Quantum Approaches to the consciopusness Part 4 26824 27824 KR IRS
VI INFERENCES
A question arises: “How is it possible that consciousness can be
associated with matter in any way whatsoever? How could consciousness know
that there is matter, because they are two different things, qualitatively?
If consciousness is infinite, it is everywhere. If it is everywhere, where
does matter exist? Where is the place for matter to exist at all, because
you have already filled the whole space with consciousness? Does matter
exist at all?”
(A?) Having established the fact that consciousness is everywhere,
it cannot be considered as an active principle, because activity is a
movement of something outside itself. The externality of a phenomenon is
necessary in order that activity is possible. If there is nothing outside
us, we cannot act. But having concluded that consciousness is everywhere,
and it is infinite in its nature, the Samkhya has to conclude, at the same
time, that consciousness is inactive, while prakriti is active. The
inactivity of the illumination of consciousness, combined with the activity
of matter, which does not know itself, is the whole drama of life. It is an
admixture of the inactive infinite consciousness, and the active
unconscious material principle. (AS ABOVE)
II Singularity and its feaciblity: The term "singularity" is most
commonly associated with the concept of a technological or intelligence
singularity, but it can also refer to mathematical and physical
singularities. Here’s a brief overview of each context:
Technological Singularity
Theory: The technological singularity is a theoretical point in the future
when artificial intelligence (AI) or some form of advanced technology
surpasses human intelligence, leading to unpredictable or even
uncontrollable changes in society. This idea is often linked to the notion
that technological growth could become so rapid and profound that it
transforms the world in ways we cannot currently foresee.
History: Early Foundations: The concept was popularized by
mathematician and computer scientist Vernor Vinge in the 1980s, who wrote
about the singularity in his essay "The Singularity" and in science fiction.
Ray Kurzweil: Futurist Ray Kurzweil further developed the idea with his
book "The Singularity Is Near," where he predicts that advancements in
technology, particularly in AI and nanotechnology, will lead to a radical
transformation of human life.
Current Discussions: The concept has evolved and been the subject of
considerable debate among futurists, technologists, and philosophers. Some
see it as a plausible future scenario, while others view it with skepticism.
Lack of Pursuit: Uncertainty: The unpredictability of the singularity
makes it difficult to develop concrete strategies for pursuing or
mitigating its effects.
Ethical and Practical Challenges: There are significant ethical and
practical concerns about the development of advanced AI, including issues
of control, safety, and societal impact.
Focus on Immediate Problems: Many researchers and policymakers prioritize
addressing current issues (such as climate change or economic inequality)
rather than speculative future scenarios.
2. Mathematical and Physical Singularities Theory: In mathematics and
physics, a singularity refers to a point at which a function, equation, or
physical quantity becomes undefined or infinite. Examples include:
Mathematical Singularities: Points where a function’s behavior becomes
erratic or undefined, such as in complex analysis.
Physical Singularities: Points in spacetime where gravitational forces
cause matter to have infinite density and zero volume, such as at the
center of a black hole.
History: Black Holes: The concept of singularities in black holes was
introduced by physicists like Karl Schwarzschild in the early 20th century.
The term was formalized with Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Cosmology: The singularity at the beginning of the universe, known as the
Big Bang singularity, is a key concept in cosmology.
Lack of Pursuit: Complexity: Theoretical understanding of
singularities often requires complex mathematics and high-level physics
that are not always easily applicable to everyday problems.
Empirical Evidence: Singularities are typically theoretical constructs, and
direct empirical evidence is challenging to obtain.
Focus on Solvable Problems: Much of the scientific community focuses on
problems with more immediate and practical applications, leaving some areas
of theoretical research less explored.
In summary, the concept of singularity has different meanings depending on
the context. The technological singularity remains a topic of debate with a
mix of excitement and skepticism, while mathematical and physical
singularities are well-established but often considered more abstract and
theoretical.
