Mystic Time: Part Five, Having Fun With Time

The previous articles on Mystic Time were quite 'yoga technical' so I thought I would have fun with the topic of time this time around–pardon the pun.

Essentially mysticism springs from the study of nature. The ancient mystics used to be the scientist of their era and it was their initial work that laid the foundation for the advancements of modern science as we are used to today. One of the obsessions of mystics and scientists alike are finding ways to defy the forces of nature. Todays science fiction and the ancient epics are equally filled with characters possessing supernatural powers–such as levitation, the ability to morph, teleport, the ability to stop time–like Lord Hanuman flying around exhibiting super-strength; Superman flying around doing about the same stuff. Defying the natural laws of physics is often romanticized in human imagination.

Of all the forces of physics the force that must have arguably dominated the preoccupation of mystics and scientist from the get-go is anti-gravity, levitation. Ancient epics and superhero stories clue us to this fact since at least one character will have the supernatural ability to fly at will or at least have a vehicle that defies gravity (without wings and / or propellers). Today despite the airplanes and helicopters, anti-gravity through un-mechanized levitation is still a holy-grail for inventors.

While scientists have laboured and produced inventions like the airplane and helicopters you will discover that according to Hindu or Eastern epics, the mystics too seem to have discovered physics defying capabilities. In these stories the 'super-humans' are the mystics and the 'other-worldlys'. They possess magical powers like flying, teleporting, morphing etc. as a result of their mystical attainments. I used to be circumspect in putting confidence in the existence of such capable humans, but my study of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras tell me otherwise.

The Patanjali Yoga Sutras was the most important core scripture during my training as a yogi. My guru's teachings–his methods of and philosophy–were based on the theories revealed in this book; and in my experience of mysticism the theories on the workings of the mind in the Yoga Sutras hold true. My convictions on the effectiveness of the Yoga Sutras is formed by my own success as a yogi in securing spiritual enlightenment. In the third chapter of the Yoga Sutras which is dedicated to Divine Powers, Sage Patanjali writes of amazing capabilities like levitation, invisibility, super-strength, telepathy and morphing which may be achieved through yoga techniques that the sage describes in this chapter.

FYI: There are four chapters in the Yoga Sutras, the first on the goal of yoga–Spiritual Enlightenment, the second–Spiritual Disciplines, the third–Divine Powers and the fourth–Realizations. The emphasis of the Yoga Sutras is to explain and teach the methods of attaining spiritual enlightenment, albeit it is also a no-holds-barred manual on the capabilities of the mystical mind, thus the chapter on Divine Powers.

Verse 38 of the chapter on Divine Powers that goes like this–Through a samayama on nadis and mastery of the retained breath one may levitate, make oneself as light as feather and walk on water, swamps, thorns and so forth–I was intrigued. I had always been fascinated by flight, even now. During my school days I enjoyed learning more about airplanes than cars and bird-watching was a hobby. However when I asked my guru for more insight into this verse he set my curiosity straight. He told me quite curtly that until I had secured Self-Realization all other mystical pursuit was a waste of time.

I have digressed somewhat from Mystic Time, but rest assured we are now entering the doors of having fun with time. So far I have been attempting to share with you the amazing potential locked in the mystical mind which is obviously more than what meets the eye. Though my guru told me to put aside levitation he did however give me permission to work on the element of time. For the conquest of time is directly related to Self-Realization.

Time is one of the basic element of physics. It is a pure evolute like space, mass, gravity, electromagnetism and nuclear energy. Together these elements of physics form the building blocks of nature. However time has a special quality that makes it more amenable to manipulation compared to the other elements of physics. Time has an intrinsic value like space and mass which can be measured and used for measurements, however unlike the other pure evolutes, time also has a perceptive value that can be manipulated through individual perception.

Here is a simple example to illustrate this fact. If you have an empty box to be filled with tennis balls the maximum number of tennis balls you can fill the box with is a fixed and easily calculable number. The obvious way to manipulate this situation (say to add more tennis balls into the box) is to change the size of the box by simply using a bigger box. Alternatively if you knew mystical morphing you could morph the box to whatever size you wanted psychically! Cool! But even if you could mystically morph you will realize that it is still easier to simply get a different box because of the amount of energy and willpower mystical morphing would consume; it would just not be worth the time and effort. Now time too like space, has an empiric value that can be used to calculate and gauge accurately values like distance, speed, force, energy and so forth; but time also has a perceptive value where it can be felt moving faster or slower despite its empiric measure. This means that though the value of one minute always remains the same, what one can do in that one minute can vary person to person even if they are doing the same task. We are used to this variability of capability as efficiency. Looking at efficiency yogically allows us to appreciate it as a Divine Power, for though it seems that efficiency is a natural ability to us, we are nevertheless using a psychic ablility of the mind, namely concentration, to manipulate the fabric of time.

The first three verses of the Divine Power chapter in the Yoga Sutras extol concentration as the key ability for cultivating spiritual experiences which eventually culminate in spiritual enlightenment. The verses go as follows:

1. One-pointedness is concentration of the mind.
2. Uninterrupted concentration evolves into meditation.
3. When meditation evolves into the cessation of mental effort leaving only the object of meditation in consciousness, realization is born.

