ब्रह्मन् BRHMAN

ब्रह्मन्  BRHMAN

Preamble

I am writing this piece for the uninitiated young minds who have little or no knowledge of Bharatiya thought. I am not an expert in this subject and continue to be its student. My intention is to share my own excitement in studying this subject through select ideas and concepts that are timeless and so profound in their conception, that they continue to remain relevant today.

I have tried to describe these ancient ideas in ways that are relatable to any curious mind. In this attempt I have chosen to keep it simple, sometimes at the expense of subtleties and nuances. Pardon the typos, grammar, etc. Like before, I am sharing it rough cut!

Vyavaharika Experience

We experience the world around us in the form of the air we breath, the water we drink, the earth we walk on, the food we eat, the trees and plants that we are surrounded by, the billions of people that we share this experience with, and the millions of species of microbes, insects, birds, reptiles and animals that co-inhabit this planet. And then there is an entire Universe beyond our planet that begins with our solar system, the milky way galaxy, the stars, other distant galaxies, black holes, nebulae, novas, supernovas, and finally culminating in the earliest light 13.8 billion light years back in time, at the outer limits of our experience of the physical Universe. The most powerful of telescopes that detect light in various spectrums (especially in the microwave radiation) cannot detect anything beyond a certain point. Beyond this point there seems to be nothing but only darkness. Science has been able to determine that the farthest we can see is light that began 13.8 billion years ago (which is just reaching us). This is how we claim to know the age of the visible universe based on current evidence.

Then there is the sub-atomic universe that we can only experience through our augmented senses of scientific experimentation. Now known as the quantum world, it has been baffling physicists for some time. The mechanics or behavior of particles at that sub-atomic level has been found to be counterintuitive and sometimes has even been referred as “spooky”. When the famous scientist, Heisenberg observed that it is not possible to know both the location and momentum of a particle at any given moment and when one is known, the other can only be predicted using probability, Einstein had infamously dismissed it off saying “God does not play dice!” Years later, the great man was proved wrong and that uncertainty is now known as Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle in Quantum Physics. With all its bewildering oddities, thanks to modern science, this remains the other end of the spectrum of our experience of the physical world.

Since time immemorial, we have endeavored to understand the universe around us using various means. Today, physicists are trying to understand how matter itself comes into existence. Experiments are being conducted by smashing subatomic (hadron) particles at CERN in Switzerland to understand this. The objective is to find that one “Rosetta Stone” or “principle” or whatever IT might be, that ties all this together, unlocks the mystery, and unravels the ultimate reality of the Universe. Current thinking theorizes a quantum field that pervades the entire universe. All matter in its elementary particle form, at least mathematically, is conceptualized as a vibration in the field where the property of the particle are defined by the kind of vibration. Without going into it further, let me just state that this is the current state of our scientific understanding of the nature of reality. As one physicist predicted that we would one day understand the entire Universe in a way that we can wear the equation on our T-Shirts.

Paramarthika Experience

Bharatiya vedantic thought has long argued that the vyavaharika experience has fatal limitations. The logic goes like this: Since all physical matter is temporal (exists for a fleeting or a finite amount of time), it cannot be the ultimate reality. Experience of matter and time is always relative to the observer. Without touching Einstein’s relativity, let me give some simpler examples. Some microbes have a lifespan of a few seconds. From their stand point, our lifespans are like we see lifespans of planets. Well, not precisely, but that makes the point about asymmetries of time scales. Due to such asymmetries, we subconsciously believe that the reality at this moment is the ultimate reality. However, if we had the ability to zoom out in time, we will notice that it is actually a fleeting reality (Mithya). Mithya is not the same as illusion, it is a fleeting reality that fools you into believing that it alone is the reality and captures you in its web. The great Adi Sankara proclaimed the Jagat as Mithyam and Brhman as the only Satyam.

What then is the ultimate reality?

Clearly, using the above argument, it cannot be matter. And if it is not matter, it cannot be part of the Vyavaharika Experience. Therefore, Ultimate Reality must be something that is Nirakara(formless since it is not matter), Nirguna (have no qualities), Nirvikalpa (undescribable since there is no parallel to it), and unaffected by time because if it does, it would no longer then be ‘ultimate’. Bharatiya Rishis named this ultimate reality - that which pervades the entire universe as ब्रह्मन् BRHMAN. All matter comes into existence from this all pervading aspect of reality. Creation of matter, sustaining it over time, and its dissolution is its inherent nature. These three aspects of the Brhman have been personified as Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh, and depicted beautifully through art. In concept, it is not very different from the quantum field theory.

