Where Physics meets with Vedic Science (Vijnanana) on Consciousness & Creation
(Compilation for a Discourse by N. R. Srinivasan, Nashville, TN, USA, August 2020)
TEACHINGS OF THE UPANISHADS
The basic cause of the universe, the cause of all causes, is called “Brahman‟. Ātman, Sat, Ākāsha and Bhumā are the other appellations used for this Brahman. The world rises out of him, is supported by him, and gets dissolved back into him. He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is greater than the greatest, smaller than the smallest, and is also the inmost Self or Pure Consciousness of all. He is immanent in this world even as salt is, in saline water. He is beyond all wants and limitations. He is the lord as well as the substratum of the whole creation. He sees, hears and knows, although none can see, hear or know him. He is the very personification of all the great virtues to their perfection. It is he who responds to the prayers of his votaries and grants them whatever they seek. He is the ultimate goal of all. --Swāmi Harshānanda, Monk of the Ramakrishna Order.
THE SACRED MANTRA--YO AHAMASMI BRAHMAAHAMASMI IN MNU
Aham Brahmasmi is one of the four Mahavakyas of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Everything is supposed to be obtainable by the knowledge of Brahman. But, if the Self is to be realized by the knowledge of Brahman, in what way did Brahman understand Himself? Even before the creation of this universe, Brahman knew as ever Himself as aham brahma asmi. What do these three words mean? The meaning of Aham Brahmasmi is explained in Narayan Stuti and Madhvacharya explains it as adumbrated in the said Shruti: aham – aheyam – un-discard-able; brahma – absolutely perfect; asmi – ever aware of self- existence. By these three adjectives, Brahman comprehended Himself, like we do, and it does not just mean I am Brahman. If aham (I) is taken as a pronoun in the first person singular and asmi (am) is taken as singular verb then the object atmaanam (himself) would be redundant. Therefore, Madhvacharya affirms that the explanation offered above is the most appropriate, i.e. He understood Himself (tadatmanamatmavat) as aham brahma asmi.
In several Vedic passages quoted in Bhashya, the word aham appears. In all those cases aham means “inner controller” and “un-discard-able”. In Shruti passage, tadyoham sosau, aham brahmasmi where the word aham is involved, one should not take aham as jivatman, but identified with paramatman. This is not a proven proposition. This confusion is clarified by the statement in Chandogya Upanishad, atattvamasi – (Thou art not that). Source – Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume I page 102 - IHRF
Please recall here the following Veda mantra of Mahanarayana Upanishad (MNU)
ārdraṁ jvalatijyotirahamasmi . jyotirjvalati brahmāhamasmi | yo'hamasmi brahmāhamasmi | ahamasmi brahmāhamasmi | ahamevāhaṁ māṁ juhomi svāhā ..
That Supreme Light which projected Itself as the universe like a soaked seed which sprouts (or that Supreme Light which shines as the sub-stratum of the liquid element)—I am that Supreme Light, I am that supreme light of Brahman. I am Brahman. I who am such a one (different from body mind others) am having Brahman as myself. Being that form as I am, I offer myself as an oblation unto the Lord.
This Mantra is expounding that the Atman is different and distinct from the body, the sense organs and others as stated in Isavasya Upanishad “Vaayuranilamamritamathedam bhasmaantam sareeram”-- The pure Jivatman is moving about, abode-less and immortal. Now this body is ending in ashes.
The nature of the pure self is described here. Vayu he will be moving here and there according to its knowledge and Karma. It has no resting place. It is not residing in any material body permanently. It is immortal though the series of bodies is destroyed.
Though the mantra above in MNU is ritualistic in application in achamana are self-purification, as explained earlier, its true import is highly philosophical and spiritual: The drop of water represents the finite self. The fire in man into which it is offered stands for the Supreme Light, the Ground of all gods. The mantra, therefore, truly enunciates the refunding of the individual self into its source, the Supreme Self, or the realization of the relationship between the Jīva and Īśvara when the adjuncts created by Ignorance are removed.
These mantras in MNU are generally prescribed by agamas for chanting during the performance of āchamana or sipping of water in a specified way for ceremonious self-purification. This symbolic action consists in taking a very small quantity of water by the mouth which should not pass below the throat. These few drops of water are considered as an oblation made to the deities dwelling in the body, for all the gods dwell in man. (12 achamana mantras for twelve deities in various parts of the body) Taittirīya Saṁhitā IV 4-2 states: —The Brāhmaṇa is all the gods.
Brahman is the Infinite Reality, the all -encompassing existence in itself; only when the ego dies can this be realized. In this aphorism the "I" is not the limited transmigrating ego, the doer and the enjoyer within, and also not the body and the mind but Brahman alone. Man (who is a conscious entity) alone has the capacity to improve his present state, to guide his future, to inquire and know the truth, and to free himself from the cycle of birth and death (vidyā adhikāra) through thoughtful actions (karma adhikāra).
Vidyāranya in his Panchadasi (V.4) explains:
Svatah poornah paraatmaa atra brahmasabdena varnitah | asmeetyaikya paraamarsah tena brahma bhavaamyaham ||
"Infinite by nature, the Supreme Self is described here by the word Brahman (lit. Ever expanding; the ultimate reality); the word asmi denotes the identity of aham and Brahman. Therefore, (the meaning of the expression is) "I am Brahman."This realization is gained through true inquiry.
Vaishnavas, when they talk about Brahman, usually refer to impersonal Brahman, Brahmajyoti (rays of Brahman). Brahman according to them means God - Narayana, Rama or Krishna. Thus, the meaning of "aham brahma asmi" according to their philosophy is that "I am a drop of Ocean of Consciousness.", or "I am soul, part of cosmic spirit, Parabrahma". Here, the term Parabrahma is introduced to avoid confusion. If Brahman can mean soul (though, Parabrahma is also the soul, but Supreme one - Paramatma), then Parabrahma should refer to God, Lord Vishnu.
This memorable expression appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad when the sage, in the context of meditation on the Self, in reply to the query – What did that Brahma know by which It became all states:-
"ब्रह्म वा इदमग्र आसीत्, तदात्मनामेवावेत्, अहम् ब्रह्मास्मीति | तस्मात्तत्सर्वमभवत्; तद्यो यो देवानां प्रत्यबुध्यत स एव तदभवत्, तदषीर्णाम् तथा मनुष्याणाम्,..." -- Brahma vaa idamagra aaseet, tadaatmaanamevaavet, aham brahmaasmeeti | tasmaattatsarvamabhavat; tadyo yo devaanaam prtyabudhyata sa eva tadabhavat, tadasheernaamtathaa manushyaanaam……
"This (self) was indeed Brahman in the beginning; It knew only Itself as, "I am Brahman". Therefore It became all; and whoever among the gods knew It also became That; and the same with sages and men…” - (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad I.iv.10)
Aham Brahmaasmi is the explanation of the mantra – Poornamadah poornamidam poornaatpoornamaduchyate | poornasya vpoornamaadaaya poornamevaavasishyate |
"That ('Brahman') is infinite, and this ('universe') is infinite; the infinite proceeds from the infinite. (Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite ('universe'), it remains as the infinite ('Brahman') alone." - (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad V.i.1)
Sankara explains: Non-duality and plurality are contradictory only when applied to the Self, which is eternal and without parts, but not to the effects, which have parts. The aham in this memorable expression is not closed in itself as a pure mental abstraction but it is radical openness. Between Brahman and aham-brahma lies the entire temporal universe experienced by the ignorant as a separate entity (duality) based on his strong conviction Brahma Sathyam Jagan mithyam. Braman alone is true existence; the world is illusion. This goes with the Puranic contention that at the end of each Kalpa Brahman alone remains and the world disappears being illusory and is also of cyclic nature with Maya appearing on screen like a movie.
As the Supreme is signified by all terms that denote all Sentient and Non-sentient objects, that are the body of Brahman, Brahman alone is signified by the terms “Tat” and “Tvam”. It is so because “That=Tat” is introduced in Vedas in the statements such as “that willed”, “May I become many” and “Tadekam Tad Brahma”.
Whether it is the inner wealth of joy, peace, and vitality, or the outer wealth of financial freedom and loving relationships, wealth is the destiny we can wake up to and realize. Once you understand how to activate the wealth that you already have inside, you can easily create it around you in all areas of your life. Inward Joy is everlasting and is called Ananda or Bliss; outward Joy is momentary and is called Happiness or Santhosham. Anada is all inclusive and includes Santosaha. Santosha is lone and momentary and cannot be Ananda! The inner becomes the outer. If outwardly you are poor, that is only a reflection of the inner. The inner core of your being has to be transformed. When you become rich inwardly it happens outwardly, that is the secret.
This philosophy has a scientific validation as a physical reality. Though the reflection in the mirror cannot be there without you, you see the reflection as something separate from you. It is not separate but you sense a separation because of a wrong understanding. Quantum physics says ‘The observer is everything. The observed is the observer.
Symbolically,”Aa” is the first alphabet in Sanskrit and “ Ha” the last alphabet as Sanskrit consists of 48 alphabets (Swami Dayananda). All things have to be expressed within “A” to “Ha”. So from ‘A’ to ‘Ha’ whatever is expressed is Aham alone or Brahman as pronounced in the beginning isavasyam idam sarvam in Isavasyopanishad. All authors translate aham-kara as ego while Swami Krishnanda translates it as Identity. Brahman comes from the root “Brih” to grow or ever expanding which is synonym with “Vridh” from which the English “Word” is coined. Bible says WORD is GOD. Therefore it is obvious the Mahavakya Brahamahamasmi is an introduction by the supreme Being as “I am Brahman” just as we normally introduce “I am so and so” “ahamasmibhoh”. With “A” we open our mouth (Creation), Ha (continue or sustenance) and “AM” (close or dissolution) as in AUM and therefore AHAM is Brahman alone!
MNU glorifies Brahman as “Prane tvamasi sandhata brahmamstvamasi”--Brahman is the one who unites the Jivas with the aggregate of the body and five Pranas. It also says Brahman is vasuranyah-- He is also the object of meditation for all gods (devatas) like panchaprana devatas.
Self is pure consciousness
“The Self is pure consciousness. Your
true self is the purest of pure. It is the witness. Even if you are not aware
of the Self, it will not lose its identity. But when identification of the Self
happens with the body and mind then the self is in a state of delusion, and
this false identification and delusion makes you suffer.
Self is Sakshi, Pure Witness. However, you need to be aware of this. To be
truly happy, you need to experience the Self. Then you come to understand that
you are pure consciousness, the witness. It is only through Brahmajnaana pure knowledge that you
come to know about your own true Self-- (Vijnaanena
atmaanam vedayati)
Your body is constantly changing; through pure knowledge you could understand
how many different bodies you have had and yet you are the very same existence;
how many births you took and all those bodies died but you always remained untouched
by death. You may not be able to recall one single body out of those thousands
of bodies that you took, but yet you are the same unchangeable purity.
Similarly, the mind too is in flux; it is always changing with plenty of good
and bad thoughts lurking in the mind, all the time. Who knows all this? It is
you and you alone who are witnessing these changes happening in body and mind
continuously. The intellect too behaves differently: sometimes Buddhi or intellect goes crazy and at
other times it acts intelligently.
