctrine means that I must identify myself with
life, with everything that lives, that I must share the majesty of life in the
presence of God. The sum-total of this life is God.” (Fox, 1995. P259 (Gandhi)
The political technique Gandhi developed, from his South African years onward, to allow him to further these goal was satyagraha. This means literally 'Truthforce', or, more idiomatically, 'holding fast to Truth'. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p155 (Gandhi)
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888 - 1975 CE)
At the philosophical base of Radhakrishnan's
thought lies the metaphysics of Advaita (nondual) Vedanta. Being-as-is
or reality is not the phenomenal world of discrete entities in space and
time, but a oneness, Supreme, Brahman or Absolute (all these terms are
used in Radhakrishnan's works) to which no conceptual categories apply.
Brahman is nondual, free from the distinctions of subject and object ..
[it is] before all phenomena, before all time and .. is equally after all
phenomena and time. Yet it is neither before nor after. It is that which,
real, unhistorical being itself. We cannot think it, enclose it within
categories, images and verbal structures.
The question arises at once as to how the oneness of Brahman, eternal and
divisionless, is related to the many, the world of spatio-temporal individuals.
Three major answers have been given to this question, and Radhakrishnan
follows Sankara in dismissing them all:
(1) creation: to say that Brahman created the universe presupposes that
Brahman was once alone and then decided (so to speak) to have company,
but no reason can be given for such a decision;
(2) manifestation: this concept is no help, since it is utterly unclear
how the infinite can manifest itself in a finite form;
(3) transformation: this view involves a dilemma: either Brahman is wholly
transformed into the universe or only a part of Brahman is thus transformed.
If the former, then there is no Brahman beyond the universe, and if the
latter it follows that Brahman can be partitioned and is not a unity.
In Radhakrishnan's view, the problem of the
one and the many in metaphysics and theology is insoluble: 'The history
of philosophy in India as well as in Europe has been one long illustration
of the inability of the human mind to solve the mystery of the relation
of God to the world.' We have the universe of individuals which is not
self-sufficient and in some sense rests on Brahman, but the exact nature
of the relation between them is a mystery.
Advaitism involves not only the question of the relation of one and many,
but also that of the status of the many. Brahman alone is real, and to
many thinkers it has seemed to follow that the many (the ordinary world)
are unreal, even an illusion (maya) and so unworthy of attention. Radhakrishnan
was deeply conscious that nondualism has sometimes been so interpreted
as a justification for ignoring the world and its suffering, and this he
regarded as morally unacceptable. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000.
p169)
The next serious philosophical issue involved in Advaitism arises in the area of epistemology or the theory of knowledge. All ordinary human experience is conceptual in nature, i.e. is organized under the categories in which we ordinarily think. However, Brahman is said to be predicateless, or, in other words, such that in principle no concepts apply to it: concepts presuppose division, and Brahman is a unity. How, then, is any form of awareness of Brahman possible for human beings? Radhakrishnan's reply is that the assumption on which this objection is based, namely that all human knowledge is derived either from sense-experience or reasoning, is false, since it misses out a third mode of knowing. This third possibility he calls intuition or intuitive apprehension. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p170)
Radhakrishnan contends that everything known by sense-experience or the use of reason can in principle be known by intuition. Since intuitive grasp of an object is complete, intuitive knowledge of that object cannot grow: it is final, unlike other forms of knowledge which can be added to. It is not to be confused with imagination, since intuition is direct awareness of reality, and so always coheres with truths derived from sense-experience or reason. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p172)
Release (S: moksa) is not a mode of being which will be had after death in a special place or heaven. It consists in the transformation of the inner life which occurs after mystic union with the one. It is not the destruction of the world but the shaking free from the false view of it which is avidya. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p174)
God permits evil because he does not interfere
with human choice. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson, 2000. p173)
Art as the disclosure of the deeper reality of things is a form of knowledge
.. [the artist] discerns within the visible world something more real than
its outward appearance, some idea or form of the true, the good and the
beautiful, which is more akin to the spirit itself than to the visible
things ..
Poetic truth is a discovery not a creation. (Collinson, Plant and Wilkinson,
2000. p173)
Sudhakar S.D. Quotations
All that is, is one, the one reality, and plurality does not exist anywhere, except in man’s mind. The esoteric science postulates that there is ultimately One power, One life, One substance. This power is omnipresent, eternal and immutable. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p108)
Hindu cosmology is non-dualistic. Everything that is is Brahman. Brahman is the eternal Now, and in eternity there is no “before” or “after”, for everything is everywhere, always. To use the words of Pascal “it is a circle the center of which is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.” (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P5)
The Universe is Brahman, the One that underlies
and make possible all the multiplicity; the universal consciousness that
is the soul of all existence.