If there is anything BRHMANICAL about Bharatiya culture, it is this alone and should not be confused with Brahmana ब्राह्मण. Many have used it interchangeably in the past with the intention of distorting facts. One needs to be cautious of this. Much poison in Bharatiya culture has been created through this distortion and must be stopped.

While BRHMAN as a concept may be intriguing, it raises many questions. At the end of the day, it can all be just going overboard with our imagination. That is a natural instinct that we in the modern world may have. However, yogis from time immemorial have claimed that the proof of this reality is not experimental but experiential. Perhaps the true genius of these yogis and Rishis was the insight to establish the inextricable interdependency of the Experienced (bhojanam), the Experience (bhojyam), and the Experiencer (bhogta) of reality (Quantum physicists understand this well. At the quantum level, the mere observation of a particle affects the behavior of the particle).

Yoga योग

If we are to use scientific terms, the yogis’ hypothesis is that the ultimate reality is not experimental but experiential, and it can be experienced by reaching the innermost depths of our own consciousness. And the ‘instruments’ required to reach those depths are intrinsic to how we are hardwired. However, due to our day-to-day engagement with the material world around us, we get entangled in it and start believing that it alone is the complete reality. The techniques required to use our intrinsic ‘instruments’ can be learned, practiced and perfected. Each individual can have their own experience of reality. These techniques collectively are called योग (yoga).

The great sage, Patanjali in his Yogasutras explains the first principle of Yoga thus:

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः

Yogas chitta vritti nirodah

“The goal of yoga is to cease all thoughts in the mind”

(reality will then begin to reveal itself)

The ancient Rishis of Bharatavarsha had the same aspirations to understand the nature of reality as modern day physicists. However they were fundamentally different in their approaches. Through their elevated consciousness, these Rishis experienced the ultimate reality and expressed it in a simple “equation”

तत्त्वमसि

Tat Tvam Asi

(You = that)
- Chandogya Upanishad

अहं ब्रह्मास्मीति

Aham Brahmasmi

(I am Brhman)
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

One of the fathers of quantum physics, the great Austrian physicist and nobel laureate, Erwin Schrodinger writes:

(i) My body functions as a pure mechanism according to the Laws of Nature. 

(ii) Yet I know, by incontrovertible direct experience, that I am directing its motions, of which I foresee the effects, that may be fateful and all-important, in which case I feel and take full responsibility for them. 

The only possible inference from these two facts is, I think, that I — I in the widest meaning of the word, that is to say, every conscious mind that has ever said or felt 'I' — am the person, if any, who controls the 'motion of the atoms' according to the Laws of Nature. Within a cultural milieu (Kulturkreis) where certain conceptions (which once had or still have a wider meaning amongst other peoples) have been limited and specialized, it is daring to give to this conclusion the simple wording that it requires. In Christian terminology to say: 'Hence I am God Almighty' sounds both blasphemous and lunatic. But please disregard these connotations for the moment and consider whether the above inference is not the closest a biologist can get to proving God and immortality at one stroke.

In itself, the insight is not new. The earliest records to my knowledge date back some 2,500 years or more. From the early great Upanishads the recognition ATHMAN = BRAHMAN (the personal self equals the omnipresent, all-comprehending eternal self) was in Indian thought considered, far from being blasphemous, to represent the quintessence of deepest insight into the happenings of the world. The striving of all the scholars of Vedanta was, after having learnt to pronounce with their lips, really to assimilate in their minds this grandest of all thoughts. Again, the mystics of many centuries, independently, yet in perfect harmony with each other (somewhat like the particles in an ideal gas) have described, each of them, the unique experience of his or her life in terms that can be condensed in the phrase: DEUS FACTUS SUM (I have become God).

The Nature of Brhman

The so-called enlightenment is the self realization of this equation - not intellectually but experientially. The intellect, much like matter, can take you only so far. The experience, as it is described by the ancient Rishis, and stalwarts like Sri Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharishi, is of overwhelming bliss and oneness. A state where your conscious being cannot distinguish itself from its surroundings. You are a singularity with everything around you. There is also a deep feeling of ecstasy, bliss and stillness. This state is often called as sat-chit-ananda. The rishis say that words are inadequate and only distort the experience that is why Brhman is called as Nirvikalpa. It is also described as Neti Neti (neither this nor that). That experience is the realization that there is no dvaita (duality) in the self and the cosmos - it is advaita (non-dual) in its essence, the duality is real but only a fleeting reality (Mithya).