When I say that Self is Sakshi swaroop or Witness incarnate do you comprehend what I am saying? Knowing it with your mind is not enough, the experience has to be there; is that not strange: knowing and yet not knowing? Those who do not realize their Self, does their Self die with the body? No. even the Self of ignorant people is immortal but they fear death due to their ignorance. However, the one who has realized purity of Self peacefully dies when he encounters death.
You are consciousness, pure existence and this body is mortal. The Self is pure existence and a witness. In Self-awareness there is immense joy and in not knowing the Self there is a lot of pain and suffering.
The self is chetana, super consciousness, the one who knows, pure existence, truth, ever-conscious -- sat-chit-ananda. That bliss will come to you only with experience. When would pain, suffering, jealousy and hatred take leave of your mind? This will happen only when you understand and realize that the mind also is different from you. No doubt it is close to you but still it is not you.
Be a witness. Remain detached. You just be a watcher, a seer; be aloof from all this paraphernalia of the world and the body. Then only can you really enjoy otherwise you will suffer as no scenario is ever going to remain unchanged. Change is bound to happen as it is the very nature of the mind and this whole world. An enlightened being would say: if it is birth that is fine even if it is death that is also fine - as nothing can happen to the Self.
The realized ones would say: “What can death take away from me –nothing!
What can life give to me – nothing! All the dramas of this world is happening in front of me. Let it happen whatever has to happen, Therefore why worry.”
-- Anandmurti Gurumaa (Times of India)
“Brahman is Existence which is infinite Consciousness of the nature of Bliss.
“Brahman is Existence, Consciousness, Infinitude.” —Taitt. Up., II. 1.
“Brahman is Consciousness, Bliss.” —Brih. Up., III. 9. 28.
“That which is Infinitude is Bliss and Immortality.” —Chh. Up., VII. 23, 24.
These sentences give the best definition of the highest Reality. Brahman is Consciousness—prajnanam brahma. It is the ultimate Knower. It is imperceptible, for no one can know the knower, no one can know That by which everything else is known. “There is no seer but That, no hearer but That, no thinker but That, no knower but That.” It is the eternal Subject of knowledge, no one knows it as the object of knowledge. This limitless Self-Consciousness is the only Reality. The content of this Consciousness is itself. This is the fullness of perfection and infinitude. “Brahman is Infinite, the universe is Infinite, from the Infinite proceeds the Infinite, and after deducting the Infinite from the Infinite, what remains is but the Infinite.” This sentence of the Upanishad seems to pile up infinities over infinities and arrive at the bewildering conclusion that after subtracting the Whole from the Whole, the Whole alone remains. The implied meaning here is the changeless and indivisible character of the Infinite Reality, in spite of forms appearing to be created within it. The Infinite is non-dual and there can be no dealings with it.” Swami Krishnanada.
Quantum Physics say: "What all you see are the mere reflections of your own mirror images" echoing Upanishas’ Statements Brahmahamasmi; Prajnanam Brahma, Sarvam Vishnu mayam, Isavasyamidam sarvam --You are what you see. That is Pure Consciousness.
How to Experience the Pure Consciousness by Roshan Sharma
“Pure consciousness is the purest state of mind in our common understanding. When the mind becomes a witness and no experiences or impressions remains on the surface of the mind, you experience the mind as pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is a state of mind, where it acts like a mirror.
Anything that comes in front of the mind either from the external world or internal world, it reflects as it is.
The mind as we all know, thinks, imagine things, forms perception, stores experiences, and impressions, and allows us to experience the external reality of life.
The process of mind takes place on its surface, but when you take your attention beyond the surface of the mind, you experience the mind which is absolutely pure. That is the state of pure consciousness.
In the state of pure consciousness, the movement of life energy (spirit) is easily read all the time, and even the source of life is reflected in pure consciousness. Pure consciousness can be experienced, once the dormant energy gets awakened in the body.
It’s the dormant energy that ties the mind in a way, whereby the mind remains engaged in the external cycle of life.
But once the dormant energy gets unlocked inside, you free yourself from the external cycle of life and a new reality is experienced both inside and outside.
The mind is covered with different layers of experiences and impressions of life that makes us hard to perceive life in its natural form. That’s the reason the mind remain engaged in the life cycle of past, present, and future.
Consciousness: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Mind
The natural process of life is eternal and remains the same, but as the humans understanding gets clear with the natural process of life, he begins to align his life’s effort in developing the deeper understanding of life.
The life transcends at a level of perception. Your perception moves deeper with your understanding. When you break the surface reality of the mind, your perception to view life gets deeper. You perceive life closer to the point of consciousness.
It’s the mind that perceives both the external and internal world. The senses act as a window for the mind to perceive the external reality and the sensation allows you to experience the external life.
In the external reality, you work to create comfortable life, but it’s the inner mind that does all the work. If you don’t understand the nature of the mind, then rather creating the comfortable life outside, you add mess to your life.
The Beauty of the Human Soul: Provocations into Consciousness (Authentic Living)
The perception towards life is formed with the ideas and thoughts that you carry from the past. If you allow the new experiences from outside, to become a part of your life, you can gradually improve your perception towards life.
You expand in the physical world, according to the capacity of your mind. If the mind expands, you develop the long vision for life, and you take bold steps, following the larger vision for life.
When you perceive the world through the subtle reality, you connect with the world through thoughts and emotions and get less intimidated by the physical reality.
Physical reality is the manifestation of the subtle world, i.e. thoughts, emotions, and energy. When you connect with your thoughts and emotions, it’s easier to perceive the thoughts and emotions of others.
Life can be known
The mind holds the capacity to transcend itself from the physical consciousness to the subtle and from subtle to pure consciousness.
The meditation is a tool that can help you to transcend from one consciousness to other. All it requires is little practice of meditation on everyday basis and you can notice the changes in your perception in a few days of time.
Your ego or individual identity gets developed in the mind with your identifications with different activities of the mind. You identify yourself with your perception, thoughts, imaginations, dreams, desires, and everything that goes into your mind.
This identification allows you to form the identity inside, and you start perceiving your life out of that identification. The process of meditation teaches you to detach yourself from all the identities, so that you can perceive life out of utmost clarity.
With the inward attention, you can look into everything that goes in your mind. This you can practice during the process of meditation.
If you can practice keeping your attention inward on a daily basis, slowly your attention move deeper and deeper into the subtle part of the mind. More the truth of the mind revealed to you, lesser you identify with the things of the mind.
The pure state of mind doesn’t have its nature but is a reflective mirror. When the mind becomes the witness, it doesn’t have anything to reflect of its own, and thus, it reflects what comes in front of the mirror.
The experience of pure consciousness is just like a reflective mirror that reflects both the external and internal reality in its natural form.
In search of the miraculous: Fragments of an unknown teaching
With pure consciousness, you see the whole and doesn’t perceive the things in a part. Whenever you come across different situations or people in your life, you see the things in a part and not as a whole. Any situation of life is only a part of the whole and it’s only when you see the situation with its past, present and future, you see it as a whole.
All the religion and spiritual organization carry its own method to improve your consciousness towards life. All the sages develop their own path to reach the peak of the consciousness.
There might be thousand and one ways to improve your consciousness, but there are only three things on which you have to work upon to reach the peak of your consciousness. Body, mind, and emotions serves you to connect with the center of pure consciousness.
Any form of physical exercise serves the body to remove the negative toxins from the physical and subtle body and helps you to raise the energy level.
The mind and heart can be expanded through, daily knowledge, and practice of meditation.
A daily habit of physical exercise, meditation, and reading serves you to expand your body, mind, and heart and brings you closer to the state of pure consciousness.
How to Experience God-Consciousness?
Wisdom allows the things to happen. Only out of ignorance, you use an effort or force for the manifestation of things. The inner wisdom makes you aware of the process of life and you follow the process.
When you follow the process, you improve on it, grow with it, and transcends everything that comes your way. With pure consciousness, you transcend everything for the better that comes across your path. The path to pure consciousness is not only the part of the truth, but it also helps you to make everything that you come across better and you consciously take life to the next level.”
David Frawley Says:
Modern physics is proposing a primordial cosmic magnetism much like the powers (shaktis) that pervade space in yogic thought. That magnetism is ultimately the power of Pure Consciousness to manifest.
"One possibility is that cosmic magnetism is primordial, tracing all the way back to the birth of the universe. The omnipresent magnetism would have seeded the stronger fields that blossomed in galaxies and clusters."
Please go through what modern physics says:
The Hidden Magnetic Universe Begins to Come into View
Astronomers are discovering that magnetic fields permeate much of the cosmos. If these fields date back to the Big Bang, they could solve a major cosmological mystery.
Anytime astronomers figure out a new way of looking for magnetic fields in ever more remote regions of the cosmos, inexplicably, they find them.
These force fields — the same entities that emanate from fridge magnets — surround Earth, the sun and all galaxies. Twenty years ago, astronomers started to detect magnetism permeating entire galaxy clusters, including the space between one galaxy and the next. Invisible field lines swoop through intergalactic space like the grooves of a fingerprint.
Last year, astronomers finally managed to examine a far sparser region of space — the expanse between galaxy clusters. There, they discovered the largest magnetic field yet: 10 million light-years of magnetized space spanning the entire length of this “filament” of the cosmic web. A second magnetized filament has already been spotted elsewhere in the cosmos by means of the same techniques. “We are just looking at the tip of the iceberg, probably,” said Federica Govoni of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Cagliari, Italy, who led the first detection.
The question is: Where did these enormous magnetic fields come from?
“It clearly cannot be related to the activity of single galaxies or single explosions or, I don’t know, winds from supernovae,” said Franco Vazza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna who makes state-of-the-art computer simulations of cosmic magnetic fields. “This goes much beyond that.”
One possibility is that cosmic magnetism is primordial, tracing all the way back to the birth of the universe. In that case, weak magnetism should exist everywhere, even in the “voids” of the cosmic web — the very darkest, emptiest regions of the universe. The omnipresent magnetism would have seeded the stronger fields that blossomed in galaxies and clusters.
Please recall the following two mantras from MNU, Mahanarayana Upanishad as part of Aghamarshana sukta of Rigveda:
samudrādarṇavādadhi saṁvatsaro ajāyata | ahorātrāṇi vidadhadviśvasya miṣato vaśī || 64 || sūryāchandramasau dhātā yathāpūrvamakalpayat | divaṁ cha pṛthivīṁ chāntarikṣamatho suvaḥ || 65 || (MNU)
Then, after the creation of the vast ocean the year was generated. Afterwards the ruler of the world of sentient and non-sentient beings who made day and night, ordained sun and moon, sky and earth and the atmosphere and blissful heaven, just as they were in the previous cycles of creation.
Commentary:
These two Anuṣṭubh mantras from the Rigveda X 190 1-3 are reputed to be sin-effacing or Āghamarṣaṇa.
The subject matter dealt with in these stanzas being, evidently, the creation of the universe, which connects the thoughts directly or indirectly with the Supreme Being.
Although Hindu religion has accepted the idea of the creation of the universe in general, there is a marked difference between the Hindu view of creation and the Western view. Recently the long -held view on Big Bang as one time event is also changing as you learn a below that agrees with Vedic view!
