Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
'Advaita Vedanta has influenced modern scientists. Erwin Schrödinger claimed to have been inspired by Vedanta in his discovery of quantum theory. According to his biographer Walter Moore: "The unity and continuity of Vedanta are reflected in the unity and continuity of wave mechanics. In 1925, the world view of physics was a model of a great machine composed of separable interacting material particles. During the next few years, Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg and their followers created a universe based on superimposed, inseparable waves of probability amplitudes. This new view would be entirely consistent with the Vedantic concept of All in One.". Additionally, Fritjof Capra's book The Tao of Physics is one among several that pursues this viewpoint as it investigates the relationship between modern, particularly quantum, physics and the core philosophies of various Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. Unfortunately, such writings by western authors often run the risk of oversimplifying and ignoring important differences between Eastern religions. For instance, pre-modern Vedantins argued for the existence of an eternal self, or atman, while Buddhists have denied this possibility. But as more and more translations of Vedantic works become available, modern students of the many schools of Vedanta are able make up their own minds regarding the claims of authors like Schrödinger and Capra.'
As mentioned in the sticky (I appreciate the efforts of Feathers in Hair, the writer to explain it without any distortion), I have considered the various questions are have arrived at these conclusions. Your discussions are welcome:
1. Existence of God: Since one substrate constitutes what is percieved as substance, energy, and gives rise to time, and space, there is no reason to pre-suppose anything like God. As per our current knowledge the substrate is quantum field. I will be open to further advances in science (if it proves there are nine type of strings, I will adjust my belief accordingly). Human happiness or misery does not effect any change in the way of things, so I guess that this substrate has no connection with human affairs, other than the common changes in quantum field. It is not cruel, it is not kind, it is not miserly, it is not munificient, etc. Trying to impute human attributes to it has consistently failed in history.
2. Ribirth/Reincarnation: Again no reason to accept anything like that. Atoms coming from various sources make our beginning, during the time humans are in the womb and later in life, our constitution changes slowly, at death these atoms are recycled into many things.
3. Our consciousness: We percieve ourselves as something definite with particular trains of thought. Percieving ourselves as entities is a temporary and imaginary. Really we are just quantum fields. With our death, just as this entity ceases to exist, our consciousness also ceases to exist.
4. Meaning of life: None. Evolution will go on to (most probably) erase us from this planet where we are captives. We may go to moon, Venus, or Mars, but that is about all. It has done that with all the species, and there is no reason, why we should be exceptions. Our family, our society, our culture, our country, these things give us a purpose. If it is possible to go beyond these without harming these, we may do that, but not at their cost.
5. Karma: Nothing like it. No reason to accept the existence of heaven and hell. Our actions need to be tailored to the needs of our family, our society, and the world in general, because we are parts of it. That is termed in Hinduism as 'dharma' (roughly duty).
6. Enlightenment/Understanding: Closing your eyes or even your mind to thinking in meditation does not get you any understanding. It is clear and focussed thinking (meditation may help) which tells us the way of the world and our position in it. That is enlightenment, it is not that it changes us into a Godman or avatara. Enlightenment is when you have answers to all answerable questions. Nirvana, Moksha, does not mean going to heaven and be with your personal God, though becoming 'Brahmaleen' (being merged with Brahman, the substrate) is much closer (really, you were never separated from it).
I suppose that would be enough for a beginning. Let us discuss this to the best of our ability, as they say 'Tejaswi Navadheetamastu', without being acrimonious to each other, 'Ma Vidvishamahi'.
As mentioned in the sticky (I appreciate the efforts of Feathers in Hair, the writer to explain it without any distortion), I have considered the various questions are have arrived at these conclusions. Your discussions are welcome:
1. Existence of God: Since one substrate constitutes what is percieved as substance, energy, and gives rise to time, and space, there is no reason to pre-suppose anything like God. As per our current knowledge the substrate is quantum field. I will be open to further advances in science (if it proves there are nine type of strings, I will adjust my belief accordingly). Human happiness or misery does not effect any change in the way of things, so I guess that this substrate has no connection with human affairs, other than the common changes in quantum field. It is not cruel, it is not kind, it is not miserly, it is not munificient, etc. Trying to impute human attributes to it has consistently failed in history.
2. Ribirth/Reincarnation: Again no reason to accept anything like that. Atoms coming from various sources make our beginning, during the time humans are in the womb and later in life, our constitution changes slowly, at death these atoms are recycled into many things.
3. Our consciousness: We percieve ourselves as something definite with particular trains of thought. Percieving ourselves as entities is a temporary and imaginary. Really we are just quantum fields. With our death, just as this entity ceases to exist, our consciousness also ceases to exist.
4. Meaning of life: None. Evolution will go on to (most probably) erase us from this planet where we are captives. We may go to moon, Venus, or Mars, but that is about all. It has done that with all the species, and there is no reason, why we should be exceptions. Our family, our society, our culture, our country, these things give us a purpose. If it is possible to go beyond these without harming these, we may do that, but not at their cost.
5. Karma: Nothing like it. No reason to accept the existence of heaven and hell. Our actions need to be tailored to the needs of our family, our society, and the world in general, because we are parts of it. That is termed in Hinduism as 'dharma' (roughly duty).
6. Enlightenment/Understanding: Closing your eyes or even your mind to thinking in meditation does not get you any understanding. It is clear and focussed thinking (meditation may help) which tells us the way of the world and our position in it. That is enlightenment, it is not that it changes us into a Godman or avatara. Enlightenment is when you have answers to all answerable questions. Nirvana, Moksha, does not mean going to heaven and be with your personal God, though becoming 'Brahmaleen' (being merged with Brahman, the substrate) is much closer (really, you were never separated from it).
I suppose that would be enough for a beginning. Let us discuss this to the best of our ability, as they say 'Tejaswi Navadheetamastu', without being acrimonious to each other, 'Ma Vidvishamahi'.