We usually do not think of concentration as a psychic or a super-human ability since it seems so basic to the mind. However in yoga philosophy concentration is much more complex. Part of the complexness of concentration that yogis become aware of through their experience is its intricate connectedness to time. In their journey towards Self Realization yogis naturally explore the connection between time and concentration since Self Realization is also about the conquest over time. For us together to appreciate the depth of how concentration effects time and subsequently our life allow me to introduce you to some equations I have come up with based on my mystical experiences connecting time and concentration.

At their most basic level this is how concentration and time relate. Concentration of anything causes intensity and intensity makes things happen (creating events). Events animate life and occur in time. Thus concentration creates events in time which equals to animation of life. However time is not necessarily inert in this equation because time can also exert pressure on life to cause concentration to animate life. For instance imagine a person who is feeling lazy and is not interested in doing anything, he is content in his lack of activity, but the passing of time causes him to eventually feel hungry. His hunger forces him to concentrate his effort to break out of his period of inactivity and go find food. Therefore time also has value as a force to instigate concentration.

To sum up my version of 'mystical physics' the following equations relate concentration with time and life as described in the previous paragraph.

These equations are basic–nothing special, certainly nothing psychic–until the complexness of concentration relating to its degrees are factored in. The degrees of concentration brings Divine Power to the relationship of concentration, time and life by the way of the effect of increasing intensity of concentration on the fabric of time.

In yoga philosophy concentration is not a single value because there are degrees of intensity to concentration. In yogic terms there are four degrees of concentration. These four, in increasing intensity are sakshin, pratyahara, dharana and dhyana. As a yogi masters these ever more intense level of concentration one of the first things he becomes aware of is their unusual effect on time. I can best describe this effect as the warping of the fabric of time caused by intense concentration. The warping of time goes beyond the simplicity of better efficiency and it can create what can be justified as psychic or supernatural ability. Thus concentration becomes a Divine Power.

I can illustrate such mystical potential of concentration by incorporating its degrees in the following equations.

Sakshin: Sakshin is the most basic level of concentration (in my writings I use conscious concentration as a synonym of sakshin), it is our general experience of concentration; of focusing the mind and available resources to accomplish tasks. At this level of concentration we can already feel the effect of the changing perception of time with increasing intensity of concentration. That is, the more intense concentration is, the slower the passing of time is perceived. Thus more can be accomplished within a space of time. However the concentration degree of sakshin is not enough to warp the the fabric of time.

Pratyahara: This is the next level of increased intensity of concentration after sakshin. There is no english equivalent to pratyahara (and the other remaining levels of yogic concentration). Pratyahara is concentrating awareness within the subconscious mind and it is the first stage of concentration where the mind is turned onto itself. I use subconscious concentration to refer to pratyahara. It is in pratyahara that the warping of time can be perceived (symbolized by the warped arrow below 't'), for pratyahara opens the yogi to the potential of manipulating her future. Using esoteric yogic techniques of pratyahara the deep subconscious (the sub of the subconscious) is made available to the yogi. The sub of the subconscious stores karmic seeds which germinate as events in our life. An adept yogi can learn techniques of inserting a 'seed event' in the sub of the subconscious for it to manifest in life in the future. Thus pratyahara gives the mystic the power to create future happenings psychically. Pratyahara is therefore the level of concentration where its pyschic ability as a Divine Power (from its ability to manipulate the fabric of time) becomes a possibility. The contemporary of this latent possibility of the mind is the Law of Attraction, however most modern proponents of the Law of Attraction fail to realize that to make it work requires that its practicer master pratyahara. The next intensification of concentration, dharana, subsequently intensifies the psychic ability of concentration further.

Dharana: This is the most intense level of concentration that our awareness can attain through conscious effort. It is super-concentration. Dharana warps the fabric of time even more than pratyahara. While pratyahara warps the perception of time and allows for the creation of events to occur in the future, dharana warps the perception of time to the point that the events designed in pratyahara becomes tangible in our experience of life. Dharana can create seeming magic by organizing and focusing the resources of our mind in harmony with the greater forces of the cosmos to bring the potentials created in pratyahara into experiential fruition. Basically it makes things happen usually quicker (or to happen at all) than anticipated by, in a sense, physically warping the fabric of life itself, thus the warping vector below life in the equation. Dharana's effect on time can tangibly touch our experience of life.

Dhyana: The level of concentration of awareness and other faculties of the mind is at its most intense in dhyana. It is so intense that it is experienced as an involuntary process of the mind. A yogi is able to deliberately, with all his or her effort, attain up to dharana; after that dhyana occurs as a natural evolution of sustained dharana and is maintained by an automatic process of the mind instead of the conscious mental effort of the yogi. Thus at the point of dhyana the yogi experiences relaxation of mental effort and enjoys the state of super-super-concentration and the experiences it entails–which can be described as 'other-worldly'. In dhyana the degree of concentration reaches its pinnacle. At this level the fabric of time becomes so warped that time is perceived in a dimension beyond the ordinary–in a purely spiritual dimension that is irrelevant to the scales we are used to, thus the experience of life too goes beyond the ordinary and becomes 'other-worldly'; this is indicated by the opposite warp in the fabric of life in the equation relating to dhyana.

