East,west and the middle

We divide the world as east, west and the middle when come to religion, culture and philosophy. This division need not represent the ground reality of today but for the sake of analysis we may use these words. In this world of information technology in 21 century it is surprising how we still divide the world in terms of religion, culture and language. It clearly indicates that the progress in science and technology has nothing to do with deep rooted beliefs, dogmas and cultural values. West represents the western world of Christianity as a predominant religion and culture with their industrialization and technological advancements. The East represents the eastern world with Hinduism and Buddhism as religion and culture, with rising powers of India, China and Japan and their economic prosperity. The middle represents the Persian Gulf region with Muslim and Jewish religions, their oil wealth and prosperity and religious and cultural values. When we look at the fundamental and core teachings of these religions there are some differences. How and why there are differences in their fundamental teachings? Does it mean they are incompatible and irreconcilable with each other? Or have we misunderstood or misinterpreted these fundamental teachings? If there are so many differences, what is the background for these differences.It is a huge task to delve deep into the subject and make a sensible analysis. But we can look at core teachings of these religions and draw some obvious conclusion. In Christianity: Its main points are : a. belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit b. the death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension of Christ c. the holiness of the Church and the communion of saints d. Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgment and salvation of the faithful. The core teaching of Jesus Christ is to “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”. 2. In Islam: “God is only One and incomparable. Purpose of existence is to Love and serve God”. 3. In Judaism: “There is a single incorporeal God, who gives command which constitutes a moral Law for all humanity.” 4. In Hinduism: “Only God exits and everything else is only an illusion ‘Maya’. 5. In Buddhism: Buddha is not a God and Buddhism philosophy does not entail any theistic world-view. It teaches three universal truths. a. Nothing is lost in the universe. b.Everything changes. c.Law of Cause and effect (Karma) Once can read the above teachings and conclude that all religions in the world except Buddhism teaches about God and the relation of human beings with God. Buddhism does not discuss about God but teaches the universal truths, which sound more like ‘scientific principles’ than religion. It is a practical philosophy and it is appealing to new generation and the ‘New age’ world without discussing about God. By deeply contemplating all religious teachings I am of the opinion that purpose of human existence is to understand God and try to reach him by practicing moral and ethical values. People loving each other with the common purpose of reaching God seems very logical. If there are conflicts and differences between people then the main purpose of reaching God cannot be achieved. If only God exists and everything else is only an ‘illusion’ then there is no place for human conflicts and differences. By loving one another there is a hope for human beings to achieve the goal of reaching God.

God plays dice

I have always struggled to choose between ‘science’ and ‘philosophy’ because my current knowledge and understanding of science is not compatible with my beliefs and traditions. When I read Albert Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 and his concept of space and time and his revolutionary explanations about our universe, I was deeply fascinated. Yet I had to differ with him when he said “God does not play dice”. He argued that there must be some underlying, deterministic ‘clockwork’ running the universe and giving the appearance of probability at work in quantum systems. He firmly believed in his words. However he spent most of his last years to find a unified theory combining gravity and quantum mechanics (especially electromagnetism)without any success.The world recognized him by awarding ‘Nobel prize’ and named him as ‘ Man of the Millenium’.He spent his last days as a recluse until he died. When Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in the journal ‘Annals of physics’ in Germany, a genius from India by name Ramana Maharishi preached something completely different. He said there is nothing to be observed when there is no observer. Ramana said “when the mind, which is the cause of all cognitions and all actions become quiescent, the world will disappear. What is called mind is a wondrous power residing in the self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thought, there is no such thing as mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the state of waking and dreaming, there are thoughts and there is also a world. Just as the spider emits into a thread of web out of itself and again withdraws into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again return into itself. When the mind comes out of the self, the word appears to be real and the self does not appear. When one persistently enquires into the nature of mind, the mind will end, leaving the self as a residue. What is referred to as the self is Atma.The mind always exist only in dependence of something gross, it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (Jive)”. His observer theory was not published widely but was recognized after his death by famous Physicist like David Bohm, a quantum physicist. However Albert Einstein never came to terms with ‘Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum theory arguing that “God does not play dice”. Modern physics is still grappling with problems like wave-particle duality of light and grand unified theory Einstein dreamt. Scientists are still hoping to find the elusive sub atomic particles such as Bosons known as ‘God particles’. In deep contemplation of ‘Samadhi’ there is no observer and observed. The whole concept of science and our life on earth comes to an end with ‘Death’.Philoshopy has the final word and all our struggle in this scientific world comes to an end when we approach the death. .

We may depart empty handed

I am always fascinated by the teachings of Jesus Christ, though I was born as a Hindu and we were practicing Hinduism for generations. What fascinates me the most is , his parables and teachings. They imply that he was a practicing yogi. When I read ‘The text of Gospel of Thomas’ (the secret sayings of living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded) it was clear to me that his teachings and the aphorisms of yoga sutra by Patanjali are exactly the same. Most of the Hindu scriptures dating back to 3300 BC at the times of Indus valley civilization written in Sanskrit language formed the basis of Vedanta and Puranas.Fundamentally, all these scriptures taught only about the importance of moral values in life. The main goal of true Hindu practitioners is to escape the ‘cycle of life and death’ because life on earth is nothing but suffering and misery. The purpose of teaching yoga is to rescue the aspirant from further sufferings in this world. It is a step by step guide for an aspirant to evolve from a simple human being into the highest level of Divinity, here and now in this world. The fact that only one or two among billions of people can reach the level of Divinity indicates how crude or ignorant human beings are and how arduous the path of evolution by practicing Yoga. According to the Gospel of Thomas: Jesus said,’ “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts, and do not see, for they came to the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty.But’meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways”. Clearly he implies that people cannot see the reality because they are ignorant; yoga terms this as ‘Avidya’ or ignorance by which we mistakes ‘false’ for ‘truth’ and ‘pain for happiness’ and ‘impermanent’ for ‘permanent’. All our actions are based on such false notions and they end only in misery and sufferings. When we can truly distinguish the truth from false then we are liberated from further sufferings. People can be easily carried away by false notions because we live in a materialistic world and everything is based on materialism and consumerism. End results are more important than means. My own personal life is a clear example. I suffered so much because of my false hopes and ambitions. I was hoping that things would become better but it was getting worse. I believed ‘darker it gets, nearer the dawn’ but that darkness prolonged for ever until I realized that the path I took was wrong and I had to change my ways completely in an opposite direction. I believe this is happening in many people’s lives. People may be continuing in the same path without realizing the truth. We are now witnessing so much turbulence in the world. Increasing unemployment, poverty, violence and innocent deaths are all signs of impending disaster unfolding in our lifetime. We clearly lost our way and unless we change our directions by shaking off our drunkenness we may have to depart empty handed only to return to the world of sufferings once again.