A man knocked on the God's door. "Who's is there?" asked God from within. "It's me," said the man. "Go away then. There is no room for two," said God. The man departed and wandered in the arid desert until he realized his error. Returning to the door, he knocked once again. "Who's is there?" asked God as before. "You," answered the man. "Then come in," God replied.(Quote from here.)
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
God
Found a Sufi teaching that illustrates the point of God:
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Clarifications on my previous post
Since my response to the first two comments cannot fit in the comments section, I am adding them as a separate post.
A few clarifications here. First, I do not believe in the concept of intelligent design. This means some external God creating the universe, which, as I submitted, does not make any sense. Instead, the God I am talking about is the "consciousness" that permeates everything in the universe. This energy is called differently by different people. I don't know if the scientists have a name for it, but I do know the Buddhists call it Reiki. It is this consciousness that "runs" the entire universe, intrinsically, as part of it. I believe this is what Nikhil talks about in his post. Same idea, different words.
Secondly, I am not trying to prove the philosophies of Hinduism by scientific techniques. That is just not possible, because science develops theories by only looking at the material universe, whereas to understand Hindu philosophy, you have to transcend the material universe to the deeper consciousness thats present everywhere. The reason for mentioning the implications of quantum mechanics was to show that the Hindu philosophy of oneness is not as outlandish as it would have sounded otherwise. The idea is not easy to understand in the first place; I just did not want it to appear as if it is some religious dogma.
I understand that the theories of science are just "best-fit" models to explain observable data, and can be superceded by better theories. But I never was using that as a "proof" of any Hindu concept, just as a tool to buttress the mind for the philosphies. The ideas I present here are purely from a Hindu perspective, and NOT from a scientific perspective. It has a two-fold purpose - to educate others about Hindu philosophy, and to help me understand them better. I do realise there may be some errors in my posts, and I'd be grateful if they are corrected, or if some comments further my understanding.
The idea of a higher dimensional universe is just a reference to the complexity of the universe. The key point is that the universe appears different to us simply because we see a very degenerate form of it. What the pure form is, is something that cannot be realised by just looking at the material universe; meditation alone will get you there.
People commit the mistake of assuming that science and religion are contradictory. They are not. An example is the theory of evolution. Hinduism also supports this theory. Dashavataram of Vishnu is a symbolism that alludes to this. But this does not mean that science and religion talk about the same things. Science talks about the material universe, and religion transcends that and talks about what goes beyond that. Eventually, both will meet. But we are a long way from that, and for now, they are both complimentary.
To really appreciate the philosophies of Hinduism, you need to consider its correct name - Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means eternal, and Dharma means the higher truth. Sanatana Dharma means the laws of the universe that have always existed. Thus, it is not a religion created by human minds, but rather a religion of the essential truths that have been "realised" by sages. You are, of course, welcome to either agree or disagree with it.
What is, however, true is that an increasing number of scientists are beginning to appreciate the eastern philophies, and are willing to consider the possibility that they might be true. A few of them (not a significant number, though) look at eastern philosophies and try to use that as a "best-fit" to observable data. It can be viewed as an early attempt to link science and spirituality. Science must, however, follow its own path to arrive at the truth, and eastern philosophies can only really serve as a directional beacon in that quest.
A few clarifications here. First, I do not believe in the concept of intelligent design. This means some external God creating the universe, which, as I submitted, does not make any sense. Instead, the God I am talking about is the "consciousness" that permeates everything in the universe. This energy is called differently by different people. I don't know if the scientists have a name for it, but I do know the Buddhists call it Reiki. It is this consciousness that "runs" the entire universe, intrinsically, as part of it. I believe this is what Nikhil talks about in his post. Same idea, different words.
Secondly, I am not trying to prove the philosophies of Hinduism by scientific techniques. That is just not possible, because science develops theories by only looking at the material universe, whereas to understand Hindu philosophy, you have to transcend the material universe to the deeper consciousness thats present everywhere. The reason for mentioning the implications of quantum mechanics was to show that the Hindu philosophy of oneness is not as outlandish as it would have sounded otherwise. The idea is not easy to understand in the first place; I just did not want it to appear as if it is some religious dogma.
