Sunday, August 7, 2016
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
GAYATHRI MANTRA [by Dr.Ravinder Verma]
By Ravinder Verma [in Facebook]
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Gayatri mantra has been bestowed the greatest importance in Vedic dharma. This mantra has also been termed as
Savitri and Ved-Mata, the mother of the Vedas.Om bhur bhuvah swah Tat savitur varenyam Bhargo devasya dheemahi Dhiyo yo nah pracho dayat The literal meaning of the mantra is:O God! You are Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Almighty, You are all Light.
You are all Knowledge and Bliss. You are Destroyer of fear, You are Creator of this Universe, You are the Greatest of all. We bow and meditate upon Your light.
You guide our intellect in the right direction. The mantra, however, has a great scientific importance too, which somehow got lost in the literary tradition. The modern astrophysics and astronomy tell us that our Galaxy called 'Milky Way' or 'Akash-Ganga' contains approximately 100,000 million of stars.
Each star is like our sun having its own planet system. We know that the moon moves around the earth and the earth moves around the sun along with the moon. All planets go around the sun. Each of the above bodies revolves round at its own axis as well. Our sun along with its family takes one round of the galactic center in 22.5 crore years. All galaxies including ours are moving away at a terrific velocity of 20,000 miles per second.
And now the alternative scientific meaning of the mantra step by step:OM BHUR BHUVAH SWAH: Bhur the earth, bhuvah the planets (solar family), swah the Galaxy. We observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 900 RPM (rotations per minute) moves, it makes noise. Then, one can imagine, what great noise would be created when the galaxies move with a speed of 20,000 miles per second. This is what this portion of the mantra explains that the sound produced due to the fast-moving earth, planets and galaxies is Om. The sound was heard during meditation by Rishi Vishvamitra, who mentioned it to other colleagues. All of them, then unanimously, decided to call this sound Om, the name of God, because this sound is available in all the three periods of time, hence it is set (permanent). Therefore, it was the first ever revolutionary idea to identify formless God with a specific title (form) called upadhi. Until that time, everybody recognized God as formless and nobody was prepared to accept this new idea.
In the Gita also, it is said, "Omiti ekaksharam brahma," meaning that the name of the Supreme is Om , which contains only one syllable (8/12). This sound Om heard during samadhi was called by all the seers 'nada-brahma,' a very great noise, but not a noise that is normally heard beyond a specific amplitude and limits of decibels suited to human hearing. Hence the rishis called this sound Udgith musical sound of the above, i.e., heaven. They also noticed that the infinite mass of galaxies moving with a velocity of 20,000 m.p.second was generating a kinetic energy = 1/2 MV2 and this was balancing the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence they named it Pranavah, which means the body (vapu) or store house of energy.
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM:Tat that (God), savitur the sun (star), varenyam worthy of bowing or respect. Once the form of a person along with the name is known to us, we may locate the specific person.Hence the two titles (upadhi) provide the solid ground to identify the formless God, Vishvamitra suggested. He told us that we could know (realize) the unknowable formless God through the known factors, viz., sound Om and light of suns (stars). A mathematician can solve an equation x2+y2=4; if x=2; then y can be known and so on. An engineer can measure the width of a river even by standing at the riverbank just by drawing a triangle. So was the scientific method suggested by Vishvamitra in the mantra in the next portion as under:- BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI: Bhargo the light, devasya of the deity, dheemahi we should meditate. The rishi instructs us to meditate upon the available form (light of suns) to discover the formless Creator (God). Also he wants us to do japa of the word Om (this is understood in the Mantra). This is how the sage wants us to proceed, but there is a great problem to realize it, as the human mind is so shaky and restless that without the grace of the Supreme (Brahma) it cannot be controlled. Hence Vishvamitra suggests the way to pray Him as under: DHIYO YO NAH PRACHO DAYAT: Dhiyo (intellect), yo (who), nah (we all), pracho dayat (guide to right Direction). O God! Deploy our intellect on the right path. Full scientific interpretation of the Mantra: The earth (bhur), the planets (bhuvah), and the galaxies (swah) are moving at a very great velocity, the sound produced is Om , (the name of formless God.) That God (tat), who manifests Himself in the form of light of suns (savitur) is worthy of bowing/respect (varenyam). We all, therefore, should meditate (dheemahi) upon the light (bhargo) of that deity (devasya) and also do chanting of Om. May He (yo) guide in right direction (pra****ayat) our(nah) intellect dhiyo.
So we notice that the important points hinted in the mantra are:-1) The total kinetic energy generated by the movement of galaxies acts as an umbrella and balances the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence it was named as the Pranavah (body of energy). This is equal to 1/2 mv2 (Mass of galaxies x squre of velocity.)2) Realizing the great importance of the syllable OM , the other later date religions adopted this word with a slight change in accent, viz., Amen and Ameen.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Veiled...
