|
|
Spirituality
An Exploration
of
the Ultimate Reality
by TA Ramesh
Indeed man himself is a great wonder. More than that what a great wonder
the life of man is! And what a marvelously beautiful planet the earth is
sustaining a variety of lives so long! Knowing neither the beginning nor
the destination of life or the continuation of life after life the
exploration about life is going on. The quest to discover the ultimate
one is ever insatiable and the curiosity to know the origin of creations
is never diminishing too. Though the puzzle of life is still unsolved,
scientific pursuits are going on to find whether there is life as on the
Earth or not or in some other form in the outer Space.
Even the laws of science we know are not useful to know anything about
the Black Holes in some galaxies in the Universe. The available
scientific laws are inadequate to explain all the phenomena in Nature or
Universe. This is because besides inadequacy of laws the field of
science among many branches has covered only up to physiology and
psychology and not even touched spiritual science. So Spiritual Science
has to be developed to understand many mysteries in Nature. Therefore
for the present we have to rely upon philosophy to enquire into many
unknown phenomena in man, Nature, Universe…
Nothing
Generally there should be something, then only something can be
conceived, something can be expressed and something can be done. But
Indian astronomer-mathematicians like Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have
proved to the world that the symbol of nothingness, Zero has the
potentiality of infinity, even though Aristotle says that “nothing will
come out of nothing.”
In fact only after the first discovery of fire in the stone all the
developments have taken place in the world and man has become a
civilized being. The latent energy in the inert stone, though
incredible, is an irrefutable truth. Not only that but also the vision
of the immanent and the transcendental being in the image of man is
expressed in the form of divine statues in stone in the temples by man’s
art say about the highest form of human culture in the world. This shows
though man, a finite being with limitations, drawbacks and
incompleteness, has the capacity to express about even the infinite
being in art.
The temple statue is a symbolic example for man to achieve what sort of
perfection he has to aim at. Simply Temple Arts have combined together
religion, philosophy, literature, art, science, health, culture and
spiritualism in one. That is why arts have to be regarded as quite
divine. According to the maturity of the mind they reveal meanings and
messages to various men and give them peace, happiness and satisfaction.
All the things are hidden in the stone! Not only are the stone but also
there are so many things around us having enormous potentiality hidden
behind them which we may not understand. Therefore we cannot simply say
that “this is nothing” and “nothing will come out of nothing.” Even the
smallest of small atom has the incredibly enormous power to destroy the
world means what can we say for that?
Nature
Nature is simply the living scientific art revealing the philosophy of
life. There is beauty everywhere. There is truth hidden in everything.
There is the manifestation of love in all their activities. Naturally
Nature is the friend, philosopher and guide to man. So, man gets
inspiration, ideas and encouragement directly from Nature. Being a part
of it he imitates nature and tries to overcome and excel it because of
his wonderful mind. But can the part overcome the whole? For all the
living beings- fish, foul and flower, there is birth, growth, decay and
death. So also it is the same for man too. There is direct regeneration
for plants, but for animals and man perhaps there are rebirths of
different kind which needs to be studied further to have a correct
conclusion. But the cycle of life goes on in the same way for all.
Culture
The duration of life between birth and death is unknown. But within the
life-time how best one can live is the wise thing one can aim at. For
that the only best way to follow is culture. Based on experience and
knowledge the system we follow to live in love with good manners and
morality can simply be called as culture which includes love of Nature,
music and books cherished in humanism aiming perfection in thoughts,
words and deeds.
Even civilization without the basis of culture is unreliable. That is
why modern civilization has made human life to proceed in fear and
anxiety in the performance of things, increased dangerous diseases
deadly hazardous to health and driven the world to the brink of savagery
and destruction.
Religion may make a cultured person a divine being but culture teaches
tolerance, patience, hospitality and unity in diversity and converts a
brute into a human being because of its humanism which is what most
needed today in the world. Further for all the problems of the world we
can say that the ultimate solution is the creation of one world through
culture.
Evolution
Then the question of life has to be solved. What is life? It is a great
question because it is a difficult puzzle yet to be solved. For the
present there is an answer from the Modern Theory on the evolution of
life. After the Big Bang, slowly the Earth cooled down, atmosphere
appeared around and life began or rather evolved on the Earth. First the
blue-green algae appeared on the surface of the water, then evolved into
a life-cell called amoeba to fish, birds, reptiles, animals and man.