III Then, scence, world, exploits the matter and wishes to hold the,
so called or so appears in thoughts, as inactive, consciousness, might help
the control over all aspects of life. In other words, Brahmam we say
controls the whole as its manifest; that is the inactive consciousness; but
the world of science, wishes to take the power of brahmam, so that, as GOD,
it can control the life of all species. Ravanan wanted it; Hiranyyakshan
wanted it; many asuras lived only fo rthat; Bali chakravarthy was pushed
indepth by Vamana. On the contrary, Brahmam, does act and in ACTION, its
action is non-felt or unseen, or ununderstadable, so ot looks like there is
no action.
The sanathana dharma, is inteersted in teaching all species to
realise the brahmam; hence actions of 4 varnas and 3 gunas alone, are made
the characters of the peopl and other species, with complex nature as,
scaience feels in Singularity. The upanishads display what exactly should
be the action of all of us; and the procees are unconditional; but certain
human factors weaving through, made the procedures so complicated, by
certain procedures; and each must pass through by one’s own efforts only.
Science is neither harmful nor helpful; it is making the life beneficial;
the more the benefits, the more the lethargy vail covers it; an internal
cloud hided our vision; again, we have to know which part of the science is
needed; and we must know, which part of sanatana dharma is really advocated
to advance. It is effort of every individual. No one can escape; and no one
is left out also. Every atom must learn andd advance. Singularity is a
Maya; Matter is a maya; consciousness is real; but ununderstandable nor
predictable. The appearances of the consciousness being inactive is a Maya,
as matter has to behave the physical abstract of the consciousness only.
But while in duality, Matter becomes more important than the unseen
consciousness which alone is keeping all active to rest on the matter. When
we know, we are free, and touch the anandam.
Theory of Sanathana dharnma: Mandukya Upanishad is the source of the
Hindu revelations about the Four States of Consciousness and defines these
states as waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and turya (the fourth state, which
is the state of enlightenment). The great yogi Shankaracharya said that
this Upanishad, together with Gaudapada’s commentary on it, “contains the
epitome of the substance of the importance of Vedanta.”
In general, all Western science starts from the reference of a waking
state of consciousness. Here, sleep and dreams have appeared as
psychophysical phenomena to be analyzed from the standpoint of the waking
consciousness. All the other states—dream, deep sleep, etc.—are analyzed
from this perspective. Indeed, we perceive the phenomenal world only in one
state of consciousness—the waking state. Moreover, it is not perceived by
our entire being. It follows that philosophies based on the observation of
external facts alone are bound to be incomplete, because parts—both related
to the perceiver and the perceived—are missing.
The Vision of Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta (the vision of non-duality) affirms that the waking
consciousness is just a relative, not absolute, point of reference. The
waking state is not the ultimate, absolute reality. The dream and deep
sleep states are a second and third dimension of Pure Consciousness. Thus,
we can more easily understand the relative character of wakefulness. Here
Pure Consciousness, as revealed in turya, is the real continuous reference.
Ramana Maharshi and many other sages affirmed that turya is the background
of all the other states of consciousness. They further attested that it can
be revealed more easily in the moments of transition between one common
state of consciousness and another. {where science is floundering within
Id, WEgo and the sub-conscious syaye, Sanatana reaches the unknown realm of
the TURYA, beyond conscious sleep) }
Ramana affirmed: “… for the ajnani (ignorant human being) the
standard of reality is the waking state, whereas for the jnani (realized
being) the standard of reality is reality itself. This reality of pure
consciousness is eternal by its nature and therefore subsists equally
during what you call waking, dreaming, and sleep.”
Ramana proceeded to metaphorically express that the condition of a
jnani is eternal and is reflected in wakefulness, dreams, and deep sleep:
“To him who is one with that [Supreme] Reality there is neither the mind
nor its three states and, therefore, neither introversion nor extroversion.
His is the ever-waking state, because he is awake to the eternal Self; his
is the ever-dreaming state, because to him the world is no better than a
repeatedly presented dream phenomenon; his is the ever-sleeping state,
because he is at all times without the *‘body-am-I’ consciousness.”*
1. Wakefulness—Jagrat
In this state, atman (the Supreme Self) is mainly mis-identified with
annamaya kosha (the “sheath composed of food”—the physical body). Thus, the
jiva (soul) travels in objectivity and becomes an object itself, mostly
ignoring its subjective consciousness. In the waking state, the jiva is
caught up with objects (both external and internal) and loses the awareness
of its true nature as pure “subject.”
