The Cosmic Dance of Ishwara and Prakriti (MTS-10: Towards A Mathematical Theory of Spirituality Based on Advaita)

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Ref Pages6, 24, 35-36 of http://sunyaprajna.com/Advaita/Advaita_Math.pdf

 

We return now to a theme first sounded in the third and fourth postings of this

series, namely the divine dance of Ishwara and Prakriti that underlies the

moment-to-moment evolution of the cosmos. Mystics who have seen with their

spiritual vision the “ananda thandava” of the Lord of Dances tend to break into

ecstatic poetry. I am not in this league of exalted beings, but nevertheless did

attempt to “poeticize” the mathematical model. The result is the rather

amateurish poem you see on page 2. I call it as Uma-Maheshwara’s dance, but one

could as well visualize Lakshmi-Narayana or Raadha-Krishna etc in that dance,

whichever way the predilection of the bhakta lies.

 

In this dance, Prakriti, as the beautiful mother, leads her endlessly enchanting

child, the cosmos, in a dance around the father, the majestic Ishwara. The child

takes each step guided by his mother, to the beat of the father’s damaru (cosmic

drum). The vast dance hall is filled with golden cloud so thick no one can

ordinarily see the Prakriti or the child as they shuffle silently between steps.

But accompanying each beat, there issues forth a brilliant flash, briefly

parting the clouds and illuminating the child in a different dance posture. A

jeeva which takes itself to be just part of the cosmos participates in the dance

without witnessing or understanding it; as a result it is often confused and

agitated. The jnaani, on the other hand, rejoices in the dance, feeling secure

in the loving presence of the Mother and Father. The jnaani’s participation in

the dance is with the knowledge that he/she is not in fact dancing, but it is

mother Prakriti in the presence of Ishwara executing the steps.

 

This is the romantic vision, the more mundane mathematical version is provided

in Page 6 (Fig. 2), Page 20, and Pages 35-36 (Note 6) of the paper.

 

As illustrated by Fig. 2, each moment, marked by the beat of the damaru, sees

the world in a different state. The interval between the rhythmic beats measures

out the Cosmic Time. The Lord does not sound the drum to the beat of anything

other than His Will; therefore time is under the control of the Lord and not the

other way around. Now, after each beat, there is an interval of silence followed

by the next beat. Two events occur during these two distinct phases: 1) During

the silent period following a beat, Prakriti transforms the present state of the

world into a “superposition” of the several states possible in the next moment.

No one can ordinarily see the world in its superposed state; it exists in the

Total Mind as possibilities; 2) The silent period ends when Ishwara sounds the

drum and “collapses” the unobservable, superposed world into one observable

state. The chosen state becomes observable to jeevas only in the illuminating

light accompanying the sound; this is the light of Pure Consciousness, which

Ishwara in reality is. The world thus changes constantly to the sound (naada)

and light (bindu) of the Divine: a cosmic “son-et-lumiere” show!

 

Referring to Fig 8, in page 24, the cause-effect waves shown there represent the

superposed states of the world in successive moments. AC is Brahmaji’s path

cutting through these waves. The waves collapse into a definite state of O-E-T

as Brahmaji’s path intersects them. For example, the wave GG’ collapses into the

definite state G, as Brahmaji’s path intersects it at the point G(sub1). The

state G into which the wave collapses is chosen at the Will of Ishwara and

executed through Brahmaji. Jeevas see (i.e.experience) the state chosen for

O-E-T at Ishawara’s Will, only with the illumination provided by the Pure

Consciousness reflecting on their individual M-I.

 

Now, all jeevas (with the exception of jeevan mukthas) are at all times either

on, or to the right of, AC, Brahmaji’s path. Therefore, the experienced time

that elapses before a jeeva perceives the chosen state of the O-E-T is greater

than the experienced time that elapses before Brahmaji creates it. This assures

that jeevas at any time do not get to experience the world before Brahmaji has

the experience of creating it. Our model suggests that jeevan mukthas however

can see (that is, foresee) what is to come in future. There are anecdotes in

our mythology to support this.

 

What is the significance of Brahmaji’s trace of imperfection in the two-step

process? The quantity 0.5x10(exp-25) by which Brahmaji’s state falls below the

perfect 1, can be related to the time it takes for each wave to collapse as

Brahmaji’s path crosses it; i.e as the fraction of time occupied in each

cause-effect cycle by the “collapse” phase. Brahmaji’s attention on creation,

rather than on the Self, is only during the second phase.

 

Page 36 illustrates the cause-effect chain as a series of equally spaced

“pulses” along the time line. Each pulse represents a “beat of the drum”, or the

“collapse phase” of a cycle. The interval between two consecutive pulses is one

cosmic unit of time. How long is one cosmic unit of time? In answer we could

ask: how frequently does the state of the cosmos change? We do not know the

exact frequency of change, but it should be an enormously high rate. If the

cosmic unit time is “lambda” seconds as shown in page 36, the duration of each

pulse (or the “pulse width”) is lambda x 0.5 x 10(exp-25) secs.

 

Quantum physics says that the smallest measurable unit of time, called Planck’s

Time, is of the order of 10(exp-44) seconds. Is Planck’s Time related in any

way to the pulse width computed above? In our model, the pulse width is the

time taken for each wave to collapse and hence it can be argued that it should

not exceed the Planck’s Time. Now, (1/lambda), signifying the frequency of

change in cosmos, has to be at least as high as the highest frequency known in

the universe. Gamma Rays, one of the highest energy radiations known, has a

frequency of 3x10(exp+20) per second. If we assume a value for lambda based on

this Gamma Ray frequency, the duration of the pulse is 1.5 x 10(exp-45) seconds.

This is less than, and very close to, 10(exp-44) secs, the Planck’s Time. This

analysis is no doubt conjectural to a degree and not very rigorous, but it does

suggest interesting possibilities by which to relate concepts in quantum physics

with those of Advaita.

 

Hari Om!

 

- Raju Chidambaram