Albert Einstein A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vas

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Dear All,

 

Socrates was a genius because he realized that the key to wisdom is

not how much you know, but how well you understand how little you

know. That is why he irritated so many powerful people in ancient

Athens; his philosophy burst the bubble of their misplaced

confidence.

 

Similarly, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) said that to be human

is to be " between beasts and angels " . He meant that we are not

ignorant like the animals. But we are also far from wise. Faith for

Augustine was about deepening the capacity to enter this cloud of

unknowing, rather than opting for the shallow certainties that

religion can deliver.

 

According to Albert Einstein " Everyone who is seriously involved in

the pursuit of science becomes convinced a spirit is manifest in the

laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man. "

 

This Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute Reality called Brahman is

said to be eternal, genderless, omnipotent, omniscient, and

omnipresent, and ultimately indescribable in human language. It can

be at best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and

infinite Bliss. Brahman is regarded as the source and essence of the

material universe. It is pure being. Brahman manifests as

Hiranyagarbha, the " world soul " , which also can take many forms or

manifestations of the thousands of gods. It was deemed a singular

substrate from which all that is arises, and debuts with this verse:

 

" Great indeed are the devas who have sprung out of Brahman. " —

Atharva Veda

 

Originally, in the earliest mantras of the Vedic Samhitas, the word

Brahman probably meant pious effigies coming out of the prayers in

their fire-sacrifices, and hence the actual power behind the

rituals. However, as the centuries passed and the first Upanishads

(the primary Vedantic scriptures that putatively serve as

commentaries on the original liturgical books of the Vedas) were

written, the concept of Brahman fittingly grew in scope and

complexity. Soon, the ancient writers of the Upanishads insisted

that Brahman, in addition to being material, efficient, formal and

final causes of the cosmos, was also utterly beyond all four senses

of origin. Essentially, it is also beyond being and non-being alike,

and thus does not quite fit with the usual connotations of the word

God and even the concept of monism. For this reason, some authors

use the word 'Godhead' for Brahman, to distinguish it from the usual

usage of the word 'God'. It is said that Brahman cannot be known by

material means, that we cannot be made conscious of it, because

Brahman is our very consciousness. Brahman is also not restricted to

the usual dimensional perspectives of being, and thus enlightenment,

moksha, yoga, samadhi, nirvana, etc. do not merely mean to know

Brahman, but to realise one's 'brahman-hood', to actually realise

that one is and always was of Brahman nature. Indeed, closely

related to the Self concept of Brahman is the idea that it is

synonymous with jiva-atma, or individual souls, our atman (or soul)

being readily identifiable with the greater soul of Brahman.

 

The shallow certainties that religion can deliver does not include

the ignorance and falsehood the masses learn from the priesthood. It

is thus difficult to erase even the most glaring of avidya for the

spiritually diseased mind is addicted to the cocaine of collective

prayer, rituals or doctrine. The security of millions prostrating

shoulder to shouldder in collective unity is a powerfully

reinforcing psychostimulant for the religious masses. But how well

have they understood the little they know? Where resides the

Spirit/Brahman that is vastly superior to that of man? After so many

centuries has any guardian of the religious regimes — priests,

pastors, reverends, bishops, popes, rabbis, clerics, imams, mullahs,

shaikhs, ulema, ayatollahs, gurus, swamis, pandits, brahmins,

acaryas, bhagwans, granthis, gianis, lamas, monks, dalai lamas —

found the Spirit?

 

So how do we remove this Maya or spiritual ignorance? It is

necessary to first understand it.

 

" One will gasp in disbelief when one is told that various colors

seen in this world of objects are actually non-existent. Every

object is basically colorless but when it is exposed to solar rays

these objects absorb certain colors from the rays and reject others.

It is only on this basis that we see 'colored' objects. That color

not absorbed by an object is sent back i.e. reflected. This

reflected light enters our eye and thus we think that object to be

of the reflected solar ray's color. Plants in reality are not green

in color since basically they are colorless. Yet they appear green

because plants cannot absorb the green color of solar rays falling

on them. Since this green color gets reflected it enters our eye

which assumes that the plant is green in color. When the green

unabsorbed color gets reflected it enters our eyes and thus the

latter out of delusion says 'the plant is green in color'. This

illusory information is taken to be a die hard truth by us all. Bye

and bye we keep proving to the world with various hypotheses that

plants are green in color. If someone challenges these hypotheses

he/she is mocked at and called a deluded fool. No one is willing to

delve deep into the fact that our senses and mind are all the time

giving illusory information from the absolute standpoint. It should

be noted over here that no doubt the mind and senses are needed

to carry out worldly transactions yet what we are trying to say is

that such information cannot be taken as an absolute truth. They

fail to accept that our mind and senses are deluding us by falling

prey to the illusory wiles of Mother Nature (Prakriti). Over here

the green color of plant is merely an example. This example is meant

to show how our senses deceive us with reference to the colors and

other qualities of various objects in the world. We say that our

eyes, ears, mind, intellect etc is the ultimate proof. But if they

are prone to get carried away by illusory information the very

theory of direct proof becomes faulty....

 

Knowledge/wisdom is the most vital aspect of human lives. Hence it

has to be apt and error free. If our consciousness gives us

knowledge that is illusory and error prone know for sure that this

consciousness has been veiled by the darkness of ignorance (Ajnana).

If this veil of ignorance is not lifted and destroyed our

consciousness is bound to lead us astray in this world of illusion

not for merely one life but for innumerous lives put together. This

veil of ignorance is called Maya in Vedanta Philosophy which is the

root cause of strife and pain undergone by spiritually ignorant

human beings. Maya is not some external object or event of sorrow in

the external world. Maya is the deluded state of our individual

minds. If we succeed individually in lifting this veil of ignorance

i.e. Maya our bondage to the material world will be cut asunder

eternally. Salvation which is the eternal limitless fount of

spiritual bliss (Ananda) can be attained by just about anyone and

everyone. " (Yuga Rishi Shriram Sharma Acharya)

 

But if our consciousness gives us knowledge that is illusory and

error prone know for sure that this consciousness has been veiled by

the darkness of ignorance (Ajnana). So how do we remove this Maya or

spiritual ignorance? You cannot until and unless you are silent and

free from the conversations, chatterings, scheming and gossip of

your own deluding mind. Yoga is Silence. Spirit is Silence. Brahman

is Silence.

 

so realize your Self and become the same Silence!

 

jagbir