The wisdom of Vedic sages reflected in Ananda Upanishad
The Vedantic view of Sri Aurobindo is very well contemplated in this Upanishad. This is a small and concise Upanishad with the gist of Vedanta annotated beautifully. In his own words, “Ignorance and Knowledge are but his two forms. He (Brahman) is neither the bearer nor is the borne: Neither as infinite nor finite, He is the unknown, Not Singular, not plural, the formed One who holds from none. He is simply ‘The One’ The Finite, the Infinite, and the One.” “Diversiform are all but the multifarious names of the universal form of that consciousness spirit that illuminates. The entire world with the consciousness it generates.”
“The blazing structure of the sun is but a perception. Not the sun itself, but that which is understood by the human cognition. It is but a physical form which by the senses is perceived.” “As the sun is real and this truth is undeniable. Likewise is the Brahman, the light of truth and divinity.” “But this world is the illusive web supreme spun by the divine Himself in the mortal realm. But Brahman is not an illusion (Maya) or a creation of mental activity. The Brahman is real and in Him there is no falsehood and all that exists in this worldly creation is but his worldly blissful manifestation Om Tat Sat. (OM This Truth). Whatever is truth, that is consciousness and this consciousness is the zenith of blissfulness (Ananda). What is termed suffering, misery and weakness is but ignorance, a vacuum devoid of true happiness.”
The quantum reality is compatible with the Vedantic view of Brahman or Pure Consciousness. We live in a universe that is made of 95% dark matter and dark energy, but only 5% matter. Our laws of physics applies to the latter. The universe is made of spacetime where space and time is amalgamated into a 4-dimensional malleable spacetime, and the fabric of reality also includes the speed of light. It is on this fabric matter and energy behaves according the laws of physics.
Quantum physics states that matter at its most fundamental existence behaves both like matter and a wave. Hence, there is quantum uncertainty of position (existence) and momentum. Wave mechanics also states that all possible states of a quantum object are possible. But a measurement on such a system forces these states into one observable state. Special theory of relativity requires matter or energy or information or physical force or the gravity (curvature in spacetime that contains matter) cannot move faster than light. But the same laws permit space to expand faster than speed of light.
The quantum universe also does not offer us a free will. There is an old adage that says everything that happens does happen. Quantum physics’ many-worlds interpretation suggest that all possible outcomes of quantum states are possible but they exist in different universes. Therefore it appears that the universe is predetermined. The only uncertainty is that in which universe you and your self-consciousness are pre-packaged in? It may also mean that pure consciousness or the Brahman referred to in Vedanta is a Supreme Reality that can see all universes at the same time. Such a principle can exist in a spaceless and timeless dimension state of pure consciousness that can comprehend everything and yet be part of the entire creation. Invoking The Supreme Consciousness as an entity also accounts for the collapse of all observable quantum states to one state. This would have resulted in the reality we see around us. Albert Einstein struggled throughout his life to convince others that there is a reality in this universe and it exists no matter if living beings are here to observe that or not. Quantum physics – Copenhagen interpretation requires that physical reality is possible only if a conscious spectator observe the universe so that quantum states collapse into one possible reality we all observe.
The reality of a four-dimensional spacetime structure is that passing through this depends on how fast you are moving and the strength of gravitational field you are in. Spacetime can bend, rip, repair and produce gravitational waves (ripples of spacetime curvature). The speed of light makes an additional component of reality. Hence space look differently for different observers in the universe. For a planet 4.5 billion light years away, solar system doesn’t even exist since it takes the same amount of time for the light (and information) to reach there. Solar system is only 4.5 billion years old. Some physicists like Julian Barbour suggest that time is illusory and space is real. Physicists like Lee Smolin disagree and say that time is real and space is illusory. Quantum physics also permits universe to create out of nothing, from pure vacuum. Matter and antimatter coming into existence and annihilating into nothing continuously.
Plants communicate, signaling from within, eavesdropping on neighboring individuals, and exchanging information with other organisms. They have adaptive responses related to their existence. Hence, plant neurobiology became a new field of study and it is a fast-developing area in biological sciences despite the fact they do not have brain, a central nervous system or any type of cognitive structures. Yet they seem to have consciousness. We may know all we need to know about a mice’s brain and its entire genome but we can’t understand how it is like to be a mouse? How is the physical network of neurons produce experience? How could we translate the neurobiology of a mice to its experience or its consciousness of “I”? How can physical networks of neurons produce experiences that appear to fall outside the material world? Physicist Michael Graziano of Princeton University says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe like matter and energy and spacetime. It may not appear in any physics formulas. In quantum physics, reality allows you to see all events encapsulated in time including the past and future from outside it. All quantum physical observables (and the reality) calculated depends on this observation. Time itself is not observable and so it cannot be calculated. The principle quantum uncertainty makes it impossible to distinguish the order of events that occur very close in time, in essence the effect could preceded the cause. This is due to wave-particle duality of matter and quantum uncertainty principle. Current advances in understanding the nature of space and time and its link to quantum physics is shedding more into the nature of reality we live in and truth of Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism.
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