Showing posts with label SOUL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SOUL. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

GOD IS INFINITY

In the Rig Veda there are 5 hymns constituting an important dialogue between Lord Indra and Sage Agastya that reflects the significance of traversing the evolutionary path of consciousness, that seems to serve as a crucial pre-requisite to understanding the true nature of the Supreme Absolute Reality (God).
The verses exemplify how sage Agastya, by the sheer force of his thoughts is breaking through the barriers of his mind, reaching the realm of God without first being developed as a fully functional being in all his levels of consciousness.
The eagerness to experience God gets the better of sage Agastya and his senses and he refuses to progressively surrender to the stepping stone (which in this case refers to Lord Indra) in his quest for God. At this point, sage Agastya gets pushed back by Indra who does not allow him to proceed to the realm of God.
Indra says-“that which is beyond time and space (God) cannot be known by that which is in time and space” (Agastya and other mortals like us).
Indra goes on to explain that it is the progressive transcendence (of ego-consciousness) through divine activities that will take a mortal towards the immortal truth. Sage Agastya thenceforth realizes his folly, surrenders his will to Indra and goes on to execute his mandated activities through Indra.

Ego transcendence

One of the obvious implications that can be drawn from the verses is that the sense of “I” that we adorn and the identification with our ego-consciousness is often what prevents us from experiencing the Divine. That would also probably explain why meditation, yoga, etc. are delineated as paths in Hinduism to achieve that distance and ‘dis-identification’ from the ego-centric self.
One could however, question the whole point or practical significance of transcending the ego-bound self, to which it can be reasoned that detachment (the kind that Lord Krishna expounds in the Gita) would actually entail a greater sense of involvement and participation in life’s experiences without being shaken or affected by them. It would imply a sense of free-experiencing that is unimpeded by our conditioned beliefs, emotions, memories, reactions, etc. enabling us to understand things from a larger frame of reference.
Modern psychology and cognitive science is only now exploring the frontiers of consciousness (exemplified in Vedanta) and its impact on human life and behaviour. Current researches (Joel Krueger) in the field also indicate that transcending of the personalized ego often leads to a unified mode of awareness and “That a scholar acquires a new insight, or a moralist a new motive, or an artist a new imagination, or a religious figure a new awakening, are all based upon a disclosure of this kind of unity in consciousness” which is only made possible by that ego transcendence.
Levels of Consciousness
Sri Aurobindo (scholar of the Vedas) was one of the first pioneers in the field of consciousness studies. His work was further compounded by researcher Ken Wilber who (based on Aurobindo’s Vedic insights and Piaget’s Cognitive Development) established the ‘ten levels of consciousness’ that humans had to develop through, re-affirming the fact that psychological and spiritual development go hand in hand; that we can’t have one without the other.
According to the Vedic template reflected in the Taittiriya Upanishad there are five sheaths of existence/being- 1) Anna-maya kosa (physical), 2) Prana-maya kosa (vital), 3) Mano-maya kosa(mental), 4) Vijnana-maya kosa (intellectual) and 5) Ananda-maya kosa (bliss).
The ten levels of consciousness derived from this template are:
1) The Sensoriphysical– reflecting the realm of matter, sensation and perception.
2) Phantasmic-Emotional- the emotional-sexual level (seat of libido and instincts)
3) Representational mind– level of concepts and symbols, fantasy, ego-centric thinking.
4) Rule/role mind– thinking in terms of concrete things and events.
5) Formal-reflexive mind- the level of reflective, abstract thinking and introspection.
6) Vision-logic- the level of synthesis and integration.
The higher levels are :
7) Psychic,
8 ) Subtle (level of soul), 
9) Causal (level of spirit) 
10) Non-dual (Brahman-Atman)
Our centre of gravity is said to rest in a certain level on that spectrum and our thoughts and actions are defined by that level of functioning. Evolution of consciousness then requires a shift to higher levels. Wilber believes that the majority of humankind is still operating on the Mental, or Egoic, level, while only a few have attained higher spiritual consciousness.
Consequently it’s important to note that if an individual has spiritual experiences but his consciousness has only developed to the level of the ‘rep’ mind (level 3) for instance then he won’t be able to understand that spiritual experience in a broad way and won’t be able to integrate it. On the contrary he is more likely to distort the experience for people tend to interpret their religious/spiritual experience according to the level of mental development they are at. This does not imply that there are different levels of God, but that there are different levels of interpretation. The person at the highest levels of consciousness will have a more integrated and holistic understanding of the Supreme Reality.
It’s also interesting to note that those who are at the ‘earlier stages of development’ often tend to think that “their truth is the only truth” as they lack the ability to integrate alternate perspectives. To explain the tangible effects of this phenomenon, Swami Vivekananda once said “Whenever a prophet got into the super-conscious state by heightening his emotional nature, he brought away from it not only some truths, but some fanaticism also, some superstition which injured the world as much as the greatness of the teaching helped.”

