The Music Within

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart “ – Helen Keller

When is that one hears and sees with the heart ?

It would be when he listens within.

But the interesting fact is not many of us understand what that means or rather have lost the very trait in our “evolution” into a being fit for today’s mechanical world; a world driven by a chase after money , power and status rather than the invaluable gifts of peace and contentment. There is one point on which all psycho analysts seem to agree upon and that is – we live in an increasingly restless world, with all new avenues having opened up for any comfort one can name the discontentment seems to grow and not diminish.

Our world is ruled by competition and this competition is being promoted by many as “competition brings out the best” , this may be true for business enterprises in a limited way and in fields such as sports, but for an individual having to compete with his brothers and sisters to prove his/her worth is highly detrimental. He/she falls under the delusion that life is all about a race where one needs to stamp on others to move up, where one’s worth is determined by how much better is his/her “success” in making it above one’s fellow beings. What would be the outcome of such a mindset, nothing but a mass of human beings who are human beings just in appearance, who seldom experience what it is to be compassionate or to be selfless or to see oneself in others.

Swami Chinmayananda was once asked as to why the Chinmaya mission never built orphanages, hospitals and institutions of charity. Prompt and clear was his reply “My treatment is for the cause and not the effect”. Most of the time we end up treating the effect being oblivious of the cause. What is the cause ? Answer is simple – a defective education system. Our education system as it is today is a close imitation of the British education system as that existed more than a century ago. The idea has been to cram facts into the minds of little children right from when they are able to pronounce “Ma”. There is no natural cohesion with life, just capsules for disaster, and this the child is expected to devour and reproduce in his examinations. The child who reproduces the most is the topper. Of course there are exceptions but this is the main theme of almost any educational institution we can think of in today’s times.

Looking back we see a ray of light. Ours is no small heritage, we are the offsprings of the ancient Sages who taught in the Gurukulas. In the Parliament of Religions at Melbourne in Dec, 2009, Swami Sandeep Chaitanya who represented India said “In ancient times the sages were fine- tuned to Nature- they heard and listened. Their deep and quiet wisdom was a result of hearing and listening and this was reflected in their hymns and worship. They heard, they listened and they sang in glory:

“ Om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah

Bhadram pashyemaakshabhiryajatraah

Sthirairangaistushtuvaamsastanoobhih

Vyashema devahitam yadaayuh

Swasti na indro vridhashravaah

Swasti nah pooshaa vishwavedaah

Swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanemih

Swasti no brihaspatir dadhaatu.

Om shantih, shantih, shantih!”

This shloka was recited by our rishis to nature through which they appealed, “May our ears rejoice from hearing your voices”. “May we see what is auspicious”.

To the Hindu sage ‘hearing each other’ means not just humans hearing humans. It signifies hearing the whole universe with utmost reverence, attention and concentration. When in meditation, one can hear and see even the quiet blooming of a flower. Every bit of Nature would have much to tell us – the seas, rivers, plants and animals- even the tiny ant.”.

Swami Vivekananda said “We see the world as we are. That which we have inside, we see outside”. How then can happiness come from a mind which hasn’t known any genuine happiness but only faint shadows of it, only fleeting glimpses of joy? The answer is to go back to our ancient wisdom, blend it with the knowledge of technology and business that has erupted on our society in such a way that does justice to our having taken birth in this country of ancient wisdom. That alone is the ultimate solution to all the poverty we see, material and spiritual. When an empowered society is built on such solid grounds we may no longer need to preach values to one another. The simplest step which each of us can take would be to promote any endeavor that is taken up on these lines, let our children grow amidst an ocean of love and wisdom and not in a pre-school to empty materialism. The greatest Satsang or divine company is said to be with Mother Nature. When we can hear her, we need not hear anything else.

