This is
just as it appears to me. The concepts from ancient Vedic texts have been
freely adopted in this essay.
When I
watch the popular Discovery and National Geographic channels and the
unimaginable world of living organisms, I get a feeling that this universe is
an interplay of just two things: energy
and the consciousness. These two connect living to non-living, visible to
invisible, mini- to the mega-world and all beings on earth to the endless
universe.
When we
see the photographs of universe taken by the star-gazing mega- telescopes, it
is realised that it is only mass and energy, continuously changing forms. The Unanishads (ancient Vedic texts) call that mass-energy
interchange, the dance of Shiva (the Purush). Since they are
interchangeable, we shall consider it as mass-energy. We do not see the second,
i.e. the cosmic consciousness (the
Prakriti); but it has to be inferred from the living beings. However there
is more than that.
There is
a third and the supreme element of all, the Brahman
or the supreme universal spirit, that does not take part in any activity but
presides over everything that happens around. It is infinite, immortal and
indestructible.
The
Universe, as we see, comprises of a vast measure of organic, living objects. I
think all the living objects represent the combination of the two basic
principals, namely mass-energy and the consciousness. The Brahman, the third
element, resides in all living (and also nonliving) objects but remains aloof.
I visualize these three elements in the human body, as follows.
(a) The
gross human body, including the subtle or unmanifest body (sukshma sharira) represents the COSMIC MASS
(b) The kundalini (energy lying coiled at the
base of spine or muladhar chakra) that
flows through the seven chakras (energy
centers or vortices, see picture) represents COSMIC ENERGY
(c) The Soul
or the atman represents COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS
(d) The
universe comprises 70% dark energy and the rest is 25% dark matter and just 5%
is the normal matter (earth, stars, etc.) as we see it. I think that all
pervading dark energy resides in all living and non-living things as the Brahman or the SUPREME UNIVERSAL SPIRIT.
Some call it the God or Almighty. It has no attributes and can only be inferred
(neti .. neti). The Rigvedic hymns
(ancient Aryan texts) state that the Supreme Universal Spirit or the Brahman
holds complete control over cosmic mass-energy and the cosmic consciousness
through centrifugal action, directed outward from within. This perception
matches with the principal characteristic of the dark energy that it causes the
Universe to expand indefinitely.
What are
leading characteristics of these elements as observed in mankind? The leading
characteristic of the gross human body and even the subtle or unmanifest body
is aging. Both require food to
survive. The process of aging starts from the moment body takes birth. The
death is the culmination of aging, when the soul or the atman (cosmic consciousness) along with the subtle or unmanifest
body (sukshma sharira) with the kundalini and the seven chakras (cosmic energy) leave the body
to seek another one.
The
existence of cosmic energy (kundalini)
can be inferred by the self-actuated and self-controlled functioning of the
internal organs of living body, consider heart
beating as a symbol. It will not be correct to treat living body as some
machine, as all machines require actuation and control from outside.
The
cosmic consciousness (soul) is represented by the consciousness or awareness
which every living being has about its existence, for example we are always
aware about our existence as a human being, male or female and so on. In
collective term, this awareness is our
mind. It should be noted that unlike cosmic consciousness, the mind or the
individual consciousness is limited only to the body. We experience the
existence of mind every moment through the chain of thoughts, which continue
even when we are asleep. On this basis we can define Samadhi as a zero-thought
state i.e. when the individual consciousness or mind is in consonance with the
cosmic consciousness. An individual reaches the state of awakening or atmagyan when he realizes and sees that
his true self is not the body (sharira)
but the atman or the soul.
There is
no direct evidence of the existence of the dark energy, representing the Brahman or the supreme universal spirit.
The reason being that it is beyond our perception of time and space (three
dimensional)
In a
nutshell, the Universe is a grand interplay
between mass-energy (the Purush) and
consciousness (the Prakriti) and the
Supreme Spirit (the Brahman)
presides.
*