It is the primordial no-thingness from which all things arise, the one
reality whose oneness is all-inclusive; and includes all that is, or shall
be. It is Brahman; the source of the entire cosmos and all cosmic activities
relating to the emergence, existence and dissolution of the terrestrial
phenomena that form the cosmic rhythm. ‘Brahman is the unborn (aja)
in whom all existing things abide.’ And this ultimate reality is
One- absolute and indeterminable. ‘The One manifests as the many,
the formless putting on forms.’ (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P3 (Rig Veda)
'..The Maitri Upanishad mentions two aspects
of Brahman, the higher and the lower. The higher Brahman being the unmanifest
Supreme Reality which is soundless and totally quiescent and restful, the
lower being the Shabda-Brahman which manifests itself into the everchanging
restless cosmos through the medium of sound vibrations. The Upanishad says
that "Two Brahmans there are to be known: One as sound and the other
as Brahman Supreme.” The process of manifestation is from soundless
to sound, from noumenality to phenomenality, from perfect quiescence of "being" to
the restlessness of "becoming".. ' (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P83)
[ALL IS SPACE 'Brahman Supreme' // ALL IS MOTION OF SPACE 'Shabda-Brahman]
'..Manifestation of the ultimate reality takes place through the vibrations of Shabda-Brahman, for vibration is the expression of energy and the action and interaction of vibrations produce all the phenomena on many different planes. Each particular vibration produces perception of a corresponding note in consciousness. Therefore, particular states of consciousness can be brought about by initiation different kinds of vibrations..' (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P82)
In the vast ocean boundless, fathomless,
A giant billow surges; in the immense
Sleep of the Infinite, Eternal Space
There is a stirring, and a central point
Of whirling, vibrant restlessness doth rise;
From restful Brahman restless Brahman is born. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P84
(unnamed poet)
As extensive as the cosmic space
is the space within the heart
Both heaven and earth are contained in it,
both fire and air, sun and moon,
lightning and stars and whatever
there is in the world and whatever is not
- all that is contained within it.
(Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P102. Chandogya Upanishad) (Brahman, the reality,
space, resides within man)
I am indeed in all beings,
and all beings are in me.
(Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P103. (Ashtavakra Samhita, VI.4)
The cosmological infinity postulated by Hinduism
offers an alternative to the scientific infinity of an ever-expanding universe.
The universe of Hindu conception does not need space to expand into, for
it is a mere projection of Brahman itself and space does not exist outside
of Brahman. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988 p5)
..There is life everywhere, movement everywhere. Life is intrinsically
movement. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988 p7)
Upanishadic texts which are the exegenis of the Vedas, throws abundant light on the Vedic cosmology. The Kathopanishad traces the origin of all things to one primal source and asserts there is no distinction, no duality. The Isopanishad reveals the One in transcendence and immanence, the One “who is everywhere and nowhere .. Inside and outside all. It is all, and it is all” (Sudhakar S.D, 1988 p7. (Isa Upanishad, 5)
The realisation of man’s oneness with the Universe is the noblest and sublimest thing that can happen to him. For such realisation answers his long asked question: ‘Who am I?’ He realises he is not a faceless amorphous atom lost among innumerable particles floating in the space. He realises for the first time that he is an embodiment of cosmic splendour and integrates within himself the influences of the many different zones of the universe and radiations from many different stars and planets. He is no more mere man; he is Brahman for “he sees all beings in his own self and his own self in all beings.” (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p12 (Isa Upanishad, 6)
That splendour which is from the sun,
Which Illuminates the whole world
Which is in the moon and fire
Know that splendour as mine (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P33.(Bhagavad-Gita, XV.12)
What determines the true worth of a man in the first place, is to what degree and in what sense he has attained liberation from “I” (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P42.(Einstein)
The word God is a sort of pivotal symbol in human affairs. Perhaps no other word is so vastly used all over the world. Yet for a vast majority of people God is just a word only, and nothing more, as for them it does not evoke any memory; it does not stand for any cognised and experienced reality. The images of God are conceived and portrayed in various religions are mere fancies of an ego-building mind. They are all man-made. Almost all concepts of God are anthropomorphic, based on man’s socio-religious life. All these concepts are unreal, absurd and misleading. Why should God have a figure resembling the human being? Only because God’s image is a projection of the human mind. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P50-1)
In day to day mundane affairs men also cite
the name of God as a proof of their worthiness. They swear by him in courts
of law and the judges believe that whatever they say under the sacred oath
is truth and nothing but truth. Even certain holy books are ascribed to
the authorship of God.
..Maybe man’s concept of God is anthropomorphic because man’s
thinking is anthropomorphic. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P53)
But man does need God. Vedanta defines God as Brahman, which is beyond all duality, plurality and beyond all categories of thought; yet including these. But the Vedantic concept of God is difficult for the common man to understand. It is beyond those who are incapable of abstract thinking, for it is impossible for them to establish an effective living relationship with what is formless, infinite, transcendent, that Brahman is. Such people need a personal God with whom they establish a personal relationship- a father, mother, master, goddess, beloved, friend. Lord Krishna, a human incarnation of God, is closer to the heart of common man than Brahman could be. For unless the infinite is conceived in the finite form of a personal God, devotion will be lacking in depth and intensity. The senses need a form, a concrete something that can be held, touched and adored. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p54)
..The real God is not to be sought in idols
and symbols, in temples or churches.
