1. Modern sciences are struggling to understand the relationship between the “Body, its organs like heart, Brain, etc. that are Matter” and “Consciousness” aka Self, Kingdom of God within, Atman or “Life” or something like it; and they generally ignore the study of idea of ‘Life’ or even ‘character’ because it is not a substance!
The famous scientist Nikola Tesla had met Vivekananda in America. In a letter written to his British disciple E T Sturdy, Vivekananda writes, “Things are growing nobly in America… and Vedanta is drawing the attention of the highest classes in American society.
Nikola Tesla was charmed to hear about the Vedic and Vedantic ideas of Creation and Prana, Akasha, Kalpa. Prana is Life force which enlivens the Body-brain-mind and all that is inert matter! Akasha is Space, which is Subtlest Matter. Consciousness projects itself as Matter thru’ Akasha (sound), Vaayu (touch), Fire (sight), Water (taste), Earth (Smell and all other senses too!) and the Universe itself.
Akash being subtlest, is all pervasive matter and being in closest proximity to Consciousness, prayers, mantras as sound ‘knock’ on its door, as it were! Kalpa is the cyclic Idea of this universe not a new creation but a cyclic ‘Projection’ of Consciousness. The universe is a cycle of “Projection” > “Sustenance” > “Destruction” making way for a new Projection. The cycle is represented as the Deities of ‘Brahma’, ‘Vishnu’, ‘Shiva’ respectively! Both Akasha and Prana (and Mind) and the Universe and all living-beings are a Projection from the Cosmic Consciousness, Brahman, the One Supreme God: thru its Veiling power of Maya.
With an open mind Tesla reflected and liked the ideas, which according to him are the only theories (of religions!) that modern science can entertain and felt that he can demonstrate mathematically that force and matter are reducible to potential energy!
Newtonian Physics of that time did not understand this idea. It held matter and energy to be fundamentally different. Vivekananda then asked Tesla if he could show mathematically that what we see as matter can be reduced to potential energy. Tesla was able to grasp the implications of this amazing concept and promised to demonstrate it mathematically.
Vivekananda wrote, ‘I am to go and see him next week, to get this new mathematical demonstration. He translated some verses from Sanskrit to Nikola Tesla at this party in New York on the 13th February 1896. The verses said, in essence, that ‘matter’ and ‘energy’, though apparently different, were actually the same in their fundamental nature i.e. Consciousness!
Tesla must have worked on it, but Tesla was primarily an Engineer; he however shared the insight with his close friend Mileva Maric, a very good mathematician. All his life, Einstein collaborated with good mathematicians, and he used to work with Mileva, who would work out the mathematics for his theories.
Einstein was then working on the consequences of Plank’s theory of light quanta. Mileva also happened to be Einstein’s cousin and his first wife. She collaborated with Einstein in his 1905 paper and thus, through Mileva, Einstein put that amazing concept into the most famous equation E = MC2, that ever hit the fan.
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, on 26th September 1905, came up with a paradigm-altering idea and it’s a wonder that it had the force and power to be able to give solid credence to such unconventional ideas and explode the smug complacence that prevailed among the scientific avant-garde who thought physics had sort of tied up all its loose ends!
2. Elon Musk now asserts that the best brains of modern era, the scientists and the techno of the best of the Universities and Silicon Valley are busy researching trivia! While we’re now exploring Akasha, Space, and Planets; we have yet to realize that Consciousness, beyond space and behind and around us!
Funnily enough, science as well as academia have even refused to explore, discover, and define a good person; differences in us; why we’re here and where we’re going and how to prepare ourselves for the journey by learning to know and manage our Mind!
Science has failed even to comprehend that there is an Inner world too! Behind the Gross body and all its organs, nerves, and all that is matter that can be perceived, is something subtle, though not perceivable, Prana, life-force. Subtler is Mind. Subtler is Intellect. Subtler is Viveka. Subtler is Memory bank. And Subtler governs the grosser! These Inner organs aka Mind, are not perceivable by the senses but still “I-AM-AWARE” of “THEM’’. Thus “I Am” is Consciousness. The entire Creation is Consciousness appearing as Matter and as Ego-I-Me-Mine vs You!
3. Our Challenge! Rishis gave us the scientific idea that Consciousness is the source of all power and knowledge and this Universe! Buddhism said just ‘Be good and Do good’. Christ brought scientific ethics and logic of ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God within and his Righteousness. The entire Renaissance, Age of Reason, end of the Dark Ages, and the Industrial Revolution in Europe came from the impetus released by Prophet Mohammad into the world.
Now the very best of us, our Spiritual seekers and Monks of all religions and Scientific seekers of Truth, have to investigate, explore, intellectually understand the vast subtle scientific ideas available in all religions, particularly the Vedas. Veda literally means ‘to know’. Of course, all beings are striving ‘to know’! So, Veda implies ‘knowing those things which are beyond our sense perceptions’! Academia and Science must now focus and explore the Inner World which governs the Outer world to know all that is to be known! Let knowledge come to us from all sides!
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
END OF ARTICLE