Dhyana is the prize of yogis and mystics seeking spiritual enlightenment. It is the doorway to new dimensions of experience that transforms the experiencers perception of life to one that is unshackled by materialism and its urgencies. When mystics become masters in attaining the heights concentration in dhyana they come upon their final conquest in the mastery of concentration–they seek the source of consciousness itself which by extension leads them to the source of time–they yearn for timelessness! Timelessness is the prize of prizes for mystics. It is an achievement that earns the adept mystic a well-done pat on his or her back from the master.

Experiencing the condition where time equals zero seems to be impossible, however in the rarefied reaches of consciousness that is opened to the mystic through dhyana he learns to play with time and ultimately meld with its source.

The Role of Earth in the Spiritual Evolution of the Soul–Its Need and Its Preciousness.

Why life on Earth? This is a natural question that arises on pondering the purpose of life; especially when reflecting on life's struggles and tragedies. If God is Almighty and is the Creator of all that is, why create suffering in the first place? A mystic ponders on these questions as the basis for trying to figure God's Plan or Design. The ultimate answer to these questions that mystics have mused on is more of a process than a law. This process is the spiritual evolution of the soul.

There is a special mantra that I learned from my guru about understanding Creation. The mantra is "It is as it is". There is another saying from my guru's guru, the great sage of Lanka, Siva Yogaswami, he said "we know not". Simple words that bring down into essence that in this world we live equally with facts we can understand and that which cannot be figured. They point to the fact that the world that is governed by both absolute certainties and absolute uncertainties.

We live life on Earth with aspirations of enjoying Paradise; with aspirations of enjoyment, not suffering; with aspirations of peace, not antagonism; with aspirations of love, not hate. These utopian aspirations are what life on Earth seems to proffer; but such is life on Earth that day must follow night, excitement is followed by mundaneness, joy is interspersed by sadness, peace is disrupted by confusion. The preciousness of life on Earth lies in these shifting foundations. For it is these occasional experiences of instability that eventually give us the gumption to question the purpose, even the need, of our existence.

The goal of these primal questions is however not so much to find out the reason for the tumult of life on Earth, rather to discover ways to rise above it. That is, to discover a way to reach the aspirations of Paradise that is hardwired into our psyche. That such an ideal state of existence is even possible has been the testimony of countless accomplished mystics of ages past and of contemporary times. The message of the Buddha, of Ramana Maharishi, of Lao Tzu, of Emmerson, of my guru is essentially the same; that Paradise is attainable by uncovering ones spirituality and experiencing the intimate states of spiritual enlightenment.

Contrary to the general understanding of mysticism that mystics are people who disassociate themselves from general populace, mysticism actually encourages involvement in the world and experiencing life on Earth as one chooses. It does not put any constraints to the a persons freedom as to how they choose to live their life, in fact mysticism cherishes any and all experience that the world offers. Established mystical schools such as the evolutes of ashtanga yoga and Buddhism encourage their followers to pursue their worldly dreams, though preferring them to pursue their goals through path of noble values and righteousness as The Way, because it is known that experiences of life gradually nurtures the urge to uncover spiritual reality for oneself, thus achieving transcendence over the roller-coaster ride of life on Earth.

According to the philosophy of Eastern mystical schools our soul is on Earth on an extended spiritual journey. This spiritual journey is spurred on by the unsettling experiences of duality on Earth. Just like how challenges spur development and growth, whereas ease of living cultivates complacency, life on Earth challenges the soul to seek greater heights of spirituality because its unstableness breeds the desire for the equilibrium of Paradise. This desire for equilibrium ultimately leads the seeker to the glorious experiences of spiritual enlightenment.

Thus the great purpose of life on Earth according to the conclusion of mystics is to bring an individual to this very point of questioning–Why life on Earth? Herein lies the preciousness of life on Earth.

The Ubiquitous Science vs. Religion Conundrum Part Two

A friend asked me a common question on Hinduism. Hema is a scientist educated in the science of education. She asked me why Ganesha has an elephant head. What drew my interest most with this question is that all the elements for the answer I was prepared to give involved the revelations (jnana) that I had received from the samayama on spirituality, science and religion. This answer would be the shruti that I promised to evolve when I concluded Part One of this article. (If you are wondering what are shruti, samayama and jnana, please click here to read Part One of this Mystical Musing which explains them).

Here are three revelations of the samayama on spirituality, science and religion. (Click here to read part one to flow with the continuity)

Revelation 1: The first to appear was a large multifaceted glistening diamond like gem that was rotating slowly. The gem remained in view for a while and as it slowly faded from the 'mind's eye' a statement, "we are already multidimensional beings" was heard.
Revelation 2: Then followed another scene where I saw a scientist and a mystic sitting back to back. Revelation 3: The revelations concluded with a final scene of a priest worshipping atop a precarious ledge on the summit of a tall cliff.