This is evident from the stanza 65, which declares that each creationistic cycle is a counterpart of the previous one similar in order (yathaa purvam akalpayat) and categories created for the benefit of individual souls.
Yet another mantra from MNU on Creation says:
Chatvaari Sringo trayo asya paadaa dveseersha sapta hastaaso asya | Triddhaa baddho vrishbho roraveeti maho devo martyaa aavivesa ||
The syllable Om conceived as the Bull possesses five horns, three feet and two heads and seven hands (of oval shape). This Bull connected in a threefold manner, eloquently declares the Supreme. The Self-luminous Deity has entered the mortals everywhere. There are different explanations of this mantra about which I have talked about before. But one that is relevant in the context is the first line simply symbolically represents Brahman as a Kalpa Purusha. We all know Brahman is often referred as Time or Kaala and Samvatsara (Samvatasrova apaam pushpam; Kaalaaya namah). Without explaining its deeper meanings, if we simply write the numbers continuously mentioned in the mantra, it represents 4320000000 Human Years that is Kalpa. 4 comes from four horns, 3 comes from three feet, 2 comes from two heads and 7 zeros that follow comes from seven hands in oval (0) shape! This Brahman appears again and again for each Kalpa with his band of controllers to revive and rule the universe which is indicated by the roar of the bull.
Upanishad clearly mention the world was each time created as before _yathaapurvam akalpayat it was created as before thereby implying cyclic nature.
Vedas say that our universe is about 155.52 trillion human years old, and its total life span is 311.04 trillion human years (which is equivalent to 100 years of Brahma).
Science now says the universe is at least 986 billion years older than physicists thought and is probably much older still, according to a radical new theory. The revolutionary study suggests that time did not begin with the big bang 14 billion years ago. This mammoth explosion which created all the matter we see around us, was just the most recent of many. The standard big bang theory says the universe began with a massive explosion, but the new theory suggests it is a cyclic event that consists of repeating big bangs.
“The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang.” ― Carl Sagan.
Appendix
Quantum Physics and Vedanta
By Jayant Kapatker
Quantum Physics and Vedanta
On the surface Quantum Physics (QP) and Vedanta may look very different. One is part of the scientific tradition and the other in some ways is philosophy, some may even call it religion. Science is trying to understand the universe ‘out there’ and Vedanta is trying to understand the universe ‘inside you’. Everyone will agree that there is only one universe; both ‘out there’ and ‘in here’ are parts of the same universe. If this is true, both must have the same underlying reality. If you are part of the universe then your underlying reality must be the same as the underlying reality of the universe ‘out there’. There cannot be two independent realities for the same universe. Both science and Vedanta are looking for the same underlying reality. Besides, they share common ground which we’ll explore in this article.
The goal is the same, but the approach of science and Vedanta are quite different. Science started out by looking at all the objects ‘out there’ in the universe, how they function, what they are made of. As scientific understanding improved, scientists wanted to learn more about these objects and to understand the building blocks of the universe. They started looking inwards from molecules, and then into atoms, into sub-atomic particles, into quarks, and strings; they are now looking for the unifying force which is the building block of the universe. Science now realizes that there is a unifying force, the ‘The Theory of Everything’ or a Singularity which is the underlying reality of the universe. What could this be? This is where science or quantum physics has reached a stumbling block, Vedanta takes a different approach, it started looking ‘in here’ and the ancient Rishis found that the single unifying force is within themselves. They understood that this single unifying force is also the underlying reality of the universe. Based on this, they posit that this single reality is then divided into an infinite number of diverse objects and this is the physical universe we see.
Basically Science started from ‘out there‘ and then moved inwards to find the underlying reality. Vedanta started from ‘in here’ and then moved out wards to understand the universe. The ultimate goal for both of them is the same.
Physics, which is an important part of science, can be divided into 2 distinct divisions or phases
• Classical Physics
• Quantum Physics
Classical physics started with Newton, who made many different discoveries and formulated many different laws, which are relevant even today. Newton’s laws did not focus on atomic level objects but on macro objects we can see around us. Based on these laws, people believed that the universe was a giant machine, where one can easily predict the motion of the planets Quantum Physics and the objects therein. This way they knew exactly what was happening in this universe and in some way could even predict all the future movements of celestial bodies. Physicists thought they knew everything in the universe and there was nothing new to discover.
In the early 20th century, things took a dramatic turn. As physicists started exploring atomic level particles, they found none of the classical laws were applicable to these particles. Classical physics became outdated at the atomic and sub-atomic levels. To understand and explain the happenings in the realm of the sub-atomic, quantum physics was born.
As we shall see in the coming section, sub atomic particles behave in unpredictable ways. Quantum physics is trying its best to provide a proper explanation which is rooted in science and supported by experiments. Sometimes, a particle is a ‘wave’ and at some other times it is a ‘particle’. This discovery marked the starting point of quantum physics. Quantum physics has explored this contradiction over the past century. Many questions have been successfully answered, but with every answer new questions come up. And so the search for answers doesn’t seem to end. Some of the questions cannot and will not be answered by science, because they are outside the scope of science. We will looking at all these issues in this article.
In many ways this is quite similar to Vedanta. Vedanta teaches us that the mind is made of waves or ‘vrittis’ and these ‘mind waves’ become the objects which we see around us in this physical universe. Are the ‘waves’ described by quantum physics the same as the ‘waves’ in the mind? I strongly believe both are the same and this may be the common ground between quantum physics and Vedanta. The focus of this article is to show that this is true. This will help quantum physics to apply Vedanta principles, which, it must be said, follow rigorous logic, that any scientific mind will be satisfied. This will help resolve many of the unanswered questions being faced by quantum physics. And that’s the main focus of this article.
What is Quantum Physics – A Brief Overview?
Quantum physics is the study of the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear, and even smaller, microscopic levels. We'll give a quick overview of quantum physics by highlighting some of the key developments that are relevant to this article.
Light is a Wave:
In 1805, Thomas Young demonstrated that Light was a wave. He used the famous double slit experiment. There was a light source and in front of it there was barrier and this barrier had two slits. On the other side of the barrier was a photographic plate to study the light’s propagation through the slits. The result on the photographic plate clearly showed that light was not a particle but a wave. If it was a particle, there would be only 2 bands on the plate, but the plate showed multiple bands, proving that the light was a wave which passed through the two slits and then combined to from all the different bands.
Light is a Particle
In 1905 Einstein published a paper on ‘Photoelectric Effect’ phenomenon, which showed that the light is a particle. In 1921, Einstein got a Nobel Prize for this discovery. It is surprising that he got the Nobel Prize for this discovery and not for the ‘Theory of Relativity’, for which he is better known. In this experiment, you shine light (which is a wave) on a photoconductive metal and you get light reflected on the other side. On studying or observing this reflected light, Einstein found that the reflected light was not a wave, but it was made up of packets of energy. Each packet is a unit of fixed energy and this packet is known as a photon and has all the characteristics of a particle.
Max Planck also found the emission of photons or discrete packets of energy when he tried to understand the emission of energy from a black body. Depending on the color of the heated black body, photons with different energy levels were emitted. The hotter the black body, the higher the level of energy in the photons emitted. Also, these higher energy photons had a higher frequency of light as compared to the lower energy photons which had a lower frequency of light.
Higher Frequency = Higher Energy of photon
The double slit experiment explained earlier was updated slightly, instead of two slits, there was only one slit. Light was passed through a single slit and then onto a photographic plate. In the two slit experiment, they found a series of bands on the photographic plate, which suggested that light was a wave. When a single slit was used, they found only a single band on the photographic plate, suggesting that the light was a particle and not a wave. The curious part of this experiment is, what made light behave as a wave when there were two slits and then behave as a particle when there was only one slit? This experiment was repeated again and again and the result was always the same. There was something which was telling light when to behave as a wave and when to behave as a particle. This dilemma was the birth of quantum physics.
Matter is both Wave and Particle
So, light exhibits properties both of a ‘wave’ and of a ‘particle’. In 1923, de Broglie, a French doctoral student made a bold assertion that not only light but all matter must have both ‘wave’ and ‘particle’ properties. Here matter means matter, including, you, me, planets, cars, in fact any living or nonliving object in this universe. The tree in front of you is a particle, and using the de Broglie formula; you can also calculate the wavelength of the tree based on its energy content. In 1927, the de Broglie hypothesis was proven experimentally - thus, all matter is both a wave and a particle. In 1929, de Broglie was awarded the Nobel Prize for his theory. He was the only one to ever receive a Nobel Prize based on his doctoral thesis.
How can we comprehend that everything that exists is both particle (matter) and a wave (non-matter)? Is this possible? The tree outside my window definitely looks like a particle, so the question is when is the tree a ‘wave’? Is it ever a ‘wave’? It must be a ‘wave’ otherwise the de Broglie theory would be wrong. Let’s try to understand this. If I turn my back to the tree, is the tree still a ‘particle’? Is the tree even there? You really cannot be sure, because you are not seeing the tree. Maybe the tree is now a ‘wave’. This type of logic can be applied to all objects in the universe including any living being. For example you are talking to your friend sitting in front of you. You are sure he is a ‘particle’ because he is right in front of you and you can see him. You now move to the next room and you cannot see your friend anymore. Is it now possible that your friend has become a ‘wave’? When you come back to the room; your friend is once again a ‘particle’. All this may sound strange, but this is what happens when you try and understand quantum physics. You now ask your friend ‘were you a wave’ a short time ago? He may think you’ve gone mad, but out of politeness he will confirm he has always been a particle. The friend may want to play the same game with you. He may say to you ‘I did not see you when you went to the next room, were you a ‘wave’ till you came back to this room and till I saw you once again? He has a valid point. When you moved to the next room, you may think your friend is a wave and your friend would also think you are a wave.
Looking at the example of the tree and your friend, it would suggest that anything in your presence would always be a particle, but if something is not in your presence it could mean that it’s a ‘wave’. Your presence is necessary for anything to be a particle. This is the implication of the de Broglie theory.
Can something be a ‘wave’ and a ‘particle’ at the same time or must it be either a ‘wave’ or a ‘particle’ at any given time? If the tree is a particle, then it just cannot be a ‘wave’ at the same time, and vice versa. Science has no answer to this question. Here’s some food for thought - if an object is a particle, then where is the wave residing? Is the wave also part of this space time framework or does the wave reside in another dimension?
There are so many questions which the de Broglie hypothesis generates about matter being ‘wave’ or ‘particle. Unfortunately, science has not answered them so far. In the coming sections we will try and understand these questions using the teachings of Vedanta.
Schrodinger’s Wave Function
Like Newton’s law of motion is the heart of the classical physics, Schrodinger’s wave function is the heart of quantum physics. To understand the ‘wave’ part of the de Broglie theory, Schrodinger formulated a complex equation for the wave function. Without being too technical, Schrodinger’s wave equation is represented by the following:
1. Schrodinger’s equation represents a physical system and this physical system always consists of an observing system and the observed system. The observed system is a wave function, and this wave function is the wave component of the wave/matter duality as postulated by de Broglie. The de Broglie hypothesis says every object in this universe is both a ‘particle’ and ‘wave’, the wave part can be represented by the Schrodinger’ wave equation and this wave is being observed by the observing system
2. The Schrodinger wave equation represents only ‘standing’ waves and not ‘traveling’ waves. We see traveling waves when we throw a stone in a pond and see the waves traveling outwards, or when we see waves in the ocean. Standing waves in turn are waves which propagate in an enclosed environment; they keep bouncing off the enclosed ‘walls’. Electrons, as waves, are standing waves because they are enclosed within an atom. For the observing system to observe a standing wave it must be enclosed in some type of environment.
