Albert Einstein"A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man.”

Dear All,

Socrates was a genius because he realized that the key to wisdom is not how much you know, but how well you understand how little you know. That is why he irritated so many powerful people in ancient Athens; his philosophy burst the bubble of their misplaced confidence.

Similarly, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) said that to be human is to be"between beasts and angels.” He meant that we are not ignorant like the animals. But we are also far from wise. Faith for Augustine was about deepening the capacity to enter this cloud of unknowing, rather than opting for the shallow certainties that religion can deliver.

According to Albert Einstein"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man.”

This Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute Reality called Brahman is said to be eternal, genderless, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and ultimately indescribable in human language. It can be at best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. Brahman is regarded as the source and essence of the material universe. It is pure being. Brahman manifests as Hiranyagarbha, the"World soul", which also can take many forms or manifestations of the thousands of gods. It was deemed a singular substrate from which all that is arises, and debuts with this verse:

"Great indeed are the devas who have sprung out of Brahman.”— Atharva Veda

Originally, in the earliest mantras of the Vedic Samhitas, the word Brahman probably meant pious effigies coming out of the prayers in their fire-sacrifices, and hence the actual power behind the rituals. However, as the centuries passed and the first Upanishads (the primary Vedantic scriptures that putatively serve as commentaries on the original liturgical books of the Vedas) were written, the concept of Brahman fittingly grew in scope and complexity. Soon, the ancient writers of the Upanishads insisted that Brahman, in addition to being material, efficient, formal and final causes of the cosmos, was also utterly beyond all four senses of origin. Essentially, it is also beyond being and non-being alike, and thus does not quite fit with the usual connotations of the word God and even the concept of monism. For this reason, some authors use the word 'Godhead' for Brahman, to distinguish it from the usual usage of the word 'God'. It is said that Brahman cannot be known by material means, that we cannot be made conscious of it, because Brahman is our very consciousness. Brahman is also not restricted to the usual dimensional perspectives of being, and thus enlightenment, moksha, yoga, samadhi, nirvana, etc. do not merely mean to know Brahman, but to realise one's 'brahman-hood', to actually realise that one is and always was of Brahman nature. Indeed, closely related to the Self concept of Brahman is the idea that it is synonymous with jiva-atma, or individual souls, our atman (or soul) being readily identifiable with the greater soul of Brahman.

The shallow certainties that religion can deliver does not include the ignorance and falsehood the masses learn from the priesthood. It is thus difficult to erase even the most glaring of avidya for the spiritually diseased mind is addicted to the cocaine of collective prayer, rituals or doctrine. The security of millions prostrating shoulder to shouldder in collective unity is a powerfully reinforcing psychostimulant for the religious masses. But how well have they understood the little they know? Where resides the Spirit/Brahman that is vastly superior to that of man? After so many centuries has any guardian of the religious regimes — priests, pastors, reverends, bishops, popes, rabbis, clerics, imams, mullahs, shaikhs, ulema, ayatollahs, gurus, swamis, pandits, brahmins, acaryas, bhagwans, granthis, gianis, lamas, monks, dalai lamas — found the Spirit?

So how do we remove this Maya or spiritual ignorance? It is necessary to first understand it.

"One will gasp in disbelief when one is told that various colors seen in this world of objects are actually non-existent. Every object is basically colorless but when it is exposed to solar rays these objects absorb certain colors from the rays and reject others. It is only on this basis that we see 'colored' objects. That color not absorbed by an object is sent back i.e. reflected. This reflected light enters our eye and thus we think that object to be of the reflected solar ray's color. Plants in reality are not green in color since basically they are colorless. Yet they appear green because plants cannot absorb the green color of solar rays falling on them. Since this green color gets reflected it enters our eye which assumes that the plant is green in color. When the green unabsorbed color gets reflected it enters our eyes and thus the latter out of delusion says 'the plant is green in color'. This illusory information is taken to be a die hard truth by us all. Bye and bye we keep proving to the world with various hypotheses that plants are green in color. If someone challenges these hypotheses he/she is mocked at and called a deluded fool. No one is willing to delve deep into the fact that our senses and mind are all the time giving illusory information from the absolute standpoint. It should be noted over here that no doubt the mind and senses are needed to carry out worldly transactions yet what we are trying to say is that such information cannot be taken as an absolute truth. They fail to accept that our mind and senses are deluding us by falling prey to the illusory wiles of Mother Nature (Prakriti). Over here the green color of plant is merely an example. This example is meant to show how our senses deceive us with reference to the colors and other qualities of various objects in the world. We say that our eyes, ears, mind, intellect etc is the ultimate proof. But if they are prone to get carried away by illusory information the very theory of direct proof becomes faulty....

Knowledge/wisdom is the most vital aspect of human lives. Hence it has to be apt and error free. If our consciousness gives us knowledge that is illusory and error prone know for sure that this consciousness has been veiled by the darkness of ignorance (Ajnana). If this veil of ignorance is not lifted and destroyed our consciousness is bound to lead us astray in this world of illusion not for merely one life but for innumerous lives put together. This veil of ignorance is called Maya in Vedanta Philosophy which is the root cause of strife and pain undergone by spiritually ignorant human beings. Maya is not some external object or event of sorrow in the external world. Maya is the deluded state of our individual minds. If we succeed individually in lifting this veil of ignorance i.e. Maya our bondage to the material world will be cut asunder eternally. Salvation which is the eternal limitless fount of spiritual bliss (Ananda) can be attained by just about anyone and everyone.” (Yuga Rishi Shriram Sharma Acharya)

But if our consciousness gives us knowledge that is illusory and error prone know for sure that this consciousness has been veiled by the darkness of ignorance (Ajnana). So how do we remove this Maya or spiritual ignorance? You cannot until and unless you are silent and free from the conversations, chattering, scheming and gossip of your own deluding mind. Yoga is Silence. Spirit is Silence. Brahman is Silence.

so realize your Self and become the same Silence!

jagbir