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
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