Ganesha is one of the most popular Hindu deity. He is the God (more like an Archangel) with an elephant head. There is a very colorful and violent story / myth of how he ended up with the elephant head. If you do not know this story just Google 'how Ganesha got his elephant head'. For this article suffice to know that this story is as scientifically implausible as a story can be! Yet here is a scientist, who loves Ganesha and is looking for an answer that given her training I would imagine, since she knows the story, must have relegated (the story) to fiction. It intrigued me that I could answer this question quite uniquely using the revelations of the recent samayama. I also mused that the original person who emailed me the questions that sparked the samayama, Akashay, is a scientist, and here I am faced with another scientist whose question represented the similar science versus religion debate.

I knew this answer session was going to be long winded, so I started with the short answer. "Q: Why does Ganesha have an elephant head? A: Because that was his choice. He probably had the power choose how he wanted to look and simply choose to have an elephant face. Why he choose that is whatever answer that makes the most sense to you if you believe in Lord Ganesha. Now allow me to give a clearer understanding of this answer."

After this I told everyone in the group about Akashay's questions, the samayama and the revelations from it. Then I began to evolve the jnana revelations into a shruti which was about how science, religion and spirituality integrate. I followed the order of the revelations, remembering the first revelation of the multi-faceted diamond and the words 'we are already multidimensional' while tuning my mind to the feeling of rightness that followed the revelation. Thus I said we are all already multi-dimensional beings. Daily we put on the hats of many dimensions to function. These are simple and practical functions; unless we think more seriously about them they are simply part of our personality. This 'multi-dimensionalism' is about how we act differently with different groups of people. When we are at home with our family we behave differently then when we are at work. When we are with our friends we function on different set of parameters then when we are with our family or at work. When we interact with babies or toddlers, does anyone realize how childish we become from our usual grownup norms. We do baby speak, play with them as if we are babies and forgive babies for all sorts of misdemeanors because they are innocent. Indeed we function / behave / act differently according to situations and surroundings; most of the time making only slight variations in the way we project ourselves to others but at times these variations can be quite radical. From a mystical perspective each of these different projections of personality represents different dimensions of ourself. We pick and choose to project different images of ourself according to whom or what we are around (which is why Facebook included privacy settings to incorporate our yearning for multi-dimensionalism!). What is amazing is that our brains can keep tabs of all of this to make it seem so seamless as we shift from one dimension to another.

You may think that it is too drastic labeling all these subtle shifts in personality as dimensions. However the definition of dimension according to my computer's dictionary–the one that is not related to measuring length or time–is as follows: "an aspect or feature of a situation, problem or thing." Thus dimensions can be as simple as points of view. This is how a mystic views his or her own mind. There are so many dimensions that are available within it, that our mind is our personalized world. The very fact that we can say something while thinking of something out of context and be feeling something unrelated altogether is just a hint of the measure of multi-dimensionalism humans are capable of. Yogis take multi-dimensionalism to the next level by developing extra sensory perception to enable them to explore subtle spiritual realms of existence.

Thus mystics too have come to the conclusion that humans are multidimensional no different than the scientific String Theory notion of multi-dimensionalism. It is just the way we mystics see it in application in life that is different. In fact what some scientists conjure about the multidimensional human is way more far out than that of the mystics. It takes a leap of faith to even imagine that there can be duplicates of us living simultaneously in parallel universes. Wow! makes for great science fiction, but in the reality we are used to we still do not have proof of such possibilities despite all the calculations that point that such a scenario can be.

I am following the natural sequence of revelations that appeared in dhyana and so far I have evolved the meaning of the first one which is the key to answering both Akashay's and Hema's questions. In different scenarios or different circumstances we use different sets of rules to get through life. Each of these sets of rules can be represented by rich traditions, culture and philsosophy; they can even be rules we develop personally based on conclusions from life experiences. Our amazing mind is capable of managing and processing these different dimensions, at times even simultaneously. Going through the simplicities, complexities, certainties and uncertainties of life is made possilbe through multi-dimensionalism. Remember that this is the key is to understanding how spirituality, science and religion integrate.

Now lets go to the second revelation. In this revelation the scene is of a mystic (I saw a long bearded, robed rishi) and a scientist (someone with a lab coat) sitting back to back peering into space. How does this connect to multi-dimensionalism? Here again I just have to tune the feeling of rightness that follows this revelation and it stimulates the flow of understanding. The foundation of both a scientist and a mystic is the same. It is curiosity about and inquiry into nature. What makes them unique is their base in questioning. A mystic starts with 'why life'; a scientist, 'how life'. By these questions we can deduce that a mystic is looking for reasons for life. A scientist on the other hand is looking for the rules of life (in this context 'life' and 'nature' are interchangeable). If we take these observations a step deeper we will discover that a mystic looks at the uncertainties of life and seeks reasons; whereas a scientist looks at the certainties of life and seeks answers. They are both looking at life through divergent dimensions and seeking answers on same or similar subjects under different motivations. The results of both these streams of inquiry is that the work of mystics can evolve into religions and philosophies about life and living, while the work of scientists can evolve into technological inventions.

By following the line of reasoning of mystics leads us to conclude that the main purpose of all the myriad of religions on Earth is to help us cope with the uncertainties in life, hence the third revelation; the priest worshipping precariously on a precipice. The priest is looking into an abyss in front and below him. He is praying to give himself the confidence through faith or hope to go through whatever he needs to cross over this proverbial abyss. By the way, I use proverbial abyss in case you reason–he doesn't need to look into the abyss. All he has to do is to step back! As easy as it is to reason this way, the truth is, we have to face and cross the abyss of uncertainty at times with no possibility of stepping back.