3. Schrodinger’s wave equation is a generic equation which represents all the possible standing wave functions in the universe. The main variables of Schrodinger’s wave equation are time and energy. If you input the correct variables for a particular observed system, the Schrodinger wave equation will represent that wave function. If you input the energy variables of the electron wave, the Schrodinger equation will represent the electron wave function over time. Understanding the energy structure of electrons, photons, molecules and other micro objects are simpler, therefore it is possible to apply the Schrodinger wave equations to these wave functions. Macro objects have more complex wave functions and it is much more difficult to input their variables to create the Schrödinger wave function. In conclusion, we may say that the Schrodinger wave equation is applicable in every wave function both simple and complex.
The only limitation is that science still does not understand the input variables needed for the complex waves representing macro objects like you, me or cars and planets.
4. You can convert the Schrodinger’s wave function into a probability wave function by squaring the wave function. The probability wave function contains all the possible outcomes. There could be infinite possibilities. To explain this, the famous Schrodinger cat example is given. A cat is enclosed in a box which contains a veil of poison attached to an atomic trigger. The atomic trigger can randomly trigger the poison veil. One is never sure if the cat is dead or alive at any given time. As the per the probability function yielded by Schrodinger’s equation, the cat could be dead or alive and it could also be half dead or half alive, 1/3dead or 2/3 alive and all the other different possible mix of ratios between dead and alive. It has infinite possibilities, but only a few logical possibilities. You cannot have anything ¼ alive and ¾ dead.
5. Another important aspect of the physical system for the Schrodinger wave equation is the observing system. When this observing system interacts with the observed system at any given time, the wave function of the observed system collapses to only one of the logical possibilities at that given time. In the example of Schrodinger’s cat, if you open the trap door to see the cat, the cat will be alive or dead. If it is found alive all the other possibilities become zero. In other words, when the observing system interacts with the observed system, the wave collapses to one of the possibilities for that given time and then all the other possibilities have a zero chance of occurring. Till the trap door is opened, the cat is in a wave form with infinite possibilities and when the door is opened by the observing system the ‘cat’ wave collapses to being alive and then all the other possibilities became zero.
In the case of the two slit example described earlier, a light wave passes through the two slits, and it has all the possibilities of striking anywhere on the photographic plate on the either side. When the light wave touches the photographic plate at a particular location, the wave function of the light collapses at that point and that point is no longer a wave but shows the characteristics of a photon particle. Once the wave function collapses, at that point, the probability is one and the probability at all other points is zero. In this case the observing system is the photographic plate which collapses the wave function.
Here is a direct hint that the wave function only collapses in the presence of an observing system. If there was no observing system, the observed system would continue to be a wave function. Before interacting with an observing system, the observed system was a wave and the moment after interacting with the observing system, the observed wave function collapsed to become a particle.
With this proper understanding of the Schrodinger wave function, many further questions come to mind.
Question 1: The Schrodinger wave function represents the ‘wave’ aspect of the wave/particle duality as postulated by de Broglie. A prerequisite for the Schrodinger wave function is that it must be a standing wave. To be a standing wave it must be enclosed within some type of ‘wall’. We saw the electron wave function operates within an atom. But the atom is also a wave, so where are ‘walls’ for the atom – you might say the molecule. But the molecule is also a wave function, so where are the ‘walls’ for the molecule. As you keep moving from micro to macro, you can keep asking the same question for every macro object in this universe. Where is the ‘wall’ for the standing waves of the objects in this world?
Question 2: Besides the ‘wall’, there are many other questions one can ask about the wave function
• What are the waves made of? Nobody has seen a wave, but it must be made of something, it cannot be made of nothing. Some physicists say that there are no ‘waves’, only the Schrodinger wave equation represents the wave function.
• The waves need some sort of medium to propagate. What is this underlying medium? At one time, scientist speculated that there is some sort of ‘ether’ in which the light waves travelled. Experiments have proven that there is no ‘ether’ underlying this universe. So what is the medium through which waves travel?
• Where do the waves reside? ‘Out there’ or ‘in here’? One thing is clear: it cannot be within the particle object, because the particle objects only shows up when the wave function collapses in the presence of the observing system. The wave comes first and then the particle, therefore the wave cannot exist within the particle.
Question 3: Quantum physics provides very little understanding of the observing system. In the double slit experiment, it is suggested that the photographic plate is the observing system. The photographic plate interacts with the incoming light wave and this wave function collapses at the photographic plate. Science assumes that the photographic plate is the observing system. If you examine this closely, does a man-made photographic plate have the capacity to collapse a wave function to become a particle? What unique quality of the photographic plate allows the wave function to collapse? Another question to ask is - what is the exact meaning of the statement “collapsing wave function”?
If you take the broader viewpoint, you will realize that the photographic plate itself is matter and therefore it also has a wave function. So what observing system collapses the wave function of the photographic plate? The logical answer would be your eyes. But the eye is also matter and therefore it also has a wave function. So what observing system collapses the wave function of the eye? The answer would be your brain. Then brain is also matter and therefore it also has a wave function. So what observing system collapses the wave function of the brain? I think that at this point, science has come to the end of the road; it cannot explain what, or which observing system collapses the wave function of the brain.
If we understand Vedanta properly, most of these questions can be answered. In the coming sections we will try to explain some of the key teachings of Vedanta that help answer these question
Multi - Universes
Quantum Physics also speculates that there are multiple universes. This speculation is based on the collapsing of Schrodinger’s wave function. We saw earlier that the probability wave function has all possibilities. However, in the presence of the observing system, the probability function collapses into only one of the possibilities. When this happens, then the probability of all the other possibilities becomes zero. The question Quantum physics asks is - what happens to the all the other possibilities which were inherent in the probability wave function? They could not just disappear. Quantum physics speculates that the all the other possibilities also collapse but not in this universe but in other parallel universes. For this reason physicists think that there are multiple universes. If a probability wave function has 100 possibilities. When this wave function collapses, one of the possibilities happens in this universe and remaining 99 possibilities happen in 99 parallel universes. In the Schrodinger Cat example, the probability wave function had two possibilities the cat being ‘dead’ or ‘alive’. When you open the trap door in this universe and see the cat ‘alive’ then the speculation is that in the parallel universe the cat would be ‘dead’.
Quantum physics definitely has a point, if one of the possibilities collapses over here, what happens to all the other possibilities? In the Schrodinger cat example there were only two logical possibilities, there are other wave functions that have an infinite number of possibilities. What happens to all these possibilities? We shall be discussing this later on. Every living being creates their own unique universe and each one of them collapses the probability wave function differently. If there is infinite number of living beings, then there would be infinite number of universes being created. This is the multi verse or parallel universes which quantum physics talks about, but Quantum Physics makes it sound almost mysterious.
Understanding t (time) = 0
To interpret quantum physics properly, it is important to understand what we mean by t (time) = 0. So, we can say that t=0 means that it is not the past, not the future but the present. It means it is ‘now’. Anything t = 0+ or t = 0- is not ‘now’ but it is the future or the past. Even a nanosecond more or less than t = 0 is not ‘now’; it would be past or future. For your information, based on the Plank constant, the smallest possible time unit is t = 10-44. Even the passage of this extremely small time unit would mean the event is not ‘now’, but the past or the future.
So, where is the t=0 for the universe? Science tells us that the big bang is the t = 0 for the universe. I do not think this is correct. The big bang is 13.7 billion years old, which means the t = - 13.7 billion years for the big bang. Only the location of ‘now’ can be t = 0. Therefore the big bang cannot be t=0. It may have been t = 0 at the time of the big bang, but right now the big bang is 13.7 billion years old. It is an event from the past. So how do we explain t = 0?
Any perception process must have the following two elements
1. Subject or Observer
2. Object or Observed
Without these two elements, the perception process would be incomplete. Even the physical system for the Schrodinger wave function must have an observed system and an observing system.
In the following sections we will analyze and show where we can locate the t = 0 for the Subject/Observer and the Object/Observed. The proper understanding of t = 0 will go a long way in explaining many of the shortcomings faced by science and quantum physics.
Where is t = 0 for the Observer/Subject?
Even before we start understanding t = 0 for the Observer/Subject, the question which must be answered is – what do we mean by an Observer?
1. All perception takes place only in the mind. Even science agrees with this – the outside image falls on the retina, which is converted into an optical signal and sent to the brain for processing. Science never explains what happens after that but it does state that the final perception takes place in the mind. Also, science never explains who the observer of the image within the mind is. Who is watching the movie being played in the mind?
According to Vedanta, Atma is the Observer which witnesses everything that is happening in the mind and we know the mind is full of activity. This Atma is the Real ‘I’ and it is our underlying reality. Atma is merely an Observer and it never influences, neither is it affected by what is happening in the mind. It is like a witness to a movie which is running in your mind. Though in real life a sad movie can make someone cry, in the case of Atma, it is never affected by the movie running in the mind.
2. To locate the t = 0 for Atma/Observer let us study the external objects out there. If we can see a faraway star, say, 5 million light years away, it takes light from that star 5 million years to reach us. Now we see the sun, the light from the sun takes 8 min to reach us. We look at the moon; light takes 3 sec to reach us. We look at the plane flying in the sky, at 30,000 feet; light takes about 300 milliseconds to reach us. As the distance of the object being viewed is reduced, the time taken for light to reach us is much smaller. I now look at the tree outside the window; the time taken for light to reach me is 10 microseconds (10-6). I am looking at the computer screen 1 foot away while typing this article, light takes about 1 nanosecond (10-9) to reach me. You even watch your thoughts, they too take some time to form; they are not instantaneous. As the distance reduces the time taken for the light to reach our eyes, reduces. If you extrapolate this backward, the only logical location for t to be equal to 0 is in the Observer, who is watching all these objects. Atma is the Observer, so Atma is t=0 within you. This t=0 is beyond time, it is always ‘now’.
If you or anyone else looks around at the objects in the universe and uses the same reasoning as above, each one will reach the same conclusion: that the Observer within us is the t =0. Everyone will have their own t=0, which is within themselves. This will apply to every living being in the universe. It would therefore seem that I have my own t=0, you have your own t=0 and every living being in the universe has its own t=0. The only way to understand this is that each and every living being creates their own universe and also the t = 0 for each and every one of them. Does this mean that there are multiple t = 0, one for each and every living being? Vedanta teaches us that Atma is the common Observer/Subject for every living being and therefore there is only one t = 0.
3. So how does Atma create the illusion of being a different Observer within each and every living being? To explain this, the classic example given by Vedanta is the example of buckets filled with water. Picture the sun shining over an unlimited number of buckets filled with water. What would you see? The sun reflected in each and every bucket. You will not see a partial image of the sun, but the complete image of the sun in each and every bucket. Now imagine the bucket represents our body and the water in the bucket is our mind. There are an unlimited number of living beings with a mind in this universe. The shining sun is the Atma. This one, and only one, Atma is reflected in the mind of each and every living being. So, you can see how, Atma/Observer within each one of us is the t = 0.