After that there is no physical evolution.
Only mind is evolving according to the Indian Philosophy of Sri
Aurobindo. From where life comes and to where life goes is
scientifically unknown and will not be known, it seems from the Modern
Theory. But the Indian Theory that says everything comes from and goes
to the all pervading spirit, God gives a thought provoking answer which
also cannot be scientifically proved as science itself has to be
developed to a great extent! However one thing is clear i.e. all the
matters in the Universe are made up of five elements called fire or
energy, substance or solid, water or liquid, air or gases and ether or
vacuum. Therefore the living matter, man is a product of these five
elements only.
Process of Evolution
Creation, preservation and destruction or birth, growth and death are
the stages in the process of evolution which go on continuously forever
in a cycle. Energy is everywhere. From this all pervading energy matter
has come and in matter life has evolved. Therefore life is a part of
energy. Hence the link between the inanimate world and the animate world
or lifeless things and living beings must be the all pervading energy or
the heat in matter. The repeated cycle of births and deaths reveals that
evolution aims at perfection. But how long will this cycle of evolution
go on in the inanimate world and the animate or conscious world of the
Universe?
Naturally the cycle of evolution will go on till perfection or the
saturation point or the ultimate end or reality is achieved. In the
whole world only in the Indian Shastras both the creation and the
destruction period of the Universe has been predicted as 2 Kalpas i.e.
4,320,000,000 years for creation and 4,320.000,000 years for destruction
i.e. 8,640,000,000 years. The truth of this prediction is left to the
thought, calculation and guess of everyone! We know practice makes all
perfect. Therefore we can say that creative or constructive evolution
certainly makes all perfect.
Liberation, Nirvana, Moksha
So what is the way to achieve perfection or ultimate reality or ultimate
destiny of creation? Man with mind is far superior to all he creations
in the world. Only when the cessation of repeated cycle of birth, death
and connected duties occurs the achievement of the ultimate reality is
possible. Through the automatic process of evolution to reach the
destiny is a long, long way to go. Therefore because of his intelligence
it is possible for man to know the way by his own efforts and achieve
the desired end in his own way. There are teachers such as Buddha,
Sankara and Ramanuja to show us the way as guides.
According to Buddha desire is the root cause for all sorrows,
sufferings, obligations, births and deaths and so self-restraint over
passion, self-denial of sensuous pleasure and self-control of desires
are needed to over come them. Wise thoughts, kind words and gentle
action in love towards all are the way to achieve Nirvana or
emancipation in life.
According to Sankara first the knowledge of the Universal Spirit should
be obtained and the path of non-attachment should be followed to
overcome the ocean of life, then only Moksha or the state of Brahma can
be attained.
Finally Ramanuja said that with total devotion in thoughts, words and
deeds the living soul can ultimately have union with the Universal
Spirit.
Whatever be the philosophies, they are all left to the individual’s
taste, understanding, belief and efforts. But one thing is certain, i.e.
nude we come and nude we go. We come with nothing and we have to go with
nothing i.e. only when we are perfect, clear and pure. Therefore though
we achieve perfection in thoughts, words and deeds by our own efforts we
have to be clear and pure too in heart, mind and soul, then only we can
ultimately go to the desired destination successfully.
Ultimate Reality
Next we have to see what we have with us by which the ultimate reality
can be realized and reached. In the Universe man and all the matters are
enclosed within the all pervading energy called the Universal Spirit.
There is similarity between man and other things of nature and the
Universe. The outer Space of the Universe is similar to the inner space
of man. This shows there is certainly a connection between the two.
The outer Space starting from the Universe proceeds through Nature to
the inner space through the human body or vice versa. Due to the (strong
and weak) Nuclear Forces, (weak) Gravitational Force and (strong)
Electromagnetic Force the Stars and planets in the Universe exist intact
doing their duties without a stop. So also due to the Life Force in the
human body, heart, brain, liver, kidneys, etc. function coordinately. In
our closure vicinity things of nature such as clouds, mountains, rivers,
plants and trees with leaves, fruits and flowers put together resemble
the complex living organism called man with brain, heart, liver, hands,
feet, etc.
