THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUALITY

Brahma Vidyā or Ātma Vidyā: The science that is elaborated in Upanishads deals with God, world and man, the eternal curiosities of human mind. Upanishads (Vedānta) presented God as Sat-chit-Ānanda, pure existence or Truth, pure Consciousness and pure Bliss. That is, in other words, the infinite Brahman. All Upanishads emphasize only one aspect and they are all engaged in only one task: to prove that “Just as by the knowledge of one lump of clay we have the knowledge of all the clay (and its modifications) in the universe, so what is that knowledge knowing which we know everything in the universe?” The central theme of all Upanishads is the ‘spiritual unity and solidarity’ of all existence.Although the fundamental theme of Upanishad doctrine is god-realization and thereby attaining the ultimate, everlasting liberation from all human miseries, certain ideas emerge as central to the teaching of almost all Upanishads. The most important of them are the value of knowledge (jñāna) and the need for complete detachment (vairāgya). To the great Ṡankara Bhagavatpada these two aspects represent ‘the two wings that are indispensable for the soul, if it should soar unrestricted to its eternal home of freedom and peace’ (Viveka chudāmani). Only when the significance and relevance of these two conceptions is explained in terms of spiritual aspirations of the seeker, one can really get to know the central teaching of the Upanishads.

JNANA MUDRA

 Although the adaptation of grasping hand is a common primate feature as both monkeys and apes possess this quality, man is unique in the possession of the ability to oppose the thumb to his forefinger with all the other three fingers stretched out. In Indian Vedāntic and spiritual       circles   this gesture       is of deep significance. The thumb when opposed to the index finger with other fingers outstretched is a representation of yogic ‘knowledge pose’ (jñāna mudra) which is a remarkable sign of some profound psychic expression. As the mind is so is the body, hence our body postures have psychological counter parts. This one ability of human being is indicative of the uniqueness of human species as it expresses the level of development of the human brain as a rational thinking instrument, capable of acquiring a plethora of knowledge and skills. This human ‘knowledge pose’ represents the ability to search for immense, insatiable, knowledge. Scientifically, it has been discovered that the number of brain cells needed to manipulate these two fingers involved in ‘knowledge pose’ is the largest compared to those involved in manipulating all other fingers. “This ability to oppose the thumb to the forefinger is highly symbolic of human search for knowledge from the most ordinary to the most extraordinary levels.” (Swami  Ranganāthānanda, The Charm and Power of the Gita, page 52). At the level of human evolution this adaptation was the beginning of humanity’s technological progress, cultural evolution and spiritual emancipation. It is interesting to note that in all the iconography of India, of great saints, sages and incarnations and of the divine mother the particular pose of jnana mudra is depicted.

                                                                                           Glimpses  of Indian Scientific Heritage

                                                                        Puranas: An amalgam of science , spirituality and philosophy

The Puranas are the magnifying glasses of the Vedas as they enlarge small images of Vedic principles into big images. Vedic injunctions are often in the form of pithy statements. They are magnified or elaborated in the form of stories or anecdotes in the Puranas. When a brief exposition of an idea is presented as an interesting story or anecdote, it will make a lasting impact and stay in the mind. The Vedas merely say ‘ satyam vada’ that is speak the truth. When it is presented as a narration of the story of king Harischandra, the underlying glory of the Vedic injunction becomes clear and lasting. Thus the Vedic injunctions such as restraint, patience, compassion, charity etc. are illustrated through the life of men and women in Puranas.

Puranas are indeed history of ancient India. However, modern scholars do not accept anything as historical unless it happened after the advent of Christian era. Everything before that is mythology for them. Anything beyond the normal experience of the ordinary senses of the ordinary men is rejected as something outside the realm of truth.

Unlike modern history Puranas present only selected events in such a way to educate the people in right and wrong and make them follow the path of righteousness. Puranas also depict the theistic philosophy of ancient India and lead people to a religious life with devotion to the Almighty ( bhakti). They are also accounts of scientific and technological achievements of people of that time. Of course Puranas have resorted to fictional stories here and there. But they are not totally fictitious. They definitely take us nearer to god and bring peace of mind.

There are 18 Puranas and 18 sub-puranas. Each Purana keeps on a single deity as its main theme. Of these 18 mahapuranas  10 are said to be Saivite; rest of them extol Vishnu or Shakti.

By definition a Purana has to fulfil five requirements in the matter of what it should contain. They are: 1) Sarga, (original creation of the world); 2) Pratisarga ( the world after creation ): 3) Vamsa ( Genealogy, how the descendant came from one generation to the next); 4) Manvantara ( the history of 14 Manus from whom the mankind descended); 5) Vamsaanucharita ( the history of rulers of the country and dynastic details).