Eminent author Ram Swarup
 also explains that even though a person has spiritual experiences, if he has not transcended his ego then his connection with the Divine will be distorted and filtered through his immature mind and his resulting beliefs and actions will prove to be very destructive, as can be witnessed from the history of imperial movements and regimes.  He claims that this happens :
  “because they mix spiritual truth and ego together, which is  a very dangerous and volatile combination… as nectar mixed with poison becomes poison”. 
The prevalent culture also stands as testimony to this phenomenon that is now witnessing the spread of myriad psuedo visionaries with the messiah complex.
It stands to reason then that without the anchor of integrated development a person can be in danger of falling prey to the lower nature of his self which perpetuates various forms of dysfunctions from a simple lack of objectivity to extreme fanaticism.
Researcher Prem Sabhlok also asserts :
“The ancient, medieval and modern history of India as well as of the world has confirmed that with material knowledge based on sense experiences and intellectual reasons and arguments alone, any search for God had always led to fanaticism, fundamentalism, communal tension, destruction of the temples, gurudwaras, churches, etc. of the same God and even has been cause of wars between the nations. With material knowledge, the same God appears different to various sections of the people.”
This suggests that it is often imperative for a super-conscious spiritual experience to be supported by a corresponding heightened psychological development. More importantly, it indicates that material knowledge without spiritual growth can be counterproductive as there is something crucial missing in human awareness that causes us to fall victim to all sorts of delusions and distortions. Vedas refers to this as ‘avidya’-ignorance and goes on to explain how we need to reach a certain stage in consciousness for this avidya to dissolve.
Evolution of Consciousness and Enlightenment
As we progress to higher levels of development on that scale our consciousnesses expands.  “So the more narrow, fragmented and restricted our mode of consciousness,” says Wilber, “the more prone we will be to experiencing psychological disorders or distortions. And the more expanded and heightened our level of consciousness, the more scope we will have for self-actualization and enlightenment.
Therefore… enlightenment in this context implies an expansion of consciousness from the isolated, alienated individual to a kind of global cosmic consciousness.”  It then overall alludes to a progressive expansion from parts of the psyche (persona) to the psyche (ego) to the environment (ecological) and finally to the universe-manifest and unmanifest (Brahman).
While it is often reiterated that there is only one indivisible, all-pervading and immanent reality (Brahman), Vedic metaphysics makes it clear that it is only at the stage of “Turiya” (highest level of superconsciousness) that a person experientially discerns and understands this One Supreme Reality (God) in all its magnitude and the vehement effect of Maya -the cosmic illusion then dissolves.
So contrary to Darwin’s theory of evolution and according to Vedic scriptures, one form of species does not evolve into another, rather it is the soul that evolves through the various levels of consciousness and this transition is not so much biological as much as it is spiritual.
Aurobindo declares, “Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth’s evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of Nature’s process.”
1. Indra: It is not now, nor is It tomorrow; who knoweth that which is Supreme and Wonderful? It has motion and action in the consciousness of another, but when It is approached by the thought, It vanishes.
2. AgastyaWhy dost thou seek to smite us, O Indra? The Maruts are thy brothers. By them accomplish perfection; slay us not in our struggle.
3. IndraWhy, O my brother Agastya, art thou my friend, yet settest thy thought beyond me? For well do I know how to us thou willest not to give thy mind.
4. IndraLet them make ready the altar, let them set Agni in blaze in front. It is there, the awakening of the consciousness to Immortality. Let us two extend for thee thy effective sacrifice.
5. AgastyaO Lord of substance over all substances of being, thou art the master in force! O Lord of Love over the powers of love, thou art the strongest to hold in status! Do thou, O lndra, agree with the Maruts, then enjoy the offerings in the ordered method of the Truth.
References:
-Rig Veda – Book 1 – Verse 170 – Hymns CLXX (1 – 5)
-Taittriya Upanishad-Sri Aurobindo (1956) The Secret of the Veda
-Ram Swarup (1980) The word as revelation: Names of Gods.
-Vivekananda: Complete Works, Vol.1, Raja Yoga, Ch.7: “Dhyana and Samadhi”
-Ken Wilber (1977) Spectrum of Consciousness
-Prem Sabhlok- Glimpses of Vedic Metaphysics
-Joel Krueger (2007) The Varieties of Pure Experience: William James and Kitaro Nishida on Consciousness and Embodiment
-hinduism.co.za/kosas.htm
-Jean Piaget- Cognitive Development
From www.hinduhumsrights.info