Ultimately this is what all religion are–the institutionalizing of hope. Just ask why the need for religion? You could reason that it seems that religion is the cause for much human to human violence on Earth. Religionists may justify by saying the violence has nothing to do with religion, the problem lies with its followers; but really what is religion without its followers? We can reasonably say, lets do away with religion, lets just live with science and logic. With all the scientific evidence that can easily debunk so much of the myths or stories that are the backbone of most major and minor religions, science can easily claim reasonable ascendency. Yet today majority of us would rather believe in religion than not. Why?

It is that religion begins where logic ends.

We live equally with certainties and uncertainties in life. As much as we like to get rid of uncertainties and guarantee as much certainty as possible, it is ultimately impossible to get rid of uncertainty entirely. Even as technology advances rapidly on par with strides in scientific discoveries, it cannot guarantee absolute certainty in all affairs of life at all points of time; nothing can. Even science can only absolutely guarantee that all of life is subject to change. Things change; change is followed by a period of uncertainty; and even once we regain hold of cetainty, the shadow of uncertainty remains in the background. Science can conclude that uncertainty is as much a force of nature as the other tangible and measurable forces; and in fact it does through the Uncertainty Principle. Thus we have to recognize that uncertainty is one of the forces that animate life. Unfortunately uncertainty inspires fear and if we have to accept fear and simply live with it without a solution, life could be pointless and dark. Thus the advent of religion.

Religion appears as a solution to the fear that overshadows life. The most important aspect of religion to all of us is to inspire and maintain hope especially during the times when uncertainty looms into reality. This is the most scientifically tangible effect of religion–the feeling of hope and confidence–even when all probable scientific predictions point to hopelessness. This value of religion cannot be usurped by science simply saying that there is no proof of God. There may be no experiment that a scientist can do with any repeatable result that can proof the existence of God, but the existence of God for the faithful is based on their personal (totally subjective) experience of God or their dedication to their creed. It is the effect of faith in upholding hope that can be observed scientifically. It is this power of hope that is the un-discountable value of religion. The ability to inspire hope especially during times of hopelessness is of immense value to living. This is why we do not simply throw religion out the window in favour logic or science, because it is as valuable to us as science is.

Both religion and science are meant for us to cope with different aspects / dimensions of living. In fact both these dimensions are opposites. Thus if you bring science into religion or vice-versa you will simply end up with an inconclusive conundrum. Both however can co-exist through our ability to handle the varied aspects of life by being multidimensional. Thus a scientist can without conflict be deeply religious if he understands that science and religion are different tools meant for different purposes. Herein lies the integration of spirituality, science and religion. Multidimensional living allows us to accept science for what it is and religion for what it is. All those rich illogical myths and stories of religions were never meant to be proven true or untrue; instead they are repositories of spirituality, ethics, culture and most importantly as means of inspiring hope and courage. This is why we dare not throw religion out the window. Otherwise what can science offer us in those uncertain times of darkness; a cold set of probabilities, perhaps hope of discovery that is probably years in the future when you need help now or a scientific explanation of what got you where you are when what you need is a way out.

Try as we may, humanity will never do away with the supernatural, the ultra-natural and its propensity to exaggerate wonder. Just imagine what would happen if we did do away with religion and its nonsensical myths. Like the Taliban who blew the the Buddha statues of Bamiyan, we decide as a race of logical beings, to get rid of all relic, representation and repositories of religion, religiousness and spirituality. I imagine to cure our urge to hope during hopelessness or make possible what seems impossible we will start praying to 'action heroes' like Spiderman or Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman or whomever the new scientific myth spinners conjure.

Of course then again you can expect those 'action heroes' debunkers to come along and continue the question–why in the world are you praying to something that is not really there?! Answer–Well, because science does not have ALL the answers.

Epilogue 

So to the question'why does Ganesha have an elephant head', the answer is as elementary as whatever reason that suits you. However it makes best sense to you, that will be your answer. If you choose to believe in Ganesha and his existence has an effect in your life, then really the reason why is anyone's guess. Ultimately the answer is not very important to anyone else but however you justify the truth of Ganesha to yourself. This is religion and by extension spirituality. They are both subjective art and science for all of life that is influenced by subjectivity. I for instance believe in the reality of God, the angles, heaven and hell because of my personal experience of such matters. They are real to me and therefore their existence matters to me. Why they exist does not matter to me, protecting the belief in them does not matter to me, proving their existence to others does not matter to me even more. But mostly I enjoy having them in my life.

In the end of the day our devotion to a supernatural path does not preclude us from enjoying the benefits of scientific discoveries, unless we choose so. To be an effective scientist likewise does not require the scientist to abstain from religion or spirituality to do his or her work, unless they choose so. To Akashay who instigated this mystical musing, thank you. To Hema who got this revelation going, thank you. I enjoyed the whole exercise immensely and I hope you the readers, did too.