[Author : Soorya SS, Trivandrum]

Have no fear

“ Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
     Where knowledge is free
     Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 
     By narrow domestic walls
     Where words come out from the depth of truth
     Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
     Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
     Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
     Where the mind is led forward by thee
     Into ever-widening thought and action
     Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,let my country awake”

   -   Rabindranath Tagore

Physics & Reality

 

Miracles do not happen in the universe, it is our ignorance that creates such a delusion. Everything, both observed and unobserved are ‘natural’ occurrences. The ‘scientific weirdness’ that we see in the form of Quantum superposition at sub atomic levels & their absence at macro level through de-coherence are all part of this in ability to properly comprehend the ‘unobserved Physics’. Holistic Physics which will herald a new age in science integrating space, matter & time as one, will raise science from it’s present state of infancy into childhood.

 

Omnipresent consciousness, an elemental essence of the ultimate Being, is no longer a subject of meditation restricted to eastern mystics. It is becoming the inevitable finality of modern science as well, with the emergence of contemporary quantum physics. The uncertainty principle and dualism of the waveparticle, mind-matter, and the macro-micro universe have evolved a holistic scientific paradigm.

Existence is inseparable from its elemental essence — consciousness and cosmic energy. The ultimate reality, according to Vedanta, is Brahmn, identified as Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. The external universe in space-time is a holistic one, where everything is derived from and fundamentally interconnected with all-pervading consciousness. The so-called conscious, subconscious and superconscious states relate more to the mind than consciousness proper; although superconsciousness transcends limitations — of time, space and causality — as it is closest to consciousness. Ultimate consciousness is beyond limitations of body-mind.

Consciousness is the precondition for all physical and mental activities like perception, action, knowing, thinking, feeling and willing. First we are conscious before we perceive, act, know, think or feel. Consciousness is the elemental condition and all else is secondary to it.

J.C. Bose proved that the same life and consciousness pulsate in the living, and the non-living. Richard Feynman showed that the waves of electron and photon, while moving like waves, exhibit a capacity to decide their own course of action.
Physicist Jack Sarfatti said that “the general relativity and quantum theory are simply two complementary aspects of a deeper theory that will involve a type of cosmic consciousness as the key concept”.
John Clauster and Freedman experimented on Bell’s Theorem that two similar photons always instantaneously communicate even when separated by an astronomical distance, indicative of the working of the cosmic mind and consciousness.

Schrodinger’s wave-equation also suggests an endlessly proliferating number of possibilities for external reality and points to consciousness as the hidden variable of multidimensional reality.
‘‘Consciousness, I regard as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness” held Max Planck. Neils Bohr also confirmed that consciousness is indispensable in quantum physics. Modern physiology is also extending our existence beyond physical limitations. British neurologist John Eccles concluded that human consciousness is extra-cerebral and that the non-physical mind enters the physical brain during embryological development.

Wilder Penfield wrote, “To suppose that consciousness of the mind has locality is a failure to understand neurophysiology”. Nobel scientist George Wald echoed that consciousness lies outside the parameter of space and time and it cannot be located, as it has no location. It is all-pervading. Consciousness, therefore, is the potential final field behind the apparent universe, mental as well as material.

The Purpose Of Human Life

An old story is told about the beginning of time. The universe was in the process of being created and not everything was yet in order or fully functioning. Before the universe could be totally engaged, the Creator had one final task to complete. To help him complete this task the Lord summoned an angel.

The angel came. The Creator told the angel that he, the Lord, had one last job to do in the making of the universe.

“I saved the best for last,” the Creator told the angel. “I have here the real meaning of human life, the treasure of life,  the purpose and goal of all this that I have created.

“Because this treasure is valuable beyond description,” the Creator continued, “I want you to hide it. Hide this treasure so well that human beings will know its value to be immeasurable.”

“I will do so, Lord,” said the angel. “I will hide the treasure of life on the highest mountain top.”

“The treasure will be too easy to find there,” said the Creator.

“Then,” said the angel, “I will hide the treasure in the great desert wilderness. Surely, the treasure will not be easily found there.”

“No, too easy.”

“In the vast reaches of the universe?” asked the angel. “That would make a difficult search.”

“No,” the Creator said pondering. Then his face showed a flash of inspiration. “I know. I have the place. Hide the treasure of life within the human being. He will look there last and know how precious this treasure is. Yes, hide the treasure there.”

