The Axis of Infinite Good (MTS-7: Towards A Mathematical Theory of Spirituality Based on Advaita)

[Guest guest]

Ref Pages 15-18 of http://sunyaprajna.com/Advaita/Advaita_Math.pdf

 

Pranams!

 

The previous posting in this series (MTS-6) referred to a fundamental assertion

implicit in all spiritual traditions by which practitioners of the tradition are

promised an end to their suffering in this world and enduring happiness in some

superior realm. Our model based on Advaita demonstrated this principle by

showing how a jeeva with increasing detachment experiences fewer changes in the

O-E-T. Experienced time, by definition, is proportional to number of changes

experienced and hence time experienced by a jeeva also decreases with increasing

spiritual detachment. “Doing time” is a common expression for an inmate’s life

bound within prison walls, with a long jail time signifying bigger punishment. A

jeeva bound to O-E-T is also “doing time” and its “experienced time” measures

how harsh the sentence is.

 

Two important points must be borne in mind to put the above result in its proper

perspective:

 

1) While spiritual detachment leads to contraction of experienced time,

contraction of experienced time does not necessarily imply spiritual detachment.

Change in experienced time can be occasioned by a number of other causes such as

sleep, use of mind altering drugs, and (according to Relativity Theory) motion

in space. These are “material” causes and typically involve manipulating and

altering the O-E-T itself. Spiritual detachment, on the other hand, does not

alter the world materially, but changes instead the jeeva’s experience of that

world. The seen world remaining the same, an evolved jeeva experiences less

suffering.

 

2) Spiritual detachment is not a negative state of indifference to the world or

heartless apathy towards other jeevas. Correctly practiced, “saadhana

chathustayam” leads to a blossoming of the inner personality. Negative values

(-the “Gang of Thirteen”, as Profvk ji calls them-) yield gradually to positive

virtues. The virtuous jeeva tends to be cheerful in all circumstances,

compassionate towards all other jeevas, and (-as a result of its growing

viveka-) quietly confident in its understanding of all things and beings. The

peace and contentment enjoyed by the spiritually detached jeeva are established

on firm knowledge and hence are enduring. In contrast, peace and happiness

brought on by manipulating the O-E-T are at best temporary fixes.

 

The saadhanas that lead to detachment from the O-E-T also lead to purification

of the mind (i.e. sradha and bhakti, as Profvk ji may categorize all goodness)

and the ensuing joy, compassion, and knowledge. There is no one set of saadhanas

to get rid of negativities and another separate set to acquire virtues. The

geometric representation in our model captures this truth very simply by

postulating a single parameter theta which, as it increases, results in both

decreased attachment to the O-E-T in the horizontal axis and increased proximity

to the Experiencer in the vertical axis. Proximity to the vertical axis is

indicative of the goodness in the jeeva and of the measure of joy, compassion

and knowledge it possesses. The vertical axis itself represents the ultimate in

Goodness and Knowledge.

 

Can Knowledge and Goodness be the same? Lord Krishna, in Gita Chapter XIII,

assures us that this indeed is the case. After enumerating a string of virtues

beginning with “amaanitvam”, the Lord concludes saying “This is called

Knowledge”. Knowledge, of course, stands here for the Knowledge of the Self, and

not any worldly knowledge.

 

There was a question from Nair ji earlier regarding the nature of the vertical

axis in the mathematical model. The axes in Figures 3,4,5 etc (-where we

consider jeevas with a constant level of detachment-) have dual meaning, as

explained in the last posting in response to questions from Ben ji and Profvk

ji. In terms of the polar coordinates (t,theta), the axes represent spiritual

orientations in the two extremes, with the vertical axis representing the

orientation of one fully detached from O-E-T. The cartesian coordinates, on the

other hand, represent experienced time on the horizontal axis and “relative

awareness” on the vertical axis. Based on the discussion so far, the vertical

axis can as well be termed as representing “relative Goodness” or “relative

Knowledge of the Self”.

 

I fully understand the discomfiture caused by the suggestion of measuring

anything like “Awareness” or “Goodness” or “Knowledge of Self”. I agree totally

that these are too subtle and profound to yield to any absolute scale of

measurement. But we are talking about relative assessments and not absolute

values. We may ask if even relative comparisons are admissible. But then, do we

not speak of one jeeva being more evolved than another? Such language is fairly

well accepted in spirituality and shows that we intuitively accept the concept

of degrees of evolution, even if we have no means of measuring it. What the

model does is to give a geometric basis for making these relative statements.

The vertical axis, representing the ultimate in evolution and in Goodness and

Knowledge, is itself immeasurable and infinite. But the relative Knowledge or

relative Goodness of a jeeva can be represented by the degree of proximity of

that jeeva to the vertical axis. We will defer to the next posting a discussion

on how exactly this is done.

 

Does the vertical axis represent the Brahman or not? This was another question

from Nair ji. Boundary lines, like fence between neighbors, are always

problematic. To which quadrant does the vertical axis belong- to the first

quadrant representing the vyaavahaarika or to the other three quadrants

representing Brahman? At any rate, the vertical axis cannot be the “Nirguna

Brahman” since we identify Infinite Goodness and Knowledge with that axis.

Nirguna Brahman is beyond all characterizations such as goodness and knowledge.

The vertical axis could be conceived as the Saguna Brahman, or as the Bhagavan

who is verily the abode of all virtues and opulence. Whether we consider Saguna

Brahman and Bhagavan as part of vyavaharika or paramaarthika is a question I

have no ready answer for. May be either, neither, or both!

 

Hari Om!

 

- Raju Chidambaram