Click Here to Read Part One

Ahh! The Ubiquitous Science vs. Religion Conundrum: Part One

Recently an engineering student–Akashay, who is fond of physics emailed me a litany of questions to answer to try to quell the confusion that has arisen in his mind that I imagine was caused when he tried to correlate recent discoveries in physics with his religious beliefs. He referred to the possibilities of parallel universes proposed by String theorists and recent discoveries on the formation of stars and galaxies–though he did not mention which discoveries. It seems to him that all these theories and discoveries throws into question the role (not reality) of God. He wonders what God does; if our lives are predestined; if anyone has met God; if so what happened to the proof of such meetings?

 He has been waiting for sometime for me to answer his questions, but I was waiting for some time (pun intended) to open up on my side to get into such a fun area of mystical musing. Before you think this is going to be another one sided debate article on the ubiquitous subject of science versus religion or vice-versa, let me assure you that I am an admirer of science, religion and spiritualism. In fact it was my scientific inquisition to want to discover the existence of God for myself that led me to delve into the yogic arts. So to answer Akashay's questions I am going to do what us mystics love to do–look at everything from inspiring mystical overviews.

To discover a mystical answer to this questioning I will use a yogic method of concentration–the samayama. Samayama is the final level of concentration that a yogi has to maintain before the true state of meditation occurs. It is done by dividing a subject of concentration into three related points and then keeping awareness engrossed in the evolution of thoughts, feelings and visualizations of these points of concentration while moving randomly from one point to another; in other words there are three trains of thought progressing simultaneously. The points of concentration can be anything that you imagine is related to the subject. For instance lets say I want to do a samayama on renewable energy; I can divide this subject into any three related points of concentration; this can be the sun, electricity and the welfare of Earth. In a samayama the yogi has to use as much force of intent and will that he can muster to maintain his awareness on the concentration points of the samayama.

To uncover answers for the questions posed by Akashay, I will do a samayama with spirituality, religion and science as the three points of a samayama. I will use the following definitions of these three as the base of my concentration effort with the intention of discovering integration of the three subjects as the goal of the samayama.

Spirituality: Beliefs of faith based on personal mystical or 'otherworldly' experience.
Religion: A set of beliefs (or articles of faith) and culture adopted by groups of people that direct their practices and faith in the supernatural.
Science: A faculty of knowledge that is based on discoveries about the workings of nature that are backed by repeatable results of experimentation or arithmetics.

I began this mystical musing by going through the mill of yogic preparations. First, I do some yoga poses to reset the mind to a soft concentrated poise. The next step in (ashtanga) yoga is to do breath modulation–pranayama to consolidate the concentrative poise. Following pranayama is pratyahara which are subconscious concentration techniques. The particular pratyahara I did for this session involved an esoteric pranayama that locks as much energy as possible in the third-eye (the sixth / ajna chakra) and mutes awareness of and sense inputs from the physical body. With this accomplished I now progress into the super-concentration state of dharana to begin the samayama. I bring into thought and visualizations the three points of samayama and evolve them successively at first and then jumping from one point to another at random. I think about scientists and their inventions, famous scientist from my memory appear; I remember my spiritual experiences of God and how I discovered the mystical realms of experiences, the great sadhus and rishis came to mind; I think about all the religions of the world, of their customs, their founders, their places of worship. All these stream continuously in thought, while in the back of my contemplation I have integration of these three points of samayama as the goal of the revelations I am seeking.

The goal of a samayama is achieved through attaining the true state of meditation–dhyana. This occurs when the samayama reaches a pinnacle in effort where all the faculties of the mind–the intellect, the emotions and visualization capability–becomes so saturated with accrued mind energy (prana) that all its (the mind's) voluntary processes becomes so overwhelmed that they quiet down. Pin drop silence occurs in the mind, the yogis awareness will feel like it is floating in a quiet space filled with energy. He might experience seeing a whitish, yellowish or purplish glow in his mind if his third eye is sensitive enough. If this condition of quietness in the mind is maintained the true state of meditation, dhyana, can occur. Dhyana appears of its own accord; the transition from dharana to dhyana is very smooth. A yogi knows he is in dhyana when he feels relief from the tense mental effort of maintaining a samayama. This natural relaxing of mental effort is one of the signposts to the yogi that he has attained dhyana. Peace descends and the yogi becomes aware that he has entered a new level of consciousness. I liken the experience of this transition from the frenetic intensity of mindfulness in dharana to the intense calm of dhyana to an airplane as it ascends over cloud cover. (Incidentally this my most favorite part of flying. If I get a window seat I wait eagerly for this moment. All of a sudden the airplane breaks free of the cloud cover; you see below the tops of the clouds shimmering in sun-glow and, above and all around, nothing but clear blue space....bliss).

The other telltale sign that confirms to the yogi that he has ascended in to the plane of dhyana is when he experiences revelations. Revelation is known in yoga as jnana. Jnana is a faculty of the superconscious mind (or the mind of the soul) that generates knowledge on a subject from Cosmic Intelligence. As revelations occur, the yogi is a passive observer enjoying its flashes of pictorial scenes, emotions and intuitive thought. It is as if the yogi is watching a television screen in his mind through which he experiences revelations. Though the details of what the revelations mean are not intellectually clear yet, these flashes of jnana come with a feeling or rightness, or a feeling like the proverb 'hit the nail on the head'. For all the intense effort it took to sustain concentration in samayama, to attain the inspiring state of dhyana and experience revelation is well worth the effort.