2. Dreaming—Svapna
The dream state is the state in which the Supreme Self is mainly
misidentified with pranamaya kosha (the “sheath composed of life force”)
and manomaya kosha (the “sheath composed of mind”). Thus, the jiva travels
in the cognitive world (the imaginative world of dreams), becomes one with
that realm, and loses the consciousness of atman (pure subjectivity).
Sometimes while in svapna, atman is misidentified with vijnanamaya kosha
(the “sheath composed of intellectual knowledge and understanding”) and
then there are lucid dreams. In the dream state, the jiva is caught up with
internal objects and loses sight of its true nature as pure “subject.”
3. Deep Sleep—Sushupti
In deep sleep, the Supreme Self is mainly misidentified with anandamaya
kosha (the “sheath composed of bliss”—the causal body). The soul travels in
a subjective world without being conscious of it, and becomes one with that
unconscious subjectivity. Because this state is related to a body, it still
has a fine veil of an objective character, but the content of the
experience is just bliss. In deep sleep, the jiva is free from objects but
has not yet transcended itself.
4. Turya Turya is the state in which there is no identification with
any of the koshas. Instead, there is perfect, pure awareness of Awareness.
Thus, there are no incorrect identifications, and avidya (ignorance)
vanishes. Only when turya appears do we realize that the seemingly solid
physical world in which we live is also like a dream. It is the revelation
of the background of the other three states of consciousness (waking,
dreaming, and deep sleep).
Beyond the Fourth…
While yogis speak of the Four States of Consciousness*, turyatita is
considered the fifth*. Meaning “beyond the fourth,” it represents the final
term of this hierarchy of existence, and is not part of the series. It is,
rather, a completely new perspective that transcends and integrates the
other three states, being incommensurable with them. Turya (the fourth
state) and turyatita are identical in content. We refer to turya when we
speak about a transitory condition that appears in some special moments and
then goes away, while turyatita is Pure Existence itself. It is the eternal
turya in which distinctions between the states of waking, dreaming, and
deep sleep dissolve and are embraced in the unique background of
Awareness—the pure bliss consciousness in which the entire objective world
(the Universe, the body, etc.) is not separated from the Self. A jnani
(realized sage) in turyatita never loses the awareness of Awareness
The studies of ‘Mind’ as well as ‘Consciousness’ through
established scientific methods of research are often difficult due to the
observed (object) and the observer (subject) dichotomy. The difficulty of
objectivizing an entity which is purely in the experiential domain is
immediately apparent. The root of the problem is that most of such
interpretations are based on the dualistic and the reductionist approach of
Rene Descartes, who considered mind and matter as two different entities.
The Newtonian determinism taught that the physical world is governed by
iron laws and everything in the physical world is predictable and thus
ultimately controllable. His strict distinction between observer/observed
left us in a dualistic world where there is no place for human struggle for
higher evolution. This mechanistic approach is what is being seriously
questioned by the Quantum theories of modern physics. ‘We are mind machines
or gene machines, our bodies are a collection of parts, our behavior is
conditioned and predictable, our souls – an illusion of archaic religious
language, our thinking the mere activities of the cells in the brain…… How
can we find the meaning of our human experience in this picture?’ laments
Dana Zohar. The body and mind have always been considered to be two
different manifestations of the same grosser and less gross aspects of the
same reality a position taken over centuries by the thinkers of the Orient.
{SCIENCE}
Sigmund Freud, a neurologist to begin with, explained the human mind
as a multilayered entity consisting of id, ego and superego. Many of his
theories on aggression, Oedipus and Electra complexes were influenced by
19th century Victorian culture and mindset with poor transcultural
applicability. Freudian, Neo-Freudian approaches held their sway over
European psychology for years. Pre-occupation with drive reduction remained
the theme of these schools. Carl Jung though widened the scope of human
existence by bringing in the concept of collective unconscious ended up
giving his own idiosyncratic explanations about various aphorisms of the
Upanishads. For a native of Europe, it was not only difficult to understand
what was mentioned in Sanskrit in the cryptic aphorisms of the Upanishads.