Thus it can be seen that Puranas are historical accounts of early human civilizations in ancient India. They abound with accounts of cosmology, evolution, human history, culture, religion, social sciences, secular sciences and theistic philosophy of Sanatana Dharma, the Vedic eternal religion.

 Science and Technology

Puranas as indicated earlier are compilations of ancient Indian history, social and political systems, philosophy of life and a host of other features of ancient Indian civilization. The entire Indian civilization is an edifice built on solid scientific foundations with bricks of ethical, moral and political norms, cemented by lofty spiritual ideals. Ancient Indian sages, unlike modern scientists, never differentiated or separated science from spirituality, philosophy and religion. Such compartmentalisation is a modern phenomenon started from the 16^th century C.E. All these disciplines were interwoven into a matrix of a way of life called Sanatana Dharma or eternal religion. Hence the modern investigator has to struggle hard to separate science and technology from highly symbolic mythology in the Puranas. Often one has to read in between the lines, go beyond imaginative discourses to understand the truth behind the symbolism as practised in the Puranas. One should have an unbiased and honest approach to unearth the truth.

The science and technology of the Puranas is an extension and elaboration of Vedic science, highly camouflaged in deep mythological and religious sentiments. Often one has to deduce meanings and motives from what is expressed in the stories of Puranas to understand the scientific principles which lie behind the mythology of the Puranas.

The Bhagavata Purana which is the most popular of all the Puranas is not only a Vaishnavite religious treatise but also a fundamental text of Vedantic philosophy, especially of the theistic Vedanta. It is also a goldmine for those who are searching for accounts of ancient Indian theories of cosmology and evolution. It also provides an insight into the Vedantic theories of the nature, origin, evolution and final destination of human life. This Purana contains valuable information that sheds light on the scientific bent of ancient Indian sages. This is true regarding most of other Puranas as well.

MIND--BRAIN ENIGMA

 Modern science of neurophysiology attempts to explore the relationship between human mind and brain. The questions being often asked are “what exactly is the physical and functional relationship between the mind and brain? Are they the same or different?” These queries arose not only in the minds of modern psychologists and neurologists but in the minds of ancient Indian and western philosophers, theologians and other intellectuals as well. Ancient concepts regarding mind and body originating from India thousands of years ago emphasized a holistic view of mind and body or mind and matter.The  Upanishads and the Sānkhya     philosophy of sage Kapila emphasized that the individual consciousness or Ātman is one and            the same with the consciousness of the universe or Brahman, thus declaring that ‘everything in the universe is the integral part of Brahman’.  (Sarvam khalvidam Brahma). The Upanishads gave a new insight into the conscious state of mind by emphasizing that mind and matter are two aspects of the same reality. Western thoughts about the mind and consciousness stemmed from the views of Greek philosophers Plato 427-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE) followed by Rene Descartes (1596 -1650 CE), John Locke (1632-1704 CE), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804 CE) and many other brilliant intellectuals. They projected a dualistic view of the mind and brain emphasizing that the substance of the mind is different from the substance of brain or any other physical organs or matter. However, most of the modern scientists believe that the mind is a product of the brain, in effect emphasizing that consciousness is the product of matter.

 Thousands of years ago Indian sages conducted elaborate in-depth explorations of the human mind, its function and relation to the gross body. The oldest accounts of these psychological studies have been detailed in           the Sānkhya System of            philosophy of Sage Kapila and   the Upanishads which are the essence of Vedic wisdom. As per ancient Indian wisdom mind belongs to the subtle body which is formed out of the fundamental particles (tanmātras) of the five essential elements called panchabhūtas. The grossification (panchikaranam) of the tanmātras gives rise to the panchabhūtas or five elements namely space (ākāṡa), air (vāyu), fire or energy (Tejas or Agni), water (apas) and earth (pṛthvi). Materials of all living and nonliving entities in the universe are made of these five elements.  Thus the physical basis of the mind is the subtle aspect of the body and the difference between brain and mind is only in terms of a measure of subtlety. Subtle matter is more pervasive and that explains the presence of a conscious mind in each and every cell of the body complex in a multi-cellular body and in the subtle realms of the body of a unicellular organism.      According to Vedānta thoughts are vibrations (energy?) as            a reaction to the impact of sensory stimuli brought to the mind by the sensory system more or less like the impact of stone creating waves of water in a lake. These thoughts are analyzed in deeper realms of the mind called intellect (buddhi) and the discriminated thoughts are recognized by the soul which is but the reaction of the light of the Spirit or Ātman,          the Supreme Consciousness. This concept of awareness of the      conscious mind is first enunciated by      the Sānkhya system and adopted by the      Vedāntic system later. Swami Vivekānanda has aptly described the  genesis of perception     according to Sānkhya    philosophy, “The affections of external objects are carried by the sense organs to their respective brain centres from where they are carried to the mind (manas). The manas conveys these messages to the determinative faculty, the intelligence (buddhi). From the discriminative faculty the messages of perception are passed on to the Purusha (the soul) who receives them and the perception results. The Purusha or the soul gives orders            to the    motor   centres to do     the needful. According to Sānkhya philosophy / Psychology everything else except the Purusha is material instrument. The material that forms the mind is composed of subtle matter called tanmātras. These become gross and form the external matter” (Complete Works, Vol 1. pp.134-135).. “According to Sānkhya philosophy the‘mind’ is an instrument instrument, as  it were, in the hands of the soul, through which the soul catches external objects.” Vedānta subscribes to     the same philosophy and psychology when it says, “It       (the      Ātman) is the ear          of the    ear, the            mind     of the    mind,    the speech of the speech, the    prāṇa    of the prāṇa,   and the eye of   the eye.            Wise    men      separating the Ātman from            these    (sensory system) rise    out       of sense-life and attain immortality” (Kenopanishad, 1.2).  