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Spiritual Composition of Living beings and human

What are human beings comprised of as per spiritual science?
A living person is made up of the following bodies.
  1. The gross body (sthūladēha
  2. The vital body (prāṇa-dēha)
  3. The mental body (manodēha)
  4. The intellect  or causal body (kāraṇdēha)
  5. The subtle ego or supracausal body (mahākāraṇdēha)
  6. The soul or the God Principle in each of us (ātmā)


    The vital energy body

    This is the body also known as the prana-deha. This body provides the vital, life sustaining energy for all the functions of the physical as well as the mental body. There are five types of vital energies or praana:
    • Prāna: Energy for the activity of inhalation.
    • Udāna: Energy for the activity of exhalation and speech.
    • Samāna: Energy for the activity of the stomach and intestines.
    • Vyāna: Energy for voluntary and involuntary movements of the body.
    • Apāna: Energy for urination, excretion, ejaculation, childbirth, etc.
    At the time of death the vital energy is released back into the Universe and also helps in propelling the subtle body in its onward journey.



    The mental body or the mind

    The mental body or the mind is the seat of our feelings, emotions and desires. It carries in it countless number of impressions from this life and previous lives. It is made up of three parts:
    • The conscious mind: It is that part of our thoughts and feelings that we are aware of.
    • The sub-conscious mind: It contains all the impressions required to complete our destiny in our current lifetime. Thoughts from the sub-conscious mind sometimes emerge into the conscious mind from time to time either in response to some external stimulus or at time even without it. For example during the course of one’s day one gets a random and unrelated thought about some vague incident in one’s childhood.
    • The unconscious mind: This is the aspect of our mind that we are completely unaware of. This contains all the impressions that are associated with our accumulated account.
    The sub-conscious mind and unconscious mind together are known as the Chitta.

    http://veda.wikidot.com/chitta
    Sometimes we also refer to an aspect of the mental body as the desires body or vāsanādeha. This is the aspect of the mind that contains all the impressions of desires.
    Please refer to the article on ‘Why we do the things we do’ as well as the e-tutorial of the same name to understand the functional structure of the mind.
    The physical organ associated with the mental body is the brain.


    The intellect

    The causal body or the intellect body is the body which deals with the decision making process and reasoning ability.
    The physical organ associated with the intellect body is the brain.


    The subtle ego

    The subtle ego or the supracausal body is the final vestige of the nescience and is the feeling that we are separate from God.


    The soul

    The soul is the God principle within us and is our true nature. It is the main component of the subtle body which is a fraction of the Supreme God Principle with the qualities of Absolute Truth (Sat), Absolute Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ānand). The soul is unaffected by the ups and downs in life and is in a perpetual state of Bliss. It looks at the ups and downs of life in the Great Illusion (Maya) with an observer stance. The soul is beyond the 3 subtle basic components; however the rest of our consciousness like the physical body and the mental body is made up of it.