Where is t = 0 for the Observed/Objects?
If you look closely, you would agree that whatever we see out there is all dated or past stuff. The far way star is 1 million years old, the sun is 8 min old, the moon is 3 sec old, the plane in the sky is 300 milliseconds old, the tree outside my window is 10 microseconds old, and the computer in front of me is 1 nanosecond old. We do not see any ‘now’ objects where t = 0, we only see ‘memory objects’, which are no longer current. The universe is only made up of ‘memory objects’. It is just impossible to find a ‘now’ object in the physical universe. It must be understood that ‘memory objects’ means both living and nonliving objects.
The question is, does there exist a ‘now’ version of any memory objects, where t = 0 for the object? Intuitively you would think there should be a ‘now’ object somewhere. But where is this ‘now’ object?
Science adds to the confusion, when it talks about memory objects, it makes it seems as if they are talking about ‘now’ objects. When a planet is discovered 5 million light years away, it is referred to as if it is a ‘now’ object, but in reality it is a memory object. They are talking about an object which is 5 million years old, no one knows where that planet is ‘right now’. Does it even exist, has it already been destroyed by meteor. No one can be certain. One certainty is that the ‘now’ object cannot be in the same location where ‘memory’ object is 5 million years back.
It almost feels as if there are two different universes - one is the ‘now’ universe and the other is the universe of memory objects. We know where the universe of memory objects is - it is right in front of us. So the question is - where is the universe of ‘now’ objects? You will never find the ‘now’ universe by looking at memory objects, those are all in the past, with old content. You cannot extrapolate memory objects to the future to understand the ‘now’ objects/universe. In a way, memory objects and ‘now’ objects have no connection whatsoever. Therefore, I wonder if science is on wild goose chase when it is looking for the Singularity, by studying and analyzing memory objects.
So where is the universe where everything is ‘now’ and where there are no memory objects? This is just not possible in the space time framework as we know it. To be in the ‘now’ universe, every object in this universe must be at t=0. If it is not =0, then it is not a ‘now’ object, it is a memory object. We know the t = 0 for the Observer is within you, but where is the t = 0 for the ‘now’ object.
We know that the sun we see is 8 minutes old and it is a memory object. Let us play around with this. Now for whatever reason, the sun is only 3 minutes old; it would mean the sun has moved closer to the Observer (and much hotter). In the same way, if the sun is only 30 seconds old, it would mean the sun is extremely close to the Observer, but it’s still a memory object. If you keep extrapolating this and finally if t becomes 0 for the sun, it would only mean that the sun is within the Observer/Atma. We have seen earlier t=0 is the coordinate for the Observer/Atma. For the sun to be a ‘now’ object, it must be within Observer/Atma.
At t=0, the sun is a ‘now’ object, and this ‘now’ object is beyond the space time framework and is within Atma. The only way to understand that for anything to be outside the space time frame work, it must be in its ‘un-manifest’ or ‘potential form’ or ‘seed form’. There is no actual sun, but there is only the potential to become the sun. Just Play-do used by kids has the potential to be manipulated to become different objects, in the same way Atma has the potential to become any object in the universe.
This reasoning and logic will be applicable to every memory object in the universe. The t=0 for all the memory objects in this physical universe is present within Atma/Observer in its ‘potential or seed form’. There is no actual universe within Atma, but the only the potential to become the universe. We are going to explain later on what we mean by ‘potential or seed form’
T = 0 Is Pure Awareness
We just saw that the t = 0 for the Observer is within each one of us. We also saw the t = 0 for all the ‘now’ Objects is also within us. At t = 0 both Subject and Object are the same. They are completely unified and homogeneous with no separation whatsoever. What does this mean? THIS is the singularity which Science talks about. It is the unity of the subject and object.
Vedanta teaches us that the essential nature of Atma is Self-Awareness; that is, it is aware of itself. If you look at Awareness more closely, you will realize Awareness must always have the following two elements.
1. If you are aware, then there should be someone who is aware. Awareness needs a subject
2. To be aware, there must be an object which you are aware of. Awareness needs an object.
Subject and object are needed to complete the Awareness process. To be Self-Aware, the subject and object must be within Awareness itself, with no separation. This is Pure Awareness. In our daily perception, we always feel that the subject is here, while the object is out there, there is separation; we are therefore not Self Aware.
Earlier, we saw that t = 0 has both the Subject and Object as non-separate from each other. The only conclusion we can reach is that t = 0 is not only Aware, but it is Self-Aware. Vedanta teaches us that Atma is Self-Aware. Therefore t = 0 is Atma, and this t = 0 is the underlying reality of the universe, including for every living being.
t = 0 is a concept which science can understand. If science does properly understand t = 0, it must reach the conclusion that t = 0 is no different from Atma, which is the underlying reality of this universe.
Understanding Vedanta Cosmology
Science tells us that the Big Bang took place 13.7 billion years ago. One of the foremost questions is - what was there before the big bang? What was there at t = 0? Based on our previous discussion we can say that Self Aware Atma was present at t = 0, in fact Atma is t = 0. It is therefore logical to conclude that the big bang was born out of this Self Aware Atma. All the matter and energy, all the space was born out of this Atma.
Fast forward to ‘now’, 13.7 billion years after the big bang. There is a t = 0 ‘now’ also. We have seen that I have a t = 0 within me, you have a t = 0 within you, in fact every living being has a t = 0 within each of one us. The t = 0, which is Atma is always present within each one of us. 13.7 billion years back the universe emerged out of this Atma. In exactly the same way, right ‘now’ also, the universe is born out of t = 0, which is within each one of us. In other words, each one of us has our own big bang. We all create our own personalized universe. 13.7 billion years back the big bang created a baby universe, but right ‘now’ the big bang will create a more mature universe which is 13.7 billion years old. Your universe is a lot different from mine. I am color blind, so I am sure that what I take as the universe is different from what your universe looks like. Each one of us has our own personalized universe.
It would seem that the big bang takes place whenever we want to perceive the universe. The Big bang is not a ‘one off’ event which took place 13.7 billion years ago, but it takes place every time the Observer has a desire to perceive. Whenever the Observer has a desire to perceive, the Observer creates the universe anew.
How does the Observer create this universe? Vedanta teaches us that it is a 3 step process:
1. Creation of the Seed Body
2. Creation of the Subtle Body
3. Creation of the Gross/Physical Body
Due to ignorance, Atma becomes the seed body. The seed body creates the subtle body. The subtle body creates the gross body. This process of creation is not only true for each one of us, but it is also true for the cosmic body. The cosmic body is the sum total of all the individual bodies or objects in the universe. The cosmic body is also a combination of the 3 bodies mentioned above. Let us discuss each one of them in little more detail
1. Seed Body:
The seed body very similar to a seed from which a huge tree, with branches, leaves and fruits, comes out. A seed already has the potential form of the tree built into it.
We saw earlier at t = 0, that all the memory manifest condition inside the seed. The seed body is also called a causal body, because it is the cause for the tree to grow from the seed. For us humans, too, the individual seed body will become an individual human being with all its genetic character traits, or tendencies (called Vasanas). These are also the blueprint of that person’s life including all the karmas that one will exhaust in this life.
You could say that the tree is in potential form. It has the tendencies to create all the physical objects in the universe. The cosmic seed body has the potential form for the all the possible objects in the universe. You, I and all living beings have a much smaller seed body; we are a small sub-set part of the cosmic seed body. Our potential form is limited in scope as compared to the potential form of the cosmic bod
Under the right conditions, this causal body or the seed body germinates and grows into the subtle body and the gross body to play out the blueprint that is contained within. The seed body is the driving force and is the cause for the creation of the subtle body and the gross body.
2. Subtle Body
The subtle body in a human being is that part of us which is not physical. Our thought, emotions and feelings, in short, our mind is the main component of the subtle body. We saw the seed body is t = 0. The subject and objects are unified and homogenous. The mind or the subtle body breaks down this unity of the seed body and creates a duality by the separation between the subject and object. According to Vedanta, the following are the two main components of the mind:
Buddhi or Intelligence: This is the seat of the Subject part of the seed body. Buddhi being the subject, it gives you the feeling of being ‘I am’. Buddhi is the doer of actions and also the experienced of actions.
Manas: This the seat of the Object part of the seed body. The objects in the Manas are represented by waves or ‘Vrittis’. These waves are made of “mind stuff” or subtle elements. The waves in the mind are like the waves or ripples we see in a swimming pool. They are standing waves bouncing within the mind. These waves are still in the potential form. The waves or ‘vrittis’ in the Manas come from different sources.
• The seed body germinates itself and creates waves within the Manas
• The Cosmic Mind is the sum total of all the waves in the universe. The individual mind only perceives a part of the universe and only those waves are in the individual manas.
• When you are thinking or day dreaming, waves come from your stored memories.
Every living and non-living object has a wave form; it could be from your seed body, a part of the cosmic mind or your memory. I have a wave form, you have a wave form and every living and nonliving being in the universe has a wave form. These wave forms operate within the confines of the mind, either the individual or the cosmic mind. All the different waves representing different things superimpose on each other to form complex wave patterns. This is the same way when you see multiple ripples in the swimming pool combining to form different wave patterns.
It must be clearly understood that there is fully functioning subtle universe. This subtle universe is in vritti or wave form. Different wave patterns represent different living and non-living objects.
We saw earlier the main role of the Atma is to observe what is happening in the mind. We have seen the mind is full of complex wave ‘vritti’ patterns. So how does Atma ‘read’ the wave patterns in the mind? Vedanta teaches that that this is a 2 step procedure. This is like the collapsing of the wave function.
Step 1: Vritti Vyapti: This means “wrapping” of the vritti or wave by the mind. When a vritti is formed in the mind, the mind goes into its “memory database” and checks what this vritti represents. The mind then takes the shape of that object. At this stage it only takes the shape of what the wave represents. It does not have any content. It is like a wire diagram with no content.
Step 2: Phala Vyapti: Phala means fruit but a better translation would be the yielding of a result from the wrapping. The shape of the mind object comes in the presence of Atma, which is the light of Awareness. When anything comes in the presence of Atma it becomes conscious and this “wire diagram” of the mind object is now filled with Consciousness. You can be aware of something only when it is conscious. With this step Atma/Observer is now fully aware of the subtle objects in the mind.
3. Gross Body
According to Vedanta, these subtle objects in the mind are projected out as the physical universe by Maya Shakti. This way the subtle objects become gross objects. Maya Shakti is the creative power of Atma and it is resident within the Manas part of the mind. This powerful Shakti is within each one of us. It first creates the space time framework and then places all gross objects within this framework. This is the physical universe we see around us. As we have mentioned earlier this physical universe is only made up memory objects.
There is a fully functioning subtle universe and also a fully functioning gross universe. The subtle universe operates in the ‘potential form’, while the gross universe is made up of objects. The main role of Maya Shakti is to convert the ‘potential form’ into memory objects. It must be understood that each one of us observes a different set of memory objects. Let us take an example, suppose that, for whatever reason, you are milliseconds closer to the sun. The sun created by your mind is different from the sun being created in other people’s minds. Your sun is milliseconds younger than anyone else’s. In this way, we can see how the physical universe out there is unique for each and every one of us.