Thus the concentrative poise that the yogi labors to produce in a samayama eventually maintains itself of its own accord in dhyana which will reap answers to the yogis subject in question as jnana revelations. After the revelation, dhyana goes through a final stage in the evolution of yogic concentration when the yogi experiences blissful spiritual enlightenment, samadhi. Samadhi is the culmination of all successful yogic concentration effort. After samadhi the yogi's awareness gently descends back to normal consciousness from the lofty heights of superconsciousness, usually somewhat intoxicated by pleasurable spiritual feelings and with memory of the revelations that can then be extrapolated into discourses, articles or other practical applications of the knowledge.

The more adept one is in doing samayama the faster results are attained. Though during the samayama, due to the intensity of concentration the perception of time slows. A five minutes samayama can feel like 25 minutes. It took me about three minutes of doing this samayama looking for integration between spirituality, science and religion before I reached the state of dhyana.

With awareness blissfully poised in dhyana these are the packets of revelations that were the results of my samayama. The first to appear was a large multifaceted diamond like gem that was glistening and rotating slowly. The gem remained in view for a while and as it was slowly fading from the 'mind's eye' a statement, "we are already multidimensional beings" was heard. Then followed another scene where I saw a scientist and a mystic sitting back to back. The revelations concluded with a final scene of a priest worshipping atop a precarious ledge on the summit of a tall cliff. I knew this scene was the conclusion because immediately after that I was transported into a blissful samadhi. I experienced savikalpa samadhi in the ajna chakra (the third-eye). In this variety of samadhi my awareness had expanded into a vast deep bluish inner-space. I felt both the intensity of pin-pointed concentration and expanded consciousness simultaneously. This was an intense spiritual energy state bereft of emotions until the sound of a distant car broke through the samadhi and my awareness along with all that spiritual energy flowed into the body. As the energy traversed into the physical nerves they expanded into blissful feelings. When I finally opened my eyes I was feeling as if my body was floating and everything was silent inside me and outside.

What could these revelations mean? How would you equate them to the original questions posed by Akashay? For now I will leave you with this puzzle. In Part Two of The Ubiquitous Science vs. Religion Conundrum I will uncover these revelations using yet another ancient mystical method–shruti. You can then compare your reasoning with my shruti. Have fun!

Click here to read Part Two

Mystic Time: Part Four, Connections between Time, Concentration and Enlightenment

Correlating Time, Concentration and Deeper Possibilities of Human Experience.

The goal of yogic practices, if they are followed to their culmination, is to lead the yogi to experience God Consciousness. God consciousness can be defined in so many ways. It is not one experience but many possible experiences that yogis can have within themselves that bring about upwellings of bliss, great joy, universal compassion and so much more. The experience of God Consciousness is often summed collectively into words like God Realization, Enlightenment, Universal Consciousness, Divine Consciousness and such. In Sage Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, it is called samadhi. Samadhi is so unique a word to describe such an amazing dimension of human experience that it is now part of the English language. The word samadhi however, hides within it two very distinct (even opposite) forms of samadhi. One is called samadhi-with-seed (savikalpa samadhi) and the other is samadhi-without-seed (nirvikalpa samadhi). 'Seed' here refers to consciousness. Extrapolation of these words will bring the definitions as follows:

Savikalpa Samadhi: Oneness with the Divine in Consciousness

Nirvikalpa Samadhi: Oneness with the Divine beyond (or devoid of) Consciousness

Savikalpa samadhis are all the varied experiences that were mentioned earlier such as bliss, great joy, expanded consciousness and so forth. Nirvikalpa samadhi however, has nothing to do with experiences that can either be perceived or experienced emotionally. Many yogis will describe this experience by simply saying that it is nothing. More sophisticated yogis like my guru describe it as "transcending time, form and space". I like to use "It is as it is" and the yogic aphorism "not this, not that" (neti-neti).

[search on google for 'samadhi images', there are lots of very inspiring images; all relating to savikalpa samadhi, but none that even remotely hint at nirvikalpa samadhi]

Picture from esoterics.in

It is easy to understand why yogis may be drawn to the savikalpa samadhis since they are emotionally gratifying experiences. On the other hand one may wonder why nirvikalpa samadhi which seems so inert even 'scary' an experience (oblivion can also describe this samadhi) is such a prize for ardent yogis. Yes, adept yoga masters will insist that a yogi can only be fully enlightened after achieving nirvikalpa samadhi. Some yoga gurus are so strict that they will even disallow their disciples from experiencing savikalpa samadhi until they have experienced nirvikalpa samadhi. These gurus are concerned that their disciples may become too complacent by languishing in blissful states of God Consciousness that they give up the tougher goal of nirvikalpa samadhi. Can you imagine languishing in such blissful states? Who can blame anyone since they create heaven on earth for the experiencer. My guru fortunately was more encouraging by constantly reminding his disciples that enlightenment was not complete until nirvikalpa samadhi, which he called the Self (the capital S distinguishing Self as nirvikalpa samadhi whereas 'self' refers to ones personality, individuality or ego). He will always be asking his monks,"Did you find the Self yet? Did you look in the closet or under the carpet?" he would joke. It was his way of insisting that the goal of the Self be at the forefront of ones priorities.

