PREFACE
Brahman
has no motive in creating the world but projects the universe out of mere
sporting impulse which is inherent in Him.- BrahmaSutra : Adhikarana XI: (Sutras 32-33)
That sporting impulse or desire that the above verse mentions has
created a game of existence called “LILA”. A game similar to the computer
MMORPG – Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, in which thousands
from all parts of the world join the online game and play together in a highly
complex, intelligent and evolutionary environment. All players in this game are
called “avatars”. I am an avatar in the present game who was been named Mayank
Gandhi.
These blogs are an exploration of LILA.
Organized religion tries to
convince us that they have the patent on truth and use carrot and stick,
damnation and salvation, hell and heaven, guilt and temptation using faith,
belief and indoctrination as potent tools. Hence, away from the organized religions, indoctrinations, away from
the faith and beliefs of others, faith of my tradition, faith of my family and community,
faith of my religion, faith of my nation - let us embark on our personal
voyage, unrestrained by anything. Let us find the relationship between the
knower, the means of obtaining the knowledge and the object, or simply put -
the subject, object and the action. And that search would lead us to answers to
the four critical fundamental questions that have been hounding minds for
thousands of years.
·
What is this
existence in which we are living?
·
Who am I?
·
What is my
role in this existence?
·
How best can I
play this role?
But, as we journey together in this wonderful space of knowledge and
enquiry, there are some diversions and gaps that can lead us on the wrong path.
Thus, we need to pause and question the validity and the truth of the theory
and synthesis that I put forward. Is what I write the genuine "Truth"
or is it "My" truth? Truth is relative to the individual and thus
when people go in search of reality; they tend to find whatever it is they’re
looking for. All evidence is only partial proof and certainty is just a mild
form of arrogance. One needs to focus the searchlight of reason and logic to
separate faith and belief from reality.
Therefore, to validate knowledge or Truth, we shall use the
following three parameters
·
Perception (pratyaksha): perceiving knowledge through sense-object contact. This is
absolutely unerring and precise.
·
Inference (Anumana): Logical inference in
which one would require simpler method for one’s self while more detailed
inference for others.
·
Verbal Testimony or
Revelation (Sruti): Revealed truths must do
so in terms of what is known. It should not contradict the known, it must be
coherent, it cannot be against reason (Though it may stand above reason). The
dependence on an individual insight may be offset by the fact of plurality.
The above four fundamental questions will be answered in this series of by using Ancient Hindu knowledge as well as
delving deeper into energy dynamics and quantum relationships of existence. Mix
it with free will, and we are all set to go on the discovery voyage.
Anything that is nuanced, complex, multi dimensional, multi layered and
symbolic can be viewed and perceived at various levels of understanding. For
example, at the most superficial level - one can see various Hindu Gods as
idols or forms, or at less superficial level as part of a mythology with an
interesting story, or going still deeper as moral stories and lessons of life
or deeper still as symbols of values. It is at the final, most subtle level of
energy dynamics that one truly understands the symbolisms and the deep
knowledge which created these symbols.
For example, Ganesha, the elephant God in Hinduism, could be viewed from
the simplest level of understanding to the most complex
Level 1 : An elephant
headed God who fulfils the aspirations of his devotees, with more impact of
prayers on certain days and time.
Level 2: As the son of
"Shankar" who as a child ran around his parents to symbolize that the
importance of respect to parents, or who places the head of an elephant as a
symbolism of the unity of man with all existence.
Level 3: The symbolism
of his body parts - stomach as digestion organ of good and bad actions and a
repository of wisdom, knowledge and experience, ears as awareness , trunk as a
discriminating tool, which can uproot trees while being able to locate and pick
up a pin too etc.
Level 4: At the most
subtle level, Ganesha is a symbol of the lowest frequency of Muladhar and
swadhistana chakra and has the same color (red and orange), earth as the lowest
frequency element and therefore the starting point of evolution, an progress
symbolized by the immersion of the earth element into the next higher element -
water. And therefore, all activities of spiritual growth or business begins
with praying to Ganesha.
Or the Mahabharata, a hindu epic, which could be
viewed as
Level 1 : An
interesting story of kings and their relationship, kingdom, governance, war and
lives.
Level 2: A story with
morals about how to behave with your family, enemies etc. How each of the
Pandava brothers denote certain characteristics with Yudhisthir, the eldest
being the symbol of Dharma whom one has to consult before any action etc.
Level 3 : Draupadi,
the wife can be understood as the body with the five senses (husbands), a
hundred tendencies that are the enemies of spiritual growth, Krishna, the God,
as the saviour of the body as it is disrobed by the tendencies etc. Or, the
chariot of Arjuna (the man) being reined and driven by the five wild horses of
the senses and God the charioteer guiding the man towards a war against the
evil etc.
Level 4: The Mahabharata could also be understood to have been taking place at
all times within oneself, with the war between the good and the evil
tendencies. Within this war, Krishna or God, through the profound
"Bhagvata Gita"- exhorts one to fight the immorality unrelentingly
leaving aside cowardice and relationships. The Bhagvata Gita is used within the
sets of an epic war to impart knowledge on various facets of life, spiritual
yearnings etc.
Level 5: The entire
Mahabharata could be understood from the quantum perspective with the five
brothers and other players defining various frequencies and the free will using
the three frequency characteristics of Sattva, Rajjas and Tamas to define and
guide one's life.
Similarly, Jesus and the new testament could also
be understood at the basic story, moral, value level or at the level where it
talks about advaita "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 117:20-21) and unity of the microcosm and the
macrocosm "But the kingdom is within you and without you" (Thomas p.3) or the origin of existence by
involution "Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for
nothing" (John 3:6; 6:63)
There can be multiple routes that one can take for spiritual growth based on one's inclinations and strengths.
Bhakti Yoga - based on prayers, devotion and faith
Karma Yoga - based on work for the Supreme and people
Raja Yoga - based on meditation
Jnana Yoga - based on knowledge and contemplation
We shall adopt the Jnana yoga route in these blogs.
While there are four different interpretations of Vedic / Hindu, namely, writings and
practices pertaining to
§ the deities (Adhidaivik), or
§ the cosmos (Adhibhautik), or
§ sacrifices and rituals (Adhiyajnik), or
§ the spiritual aspects (Adhyatmik),
we shall confine our interpretations to the spiritual – adhyatmik
aspect only.
So, as we voyage together in the search of the existential issues,
please keep your intellectual antennae on and continue questioning as we find various
answers - different for each of us. We are all unique with our own knowledge acquiring
processes and paths. A journey in the subject as vast and
profound as the discovery of "Who am I?" needs exuberance and daring, and
surely,not a defensive nor a looking-over-the-shoulder attitude.
In this
journey of unveiling LILA, I intend to share myself, my experiences, my knowledge and the
process that I went through. Everyone follows their own path, their own destiny
and their own goals. The reason I do not subscribe my knowledge to the grace of
God, Divinity, Creator or a Guru, is then, the sharing will stop becoming
replicable. You will then start feeling that you cannot go down the same path -
as I have got it out of grace and some illogical, magical process, or because
of my past life. Therefore, to achieve the goal of initiating your journey, it
is necessary to stay on the rational side of reality, science and logic.
I invite all of you to choose to "not accept" my findings and
observations, but treat these as an
initiation to conduct your own internal search for Truth. Let us not follow
someone else's route, let us create our own path, our own answers, our own
Reality, our own Truth.
If I succeed in sparking an initiation for someone to start their
spiritual search - I'll have done my bit.
“ If I
were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its
choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and
has found solutions, I should point to India”
- Max
Mueller, German scholar