Likewise there are so many things to compare. The only difference is
that what is outside is within man and what is within is the outer form
of man. The only thing that unites both within and outside man is the
mind. The mind is within the body. The life force or the self or the
reality or the soul or the spirit is within the mind. The part of the
All Pervading Energy or the Universal Spirit is within the soul. That is
the Ultimate Reality we can say and nothing else which has to be
realized and reached by our own efforts! How?
Consciousness
Any organism whether it is alive or dead is judged by its consciousness
only. The various stages of consciousness of the mind doing myriad
activities of miraculous nature undoubtedly make man a superior kind of
being of all the creations known. The kinds of consciousness with minor
branches such as Blood Consciousness and Stream of Consciousness are
divided into 1. Sub-consciousness, 2. Consciousness and 3.
Super-consciousness.
It looks the knowledge got out of repeated activities of the past or the
previous birth gets recorded in the blood and becomes a habit in the
subsequent births. That is why perhaps due to the blood consciousness it
is possible for the birds to build nests, the ducklings to get to the
waters, the people to have a sort of fear over death and to do other
instinctive activities. These are some of the evidences of rebirths or
reincarnations of soul occurring in the world. Another thing is the
stream of consciousness. Reflections over the memories of the past
experience come in a stream of consciousness to some people who have a
strong memory power as in a dream or a visionary mood.
The sub-conscious activities are pulsating of the heart, breathing,
dreaming, visioning, intuiting, etc. Through intuition, which is not an
instinctive activity but a strenuous or intensive intellectual activity,
it is possible to know the Self or soul or reality or pure consciousness
and the Soul of soul, the Universal Spirit or Universal Consciousness.
Conscious activities are reasoning, thinking, doing all works with
awareness, etc. Finally super conscious activity is the top most super
kind of mental activity by which meditation and still further mysticism
are performed. Only in this highest state of mind with thorough
knowledge total dedication, concentration and deep mediation realization
of the inner spirit and the presence of the Universal Spirit in it can
be possible and in that mood communion of the self consciousness with
the Universal Consciousness the Ultimate Reality can be reached.
End
Actually the Self with the Universal Spirit within is like a prisoner
kept in captivity. Only when the outer coverings are removed like the
petals of the lotus open, the golden yellow of the whole spirit can be
seen. That too though the fire with the luminous blue flame burning
inside the empty space of the heart can be realized and reached, only
after many a birth it can be freed so that the part would become one
with the whole once and for all.
November 5, 2006
Image under license with
Gettyimages.com
Top
|
Spirituality
The Week of November 5, 2006
The Knives are out? - Natware-Sonia Spat May Just
be the Start by Rajinder Puri
Policies, Poverty, Parasites and pandemics by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: India's Iron Man
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Reliving Legacy of the Cholas by Col. Rahul K.
Bhonsle
Nation Building, IITians and Happiness by
Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi
Moustache of Mahatma by J. Ajithkumar
Gandhi, Gandhigiri and Gyan-Doo by Julia
Dutta
The Day Mohandas Could Not Talk by CR
Gopalakrishna
'No' to the days of Catherine De' Medici and
Borgia by V. Sundaram
An Exploration of the Ultimate Reality by
TA Ramesh
The Quiet Transformers by Attreyee Roy
Chowdhury
Global Problems: India and the World by
Rajesh Talwar
Out of Control and Pseudo-mature Teens by
Gary Direnfeld
Integration of the Blind in the era of
Globalization by Arun Arjun Kurkute
Land of Sixty Lakes Obscured by Landslides!
by VK Joshi
In the Line of Fire by Kalpana Pradhan
Cocktail Hunting by Naiya Sivaraj
A Stroll through the Old City by Yamini
Ayyagari
Keep Distance...I'm prepairing for IAS by Ravi
Pipal
Gatherings by Michael Levy
Sorry Sir! by Ashwini Ahuja
Attempt to Murder by Wangdi Gyalpo
Flatulence of English by G. Swaminathan
Ten Decorating Hurdles by Rekha I Nambiar
Beauty as the Beast by Gagandeep Kaur
Reinterpreting Ramayana by Deepti Priya
Mehrotra
The Veil Goes High Fashion by Shuriah Niazi
New Bricks in the Wall by Rong Jiaojiao
What Makes Children Happy? by Barbara Lewis
Surveying the Family by Kajal Basu
Is MGM Dizzee World really a fun place to be?
by Deepa Ravi
Village Planning: Making a Difference for
Communities in Madhya Pradesh by Anil Gulati
|
|