We can all see the gross universe, but the subtle world is really where all the action takes place. The gross universe is only a projection of the subtle universe. The subtle universe is like the software program, which in the presence of the projector, projects the movie on the screen. The gross universe is totally dependent upon the subtle universe.
Correlating Quantum Physics and Vedanta
Now that we have a much better understanding of what we mean by t = 0 and also a basic understanding of Vedanta cosmology, I think we are ready to tackle the questions which were raised while discussing the highlights of quantum physics.
Time vs. Space
In classical physics, space and time were considered completely different and independent of each other. Newton considered space to have 3 dimensions and a separate single dimension for time. Einstein with his Theory of Relativity showed that space and time where interlinked and he changed the terminology from ‘space and time’ to ‘space time’ and this space time had 4 dimensions. But, it’s hard to understand 4 dimensions, it’s not intuitive. We can only visualize 3 dimensions, so where is the 4th dimension? Neither Einstein nor science has given a proper explanation for this.
1. If we look at the teaching of Vedanta, this confusion between space and time becomes quite clear. Einstein showed Time and Space are one and the same thing, the only difference is that Time is subtle while Space is gross. Space and Time are referring to the same thing. Space is the gross version of Time. Space is gross; we can see Space out there. No one has seen Time, but we can certainly experience time. From our discussion earlier on Subtle and Gross bodies, we can understand that Time is non-physical or subtle. We have seen that anything subtle is an activity that happens in the mind. As we saw, mental activities are made up of waves or ‘vrittis’. Since Time is nonphysical, subtle, it must be a mental activity and it must be made up of waves or ‘vrittis’.
Also we saw earlier that the subtle body creates the gross body. Time is subtle and Space is gross, it only correct to conclude that Time creates Space. How to understand this? Science tells us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. If a photon has to travel from beginning of the universe, it will take the photon 13.7 billion light years to reach us. 1 light year is the amount distance light travels in one year. The size of the universe will be the distance travelled by the photon from the big bang. This distance travelled by the photon is the outer limit of the Universe, because there was no universe before the big bang. If you assume the universe is 13.7 billion years old ‘right now’. After one second, the age of the universe will be 13.7 billion years + 1 sec. The photon now has to travel an additional 186,000 miles to reach us, which means the size of the universe has grown by 186,000 miles. After 10 seconds, the size of the universe would increase by 186,000 x 10 = 1,860,000 miles. After one year from now, the size of the universe will increase by 1 light year. From this reasoning it is quite clear that Time is creating the expansion of the universe. Every year the universe is expanding by 1 light year. As more Time is passing, the Space of the universe is expanding. It is therefore only correct to conclude that Time (which is subtle), creates Space (which is gross).
2. If Time is subtle, it must be a ‘vritti’ or wave which is present in an individual mind and also in the cosmic mind. This wave has the power to create Time. It is quite difficult for us to understand or visualize the composition of this waveform, but one thing is certain that Time is subtle and therefore it is a waveform and is present in everyone’s mind. If you are looking at the sun, the sun will also be present in your mind as a ‘vritti’ or waveform. Let us try and visualize how the ‘vritti’ of the sun combines with the Time ‘vritti’. It will generate a superimposed waveform in the mind. The time factor is now added to the sun. It is like a mathematical waveform with time as a variable. If you think about it, this superimposed waveform will now provide a history of the sun. Since Time has been superimposed on the sun waveform, the new waveform will have the ‘potential’ to show the sun in all it stages of growth from its birth 4.6 billion years to right now. All the different Suns in the historical time line is present in the Vritti in its ‘potential’ form. For example you are on earth and you want to see the sun. Your mind will have a superimposed vritti of (Sun and Time). When this waveform collapses in the presence of the Observer, you will see an 8 min old Sun. This 8 min old Sun is present in the potential form in the combined Sun + Time ‘Vritti’. Also when the subtle Time becomes gross, it would automatically mean that the position of the sun will be 8 min away from you. It will take light 8 min to reach you.
Let us suppose a person in a planet 1 million light years away is looking at our sun through a telescope. He will also have the same combined waveform of the Sun and Time in his mind as we do on the earth. However, when his waveform collapses, he will see a 1 million year old Sun. These two examples show that the combined Sun + Time waveform has the potential of all the historical Suns. Depending upon the Observers location in the universe, Suns of different ages will be observed. Depending upon the age, it will be placed that many light years away in space.
This logic is not only applicable to the Sun but to each and every object in the universe, both living and nonliving. The Time vritti will combine with the waveform for each and every object in the universe, and this combination will contain the ‘potential’ history in time for all the objects in the universe. It would seem that the Time vritti or waveform is extremely powerful and it has the ability to create objects of different ages. It is indeed very powerful and this power can only be derived from Maya Shakti, the creative power of Atma. Atma is all powerful and it gives its power to Maya Shakti and Maya Shakti passes it on to the Time Vritti. The Time waveform (or vritti) can create objects of all ages by superimposing itself on the vritti of different objects. What is most wonderful is that Atma is the underlying reality for all of us.
Just like Time is subtle and Space is gross, the same logic can be used for Energy and Mass. The famous Einstein equation E = mc2 is self-explanatory. Energy is subtle and Mass is gross, they are both interlinked. Mass is the gross version of Energy. Just like Time is a vritti, in the same way Energy also is a vritti and is present as a waveform in an individual mind and also in the cosmic mind. This Energy vritti when it superimposes with any object vritti, will provide the required energy to the object and when this object becomes gross, it will have the required mass. This is another intriguing power of Maya Shakti and Atma.
If you examine it closely, you’ll find that the Schrodinger Wave Equation applicable to any object has two variables - time and energy. We have just seen that any Vritti or waveform of any object in the mind also has two variables –time and energy.
De Broglie Hypothesis
We saw earlier that de Broglie, the French physicist, asserted that matter is both a wave and a particle. There was no clear explanation is to why this is so. Neither was any explanation offered as to the logical interaction between the wave and particle.
After understanding the seed, subtle and gross aspects of the universe from Vedanta, I think we are ready to answer the questions raised by the de Broglie hypothesis. The waveform of matter belongs to the subtle universe and the particle form of matter belongs to the gross universe. They both represent the same thing. Every living and nonliving physical object in this universe exists as a wave and as a particle. Vedanta teaches us that there is the fully functioning subtle universe where the different waveforms interact with each other to form complex waveforms. For example, the JPEG file for an image is in a subtle form, while the actual image you see on your on computer is the gross version of the JPEG file. This is a good way to understand the connection between the subtle and gross universes. The subtle universe creates the gross universe. The subtle universe operates within the individual and cosmic minds. We saw earlier that Maya Shakti converts the subtle waves to gross objects
.In conclusion, we may say that de Broglie proved the existence of the duality of physical objects in the Universe in the form of waves and particles. Vedanta completely agrees with this fact, but it fills in the blanks by explaining the relationship between the ‘wave’ universe and ‘particle’ universe.
Schrodinger’s Wave Function
The Schrodinger wave function represents a system which consists of an observed system and an observing system. The observed system is a waveform representing micro or macro objects. In the presence of the observing system, the observed collapses to become a particle. If you now look at what is happening in our minds. The mind is the observed system and is made of ‘vrittis’ or waveforms representing complex objects and includes variables of time and energy. Atma is the observing system looking at what is happening in the individual mind. In the presence of Atma, the observed waveform in the mind collapses to project the world out there as a ‘particle’.
It would seem that the Schrodinger’s wave function is representing the wave function of what is happening in your mind. They are so similar in every way. This is the only correct conclusion. Schrodinger’s equation only deals with waveforms. We know from Vedanta that the wave forms operate in the subtle universe and this subtle universe resides either within the individual mind or the cosmic mind. The waveforms cannot operate ‘out there’ in an as yet non-existent physical entity; they can only operate within the mind. The locus of wave forms is in the mind. Simple wave functions for electrons, protons and other micro objects reside within the mind and also the complex wave functions for you, me and other macro objects also reside within the mind.
With this understanding, let us see if we can answer the questions which were raised earlier in the overview of the Schrodinger Wave Equation.
Answer 1: For the Schrodinger’s wave equation to operate, the waveforms must be standing waves and not traveling waves. Standing waves need ‘walls’ to operate. As we saw earlier, we won’t find the ‘walls’ for the standing waves ‘out there’. The only place you find ‘walls’ for the standing waves is the individual mind or the cosmic mind. The waveforms bounce within this wall. Therefore the only place for Schrodinger’s wave equation to operate is the individual mind and the cosmic mind. This means that Schrodinger’s wave equation represents the ‘vrittis’ or waveforms operating within the mind.
Answer 2:
• What are the waves made of? According to Vedanta, the ‘vrittis’ in the mind are made up of mind stuff. Mind is part of the subtle body and is made up of subtle elements. Vedanta teaches us that the universe is made up 5 elements – Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These 5 elements come in both subtle form and gross form. The individual mind and the cosmic mind are made up of the subtle form of the 5 elements. Even the food we eat has a gross form and subtle form. The gross form of the food nourishes our body, while the subtle part of the food nourishes the mind or the subtle body.
• Atma is the light of Awareness. When the mind comes in touch with this light of Awareness, the mind becomes Conscious. The mind is completely filled with this Consciousness. This Consciousness is the underlying material of the ‘vrittis’ within the mind. In the presence of this consciousness, the ‘Vrittis’ become active or ‘conscious’, in a manner of speaking.
• We saw earlier that standing waves cannot operate ‘out there’ in the space of the universe. The only place the ‘vrittis’ can operate is within the individual mind or the cosmic mind. In the wave/particle duality, it is quite clear that the wave creates the particle. The underlying cause of the ‘particle’ universe is the ‘wave’ universe. Maya Shakti projects the ‘wave’ universe as the ‘particle’ universe or the physical universe that we see.
Answer 3: Science must clearly understand that the measuring system like the photographic plate in the double slit experiment does not have the power or mechanism to collapse the light wave into a photon. The photographic plate itself has a ‘wave’ component operating within the mind. Who collapses the waveform of the photographic plate? The only correct answer to that is Atma. Atma is the observer of all the activity within the individual and cosmic mind and Atma is only source with the power to collapse a wave function.
The other question which needs to be answered is, what is meant by collapsing of the wave? Science suggests that when the wave changes from a ‘wave’ to a ‘particle’, the wave collapses. As we have seen earlier, Vedanta has a 2 step process
• Vrtti Vyapti
• Phala Vyapti
In Vedanta, this two-step process does not mean that the waveform collapses, but Atma becomes aware of what the vritti or waveform in the mind really means and represents. When science says that the waveform collapses, it really means that the observer is aware of what the waveform represents. For the observer to be aware of the observed, than both the observer and the observed must be conscious. If either one of them is not conscious, the observing process is not complete. Atma is the Self Aware Observer and the mind with its content is also conscious in the presence of the observer. This completes the cycle and therefore the Atma is aware of what is happening in the mind. This also means that the process of observing can only happen in the mind.