This is amply clear from the amusing explanations that Jung gives about the
interpretations of the nature of the ‘Brahman’ or the ‘Superconscious,’
which he explains as libidinal energy. A clear description of what
constitutes ‘Libido’ itself is not available.
Behaviorists like Walson and Skinner completely shifted the emphasis in the
opposite direction almost denying the existence of a conscious will. They
described every behavior based on S-R (Stimulus- Response) theory. The
Sociocentric theories gave lot of importance to social determinants of
human behavior again discounting the ‘free will’ in human behavior.
(pSYCHOLOGY AND PINDIAN PHILOSOPHY}
Cognitive schools which came in later primarily emphasized on
mental processes like memory, perception, imagery and thinking, which were
also influenced by factors like culture, education, state of health of the
individual. But, they too failed to explain the nature of ‘cognizer’ behind
the process of cognition, the ‘man behind the machine’.
It is the ‘Humanist Existential theories’ ‘ or ‘Third force
psychologies’ revolutionized western thinking in the recent years and
accepted the concept of free will and its importance as a motivator of
change. They gave importance to abstract concepts like empathy, love,
altruism, truth and beauty. The theories of Carl Rogers, Gordon Allport,
Abraham Maslow, Eric Fromm and Roberto Assagioli, particularly the last
were closer to the theories of the oriental philosophies. Roger's ‘empathy’
Maslow's ‘self actualization’ Fromm's ‘ultimate union’ and Assagioli's
‘transcending the self to achieve higher self’ are much closer to even
though not identical to what Oriental philosophies consider as ‘liberation’
or ‘moksha’ or ‘nirvana’.
The vedantic truths enunciated in the Vedas (particularly the last
portions of the Vedas referred to as Upanishads) from India possibly
authored by several known and unknown thinkers referred to as ‘Rishis’ in
cryptic aphorisms have described some universal truths, which have been
followed and practiced in the orient for centuries. The treatises of
oriental thinkers of the past like Patanjali and Vyasa are the examples of
these. Emphasis in these was equally on the subjectivity component of free
will and transcendental nature of the ultimate goal of self realization.
Upanishads, brahmasutras, bhagawadgita and Patanjali's yoga sutras are the
well-known documents dealing with these issues in the Indian subcontinent
over centuries.
Sage Pathanjali an ancient seer had enunciated as early as 400
B.C. the practical steps of such introspection in his 196 aphorisms in the
form of ‘Patanjali Yoga sutras’. Treatises have been written elaborately
explaining what has been in these cryptic statements of Patanjali.
Patanjali maintains that the goal of existence is liberation from this
ephemeral world of existence and exiting from the cycle of birth and death
and attaining the central core of existence, which is a transcendental
state of ‘Purusha’. This is stated as a transego state going beyond the
phenomenal world of ‘ego’ which is at the periphery of awareness.
The Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahmasutras which have been
considered together as three important documents (Known popularly as
‘Prastanathraya’) have remained the three most important collections of
such profound knowledge. Because of their complexity and stress on
ritualism, the ordinary masses could not practice them and they remained
with mostly the elite and the mighty in the society. Their revival was
started by Acharya Shankara. and in later years by Acharya Ramanuja,
Acharya Madhwa and various others.
The modern day philosopher-yogis and thinkers like Mahrshi Dayananda,
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Aurobindo and
Paramahamsa Yogananda or Swami Ramathirtha have revived the interest of the
masses in to this area.
Buddhism and Jainism branched out due to dissatisfaction of the masses with
the orthodoxy and complexity of the rituals prescribed by the Vedas. Many
of the treatises of Buddhism and Jainism too emphasized on the subjective
and transcendental nature of mind and consciousness.