This treasure and the search for it are the subjects of the Upanishads. Given the nature of human beings, that treasure was indeed well hidden. As the Lord said in the story above, the last place human beings will look for the ultimate Reality is within themselves. They will look to all the diverse objects of the world for meaning, and each time, with each well-meant effort, come away with nothing worth having. In this way a perpetual cycle of births and deaths is created. They spend life running after things that are only temporal and when death comes they are empty handed, with just an invitation to do it over again.

The Upanishads say the ignorant person keeps accepting that invitation, but the wise person sees the futility in the endless pattern of death and rebirth, and looks within for that which is eternal.

Voice of Humanity

 

Mankind is of three kinds, brutes or animal like, humans & the omnipresent Brahman. Brutes with their love for their self alone & material interests remain as brutes until they start to be loving & charitable. Thus begins their transformation into humans. Such a human through his incessant work for the benefit of others becomes the “Brahman” or the universal self. This is the law of evolution (or involution applied in reverse)

Every person has a liking in his heart of hearts when it comes to doing “good” to the society. The only difference is the degree to which it is manifested in each. In some it becomes the very essence of their existence, like Mother Teresa, whereas in some it is a way to keep them “refreshed” & “happy” when they get tired of enjoying themselves in the “material sea”. But the fact cannot be denied, this trait is present in all sentient beings.

When we talk about development, our thoughts immediately travel to the wide bridges, metros, skyscrapers, airways & busy malls. But understand that in the first time in the history of humanity, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger & extreme poverty has spiraled to 1.02 Bn worldwide as per the latest statistics revealed by the UN. This figure translates to one-sixth of the total population on Earth. This also reveals another shocking fact that every 4 seconds we have a death due to hunger related causes & in every 6 seconds it is a child. So men, who can come up with umpteen number of excuses for not being able to help the downtrodden, or the dying masses, can they justify one death. Is one human life greater than another? Is this development? I say each building that is being built is yet another “monument” on the grave of the teaming millions of hungry men, women & children around the world.

As the historic saying goes “All men are born equal, circumstances make them different”. This is not correct, but is an easy way for the “justifiers” amongst us to come up with advocacy for their own actions.

So who is to be blamed? We’re to be blamed.

What for? Our selfishness.

What is the solution? Set our priorities straight. Before you start thinking about yourself, think of the plethora of avenues present to help the needy. Do not restrict our thinking to our sphere of relation & friends, come out of this tiny ‘well’ & embrace the universe. In helping them you are ultimately helping yourself.

Again for the sake of our safety we have age old sayings like “No relation can be greater than blood relation”. This is all non sense, justification for people to be self-centered. Realize that the whole of the universe is your home & the people in it your own siblings, only then can humanity survive.

This reminds me of J.Krishnamurti’s short speech delivered in the United Nations summit. To quote in his words, “No nations can unite, no organization can bring peace”. The idea of a nation itself shows the rift in thought. When there is no unity in thought, how can there be one in action? Peace & sense of “oneness” should come from within. Only the ideal of universal brotherhood can save the humanity from peril. Every other attempt is useless.

Facts come from outside, the truth must come from within. The entire environment surrounding man is trying to inject variables into the man’s thought process as variables. It is our duty to accept these variables, analyze them, discriminate between what is needed & what is not & understand the truth. There is only one truth, & it is very simple. It is the truth of the divinity of man. Once that has been realized, then there is no point in reading further & further on it, debating, reasoning it out. All are of no use. Once you are the bearer of the knowledge, then it is our immediate duty to go out & spread the word, do the right action, help the ignorant out. Only then can we form self sustained communities. Communities which are empowered to race forth & uplift the whole of humanity, shake the world, Community in which people are pure & selfless & always think of others good. We need not wait for a leader to come & lead us in the right path, such a wait is for the lazy. No sage is going to reincarnate & come to you with the message. Assimilate the ideas you derive from the variables & start on your own. Do not look around you for the God, Emperor, Saint, Leader, it is all there in You, “TatTvamAsi”(You are that)

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