Assume that the ocean represents the material universe and the atmosphere above is the Brhman (from which the water in the ocean emerges and goes back into). Then imagine air bubbles in this ocean as self-conscious beings (jivatmas). Each bubble thinks that the ocean is the reality. But in truth, Brhman and the air bubble is the same. Once it moves upward and pops on the surface, it is no longer distinguishable from the Brhman. This analogy has several shortcomings but it conveys an abstract idea in a simple yet powerful way.

Advaita Anubhuti

Adi Sankara talks about the experience of this advaita. He provides many simple analogies in support of the idea of advaita which I will not go into. However, it helps to note that all of us have subtle experiences of advaita without realizing it. It is as though the long dormant transceiver in our body has suddenly found a Wi-Fi network. We are hardwired to connect with the “inner bliss” whenever our minds can overcome or rather transcend the everyday mundane issues and associated thoughts. This often happens when we are in a beautiful natural setting or taking a stroll along the beach. Our mind quietens and we feel happy and blissful, often without any reason. We feel that way because unknowingly, we are experiencing the tip of the proverbial iceberg called Brhman - you are getting a sneak peek of advaita anubhuti.

Brhman manifests itself in various ways in the universe. One of the ways in which we experience brahman is नाद nada or वानी vani (sound). Take music for example, why is it that we respond to notes that are at certain frequencies Sa (240Hz), Re (270Hz), Ga (300 Hz), Ma (320 Hz), and so on. Why do certain combinations (ragas) of these notes create powerful emotions? Why do we react so repulsively when someone goes बेसुरा or off-note? These are experiences we all take for granted. But what is happening when we hear those notes and compositions is that we are connecting with our deepest selves and at that moment our deepest self connects with the Brhman and there is Ananda.

Our consciousness at its core is non-local. Meaning that is it is not just confined to our body. All beings have the same interconnected consciousness and due to Mithya seem disjointed as separate beings. However our inner-most being gets attracted to the collective consciousness. Note that we all like to go where there is a crowd. We get attracted to restaurants that have a lot of people, we get drawn by public spaces, streets, areas that are full of people. We are hardwired to be social animals. Our relationships are very important to us. We struggle with rejection and love affirmation by others. We feel lonely and depressed when we are alone and lack friendships, companionship and caring. It is for this reason, Bharatiya people greet each other in Anjali Mudra and do naman to the divinity in the other by saying Namaste!

All these experiences are clues to answers that lie in the inner depths of our being. The realization of the Brhman lies inside us and not outside.

Is Brhman God?

Within the experience of Brhman there are several schools of thought that range from Astika to Nastika. There are Nastika schools like Charvaka that do not at all accept the idea of Brhman. Astika schools are several and of them, various forms of Vedanta (Uttara Mimamsa) survive today and are practiced by a majority of the Bharatiya society today (even if they don’t know it). Buddhism and Jainism are nastika schools.

Some schools of Vedanta stop at the experience of the Brhman as the ultimate experience of reality. Some other sampradayas claim that Brhman is just the first level of experience. There is much more to it. Experience of Brhman is akin to seeing a forest from the air, you just see a beautiful green tree cover, it’s one big swath of green. But just like the forest, if you come closer, you can see the leaves, a variety of trees, hear sounds, and even feel the wind as the branches move. Finally, there is a whole different level of experience when you are in the forest, you became part of it, and your experience is complete. These Vedantins claim that beyond Brhman there are levels of experience culminating in being part of the forest - I.e., being part of the supreme-consciousness. For a rationalist, generally, the idea that the ultimate reality as some kind of a quantum field is perfectly acceptable. However, the idea that it may be self-conscious is usually problematic since that takes him or her into the God territory. Although the Rishis claim that this is to be experienced through tapasya and not through material/rational means. But to pursue such a rigorous process, there has to be motivation of the rational mind. Perhaps, it is for those that Brhmasutra proposes the following argument:

जन्माद्यस्य यतः

Janmaadasya Yatah

Brhman is that from which all aspects of the material world are born. The proposition is that since consciousness is self evident in the world we know, consciousness may therefore be a quality of the source too. After all, none of us can think of anything in this world having qualities that it’s source does not have. If you plant a Mango seed you cannot get an orange tree. They argued that it must be true of consciousness too. The way to verify it is Yoga — it is for each of us to find out for ourselves!

I will end with the opening line of Veda Vyasa’s Brhmasutra that invites the reader into a quest - the quest for Brhman:

अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा!!

Athaato Brhma Jignyasa

(Let us explore the nature of Brhman!)

August 25, 2018

(written enroute Del-Vanc-LA)