2:12 PM (4 hours ago)
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The discussions on truth and absolute truths reminds me of Plato's allegory in Book VII of 'The Republic' wherein Plato compares our existence to prisoners tied up in a cave, so that they cannot turn around. Behind them there is a path along which people, animals, birds and vehicles of every kind move up an down and their shadows fall on the wall in front of the prisoners. It is from these shadows alone that the prisoners can assess what goes on outside the cave. With time, the people in the cave may increase their expertise and accuracy in interpreting the shadows on the wall before them. However, these interpretations can never match the reality of the world outside them in all its dimensions and ramifications. Likewise, we are also very much constrained by the limitations of our senses of perception. The things we perceive are mere shadows of the real world in all its dimensions and ramifications, in all its power and glory.
This is called the Veil Theory in epistemology. According to this theory, we can only perceive the veil of reality; total reality or absolute truth remains elusive. I would like to compare reality or truth to an onion with an infinite number of layers which can be peeled away. As we peel off each layer another layer of the onion is exposed. In the same way as we acquire more and more knowledge about anything we realize that more and more remains to be discovered about it.
Known and Hidden..
only a small part whether of world-being or of our own being
comes into our ken or into our action. The rest is hidden behind in subliminal
reaches of being which descend into the profoundest depths of the subconscient
and rise to highest peaks of superconscience, or which surround the little
field of our waking self with a wide
Page – 498
circumconscient existence of which our mind and sense catch only a few indications. The old Indian psychology expressed this fact by dividing consciousness into three provinces, waking state, dream-state, sleep-state, jāgrat, svapna, suşupti; and it supposed in the human being a waking self, a dream-self, a sleep-self, with the supreme or absolute self of being, the fourth or Turiya, beyond, of which all these are derivations for the enjoyment of relative experience in the world.
If we examine the phraseology of the old books, we shall find that the waking state is the consciousness of the material universe which we normally possess in this embodied existence dominated by the physical mind. The dream-state is a consciousness corresponding to the subtler life-plane and mind-plane behind, which to us, even when we get intimations of them, have not the same concrete reality as the things of the physical existence. The sleep-state is a consciousness corresponding to the supramental plane proper to the gnosis, which is beyond our experience because our causal body or envelope of gnosis is not developed in us, its faculties not active, and therefore we are in relation to that plane in a condition of dreamless sleep. The Turiya beyond is the consciousness of our pure self-existence or our absolute being with which we have no direct relations at all, whatever mental reflections we may receive in our dream or our waking or even, irrecoverably, in our sleep consciousness.
[The Synthesis of Yoga, pp498-99]
http://books.google.co.in/
Page – 498
circumconscient existence of which our mind and sense catch only a few indications. The old Indian psychology expressed this fact by dividing consciousness into three provinces, waking state, dream-state, sleep-state, jāgrat, svapna, suşupti; and it supposed in the human being a waking self, a dream-self, a sleep-self, with the supreme or absolute self of being, the fourth or Turiya, beyond, of which all these are derivations for the enjoyment of relative experience in the world.
If we examine the phraseology of the old books, we shall find that the waking state is the consciousness of the material universe which we normally possess in this embodied existence dominated by the physical mind. The dream-state is a consciousness corresponding to the subtler life-plane and mind-plane behind, which to us, even when we get intimations of them, have not the same concrete reality as the things of the physical existence. The sleep-state is a consciousness corresponding to the supramental plane proper to the gnosis, which is beyond our experience because our causal body or envelope of gnosis is not developed in us, its faculties not active, and therefore we are in relation to that plane in a condition of dreamless sleep. The Turiya beyond is the consciousness of our pure self-existence or our absolute being with which we have no direct relations at all, whatever mental reflections we may receive in our dream or our waking or even, irrecoverably, in our sleep consciousness.
[The Synthesis of Yoga, pp498-99]
http://books.google.co.in/
The Soul is...
- In TheBecoming@yahoogroups.com,
"devindersingh" <devgulati@... wrote:
The soul is four-footed, or has four
conditions.
The Mandukya Upanisad describes the four conditions that are grades
of consciousness.
The first condition is the waking state in which the soul is
conscious of external objects, enjoys gross things through five cognitive
organs, five motor organs, five vital principles, and mind (manas), intellect
(buddhi), egoism ( Ahamkara) and memory (chitta). It is called Vaisavarna.
The
second condition is the dream state in which the soul is conscious of internal
objects, enjoys subtle things through the mind (manas) invested with the
subconscious impressions of waking cognitions, and impelled by nescience
(avidya), attachment (kama), and merits and demerits (karma), independently of
the external sense organs. This is called Taijasa.
The third condition is deep
sleep in which the soul desires no desires, and dreams no dreams. In this state
the soul is centred in itself, filled with consciousness and bliss. It is
called Prajana. In it the mental mode of waking and dream cognition cease, the
distinction of subject and object ceases and there is no trace of pain.
The
fourth condition is superconsciousness in which the soul is conscious neither
of external objects, nor of internal objects, nor of both, nor a mass of
consciousness, and transcends both consciousness and unconsciousness. It is
imperceptible, un-communicable, incomprehensible, indeterminate, unthinkable,
indefinable, the essence of intuition of the self, transcendent, tranquil, good
and non-dual. The soul in this highest state is called Turiya or Atman.
