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.

Mystic Time : Part Three, Optimizing The Waiting Chore

In Part Two we explored simple yoga methods to overcome fear when faced with situations that trigger the adrenaline hyped up fight-or-flight reaction. The techniques of shifting the point of focus using affirmations and relaxation using breathing are meant to limit if not eliminate any element of fear that may interfere with the positive effects of adrenaline on the mind or body in such situations. They can also counter effects of anxiety such as "butterflies in the stomach" or mind-blocking nervousness while anticipating an event. Anxiety and nervousness are the products of the slowed perspective of time caused by adrenaline as the body and mind become hyper-concentrated on the task ahead. While these are for imminent fight-or-flight situations ( Click Here to Read Mystic Time Part Two), adrenaline is also the drug of choice that the body produces when we are excited about an event yet to happen and that may still be distant in time.

The waiting game in these situations can be agonizing at times and almost always frustrating. Usually the event is some form of entertainment. The event itself usually does not require much in terms of our performance, we just have to attend and enjoy– like going to watch a much awaited for movie, a much anticipated party, meeting or vacation and such. Even if the event is hours or days away, the excitement that adrenaline causes is the source of "tunnel concentration". Tunnel concentration, like tunnel vision is when we are acutely focused on only one particular subject that nothing else matters. Tunnel concentration can make us become so focused on one subject that all other matters, no matter how important can easily be ignored. As soon as tunnel-concentration starts time will be perceived moving slower (Part One of Mystic Time reveals a connection between the perception of time and concentration) and the waiting game starts.

The wait which is always too long is exasperated by concentration which slows the perception of time further. The main problem apart from the fretting caused by the wait is the inability to do anything else but wait. This renders one so debilitatingly helpless to whatever else that needs to be done. The waiting becomes an unproductive use of time. Even if you tried to make the time productive it might not prove worthwhile because you will have to tussle with the tunnel concentration.

Here is an example of a tunnel concentration situation. Nathan is going to his college alumni party that he had been eagerly waiting for. He is excited about catching up with his old college mates and wants to make a great impression. Two days before the party while still in a more normal  level of excitement he decides exactly what to wear and when to leave. Moving forward to hours before leaving for the party he begins to feel the adrenaline rush of excitement. At this point all he can think about is what it's going to be like at the party. He rehearses conversations he is going to have and how he would introduce himself and so forth. All other priorities or chores that he had set out to do before the party becomes inconsequential. When he tries to do any of the chores, like something from work the tunnel concentration on the party renders the effort pointless. So instead of fidgeting around he tries to get some rest, but with adrenaline flowing in the system even resting is a struggle. The mind is just too active and the wait is starting to get to Nathan. He keeps looking at the clock hoping miraculously that it is almost time to go, but time seems agonizingly slow. With all this waiting, the excitement becomes exasperating. So to use the time Nathan decides he should tryout the suit he is going to wear for the party. He had decided what he was going to wear earlier. He puts the suit on, everything seems fine but....the tie! Something seems off with the tie. He goes to his wardrobe gets out all his ties and puts on one after the other and simply cannot find a suitable one. Here again is another symptom of tunnel concentration. Tunnel concentration is not a good state of mind to be in to make decisions. It is a great state of mind to be in when executing a plan of action but the worst time for revisiting decisions or to do planning. Because Nathan's mind is hyper-concentrated every tie he puts on seems to be flawed. He can always find the proverbial black spot every tie he puts on. Nevertheless time passes albeit unproductively, until it is time to leave for the party. So Nathan does his final prep, and when it comes to what tie he is going to wear he goes with original decision. At last Nathan is at his eagerly anticipated alumni party and has a gala time. Next day in a moment of retrospect while playing catch up with his chores he wonders why he couldn't have got all those chores done instead of wasting the time needlessly. It doesn't makes sense in retrospect, but considering the incapacitating tunnel concentration effects of adrenaline in certain situations, the wasting away of time was only natural.

In yoga philosophy tunnel concentration is called a vritti. Vritti, literally translated from Sanskrit is whirlpool. These whirlpools in the mind can suck and contain all the resources of the mind and body toward a single point of focus. In many situations this function of the mind of creating vrittis as a natural effect of adrenaline is very helpful. A student writing an exam will find a vritti very helpful because her mind will be very focused and all the faculties of the mind–memory, intellect, creativity–will be primed and ready to serve efficiently. Likewise an athlete waiting at the starting line will be in a vritti which will eek out every nuance of required resources from the body and mind and keep it tweaked for optimal performance. However in the "waiting chore" vrittis are never useful, except perhaps for a short period just before an event.