    The subtle body

    The subtle body is defined as that part of our being or consciousness that leaves our physical body at the time of physical death. It comprises of the mental body, the causal cody or intellect, the supracausal body or subtle ego and the soul. What is left behind at the time of physical death is our physical body. The vital energy is released back into the Universe.
    The following are some other aspects of the subtle body
    • Subtle sense organs: By subtle sense organs we mean the subtle aspect of our 5 sense organs by which we are able to perceive the subtle realm. For example we are able to perceive a subtle fragrance such as jasmine without their being any stimulus to cause it. Also the fragrance may only be experienced by one person and not by the others in the same room. This is explained in more detail. Also refer to our article on – What is sixth sense?
    • Subtle motor organs: By subtle motor organs we mean the subtle aspect of our physical motor organs such as our arms, tongue, etc. All activity is initiated first in subtle motor organs and then executed in the physical dimension by one’s gross motor organs.


    10. Nescience

    All the other aspects of our being other than the soul are part of the Great Illusion. It is called Nescience or Avidyā which when literally translated means absence of knowledge. The word Nescience stems from the fact that we identify ourselves with our gross body, mind and intellect and not with our true nature which is the soul or the God principle within us.



    Nescience is the root cause of unhappiness. Man gets attached to money, his own house, family, city, country, etc. The greater the attachment to any individual or object, greater is the likelihood of unhappiness arising from attachment. Even an ideal social worker or a Saint may become attached to the society or His devotees respectively. The greatest attachment that each one has is for himself; that is his own mind and body. Even a slight discomfort or illness can make one unhappy; hence everyone should gradually become detached about oneself and accept pain and illness in one’s stride. This is of course with the inherent understanding that happiness and unhappiness in life is experienced primarily due to our destiny. Also that only by identifying with the soul can we experience perpetual Bliss.
    The soul and Nescience together constitute the embodied soul. Nescience for a living person has twenty components in all - the gross body, five subtle sense organs, the five subtle motor organs, the five vital energies, the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, the intellect and the ego. Since the functions of the components of the subtle body go on continuously, the attention of the embodied soul is drawn to them instead of the soul, that is away from spiritual knowledge to Nescience.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Size of soul,Atma decoded

None of us have seen actual soul(spirt) that lives in our body with our naked eye.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad (श्वेताश्वतरनोपनिषद् or Śvetāśvataropaniṣad) explains the actual dimension or size of soul.
Śvetāśvataropaniṣad is associated with the Krishna Yajurveda and contains 113 mantras in 6 chapters. It is estimated to have been composed around 4th century BCE.
Most of this Upanishad is attributed to Sage Svetasvatara (Sveta-Asvatara i.e the one owing a white mule).
Other commentators are Adi Sankaracharya, Vijnanatma, Shankarananda and Narayana Tirtha.
Śvetāśvataropaniṣad is the earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Saivism, for the first time elevating Rudra to the status of Īśa (Lord), a god with cosmological functions such as those later attributed to Siva.
balagra sata bhagasya
satadha kalpitasya ca
bhago jivah sa vijneyah
sa canantyaya kalpate || Svetasvatara Upanishad (5.9)
Translation : When the upper tip of a hair follicle is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.