The only conclusion from all these answers is that Schrodinger’s Wave Equation represents the wave functions operating within the mind. In this regard both quantum physics and Vedanta are exactly the same.
Multi – Universes
We saw earlier, when the Time waveform combines with the waveform of any object, for example, the Sun, they will form a superimposed wave function of the Sun and Time. This combined waveform will have the potential timeline of the Sun. It will have the potential of the sun as of now, the sun which is 8 min old, and the sun as it was at its birth 4.6 billion years ago. The entire history of the sun is available in its potential form.
If 100 people from all over the universe are looking at the sun at the same time. What will happen? Each one of the 100 people will have the same combined vritti of the Sun and Time in their respective minds. Atma in each of the minds will be looking at the same combined waveform. For example person 1 in New Jersey, the combined wave form will collapse and he will see the Sun, which is 8 min old. His view of the Sun is unique; none of the other people can have the same view of the sun. It is only logical because Person 1 can occupy this unique space time position. The probability of this unique viewpoint is now one, the probability of any other person to have this unique viewpoint is now zero. This reasoning follows the collapsing of the Schrodinger probability wave function. If person 2 is in India, although the sun he is looking at is also around 8 min old, his perspective of the sun is unique, no one else can have the same view. The probability wave function for that viewpoint now collapses to one and the probability for anyone else to have the same view is zero. If person 50 is in a planet which is 1 million light years away from the Sun. He will also have the combined vritti, but when his probability wave function collapses he will be see the sun which is 1 million year old. If person 100 is in a planet which is 4.6 billion light years away and is looking at the sun through a powerful telescope. He will also have the same combined vritti of the Sun and Time. When his probability wave function collapses he will see the sun at its birth 4.6 billion years back. Each of the 100 people are creating their own universe with a unique look at the Sun. No two people can have exactly the same view of the sun.
The impression you get from quantum physics is that a wave collapses only once in this universe and all the other waves are collapsed in multiple universes. There is an inexplicability and mysteriousness here. This is a wrong impression created by quantum physics. We have shown that each individual person creates their own unique universe. If 100 people are looking at the same Sun, 100 parallel universes are being created, each with a unique view of the sun. If 1 million people are looking at the same exploding star, then 1 million parallel universes are being created.
This is correct understanding of what Multiple Universes means.
Classical Physics vs. Quantum Physics
Science tells us that the laws which operate in the classical world do not work in the quantum world and laws which operate in the quantum world do not work in the classical world. From this statement, it would seem both of them are functioning in different worlds. Why does this happen? What is the difference between these two worlds? According to Vedanta, there is a fully functioning subtle universe and a fully functioning gross universe. We saw earlier that the subtle universe is made up of ‘vrittis’ or waveforms operating with the individual mind and the cosmic mind. The gross universe is the universe which is made of ‘memory’ objects. In the gross or physical universe you only find ‘memory’ objects, you will not find any ‘now’ objects.
The focus of quantum physics is on understanding the wave/particle duality. This would mean that the focus of quantum physics is on the subtle universe, while the focus of classical physics is on the gross world. We know that the gross world is made up of ‘memory’ objects only, while the subtle universe is made up of ‘now’ objects. Therefore the focus of quantum physics is on ‘now’ objects while the focus of classical physics is ‘memory’ objects.
‘Memory’ objects and ‘now’ objects are very different. By studying the ‘memory’ objects, there is no way classical physics can learn about ‘now’ objects. A good example is viewing a recorded baseball game on your DVR. The recorded game being watched is like watching ‘memory’ objects on your TV. The players on the TV are all ‘memory’ objects. Now you are curious and you want to find out what these ‘memory’ players in the TV are being made of. By studying these ‘memory’ players you can never find out the players actually have 206 bones and all the other internal organs of the players. Only discovery you will make that the recorded players you are watching on TV are made of pixels and not the 206 bones. The ‘memory’ objects have this limitation and are completely different from ‘now’ objects.
It is for this reason that the laws of quantum physics do not apply to the gross/physical world, only the classical laws will work in the physical world. The same reasoning will apply to the subtle universe; the classical laws will not be suitable, only the quantum laws will work in the subtle universe.
The Taittiriya Upanishad provides a concise and clear statement regarding elements: “From the Atman came space, Akasha. From space came air, Vayu. From air came fire, Agni. From fire came water, Apah. From water came the earth, Prithivi.’
When these five elements first emerge one after the other, they are extremely subtle and are called tanmatra. They combine with each other to form gross, or more tangible, versions called mahabhuta. It is these gross elements that come together in various permutations and combinations, and the result is the material world.
Amidst all the diversity we come across in life, we will see — if we look deeply enough — unity at different levels. Waves are diverse, the ocean is one. Where we look and what we notice is our choice.
It is possible to see the diverse objects in the material world as waves, and it is also possible to see the world collectively as one huge ocean of matter.
Where does this ocean/wave insight lead us? It tells each one of us that our own physical and mental being is a wave in the cosmic ocean. Everyone else too is a wave in the ocean. Just as each wave differs from every other wave only in name and form, being essentially the same water, our bodies and minds differ only in name and form but are really made from the same elements, which also constitute everything else in the world. The wave is essentially the same as the ocean. The wave freed from its name and form is the ocean. The ocean limited by a name and a form is the wave. The one infinite Being appears as diverse and finite due only to name and form which, in themselves, are unsubstantial.
--Source - Prabuddha Bharata January 2010 Issue
Conclusion
De Broglie had posited that any physical object has the wave/particle duality. It is both a wave and also a particle. This is exactly the same as the subtle/gross duality referred to in Vedanta. The subtle body, which is the mind is nothing but a pool of waves, while the gross body is the physical universe. Even Schrodinger’s wave equation is really talking about ‘vrittis’ or waves in the mind. The only place you can have waves is in the mind, there are no waves in the physical universe. The observing system which collapses the Schrodinger probability wave function is nothing but Atma, which is the underlying reality of everyone. All the waves in the mind collapse in the presence of Atma. From this we can conclude that Quantum Physics and Vedanta are talking about the same underlying reality.
What Erwin Schrödinger Said About the Upanishads
by Viraj Kulakar
Quantum physics is one of the most remarkable developments of the 20th century. Until the early 1900s or so, Isaac Newton’s laws of motion dominated the study of the physical universe. They were later ‘upgraded’, for the most part, by Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity, and together, they could satisfactorily explain almost all physical phenomena. These classical theories formed the bedrock on which the entire superstructure of physics rested.
But in the early 1900s, physicists found that subatomic particles like electrons could behave in ways that defied the predictions of classical physics. To explain this behavior, they formulated the theories and principles of quantum mechanics – together a set of natural laws that could predict the behavior of electrons and other subatomic particles very well.
Some of the more well-known among these physicists were Einstein, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg. However, these physicists and others would soon find that the newcomer, while opening new theoretical and technological vistas, also made some strange predictions. For example, it allowed electrons to tunnel through walls, particles to exist simultaneously in two places at once, black holes to evaporate, and information to be exchanged between observers faster than light.
This was a crucial moment in history, when physics was in a state of major upheaval. The familiar classical picture of reality was being disrupted by one that seemed to be too crazy to be true, even as it explained numerous experimental observations that the former could not. Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and others were deeply troubled by its implications. Indeed, they were faced with a personal dilemma: to believe a preposterous theory that worked or discard it for an intuitive theory that didn’t work.
At this critical juncture, they discovered that their notion, that the world we see is not reality itself but a projection onto our consciousness, wasn’t completely new. In the ancient Indian texts known as the Upanishads, they found echoes of their theories, and a philosophical foundation to ensure they would no longer be cast adrift by the implications of quantum mechanics.
A strange world
Quantum physics took shape through several counterintuitive discoveries regarding the inconsistent behavior of light. James Maxwell showed in 1865 that light could be modelled as electromagnetic waves. In 1905, Albert Einstein published his paper on the photoelectric effect, where he proposed that light is composed of tiny massless particles called photons. Louis de Broglie, a French aristocrat, unified these views in 1924 with a bold suggestion that all matter exhibits wave-like behavior. This proposition, known as the wave-particle duality, opened up a Pandora’s Box of arguments that challenge the nature of reality, even its very existence.
According to classical physics, microscopic particles like electrons are solid spherical balls of matter. Quantum physics replaces this picture with something alien to our sensibilities. It says that rather than being in one place, an electron is located in a diffuse cloud of probabilities. If you try to observe the electron, there is a higher probability that you will find it in a denser region of the cloud than a sparser region.
This cloud is represented mathematically by the wave function. And at the heart of quantum physics is an equation that governs how a wave function evolves as time passes. The Austrian-Irish physicist Erwin Schrödinger arrived at it in 1926, and so it’s called the Schrödinger’s equation.
Science writers revel in portraying the tension between the reality described by quantum physics and the reality we perceive through our senses. Since macroscopic objects like trees and cars are composed of microscopic particles like atoms and molecules, which in turn also behave like waves, macroscopic objects should also behave like waves. But this is not what we experience. The computer on which I wrote this article and the device on which you are reading it surely don’t feel like waves!
So when does something stop behaving like a wave and start behaving like a piece of matter, an object composed strictly of particles? Surprisingly, this happens when we observe it.
According to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, observing an object causes it to lose its quantum nature and collapse into the classical form we’re used to. This collapse of the wave function implies that the reality we see exists only when we are there to observe it. And an observer does not merely observe reality; she creates it.
If left to themselves, things would remain as waves until somebody observed them. Einstein, who could not reconcile himself with this, summed up the strangeness of quantum physics when he asked a friend, “Do you believe the Moon exists only when I look at it?”
Subjective reality of the Upanishads
The Upanishads are a collection of Sanskrit texts transmitted orally from teacher to student over thousands of years. While the Vedas prescribe rituals to appease deities, the Upanishads are concerned with the nature of reality, mind and the self.
Schrödinger was first exposed to Indian philosophy around 1918, through the writings of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. An ardent student of the Upanishads, Schopenhauer had declared, “In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so, elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life. It will be the solace of my death.”
The Upanishads describe the relationship between the Brahman and the Atman. Brahman is the universal self or the ultimate singular reality. The Atman is the individual’s inner self, the soul. A central tenet of the Upanishads is tat tvam asi, which means the Brahman and the Atman are identical. There is only one universal self, and we are all one with it.
The Isha Upanishad states, “the Brahman forms everything that is living or non-living … the wise man knows that all beings are identical with his self, and his self is the self of all beings.”
Schrödinger was fascinated by this thought. According to Subhash Kak’s book The Wishing Tree (2008), Schrödinger named his dog Atman, and his conference talks would, by one account, often end with the statement ‘Atman=Brahman’, that he would call – somewhat self-aggrandizing – the second Schrödinger’s equation. When his affair with the Irish artist Sheila May ended, she wrote him a letter that alluded to this fascination: “I looked into your eyes and found all life there, that spirit which you said was no more you or me, but us, one mind, one being … you can love me all your life, but we are two now, not one.”
Quantum physics eliminates the gap between the observer and the observed. The Upanishads say that the observe Schrödinger took on a peculiar line of thought. If the world is indeed created by our act of observation, there should be billions of such worlds, one for each of us. How come your world and my world are the same? If something happens in my world, does it happen in your world, too? What causes all these worlds to synchronize with each other?