What is the antidote to the mind-narrowing tunnel concentration or vritti? Yoga provides a number of techniques to cure vrittis. Yes, there are different types of vrittis caused by different faculties of the mind.  For the "waiting chore" the most effective and efficient cure is provided by a particular series of hatha yoga exercises. This series has three poses, and mystically these yoga poses work with the second chakra (spiritual centers) within the spine. The second chakra is the svadishtana chakra. This chakra controls moods, emotions and some intellectual function. All vrittis are generated out of some kind of emotional energy in the mind. These yoga poses, namely janu sirshasana and paschimottanasana, effect the second chakra directly and balances all the energies within this chakra. While these yoga poses are are done tunnel concentration will unravel and dissipate naturally; and the subconscious mind will go through what I call a 'master reset'. After the master reset one will gain a quiet composure and the energies of the mind can be ready to be directed into whatever needs to be done. Below is a youtube video from on my hatha yoga tutorial that explains and will guide you on how to perform these yoga poses.

Let's go back to Nathan's scenario before he left for the party to learn where and when he should have done these yoga exercises to prevent getting stuck in a vritti. He has got a few hours to go and had earlier planned to get some chores done. He wants to get the chores done and rest before going to the party but realizes that the excitement he is feeling in anticipating the party is starting to cause tunnel concentration. Upon this realization he takes five minutes and does the three yoga poses. One of the amazing things about practicing hatha yoga is that despite Nathan being a novice yogi and is unable do the poses very well, in fact he has to use a small towel because he cannot touch his toes with his fingers in the foward backbend, the unravelling of the tunnel concentration still occurs. While he bends forward he visualizes bright yellow colour and takes slow, relaxed, deep breaths and exhales equally slowly. He holds each pose stationary to the level he can bend comfortably and does six cycles of breath before moving to the next pose. When he finishes all three poses he feels relieved from tunnel concentration and has all his mind faculties back at his disposal to do as he pleases. Whenever he finds tunnel concentration creeping in, he does another round of the yoga poses and he quells the vritti again. Thus the optimizing of the waiting chore.

Mystic Time : Part Two, Managing the Fight or Flight Situation - Countering Fear

In any fight or flight situation, the adrenaline pumping into our bloodstream can cause all sorts of physical and emotional reactions. One these is that time seems to slow down. As we get ever closer to an anticipated event, the passing of every minute seems to get longer. If we are positively excited about what is about to happen this is good, we will be roaring to go like a racing car waiting for the lights to turn green. However if we are fearful, the fear can be both dangerous and counter productive. In such cases how does one manage the fight or flight situation to his or her advantage? In yoga two techniques come in handy. One is relaxation, the other is moving concentration to an alternate point of focus. (Click Here to Read Mystic Time: Part One)

Let us look at the first situation where we need to relax. Such situations are when we are either anxious and/or fearful of upcoming proceedings and their outcome. The waiting or anticipation is exasperating. Some examples of these kind of situations are being stricken by stage-fright, panic-attacks because of phobias, facing an examination, waiting to give a presentation or even for soldiers or policeman waiting for an imminent battle.

In these situations relaxation techniques especially breathing comes in very handy. It may be counter productive to eliminate the reason for the anxiety entirely, but fear does no good. If one is simply anxious and can transform this feeling to a calm concentrated poise, this is optimal management of the situation. Anxiety can be turned to positive excitement or calm poise by visualizing or affirming a positive outcome of the event or situation. The fear can be eliminated using simple breathing and visualization technique such as the one below.

Take a deep breath and fill up your lungs with as much air as you can possibly hold. Then hold the breath in for about two seconds. After the two seconds, begin breathing out as slow as you possibly can through your nostrils only while visualizing bright blue colour of clear sky. Try to make the exhalation last between fifteen to twenty seconds. You can also affirm to yourself of the positive outcome you are anticipating as you are doing this. If it suits you better the visualization of sky blue can be replaced with a prayer. Do this either for 6 or 9 cycles of breath and you will feel the fear dissipate without loss of concentration or other positive heightened effects of the senses that adrenaline causes. You would be in a state of poise as that of a zen master. You will still feel the slowed perception of time, but it will be to your advantage as positive energies flood the body and mind during the wait. (Click Here to Read Mystic Time Part One)

Mystic Time : Part One, The Relationship between Concentration and the Perception of Time

In my study of time as a mystic, I have come to the conclusion that the perception of time is connected to the degree of concentration. This relationship between time and concentration is an inverse relationship, where the higher or more acute one's concentration, the greater the degree one will perceive that time is slowing down. This relationship between concentration and time effects all of us and to a mystic the fact that the perception of time can be altered means that time is an element that can be mastered.

Of course the perception of time slowing down or speeding up time does not have anything to do with the clock. One second remains a second, but concentration gives the ability to get more things done in that second. In other words we become more efficient and use the time more productively, which in turn makes us perceive time moving slower. At the opposite end of the spectrum, when we are not concentrating on anything in particular, for instance when we are relaxing or enjoying something effortlessly (like watching a movie), it can seem as if time sped up. Before we realize it two hours has gone past when it felt more like an hour.