Similar description has been made in Chaitanya Charitamrita by Swami Prabhupada.
keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya
śatāṁśa-sadṛśātmakaḥ
jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo ‘yaṁ
saṅkhyātīto hi cit-kaṇaḥ || Chaitanya Charitamrita; Madhya Lila; 19.140
That means, a hair tip has to be divided into ten thousand parts and one such part is Cit-Kana (particle of spirit).
Which means that the individual particle of spirit soul is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atoms, and such atoms are innumerable.
Bhagavad Gita also states that soul is imperishable and cannot be seen with naked eye.
avinasi tu tad viddhi
yena sarvam idam tatam
vinasam avyayasyasya
na kascit kartum arhati || Bhagavad Gita 2.17
Translation : That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.
Mundakopanishad further explains the places where soul resides in human body.
eso ’nur atma cetasa veditavyo
yasmin pranah pancadha samvivesa
pranais cittam sarvam otam prajanam
yasmin visuddhe vibhavaty esa atma || Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.9)
Translation : The soul is atomic in size and can be perceived by perfect intelligence. This atomic soul is floating in the five kinds of air (prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana), is situated within the heart, and spreads its influence all over the body of the embodied living entities. When the soul is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material air, its spiritual influence is exhibited.
Also Prana (Life) moves between Eye, Heart and Throat while we are awake, sleeping and dreaming (3 states of mind explained as Tri-Puras)

Genesis and Adam,Eve decoded

Adam Eve story from Upanishads
Adam Eve story from Upanishads
Many are aware of the story of Adam and Eve which belongs to the Hebrew tradition.
According to the Old Testament, is the first man, created by God on the sixth day of creation. Eve is the first woman not born but created by God to be the wife of Adam.
Adam actually is derived from Adamah meaning earth (They call him Aadmi in hindi)
Few scholars say that Adam is associated with the Assyrian ‘Adaman’ meaning ‘make‘ or ‘produce‘ and so ‘Adam‘ means maker or producer.
Eve in Hebrew is ‘Havah‘ and is associated with the root ‘hayah‘ or ‘hay‘ meaning life.
Adam and Eve lived with child like innocence in the Garden of Eden enjoying, God’s bliss. They were told that they could eat freely the fruit of every tree in the garden except that of the true knowledge of good and evil.
However, tempted by the serpent, Eve ate the fruit of knowledge tree and gave it to Adam.
As a result, they became conscious of their nakedness and sin, covered themselves with aprons of fig leaves.
To prevent from eating the fruit of tree of life, God banished them from Eden; and they were obliged to till the ground to obtain food. Eve’s further punishment was decreed in the following words-“I will multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow, shalt thou bring forth children..
In this story, it is said that ‘the God prepared man on the 6th day’ etc., it is evident that the writer of the story did not have the real knowledge of the Genesis of the world.
It is not told in the story who prepared the serpent and how the serpent became equal and opposite to the God.
Even the ‘GOD‘ who created man and woman was not described clearly how he got the power to create and why did he create ?
The original story of Adam & Eve is however described as story of two birds in Mundakopanishad.
The initial process of creation from two forces was explained inPrasnopanishad 1/4, written around 6000 BCE.
Story of Rayi and Prana in Prasnopanishad : Kabandhi, a student asked the sage named as Pippalada, “From where all these things and animals come into existence?” .
Sage Pippalada replied, “The originator(creator) thought of producing different things and he performed Tapa and produced a couple, Rayi and Prana; and said that these two will produce variety of things and animals.
Ignorants may think Rayi is female because it sounds feminine and Prana is male because it sounds masculine.
But sage pippalada used the word Rayi to depict matter, and Prana to depict energy.
This is clear from the very next statement of the sage that the Sun is Prana and the Moon is Rayi, not only the Moon but any form is Rayi.(1/5).
Further he states that the Sun supports and maintains all the life by his rays. (1/6)
Excerpts from Prasnopanishad : Prana acts on Rayi. Various forms are manifested.
It is the intermingling of these two that gives rise to the world of diverse forms.
The one is active, positive and is the male principle; the other is passive, negative and is the female principle.
Prana belongs to the conscious side of creation, while Rayi or matter belongs to the form side of creation.
Matter is the universal form. Prana is life or consumer.
The body is upheld by the Prana or life principle.
Prajapati was desirous of offspring. From this desire a pair sprang forth, viz., matter or the universal form and Prana, life, or consumer.
As life and matter, Prajapati is, gradually, the sun and the moon, the year in its two halves, day and night.
Prana, Aditya (sun), day, Amurta (formless), life, spirit, northern path, invisibility, belong to the life side.
Rayi, the moon, the night, Murta (with form), matter, southern path, visibility, belong to the matter side.
Everyone who believes in modern science will agree that sun maintains life on earth.
So, sage pippalada disclosed this information thousands of years ago.
Now, the question about eating of the fruit and falling in trouble…
This is explained with story of two birds in Mundakopanishad 3-1-1 .
Excerpts from Mundakopanishad :
Two birds, inseparable companions, dwell upon one and the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other one looks on without eating.
The two birds are Jiva (the individual soul) and Isvara (the Lord).
Having known Truth thus, one goes beyond death. There is no other road to salvation.
The Jivatman is limited by Avidya or ignorance. Therefore, he is bound by body, mind and work.
The Lord is conditioned by Maaya, but Maaya is under His control. Therefore, He is free, omnipotent and omniscient.
Tree here means the body. A tree can be cut or destroyed. The body also can be cut or destroyed. So the body is compared to a tree.
The reflection of the Parmatman in the mind-mirror is the Jivatman or the individual soul.
The Jiva tastes, from ignorance, the fruits of his Karmas, viz. happiness and misery.
The Atman is always the silent witness. It is non-doer or non-enjoyer. Enjoyment and agentship are superimposed on the Jiva by the mind.
When ignorance is destroyed, when the heart is purified, when knowledge of the Self dawns, the knots of the heart are rent asunder, all Karmas perish, the ideas of doer and enjoyer are annihilated. One becomes identified with the supreme Self and attains liberation.
Being seated on the same tree, the Jiva immersed in ignorance, and deluded, grieves, on account of helplessness. But when he sees the other, the Lord who is adored by all, and His glory, then he becomes free from grief.
Someone who was not conversant with the high philosophy, just took the stories from these upanishads and rewrote them in his own way.
Adim’ means the first, primitive, or original, which may have turned into Adam. Shakti is called as ‘E‘. This ‘E‘ may have converted into Eve.
Both the Prasna and Mundaka are the Upanishads of Atharva Veda, which is believed to have been spread in the west by travellers.
Citation-booksfact.com