He found his answer, again, in the Upanishads. “There is obviously only one alternative,” he wrote, “namely the unification of minds or conscious nesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads.
According to the Upanishads, Brahman alone exists. Everything we see around us is Maya, a distortion of the Brahman caused due to our ignorance and imperfect senses. The Chandogya Upanishad says, “All this is Brahman. Everything comes from Brahman, everything goes back to Brahman, and everything is sustained by Brahman.”
On this, Schrödinger wrote, “… there is only one thing and that what seems to be a plurality is merely a series of different aspects of this one thing, produced by a deception (the Indian Maya); the same illusion is produced in a gallery of mirrors, and in the same way Gaurisankar and Mt Everest turned out to be the same peak seen from different valleys.”
It is easy to see why such a concept would have appealed to Schrödinger. Quantum physics insists that reality exists as waves, and wave-particle duality arises due to our observation. Because we cannot perceive the true wave nature of reality, our observation reduces it to the incomplete reality we see. This reduction is what we know as the collapse of the wave function. The emergence of Maya thus neatly maps to the collapse.
Schrödinger was not making passing references to the Upanishads; instead, he had wholly internalized their core message. “Myriads of suns, surrounded by possibly inhabited planets, multiplicity of galaxies, each one with its myriads of suns… According to me, all these things are Maya.”
The Upanishads describe how reality arises out of consciousness. But consciousness cannot be found inside our bodies as a substance or an organ. In that case, how can a non-material consciousness interact with and control our material bodies? Exactly where does mind interact with matter? This question is known as the mind-body problem, and has vexed philosophers for a long time.
Since we haven’t been able to locate or explain this interaction, we’re left with a deceptively simple choice: either consciousness or reality doesn’t exist.
Most exponents of modern science today lean towards the materialist view – that consciousness is a byproduct of the neurochemical processes occurring in our brain. It depends on these processes and cannot exist without them.
On the other hand, the Upanishads uphold an idealist view – that consciousness exists by itself, and that the physical world depends on it. There is no objective reality that exists independently of the observer. Schrödinger supported this view and lamented the aversion for it: “it must be said that to Western thought this doctrine has little appeal, it is unpalatable, it is dubbed fantastic, unscientific. Well, so it is because our science – Greek science – is based on objectivities, whereby it has cut itself off from an adequate understanding of the subject of cognizance, of the mind.”
So the mind-body problem, he wrote, “is our fruitless quest for the place where mind acts on matter or vice-versa … The material world has only been constructed at the price of taking the self, that is, mind, out of it, removing it; mind is not part of it; obviously, therefore, it can neither act on it nor be acted on by any of its parts.”
Physicists and Upanishads
Schrödinger was moved by the Upanishads. He discussed it with everyone he met and made determined efforts to incorporate it in his life. The epitaph on his tombstone reads, “… So all Being is an one and only Being; And that it continues to be when someone dies; [this] tells you, that he did not cease to be.”
And he wasn’t alone. Niels Bohr had famously said, “I go to the Upanishad to ask questions.” In The Tao of Physics (1975), Fritjof Capra wrote of the time Heisenberg met Rabindranath Tagore, and that the “introduction to Indian thought brought Heisenberg great comfort.”
J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first nuclear weapons, learned Sanskrit so he could read the Bhagavad Gita in its original form. When he witnessed the first atom bomb explode, he famously recalled a verse from the Gita, where Krishna shows Arjuna his true form. He translated the verse into English thus: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
The Upanishads provided solace – a conception of reality and the universe based on observation and reasoning. In the precepts of these texts, the physicists found moral comfort, intellectual courage and spiritual guidance.
Nothing attests to the importance of these philosophical edifices less than absurd claims that Schrödinger and other scientists merely baked the lessons of the Upanishads into quantum theory. Such statements are misleading through and through. Schrödinger was, foremost, a physicist deeply entrenched in the methods of science. Indian philosophy soothed his soul but it is unlikely that it helped him frame mathematical equations.
Indeed, Schrödinger was often critical of many Indian ideas and pointed out that they were prone to superstition. Modern science, according to him, represented the zenith of human thought. He sought Indian philosophy not to replace the methods of science but to be inspired. He was aware that mixing two systems of thought separated by thousands of years was not easy. He believed Western thought needed to borrow ideas from Indian philosophy – with great care. As he wrote, “I do believe that this is precisely the point where our present way of thinking does need to be amended, perhaps by a bit of blood-transfusion from Eastern thought. That will not be easy, we must beware of blunders — blood-transfusion always needs great precaution to prevent clotting. We do not wish to lose the logical precision that our scientific thought has reached, and that is unparalleled anywhere at any epoch.”
Apart from philosophy, Indian thinkers have made vital scientific contributions to astronomy, mathematics, literature, law, biology, psychology and most other realms of human endeavor, if not all of them. They often do not receive the recognition due them. However, these instances of overlooking – no matter how severe – can never be corrected by attributing dubious achievements to these or other Indians.
The Upanishads themselves preach a message of unity and are opposed to any form of discrimination. To adapt the words of the Isha Upanishad, “Who sees all beings in their own self and their own self in all beings, loses all hatred and fear.”
Viraj Kulkarni has a master’s degree in computer science from UC Berkeley and is currently pursuing a PhD in artificial intelligence. He is on Twitter at @VirajZero.
The
Big Bang theory had suggested that the universe began as an incredibly
dense dot, only a few millimeters wide. Since there was no matter, there
was no light. Then this dot (singularity) began to expand and cool at
an extremely rapid rate. The present-day cosmos is over 13.7 billion
years old. It is vast, cooler, and ever-expanding.
In
the battlefields of Mahabharata, Shree Krishna gave a glimpse of this
grand design to the Arjuna. In Bhagavad Gita, he stated, “each limb of
mine is a different universe.”
Michio Kaku believes that our universe may be connected to an umbilical cord, and through that umbilical cords, other parallel universes could be connected.
RIG VEDA AND THE SINGULARITY
Indian philosophy of cosmic evolution is based on the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and, Shiva.
However, we miss out on one very important element which is complementing this Trinity, ‘The Sheshnag’. ‘Shesh’ in Sanskrit means ‘that which remains’ and ‘Naga’ means snake, symbolizing energy, in Indian philosophy. So when these two words, shesha & naga are put together we are left with ‘ANANTHA’ (another name for Sheshnag).
Anantha means the endless one, the ultimate energy or singularity. The sum total of all the energies in the universe is made up of and is contained in Sheshnag. Bhagavata Purana addresses Sheshnag as ‘SANKARSHANA’, meaning Gravitational Force, and Lord Vishnu as ‘SHANTAKARAM’ which means peaceful form who is unaffected even when resting on the thousand-headed snake, Sheshnag, controlling the singularity.
When the Sheshnag uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place since it controls the gravity. When the world is destroyed at the end of the Kalpa (period of time between the creation and recreation of a world or universe), we are left with only Anantha.
The idea of singularity brings to the fore the blackness since even light cannot escape the Black Hole. Description of the primordial state of the universe can be found in the Rig Veda:
At first, there was only darkness wrapped in darkness,
All this was only un-illumined cosmic water,
That One which came to be, enclosed in nothing,
Arose, at last, born of the power of heat.
The Mandukya Upanishad talks about a term, called ‘Vishwaruchi’, which absorbs everything in the universe, the Black Hole. Indian scriptures ‘Vayupuran’ and ‘Nasadiya Sukta’ also explain this Black (darkness), which represents total stillness or the complete absence of light, much like a black hole. The primordial source of creation known as Bindu in Yogic terminology is identical to the singularity in astrophysics. The Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna had deeply contemplated the significance of Shunyata or emptiness. In his belief, everything in the universe is empty in the absolute analysis. As per Nagarjuna, the entire universe originated from Shunyata!
As per Bhagavata Purana, this singularity is also called ‘Hiraṇyagarbha’ (literally the ‘golden womb’ or ‘golden egg’, poetically translated as ‘universal germ’).
This is the source of the creation of the universe or the manifested cosmos as mentioned in the Indian philosophy. Vishvakarma Sūkta of Rig Veda projects the “primeval womb” as being rested, set upon the navel of Vishnu. Puranas explain that at the time of manifestation, a Lotus sprang out of the navel of Vishnu. Due to its expansion from a Singularity (a hyper-massive black-hole of infinite mass and infinitesimal size), the Universe indeed looks like a lotus. The stem of the lotus could be the umbilical cord of the universe, which was suggested by Prof. Michio Kaku in his hypothesis. Even the petals of lotus could be considered as multiverses, as being suggested by the physicists, propagating ’Multiverse Theory’.
Thus the ’Lotus that sprang from the navel’ or ‘Brahmanda‘, the ‘Egg of Brahma’ in which Brahma resides, is the same as our ‘Universe’ itself. The etymology of the word ‘Vishnu’ means ‘that which expands (vis: - expand)’. The etymology of the word ‘Brahma’ means ‘that which is big or that which has expanded (Brh:- expand, grow, large)’. At this juncture, it would be good to clear a misconception about Brahma. Brahma did not create the world, but it manifested itself into a world.
The Big Crunch is one of the strategies predicted by scientists, in which the Universe may end. Like most of the others, this is also based on Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. The Big Bang describes how the Universe most possibly began, and the Big Crunch describes how it will end, as a consequence of that beginning.
The theory says that the Universe’s expansion, which is due to the Big Bang, will not continue forever. Instead, at a particular point in time, it will stop expanding, and collapse into itself, pulling everything with it until it eventually turns into the biggest black hole ever. Well, we all know how everything is squeezed when in that hole. Hence the name Big Crunch.
What happens then? In Indian traditions, Shiva is known as ‘Samhara’, the literal meaning of which is, annihilation. However, Samhara has another meaning, Contraction. This fits very well with the Big Crunch theory. During Samhara, matter breakdowns into finer elements until only a single substance, perhaps, just pure existence is left. As per Mandukya Upanishad, at this time Sheshnag coils back, and the Universe ceases to exist. The night of Brahma begins.
The universe represented by Brahma is not a permanent universe, it is temporary. As per Vedas, Brahma lives for 100 years and then dies. A new universe (Brahma) is born and a cycle of 100 years continues. A Brahma Kalpa(day), is of the duration of 4.32 billion solar years.
For
now, Brahma symbolizes our universe which has birth and death, akin to a
big bang and a big crunch. Vishnu represents the infinity that lies
beyond our universe which has no birth or death and that which is
everlasting! Many such universes like ours exist in Vishnu. Vedas say
that thousands of Brahmas have passed away! In other words, this is not
the first-time universe has been created and not the last time. It also
talks about multi-verse.
The
idea behind this research was to make the readers realize that how much
science is existing in the ancient Indian scriptures. This is the exact
reason western scientists and philosophers gorged over these scriptures
for centuries. Probably they got inspired by these ideas, and gave
their own hypothesis based on these scriptures. Naysayers may say that
these ancient prognoses have no proof of certainty. However, the same is
the case with the modern theory of cosmos. They are all theories. Even
if the ancients had created a science fiction, then that is a hell of a
science fiction, proposed over 4000 years ago, with an uncanny
resemblance to modern-day hypotheses.
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