Zero

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Zeroing in on zero – An Article appeared in The Hindu, newspaper, 4/10/04

 

http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/10/04/stories/2004100402270400.htm

 

 

 

 

 

“Zero is not to be conceived as a negative factor, writes V. IRAI ANBU.

 

 

 

MOCKING AT somebody's capability or intelligence, we at times call some one a

"big zero".

 

 

 

What significance does zero bear? We need to examine in detail.

 

 

 

Discovery of zero is considered a pioneering step in the field of mathematics.

 

 

 

Cartoonist R.K. Lakshman used to say: "We Indians have invented `Nothing''. The

statement, as it turns out, is important both metaphorically and figuratively.

 

 

 

In mathematics, zero is a place holder in computation. It is a cardinal number

associated with an empty set. It is a divider between the positive and the

negative numbers. It is the power index which converts any number into unity. It

is an identity element in respect to the addition of real numbers. And, it is

the number which cannot be a divisor.

 

 

 

Crucial in democracy

 

In economics, zero based budgeting is advocated. In demography zero growth rate

is ideal. In democracy zero hour is crucial. In Physics, absolute zero is

significant. In investigations, zeroing on the culprit is crucial.

 

 

 

Zero is not to be conceived as a negative factor. It can be positive. As Thich

Nhat Hanh says, "If you have a debt to pay, it is negative. But when you pay it

back, your balance returns to zero. That is wonderful because you are free."

 

 

 

Even when the chronological order of the years was devised, after the completion

of B.C., zero was omitted to be included and hence one year has been added to

the actual number to be denoted.

 

 

 

Spiritual insight

 

It is to be remembered that Indians discovered zero not out of accident but due

to spiritual insight.

 

 

 

To attain nothingness is the ultimate objective in spirituality. Chandogya

Upanishad reveals the mystery of nothingness. `Bring me a banyan fruit,' Aruni

said, and his son brought him one. `Cut it into two,' Aruni said and his son cut

it into two. `What do you see,' Aruni asked. `I see some very small seeds,' his

son replied. `Take one of the seeds and cut it into two,' Aruni said and his son

cut a seed into two. `What do you see,' Aruni asked. `Nothing at all,' his son

replied. Aruni said, `within that seed is the essence, which makes the entire

seed to grow. Yet it cannot be seen.'

 

 

 

Meditation is zeroing on thought process. Dhyana is the attainment of

`no-thought'. All great discoveries arose from the "no thought mind."

 

 

 

Physical manifestation

 

 

 

 

 

Emptiness is the physical manifestation of zero. Tao says, the room is useful

not because of the walls but because of the emptiness within the circumference.

Unless one becomes empty of his preconceived notions, one cannot learn any thing

new. People feel happy to remain full even if they are stuffed with garbage.

Buddha said, `Form is emptiness and emptiness is form'. There are seven kinds of

emptiness, starting from the emptiness of mutuality to the highest emptiness of

ultimate reality.

 

 

 

Lankavatara Sutra claims `when perfect wisdom is realized, the mind is empty of

all conceptions and notions'. The Indian tradition trusts `learning zero' as the

final step in the education process.

 

 

 

For them, to know existence is knowledge and to know the non-existence of

existence is wisdom. West talks about silence as the absence of words and East

names it as the absence of thought. Tilopa wants us to become the hollow bamboos

to allow the divine to pass through us. J. Krishnamurthi says, `When you listen

to sound, the very listening is the silence, silence and sound are not

separate'. Love is nothing but the emotional experiencing of zero. It is a

sudden collapse of a section of an individual's ego and boundaries and

permitting one to merge one's identity with that of another.

 

 

 

Death is considered as the zero point of life. It is actually the pinnacle of

life. Passed away does not mean gone. If one practices the art of looking deeply

into a drop of water, one would see the whole ocean in it and life will be full

of music, dance and celebration. This is what zero teaches us, as the final

lesson.