Saturday, June 7, 2014

PROOF OF SOUL!!!!!!!!!HINDUISM DECODED

Is This Proof That The Soul Exists?
Does the soul exist? Is there any scientific theory of consciousness that could accommodate such a claim?  According to Dr. Stuart Hameroff, a near-death experience happens when the quantum information that inhabits the nervous system leaves the body and dissipates into the universe.  Contrary to materialistic accounts of consciousness, Dr. Hameroff offers an alternative explanation of consciousness that can perhaps appeal to both the rational scientific mind and personal intuitions.
Consciousness resides, according to Stuart and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose, in the microtubules of the brain cells, which are the primary sites of quantum processing.  Upon death, this information is released from your body, meaning that your consciousness goes with it. They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in these microtubules, a theory which they dubbed orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR).
Consciousness, or at least proto-consciousness is theorized by them to be a fundamental property of the universe, present even at the first moment of the universe during the Big Bang. “In one such scheme proto-conscious experience is a basic property of physical reality accessible to a quantum process associated with brain activity.”
Our souls are in fact constructed from the very fabric of the universe – and may have existed since the beginning of time.  Our brains are just receivers and amplifiers for the proto-consciousness that is intrinsic to the fabric of space-time. So is there really a part of your consciousness that is non-material and will live on after the death of your physical body?
Dr Hameroff told the Science Channel’s Through the Wormhole documentary: “Let’s say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can’t be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large.
If the patient is resuscitated, revived, this quantum information can go back into the microtubules and the patient says “I had a near death experience”‘
He adds: “If they’re not revived, and the patient dies, it’s possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul.”
This account of quantum consciousness explains things like near-death experiences, astral projection, out of body experiences, and even reincarnation without needing to appeal to religious ideology.  The energy of your consciousness potentially gets recycled back into a different body at some point, and in the mean time it exists outside of the physical body on some other level of reality.
Watch more here:

Sources:
Original Journal Article can be found here: http://www.hameroff.com/penrose-hameroff/orchOR.html