Welcome Back Sri Nair-ji! Einstein , ego etc ......

[Guest guest]

i was just wondering the other day where you have been hiding ? The

last time we heard from you was you were going to India because of

some pressing personal problems . Remember, you had also promised

Subbuji that you will write a response to his posts on something ...

i

cannot exactly recall the topic! Now subbuji has also left us ....

suddenly there is a great 'void' in the group with all the seasonned

advaitins like Chitta, subbuji and a few others ( who choose to be

silent... ) ... anyway ....

 

Nairji , you had lead a lovely discussion on 'Purnamidam'. Why don't

you help Dennisji with his weekly defintions ? Also , now that you

are

back in the saddle , i would kindly request you to read his new

book 'Back to Truth' and review it in leading journals . You can do

it!

 

EINSTEIN AND VEDANTA ....

 

Einstein had interactions with many of his Indian contemporaries of

his times including Tagore and Gandhiji.

 

May i reproduce here sa passage that i read In Hinduism today

Regarding Einstein and Vedanta ?

 

" In Einstein's theory of relativity, E=mc2, he postulates that mass

is

equivalent to energy. Both space and time, deduced Einstein, are no

longer absolutes. Consider his theory in light of the Vedanta system

of Hindu philosophy. All matter throughout the universe is the

outcome

of one primal matter called akasha. Moreover, all force, whether

gravitational or electromagnetic, is the outcome of one cosmic

energy

called prana. Prana acting on akasha is creating or projecting the

universe. Einstein had thus proven mathematically what Vedantists

had

known for years. Some theologians have taken the theory of

relativity

one step further, speculating that Einstein's mass-energy

equivalence

also accounts for energy and matter as true functions of each other.

A

God of pure energy could thus become an avatar a doctrine held by

some

Hindus, Tibetan Buddhists and Christians.

 

Relativity may also be explored in terms of the system of 36

tattvas,

or categories of existence, common to several systems of Hindu

philosophy. These begin with shuddha maya, pure spiritual energy,

the

first evolutes, emanations or creations out of God. The first five

tattvas are forms of consciousness, while the next seven are forms

of

spiritual-magnetic energy, including time (number 7, kala tattva).

The

final 24 consist of magnetic-gross energy, and include the mental

faculties, organs of perception and action and finally the elements

ether, air, fire, water and earth. The system of tattvas also

regards

matter as a form of energy. The major difference is that Einstein

did

not appear to speak in terms of consciousness as Hindus do, and his

religious concepts seemed for the most part to deal with physical

reality and not these higher realms of knowing or the subtle worlds

spoken of in the Vedas. "

 

Furthermore

 

The search for a unified field theory

 

Paramahansa Yogananada praised the physicist in his 1946

autobiography. " Reducing the cosmical structure to variations on a

single law, " Yogananada wrote, " Einstein has reached across the

ages

to the rishis who proclaimed a sole fabric of creation: a protean

maya. "

 

More recently, Eknath Easwaran wrote in his commentary on the

Bhagavad

Gita that Einstein's quest is a theme found in Hinduism: " One of the

most fervent hopes of Einstein was to find an overriding law of

nature

in which all laws of matter and energy would be unified. This is the

driving question in some of the ancient Hindu scriptures, too.

Mundaka

Upanishad 1.1.3 asks, 'What is That by knowing which all other

things

may be known?' "

 

Einstein summarized his philosophy in what he termed the " cosmic

religion, " which is characterized by a feeling of awe and an

experience of the mysterious that he declared to be the source of

his

religiosity. In this experience, God does not punish or reward.

Although his cosmic religion does not include a personal God (i.e.,

Ishvara), which he believed was devised due to fear of the

unexplained, Einstein believed, " The religious geniuses of all ages

have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which

knows

no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be

no

church whose central teachings are based on it. " At this point, for

Einstein, religion and science meet, for the cosmic religious

experience " is the strongest and noblest driving force behind

scientific research. "

 

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2004/1-3/50-53_einstein.shtml

 

 

Our Owner- moderator Ramji is also fond of quoting Einstein's famous

statement - " Further, I think that science without religion is lame

and, conversely, that religion without science is blind. Both are

important and should work hand-in-hand. It seems to me that whoever

doesn't wonder about the truth in religion and in science might as

well be dead. "

 

 

Nairji, interesting observations on 'ego' as 'sakshi' or witness !

This is fine and dandy ? But how many timeS the 10 headed monster

ego flares up and wants to take control and not just be an inpartial

witness ? We also want to be in control - behind the scenes or as

the 'invisible' hand ?

 

Sometimes , it is good to have an 'ego( the right kind) The world's

creative people like great musicians , poets , artists, writers ego

have an 'ego ' .... witout an ego, they could not

have produced such great works !

 

please recall these lines from Shakespeare's Julius Ceaser

 

" I am constant as the northern star,

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality

There is no fellow in the firmament. "

 

--From Julius Caesar (III, i, 60 – 62)

 

WOW! WHAT A BLOSATED EGO ? CEASER COMPARES HIMSELF TO THE BRIGHTEST

STAR .

 

Then what happened ? He was stabbed by one and all including

Brutus !

 

But i still feel strongly that in student life , it is good to have

an ego' - then only you can be a pwerformer an over achiever !

 

Once again, Nairji - welcome back !

 

love and blessings