Modern physiology also would vouch for the fact that external sense organs are not the real organs of sense, but that they are in the various nerve centres of the brain. Modern science also agrees on the fact that subtle centres which constitute the mental apparatus are also formed of the same material (the embryonic ectoderm) as the brain itself. The Sānkhyas arrived at this truth       centuries before modern            science had any            inclination of it.

THE HUMN MIND

Psychology in simple terms can be defined as the study of the mind and its operation. According to Vedanta ( Upanishads) the mind, sensory system and the vital force ( Manas, indriyas, and prana ) constitute what is called the subtle body of man ( sukshma sariram ). This comprises our psycho-physical system which is the source of all our experiences, emotions and awareness of the phenomenal world.  Of these mind is the principal organ responsible for our existence., awareness and the total experience that constitutes life itself. Acharya Sankara makes this amply clear when he says,” when it (mind) is destroyed, everything else is destroyed, and when it is manifested, everything else is manifested “ ( Vivekachudamani.169 ). All human experiences are rooted in the mind and our world of experiences is woven out of the mental sheath. Once this source is destroyed, the universe ceases to exist for man. However, yogis through rigorous practices arrive at this no-mind state and at this state they transcend the phenomenal world to reach samadhi, the spiritual unity with the absolute. The Zen philosophy also speaks of such transcendental state.

MIND IN DEATH, REBIRTH AND LIBERATION 

 What happens to the mind at the time of the death of the individual? Does it survive or perish along with the body as such? Indian sages have discovered that it is only the gross body composed of the seven ingredients namely marrow, bones, fat, nerves, flesh, blood, skin and consisting of parts such as legs, arms, head, chest and back which are the products of the five fundamental elements namely space (ākāṡa), air (vāyu), energy (Tejas), water (Apah) and earth (pṛthvi) that perishes at the time of death. The subtle body composed of the five great elements which have not undergone grossification, and consisting of the five sense organs, the five organs of action, the five prāṇas, the mind and the intellect, survives death and destruction to be carried to the next life. Incessant cogitation of the mind regarding the objects of desire prompts generation of intense desire for them and results in the execution of various activities to fulfil such desires. These actions, reactions and impressions of the unfulfilled desires create impressions (vāsanas) in the subtlest recesses of the body called causal body and this is the cause of transmigration of the soul to other bodies, in other words the cause of rebirth. The     Bṛhadāranyaka Upanishad vividly describes the               process of detachment of the subtle body from the gross body at the time of death (4..5-6). The Upanishad brings out the essential difference between death and deep sleep very clearly. In deep sleep although the mind and senses are withdrawn from the gross body to the subtler realms, the prāṇas remain     in the        gross body so that it is   kept alive whereas in death, along with the mind and senses,       the prāṇas are  also withdrawn from the gross body. The gross body is completely separated from the subtler body and there is no connection whatsoever between the subtle and the physical bodies at the time of death. In sleep this connection is maintained and the individual returns to the waking life once again through this body. The sensation one feels in the body is the sensation conveyed through the agency of the physical body to the subtle body whose ‘presiding deity’ is the mind. In death the mind is withdrawn along         with the prāṇa    from the gross body.