A clear analogy on the relationship between time and concentration can be found in the evolution of microchips. As microchip design becomes more efficient in cramming more and more transistors in ever smaller spaces computing power increases tremendously. As the microchips clock in faster processing times it is explained that the perception of time for the computer (if computers have consciousness) slows down. That is, if a computer gets a new and more efficient microchip than its previous chip, and if the computer somehow could perceive, it would feel as if time had slowed down because it can do more in less time.

Before I get into the application of the ability to contort the perception of time let me first qualify the mystic hypothesis that the perception of time can sped up or slowed down. One of the most powerful concentration drug that is manufactured by our body is adrenaline. Adrenaline can bring our mind to such an acute point of focus that we can shut off all other unrelated perceptions or distractions very effectively. The most common situations when adrenaline gets secreted in high doses into our bloodstream is either when we are anxious or excited, also known as the fight or flight reaction. In both these cases one can perceive that time has slowed down considerably.

Lets take anxiety. Whatever the reason for anxiety, doesn't anxiety make time slow down as we anticipate an event. This kind of anxiety is caused by events that we rather get over with quickly. We may be afraid of the outcome or hopeful of a positive outcome from the event. Either way it will seem as if the wait is too long. Adrenaline also is the base of excitement, where we cannot wait for some event to occur, where any amount of waiting seems just too long. During these times the mind is so focused on the event that its ability to multi-task is shut off and all one can do is wait anxiously by pacing up and down or fidgeting with something.

In the next installment of Mystic Time: Part Two will will look for yoga solutions to managing some adverse fight or flight conditions.

The Value of Natural Disasters

There is a mystical perspective known as the mountain top perspective. Quite simply it is derived from the fact that from high vantage points such as the summit of a mountain the view is always majestic. Even the path up to the summit that is riddled with dangerous, life threatening challenges look awesome from the summit. Imagine if we had seen the tsunami from such a point of view. From this perspective where the trials of people down on the street are invisible to the naked eye, the tsunami would look awesome. However this perspective is not enough to quell the quandaries, for it simply does not acknowledge the pain and suffering because it does not see it. A broader perspective is required, and this can be found in outer space and time. From outer space Earth is a precious sanctuary of biological life. Compare earth to the extremely inhospitable climate of space and the rest of the eight planets in the solar system, (perhaps seven planets since the status of pluto is being debated) and their moons and the wonder that is Earth is obvious. We must also take into account that Earth today is a product of billions of year of violent geological history. Compared to what science has discovered about its terrific past, our earth today is placid and pleasant, even if it rattles our lives on occasion. Armed with this perspective of outer space and time lets go back to the questions, "Why this tragedy had to happen?" and "What do we do to deserve such fury of nature?"

Why do natural disasters have to happen?

We live in a planet whose ability to sustain life is based on balancing extreme conditions. Whether we accept that the perfect distance we are from the Sun that allows water to exist in liquid form in most parts of Earth is a coincidence or divine design, it is just as important that our planet spins on its axis at the rate that it does, for our lives exist on Earth because of these and many other intricate balancing acts of nature. We are of course directly impacted by this valuable duty of nature. For the most part we take Earth's climate for granted. The bigger picture that we are living in this beautiful sanctuary of life easily escapes us. So comfortably do we succumb to the lullaby of Mother Earth that it seems cruel when she becomes a tempest on those rare occasions. However these violent events of nature are important to all of us in some way or another so that we can continue to enjoy those mainly wonderful placid days of living. Like parents who have to be stern with their children on occasions for some good reason, Mother Earth has to shake and rumble, spew molten rocks and ash, create storms of all variety on occasion to maintain her balance that makes our living possible. Perhaps global warming has a role to play in the recent spate of strong earthquakes and this is just one way Earth is balancing out access heat. Earth's weather and nature are still mysteries that have much to reveal as to their dynamics. Who is to question why Mother Earth does what she does? This is simply who she is, and it is for us to accept the inescapable fact that we live on Planet Earth and we are of Planet Earth.

What do we do to deserve this?
Nothing, we all deserve this as part of living on Earth. If we can accept the mostly peaceful days of living that most of us six billion humans enjoy with regards to the weather, then we should also expect to endure some sort of trial that nature will offer, not to test nor deliberately be cruel to us, but to help maintain the equilibrium on Earth that we all cherish.  If we have to go through some kind of natural disaster on those rare occasions, then our endurance counts as a sacrifice for the entire race of life on Earth. I believe because of this we should refrain from judgements of any kind on the people who have to endure natural calamities for their sacrifice is important to all life on Earth. If anything we owe a debt of deep gratitude to them. It should also remind us that when we plan our life we must be proactive in anticipating natural calamities in our locale. No part of earth, ocean or atmosphere is exempt from the docile and destructive forces of nature. Thus, part of living positively on Earth is accepting the responsibility that we must prepare for all possible eventualities in our area.

This blog is part of a Life Postive Forum titled, The Rejuvenating Powers of Nature. Click Here the rest of the content of this forum at my Pondering blog with the same title.

A HELPFUL E-BOOK ON PREPAREDNESS