According to Brahmopanishad the Atman is in the eyes in the first state, in the throat in the second state, in the heart in the third state, and in the head in the fourth state.
The Turyatita Upanishad mentions the
state transcending the fourth (turiya) which apprehends pure transcendental
consciousness (cinmatra).
The Brahmabindu Upanishad mentions unmanibhava as the highest state, when the mind is completely restrained on the heart, withdrawn from objects and freed from attachment.
In the terms Integral Yoga, if the consciousness of the waking state be termed the conscient, what lies above is called the supra-conscient and what which lies below is the infra-conscient. The latter has two layers; the sub-conscient that can throw up its stored impressions in dreams, and the inconscient.
The subconscient then corresponds
to taijasa and the inconcient to prajna.
Search for Soul...
For 30,000 years at least, since the emergence of our species on earth, man has struggled to understand truth. The self is the agent of experience and action says Nayaya, one of six systems of Indian thought that has engaged with the question. It is the knower,enjoyer, and actor. Its body is the organ of knowledge feeling and action.
What is knowledge? What is life? The pundits
do not agree on a definition that is work-in-progress yet.
The vaisesika [of the six knowledge systems] regards life as a particular kind of effort or volition of self (jivanayonipriyatna). Inhalation, exhalation and the like are its actions. They are due to the vital efforts of the self.
The vaisesika [of the six knowledge systems] regards life as a particular kind of effort or volition of self (jivanayonipriyatna). Inhalation, exhalation and the like are its actions. They are due to the vital efforts of the self.
There is no permanent self says the Buddhist. A person is a mind body complex, an aggregate of thirty two kinds of organic matter and five constituent elements of being, outward form (rupa), feelings (vedana), ideas (samjana), dispositions (samskara) and consciousness (vijnana). There is no permanent ego or self. The self here is equated with ego.
The samkhya [knowledge system] regards the body, the sense organs, mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and egoism (ahamkar) as the evolutes of prakriti constituted of sattava, rajas and tamas.There is interaction between mind and body in perception and volition but there is no interaction between self and body or mind. The self is
conscious. The mind is unconscious.
According to Jaina the self (jiva) and the not-self (ajiva) are two entirely different substances. The former is conscious, incorporeal and immaterial, while the latter is unconscious, corporeal and material. Matter (pudgala) is not-self. Every embodied self (samsara jiva) has a soul and body.
The advaita Vedanta [knowledge system] regards the gross body as composed of of five elements. It is the instrument of waking experience. The five external sense organs are produced by the five quintipuled elements. The auditory organ is produced by ether, the tactual organ by air, the visual organ by light, the gustatory organ by water, and the olfactory organ by earth. The four internal organs mind (manas) intellect (buddhi) egoism (ahamakara) and memory (citta) are produced by the five elements collectively with a predominance of sattava.
The five motor organs the vocal organ, the prehensive organ, the locomotive organ, the excretory organ, and the generative organ are produced by the five elements with a predominance of rajas. The organs
themselves are insentient, producing their effect under the guidance of the conscious self. The five vital airs " prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana are produced by the five elements collectively with a predominance of rajas.
According to sankhya, life is not physical (bhautika) force but the common function of all sense organs. It is sustained by the powers of the sense organs. The five kinds of vital forces รข€" prana, apana, udhana, samana and vyana " are the modes of internal organs [ manas, buddhi,ahamkara]. They are airs because of their motions. The five vital forces are the common functions of the sense organs.
Samkara considers the five vital forces to be the different modes of one common life. Prana is the air that is inhaled. Apana is the air that is exhaled. Vyana is the air that pervades the body. Udana resides in the throat. It is the air that is belched out. Samana is the air that resides in the intestines and digests food and drink.
The Advaita Vedanta gives a materialistic view of the nature and origin of life. The Samkhya gives an idealistic view tending towards the materialistic because it regards the external and internal organs as evolutes of prakriti or primal matter. The Vaisesika takes an idealist view as it traces life to a voilition of self.
The Prapariscara Tantra [knowledge system] describes ten vital forces. Prana courses upward. Apansa courses downward. Samana assimilatesfood. Vyana distributes the chyle (rasa) all over the body. Udana
accompanies prana (life) and and produces movement of the eyes. Naga is the cause of belching. Kurma is the cause of opening the eyes.Krkara is the cause of hunger. Devdatta is the cause of yawining. Dhananjaya causes various sounds.
As we can see knowledge is a variable across knowledge systems, none of which can seemingly claim infaliability.
Sri Aurobindo however points out, "All knowledge lies
within" . It can be accessed by anyone who has purified the lower modes of
knowing of all its grossness through the yogic
discipline.
[Excerpted and rearranged from Indian Psychology Vol-II pages 13-21 by Jadunath Sinha, Motilal Banarsidas, New Delhi]
Gulati
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