I understand that the theories of science are just "best-fit" models to explain observable data, and can be superceded by better theories. But I never was using that as a "proof" of any Hindu concept, just as a tool to buttress the mind for the philosphies. The ideas I present here are purely from a Hindu perspective, and NOT from a scientific perspective. It has a two-fold purpose - to educate others about Hindu philosophy, and to help me understand them better. I do realise there may be some errors in my posts, and I'd be grateful if they are corrected, or if some comments further my understanding.
The idea of a higher dimensional universe is just a reference to the complexity of the universe. The key point is that the universe appears different to us simply because we see a very degenerate form of it. What the pure form is, is something that cannot be realised by just looking at the material universe; meditation alone will get you there.
People commit the mistake of assuming that science and religion are contradictory. They are not. An example is the theory of evolution. Hinduism also supports this theory. Dashavataram of Vishnu is a symbolism that alludes to this. But this does not mean that science and religion talk about the same things. Science talks about the material universe, and religion transcends that and talks about what goes beyond that. Eventually, both will meet. But we are a long way from that, and for now, they are both complimentary.
To really appreciate the philosophies of Hinduism, you need to consider its correct name - Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means eternal, and Dharma means the higher truth. Sanatana Dharma means the laws of the universe that have always existed. Thus, it is not a religion created by human minds, but rather a religion of the essential truths that have been "realised" by sages. You are, of course, welcome to either agree or disagree with it.
What is, however, true is that an increasing number of scientists are beginning to appreciate the eastern philophies, and are willing to consider the possibility that they might be true. A few of them (not a significant number, though) look at eastern philosophies and try to use that as a "best-fit" to observable data. It can be viewed as an early attempt to link science and spirituality. Science must, however, follow its own path to arrive at the truth, and eastern philosophies can only really serve as a directional beacon in that quest.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Religion and Science
Discussions with a couple of friends have inspired me to write this post.
The question of God seems to bring about a lot of controversy these days. People who strongly believe in God are dubbed conservatives, and in some cases, prudes. Others proudly proclaim that they do not believe in God as "the concept is not based on logic and requires blind faith". Then there is the question of religion, with every person claiming that his religion is the only "true" religion (eastern religions are an exception here).
When we speak of God, the image created in most people's minds is of some wise person who sits outside this entire universe and controls it, right from creation to destruction. This, however, is not the way God is described in all religions. The above concept of God certainly seems contradictory to logic, and with every passing day, science is a step closer to actually proving that such a God cannot exist. The proponents of this image of God would have us believe that science is a creation of the devil to lead us astray. I will not argue with them on their beliefs. My purpose in this post is to present an image of God that is in tune with the beliefs of eastern religions. An image that will appeal to logic.
Now, I claim that I am a Hindu and I feel strongly about it. So if you feel any bias in this post, it is probably true.
Hinduism claims that this universe is a hologram (hence the name of this blog). A hologram is something that has a unique property. Each and every part of the hologram contains the same information as the entire hologram itself. If you break a hologram into a thousand pieces, each piece has the same information as the whole. Quantum mechanics, as a result of Bell's theorem, confirms the fact that the universe is a hologram. What this means is that every point in this universe is the same as every other point. Now, this in itself is an astonishing property. What is more so, is that Hinduism, which is over thousands of years old, claims the same thing.
Thus, clearly, there is some form of consciousness that is present all over the universe. This is the only thing that exists throughout the universe. This consciousness is what Hinduism calls God. God is present in everything, and we are all one. (This is not quite the same thing as saying that I am God!)
The question arises - if everything is the same as everything else, why do we see the universe as a collection of different objects? The answer to that is that we see the universe in only three dimensions. The actual universe is present in a much higher dimension (11, 24 or infinite, according to various theories), and we only see a projection in lower dimensions. This is something like a picture, which is a projection of the 3D world into a 2D image. It is in the higher dimensional universe that all points are the same as every other. It is the projection that makes us see the universe as different.
Further, Hinduism claims that the entire universe is only an illusion that has been created by your mind (Hinduism is not alone in this, Buddhism claims the same thing). The absolute reality is, in fact, unchanging. This reality is called Brahman. The universe that we see is only a manifestation of Brahman. Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma) is also known as Nirguna Brahman - without any personal attributes - and is without beginning or end. It is indescribable, omniscient, transcendent, incorporeal and the absolute infinite existance. In other words, it is absolute "nothingness". Imagine that the universe did not exist. Imagine that nothing exists at all. This state is called Brahman, and this is the God that Hinduism worships.