The truth of the matter is that the purified man is God himself, for he
has become one with universal life. The purified man is the self-realised
man. He has not to await answers from God, for he has no questions to ask.
He himself is the answer to all questions; his life itself is a benediction.
(Sudhakar S.D, 1988.
p55)
Ignorance of the self is the source of all troubles and the knowledge of it is deathless bliss and peace. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P66. (Yogavasishtha V.5.23)
To the enlightened man, whose consciousness embraces the Universe, the universe becomes his body, while his physical body becomes a manifestation of the universal mind, his inner vision an expression of the highest reality and his speech an expression of eternal truth. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P78. (Lama Anagarika Govinda)
But in reality subject and object are One; inasmuch as they are mere two aspects of the single process of perception; they are both the same, both being sparks of Brahman. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p88)
To be able to transcend the notion of separateness of oneself from the multiplicity of things and events in the world and to identify all with the absolute reality is true enlightenment, true self-realisation. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p104)
“And when Brahman is attained, to the man of realisation all beings become the very self, then what delusion, what sorrow can there be for the seer of oneness?” (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. p109 (Isa Upanishad,7)
I am not the body, nor I have a body. 1
I am like the ocean and the Universe is like a Wave. 2
I am indeed in all beings and all beings are in me. 3 (Sudhakar S.D, 1988.
p111)
Though I may appear as a person to you, I am that infinite ocean of consciousness in which all happens. I am also beyond all existence and cognition; pure bliss of being. There is nothing I feel separate from, hence I am ALL. (Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P135. (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)
Reference
Sudhakar S. Dikshit
I am All. A Cosmic Vision of Man.
Published by Chetana Bombay, 1998
Links
/ Hindu Gods, Hinduism Religion, Philosophy, Philosophers
Metaphysics:
Problem of One and the Many - Brief History of Metaphysics and Solutions
to the Fundamental Problems of Uniting the; One and
the Many, Infinite and the Finite, Eternal and
the Temporal, Absolute and Relative, Continuous and Discrete, Simple and Complex, Matter and Universe.
Tesla,
Nikola - Tesla was influenced by Vedic Philosophy that all is one and
dynamic. The Wave Structure of Matter confirms Nikola Tesla's Theories
on Resonance and Transfer of Energy by Waves in Space.
'One day man will connect his apparatus to the very wheel work of the universe
... and the very forces that motivate the planets in their orbits and cause
them to rotate will rotate his own machinery.'
Gandhi,
Mohandas 'Mahatma' - On Civil Disobedience and the
Path of Truth (Satyagraha - Truth Force, God is Truth).
Information, Biography of Mohandas Gandhi.
Govinda,
Lama - Tantric Buddhist Lama Govinda correctly realised
the importance of Space (Akasa) and Motion (Prana)
as the Foundations of Eastern Philosophy and Dynamic Interconnection of
Brahman.
Eastern
Philosophy: Buddha: Buddhism Religion: Nirvana - 'All phenomena link
together in a mutually conditioning network.' The Wave Structure of Matter
(WSM) explains Nirvana (Truth) Karma (Interconnection).
Eastern
Philosophy: Kundalini - Discussion of the Philosophy and Metaphysics
of Kundalini, the divine / cosmic energy that
lies within every human being. When Kundalini is awakened we experience
our true nature, Self as Universe.
Eastern
Philosophy: Taoism - Ancient Chinese Philosophy correctly realised
that One Thing (Tao) must Exist to Connect the Many Things.
Theology
Summary & History of World Religions. On Morality, Free Will & God
Help Humanity
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)
"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence:
Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which
the field strength or the energy density are particularly high. ...
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres
of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without
a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm
and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)
Our world is in great trouble due to human behaviour founded on myths and customs that are causing the destruction of Nature and climate change. We can now deduce the most simple science theory of reality - the wave structure of matter in space. By understanding how we and everything around us are interconnected
in Space we can then deduce solutions to the fundamental problems of human knowledge in physics, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, education, health, evolution and ecology, politics and society.
This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein
realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the
intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.
Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge
known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.
It is Easy to Help!
Just click on the Social Network links below, or copy a nice image or quote you like and share it. We have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. In doing this you will help a new generation of scientists see that there is a simple sensible explanation of physical reality - the source of truth and wisdom, the only cure for the madness of man! Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst (Updated September, 2018)
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck, 1920)
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"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing."
(Edmund Burke)
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
(George Orwell)
"Hell is Truth Seen Too Late."
(Thomas Hobbes)
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