So what is it that makes the experience of the Self so prized? It has to do, among other aspects, with overcoming fear. A yoga guru who has achieved the Self will know that the blissful states of Divine Consciousness are byproducts of enlightenment, not its goal. The real goal for those ardent yogis seeking enlightenment is overcoming suffering. From this perspective the 'blisses' of savikalpa samadhi, just do not cut it. Savikalpa samadhi can provide temporary respite from suffering, akin to an injured soldier given morphine on the battlefield. However the source of suffering still exists and one will still have to bear it after coming out of the heights of blissful Cosmic Consciousness. This brings us to the next obvious question, which is–what is the source of suffering?

The yogic answer to this is–the ability to perceive and experience. A simple answer can be–I feel therefore I suffer by feeling pain! Yes, it is very negative. Yet it is the exploration for a solution to this conundrum of living that ultimately revealed the prize of yoga, which is the ability to transcend consciousness / perception itself. This is what the realization of the Self confers, the ability to slip out of consciousness entirely and return to it as its master. After realizing the Self, the yogi will begin to develop a perception of the Self within his or her consciousness, a process possible only after Self-Realization. This perception will be like a lighthouse to the yogi allowing him or her to explore and enjoy consciousness without getting mired in it or attached to it. As yogis say, being in the world, but not of it; or to live in the world as detached as a drop of water on a lotus leaf.

Thus the pursuit of the Self is the pursuit of mastery over consciousness (and perception) and by extension of such mastery the yogi can overcome suffering. How then is concentration and time related to this ultimate form of spiritual enlightenment? Concentration is the vehicle that moves awareness from consciousness to the Self. However this concentration is not a simple matter of maintaining focus in the mind, rather it involves very intense levels of rarified concentration and has more to do with resisting temptation; but not the kind of material temptations that you might be thinking of. At these levels of concentration the temptation is not to allow the concentrative effort to get dissipated by enjoying the expanded consciousness of blissful savikalpa samadhi. If this happens the yogi will have to start from scratch to rebuild the momentum of his concentration to attempt to realize the Self again.

It takes a lot of willpower to traverse the blissful states of higher consciousness until the Self is reached. Often in training under a yoga guru, it is when a disciple is getting close to realizing the Self that the guru will be the most uncompromising and stern. "When you see the Divine Light do not linger in it but go to it's center and then go-in-and-in. When you see a form of God or feel something, keep going-in-and-in until the Self is reached. You will have all the time in the world to enjoy Satchitananda after you've realized the Self". 'Going-in-and-in' was my guru's words for urging his yogis to maintain concentration. Thus the pinnacle of concentrative effort leads to the Self and ultimate spiritual enlightenment.

The connection between time (or rather the lack of it!) and enlightenment is more incidental but no less important. Going beyond consciousness in direct relation also means going beyond time since time is an attribute of consciousness. In the mystical traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, the pursuit of the Self, nirvikalpa samadhi is poetically symbolized as the conquest over time. In both these traditions time is deified in the form of Mahakala. You will notice that the portrayal of Mahakala is as a fierce, even scary being.

These portrayals of Mahakala or 'Great Time' mean to depict the transitoriness of the world. Because all of Creation is subject to time which is subject to the cycle of creation, preservation and destruction; impermanence is always lingering in the background of life. Thus Mahakala represents impermanence. The usually scary thought of impermanence is an impetus that Hindu and Buddhist traditions use to urge their followers to pursue enlightenment as a sanctuary from Mahakala. This sanctuary, which can be found in nirvikalpa samadhi, is a place that is beyond time, therefore a place where Mahakala cannot follow. From this place dawns on one who has achieved it the ultimate form of peace, which is contentment born of the freedom from fear. Gurus of these mystical traditions will insist that the best use of time is the pursuit of Self-Realization; the achievement of which frees the soul from the shackles of time, leading to freedom from the fear of loss and, by extension leads to freedom from suffering.

It takes sometime for a yogi to recognize that he or she has realized the Self. It is not an immediate 'eureka' type of experience. It can be likened to waking from sleep. We are usually not aware that we are sleeping as we sleep. It is only when we awaken that we become aware that we had slept from the feeling of restfulness or if we find ourselves laying on a bed. It is uncommon that we wake from sleep and become immediately aware that we had just slept. Like this the yogi will only know that he or she has achieved the Self after observing certain tell-tale changes in the way he or she perceives the world. One of these tell-tale changes is the losing of the fear-of-loss. As the feelings of fear and insecurity begin to erode from the yogis consciousness the passing of time will become less and less relevant, along with the age of the body, fear of death, fear of losing things and people; and the fear of pain and suffering. As the yogi continues his effort to maintain nirvikalpa samadhi as a consistent experience, the consciousness of timelessness begins to infiltrate his subconscious. Timelessness will eventually beam as part of the yogi's personality, at which point the yogi will have completed his conquest over time and suffering; and is able to feel the sense of immortality, not of the body, but of his innate identification of unity with the Self  that lies beyond consciousness.