        The subtlest realms of the body which constitute the impressions of the unfulfilled desires (vāsanas) and impressions of the reactions of the activities of the waking world (samskāras) depart from the gross body along with the soul or individual spirit to manufacture an abode or a physical body commensurate with the requirement of fulfilment of the unfulfilled desires of one’s life. According to Vedānta             there     is a continuity of activity of the mind during the transmigration from one body to another. Thus the entire cycle of birth and rebirth is a consequence of desires, fulfilled or unfulfilled.          Vedānta emphasizes       that       the desires get enhanced in their intensity the more they are fulfilled and the fulfilment of desires is not the way to freedom from desires, the liberation or moksha. Desires can be overcome by proper mind control through              incessant yogic  practices as described in             the Yogasūtras  of Patanjali. Swami Vivekānanda says,        “Yoga    is to       help      us put off              our body when we please and see it as our servant, our instrument, not our ruler. Controlling the mental powers is the first great aim in Yoga practices. The second is concentrating them in full force upon any subject” (Complete Works, vol. 8. p.41.). The Upanishads say, “It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men’s bondage and liberation. The mind that is attached to sense objects leads to bondage, while dissociated from  sense objects it tends to liberation, so they think” ( Amritabindu Upanishad ).

Bhagavad gita defines yoga as equanimity or     mind     in perfect balance (samatvam yoga uchyate; 2.48). When mind is detached from sense objects and when one is unconcerned as regards success or failure in life, his mind is said to be in perfect balance. When individuals with this mental attitude perform their duties they do not accumulate karma phala and can achieve liberation or can be free from the transmigratory life of birth and death.

LIFE DEFINED

              The most curious aspect of life, probably, is that it can be lived and experienced but difficult, almost impossible, to define. The early human beings realized that the world could be divided into two categories of entities namely animate or living and inanimate or nonliving. Intense observations on these two categories led them to draw certain essential differences between the two.  However, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) the legendary Greek philosopher believed that such clear cut distinctions were not possible in nature. Despite intense scientific investigations and observations even modern scientists agree with Aristotle in that it is indeed difficult to arrive at a close distinction between living and nonliving, although it is easy to distinguish an animal as living and a stone as nonliving on a cursory observation.

       All definitions of life in modern science are concerned with the properties of life rather than the principle called life. Accordingly physiologists define life as any system capable of eating, metabolising, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, and reproducing and constantly responding to external stimuli.  Metabolically life is the property of any object surrounded by a definite boundary and capable of exchanging materials with its surroundings. A single celled amoeba and a bacterium are examples of such systems. Biochemically life subsists in cellular systems containing both nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and proteins (enzymes). A geneticist may define life as something that belongs to systems which are able to perform complex transformations of organic molecules, construct copies of themselves from raw materials and are capable of evolutionary changes through natural selection. However, all these descriptions fall short of the actual definition of the principle that makes a system living and performing.

       Indian sages recognised this life principle as Atman which is the “unborn, eternal, everlasting entity that never perishes when the body ceases to exist” (Katha Upanishad, 2.18). The same is expressed in the Bhagavad Gīta as well (2.20). It is that principle which enlivens all organ systems of organisms: “It is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech indeed of the speech, the breath of the breath, and the eye of the eye” (Kena Upanishad, 1.2). “It moves (when the organism moves); it does not move (because it is everywhere); it is far away (as it is beyond the comprehension of common intellect), yet it is so near (as it is within every living thing); it is the eternal spirit of everything that we know” (Īṡāvāsya Upanishad, 5). However, ‘life’ is such a phenomenon “which has no definite shape, neither beginning nor end” (Bhagavad  Gīta, 15.3). Although it is true that life has no definite shape or structure, it assumes the structure of the body through which it is expressed. It may appear as a minute bacterium or as a big blue whale which can easily accommodate a full grown elephant in its belly. It may manifest as small as an alga or as a giant peepal or redwood tree. In other words life manifests itself in innumerable shapes and sizes and numbers as animals, trees, shrubs, grasses and a host of other forms, both ‘animate’ and ‘inanimate;’ it may also express itself through emotions, thoughts and feelings. However, “when it is existing in a living body or departing from it (at the time of death) this principle cannot be comprehended through ordinary means of perception, but only through the eye of wisdom” (Bhagavad Gīta, 15.10). It is beyond the comprehension of the sensory system of human beings, but could be experienced by super sensory perception through yogic practices. All ancient Indian scriptures vouch for the fact that the principle of life is eternal entity without a beginning or end and is not destroyed along with the destruction of the body. One interesting aspect of life is that various words in different ancient languages used to denote life has something related to breathing. The etymological roots of ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ mean ‘breath’ in many antique languages. The words used for ‘soul’ in Sanskrit (atman), Greek (psyche) and Latin (anima) all mean ‘breath.’ The same is true for the word for ‘spirit’; in Latin (spiritus), in Greek (pneuma) and in Hebrew (rwab) all meaning ‘breath.’ Of course, breathing is the immediate visible expression of life in a living organism.