Vedantic schools, which were primarily the products of intuitive
understanding of the seers (rishis of yore) were in the non-perceptual
paradigm and hence were not easily available for the measurements and
scientific validation that are insisted by the present day science. Science
as it is known today is primarily based on the perceptual paradigm.
Oriental psychologies do not subscribe to the body-mind dichotomy. Instead,
these philosophies considered mind and body as the gross and grosser aspect
of the underlying unitary reality which is described in vedantic texts as
‘soul’ or ‘atman’ or ‘brahman’. Here consciousness is explained in the
singular and as the only reality but appearing in its manifestations as
plural due to ignorance (Avidya) or false identification as self (Asmitha).
According to them the one appearing as many is a perceptual error (‘ekam
sat vipra bahudha vadanti’). The Vedantha philosophy has considered mind as
the subtle form of matter where in the body and its components are
considered the grossest forms. Consciousness, on the other hand, is
considered finer than ‘mind matter’ and is considered all pervasive,
omnipresent and omniscient. The ancient seers (the rishis) claimed that
such truths are revealed only by intuitive research by diving deep in to
the self in the process of absorption (Samadhi).
Swami Vivekananda explained the mind-body relationship from his own
transcendental experience ‘The body is just the external crust of the mind.
They are not two different things; they are just as the oyster and its
shell, they are but two aspects of one thing; the internal substance of the
oyster takes up matter from outside, and manufactures the shell. In the
same way, the internal fine forces which are called mind take up gross
matter from outside, and from that manufacture this external shell, the
body-We shall find how intimately the mind is connected with the body. When
the mind is disturbed, the body also becomes disturbed. Just as a
physicist, when he pushes his knowledge to its limits, finds it melting
away into metaphysics, so a metaphysicist will find that what he calls mind
and matter are but apparent distinctions, the reality being one.”
The mind-body dichotomy that has been mentioned earlier is at the root
of the problem here. Einstein's theory of inter-convertibility of energy
and matter was a land mark in physics. Modern physics-particularly the
quantum theories are looking at the particle as a bundle of energy and as a
unitary entity. The finding that subatomic particles seem to have their own
‘mind’ and do not seem to be predictable in their behavior or follow any
known rules as posited by quantum theories of modern physics finally may
show that body and mind dichotomy, a relic of Cartesian view too may fall
flat in the future.
Seers of the East proclaimed in the Upanishads (the essence of Vedas)
the Unitary approach of Non-duality (Adwaitha) and considered the outer
world as an extension of ‘self’. They argue that the only thing that exists
is ‘Consciousness’ (called by various names as ‘Brahman’ ‘Purusha’ etc.)
The world as we see is just a projection of the unitary consciousness. The
individualized consciousness is explained as a perceptual error due to
ignorance (Avidya) which begets a feeling of ‘I’ ness (Asmitha). The
individualized consciousness then because of attachment to objects by way
of love, desire, attachment or liking (Raaga) and hatred dislike or
aversion (Dwesha) gets entangled in the web of the world there by
forgetting the true nature of self as universal consciousness. The
individualized consciousness thus also is fearful of losing its existence
and that ‘desire to cling to life’ and that fear is described as
‘Abhinivesha’.
The liberation (Moksha) is thus explained as the final goal of every
being and the aim of existence and that can happen by getting rid of this
ignorance (Avidya) that ‘I’ am different than the universal consciousness
(Asmita) which is a perceptual error generated by attachment to the world
by Raga and Dwesha, which also results in fear of losing individual
existence (Abhinivesha). According to yoga philosophy birth and death are
mere vantage points in the existence and till liberated from the cycle and
move centripetally to the Brahman the cycle of birth followed by death and
then again birth is inevitable. Clearly, death or disappearance of form is
not considered the end of existence. AND THE CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE MATTER
ARE PURE MANIFEST OF THE SINGULARITY BRAHMAM, WHICH ALONE IS REALISABLE AS
THE FINAL OUTCOME, *to become one with the consciousness. *
*K RAJARAM IRS 26824 27824 PART 4 CONCLUSIONS*
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