The different Gods that we see in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are just symbolic representations to present God in a more tangible form. All the Gods that are described are just aspects of a single God, Shiva-Shakti, which is the Saguna Brahman, or God with personal attributes.
Now these are extremely deep (and fascinating!) philosophical ideas. Understanding the concept of Brahman is supposed to be the ultimate aim of a human. It is called attaining Moksha (Nirvana in Buddhism). In Hindu philosphy, the ideas of the universe being a hologram and truth of the unchanging reality are interchangable ideas. Each implies the other. If the unchanging reality is the truth, why would the manifested universe be different at different points? If every point is the same as every other, the single point is everything in the universe, which is the same as saying that it is nothing. I do not pretend that I understand these ideas fully, but I personally think that they are not far from the truth.
The question of God seems to bring about a lot of controversy these days. People who strongly believe in God are dubbed conservatives, and in some cases, prudes. Others proudly proclaim that they do not believe in God as "the concept is not based on logic and requires blind faith". Then there is the question of religion, with every person claiming that his religion is the only "true" religion (eastern religions are an exception here).
When we speak of God, the image created in most people's minds is of some wise person who sits outside this entire universe and controls it, right from creation to destruction. This, however, is not the way God is described in all religions. The above concept of God certainly seems contradictory to logic, and with every passing day, science is a step closer to actually proving that such a God cannot exist. The proponents of this image of God would have us believe that science is a creation of the devil to lead us astray. I will not argue with them on their beliefs. My purpose in this post is to present an image of God that is in tune with the beliefs of eastern religions. An image that will appeal to logic.
Now, I claim that I am a Hindu and I feel strongly about it. So if you feel any bias in this post, it is probably true.
Hinduism claims that this universe is a hologram (hence the name of this blog). A hologram is something that has a unique property. Each and every part of the hologram contains the same information as the entire hologram itself. If you break a hologram into a thousand pieces, each piece has the same information as the whole. Quantum mechanics, as a result of Bell's theorem, confirms the fact that the universe is a hologram. What this means is that every point in this universe is the same as every other point. Now, this in itself is an astonishing property. What is more so, is that Hinduism, which is over thousands of years old, claims the same thing.
Thus, clearly, there is some form of consciousness that is present all over the universe. This is the only thing that exists throughout the universe. This consciousness is what Hinduism calls God. God is present in everything, and we are all one. (This is not quite the same thing as saying that I am God!)
The question arises - if everything is the same as everything else, why do we see the universe as a collection of different objects? The answer to that is that we see the universe in only three dimensions. The actual universe is present in a much higher dimension (11, 24 or infinite, according to various theories), and we only see a projection in lower dimensions. This is something like a picture, which is a projection of the 3D world into a 2D image. It is in the higher dimensional universe that all points are the same as every other. It is the projection that makes us see the universe as different.
Further, Hinduism claims that the entire universe is only an illusion that has been created by your mind (Hinduism is not alone in this, Buddhism claims the same thing). The absolute reality is, in fact, unchanging. This reality is called Brahman. The universe that we see is only a manifestation of Brahman. Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma) is also known as Nirguna Brahman - without any personal attributes - and is without beginning or end. It is indescribable, omniscient, transcendent, incorporeal and the absolute infinite existance. In other words, it is absolute "nothingness". Imagine that the universe did not exist. Imagine that nothing exists at all. This state is called Brahman, and this is the God that Hinduism worships.
The different Gods that we see in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are just symbolic representations to present God in a more tangible form. All the Gods that are described are just aspects of a single God, Shiva-Shakti, which is the Saguna Brahman, or God with personal attributes.
Now these are extremely deep (and fascinating!) philosophical ideas. Understanding the concept of Brahman is supposed to be the ultimate aim of a human. It is called attaining Moksha (Nirvana in Buddhism). In Hindu philosphy, the ideas of the universe being a hologram and truth of the unchanging reality are interchangable ideas. Each implies the other. If the unchanging reality is the truth, why would the manifested universe be different at different points? If every point is the same as every other, the single point is everything in the universe, which is the same as saying that it is nothing. I do not pretend that I understand these ideas fully, but I personally think that they are not far from the truth.
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