Monday, February 05, 2007
SPACE
“If there was nothing but silence, it wouldn’t exist for you; you wouldn’t know what it is. Only when sound appears does silence come into being. Similarly, if there was only space without any objects in space, it wouldn’t exist for you. …… Space comes into being the moment One becomes two (suggesting ‘space’ and ‘time’), and as ‘two’ become ten thousand things (creation)’, as Lao Tse calls the manifested world. So world and space arise simultaneously.”
Eckhart Tolle
If you look up on a night sky you will see the stars and the moon. You are most likely to miss out the background against which they exist. We tend to identify only that which exists, that which is differentiated and miss the vast ocean.
When Einstein enunciated the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905 it involved drastic changes in the traditional concepts of space and time. The concept of space till then was a three dimensional model. The relativity theory postulated that space is not three-dimensional and time is not a separate entity. Both were expressed as intimately connected four-dimensional continuum, ‘space-time’.
A break from the traditional thinking of space-time resulted in the realization in an apparently unrelated and a different dimension, that mass was nothing but a quanta of energy. It revealed for the scientific community a new understanding of matter and energy. An apparently disparate entity, energy, emerged from rationally unrelated entities, mass and speed of light. It was actually the birth of a new awareness, of new scientific consciousness.
When we talk of space, referred to as akash in Vedic scriptures, we need to be willing to let go some of our conventional understanding of space. Akash is not the space as understood in the context of space travel or what is experienced by the astronauts, a gravity-free emptiness. It is not to be mistaken for a plain, dead emptiness, or a simple void. The concept of akash is an extraordinary perspective developed by Indian sages. It is an all-encompassing, all-powerful dynamic concept.
Space is one of the five mahabhoots (prithvi, jal, agni, vayu, akash) referred in Vedic literature. While prithvi is the grossest, the akash is the subtlest among the five.
Akash is principle of Existence. It is the raw material, the primal matter, from which all creation is born. It is the ever-present vast ocean; it is the cause of manifestation, it is the ocean in which creation exists, and it is the ocean into which all creation dissolves. Space is thus also referred to as Hiranyagarbha, the infinite creative womb. It is an all-encompassing idea of Existence.
A close analogy can be of an iceberg floating in water. The iceberg is composed of water, it exists in water, and when it dissolves it will be water. The concept that it is, akash contains both, the manifest as well as the unmanifest; the manifest as differentiated creation and the non-manifest as undifferentiated akash. It contains within itself all-intelligence and all-energy.
Eckhart Tolle in his best-selling work, The Power of Now, explains space thus, “Just as no sound can exist without silence, nothing can exist without no-thing, without the empty space that enables it to be. Every physical object or body has come out of nothing, is surrounded by nothing, and will eventually return to nothing. Not only that, but even inside every physical body there is far more ‘no-thing’ than ‘something’. He further explains, ‘Space has no ‘existence’. ‘To exist’ literally means ‘to stand out’. Although in itself it has no existence, it enables everything else to exist.’
Space and Time
Time is a dimension lower, and contained within space. Akash itself is beyond time.
As we have discussed earlier that akash is a field encompassing both the manifest and the unmanifest. In itself, akash is more an idea of unmanifest than manifest; there is always more space than matter. When the unmanifest changes and becomes manifest, this moment of transition, of change, is the instant of the birth of the idea of Time. This is the birth of a new center, one that defines a new field, a kind of a circle on its own.
It is only the manifest aspect that comes within the frame of time; the unmanifest is beyond time. All existence has a beginning, undergoes a continued process of change, and dissolution. Hence it is only that the manifest aspect of space that can be associated with time.
The idea that akash is, is beyond time.
Akash and Science
Einstein had concluded that that space and time are not different entities and that both space and time are intimately connected and form a four-dimensional continuum, ‘space-time’. Despite being only a part expression of reality, he achieved the great scientific milestone with this realization, the famous equation E=mc2. Space-time integration expressed by Einstein was, however, an expression of only the manifest aspect of space. It did not deal with the unmanifest aspect of space.
Einstein’s next milestone, the General Theory of Relativity was an intuitive attempt to integrate the non-manifest aspect of space or the akash itself. The theory, however, is yet not conclusively established despite more than a hundred years of efforts of eminent scientists like Stephen Hawking (Unified Field Theory or the Theory of Everything). The reason for them not making headway is the faulty assumption that ‘one can never talk about space without talking about time and vice versa’.
Physics can deal with objects, only that which exist, and that too within the limitation of the subject; physics cannot deal with non-existence. The field for that kind of an aspiration, as visualized in the Theory of Everything, is metaphysics where the emphasis is on development of the subject first to a point beyond akash; when the subject is so evolved any object can be explained completely.
Stephen Hawking has to cease being a scientist and instead become a rishi if he has to succeed with the Unified Field Theory or the Theory of Everything. He needs a new constant, one that is beyond the speed of light. The constant needed for the Theory of Everything is paramgati, or omnipresence.
Use of the Idea of Space
The akash is ever-present. It contains within it the apparent opposites, the manifest as well as the unmanifest. Undifferentiated existence, if one can call it that, or more appropriately, the ideas of Being or Existence, are the ideas pertaining to the dimension of akash. It gives us a direction towards understanding a dimension of the Divine, i.e. omnipresence.
Space is an idea of existence. Space is also an idea of that which is unchanging; it is always similar and immovable. Time on the other hand is an idea of constant change. When we integrate that which is unchanging (space) with that which is forever changing (time) do we step into the field of pure consciousness (pragya), a field of Presence. It is the doorway into the next dimension, omniscience, the integrated knowledge that knows both, ‘I’ and ‘existence’.
The idea of space is an idea of tremendous significance as it helps one to step beyond the narrow points of views acquired by unconscious living. Dissolving the differences and moving into the field that can contain within itself the apparent opposites can lead an inquisitive mind towards the Universal Consciousness.
****************************************************
Eckhart Tolle
If you look up on a night sky you will see the stars and the moon. You are most likely to miss out the background against which they exist. We tend to identify only that which exists, that which is differentiated and miss the vast ocean.
When Einstein enunciated the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905 it involved drastic changes in the traditional concepts of space and time. The concept of space till then was a three dimensional model. The relativity theory postulated that space is not three-dimensional and time is not a separate entity. Both were expressed as intimately connected four-dimensional continuum, ‘space-time’.
A break from the traditional thinking of space-time resulted in the realization in an apparently unrelated and a different dimension, that mass was nothing but a quanta of energy. It revealed for the scientific community a new understanding of matter and energy. An apparently disparate entity, energy, emerged from rationally unrelated entities, mass and speed of light. It was actually the birth of a new awareness, of new scientific consciousness.
When we talk of space, referred to as akash in Vedic scriptures, we need to be willing to let go some of our conventional understanding of space. Akash is not the space as understood in the context of space travel or what is experienced by the astronauts, a gravity-free emptiness. It is not to be mistaken for a plain, dead emptiness, or a simple void. The concept of akash is an extraordinary perspective developed by Indian sages. It is an all-encompassing, all-powerful dynamic concept.
Space is one of the five mahabhoots (prithvi, jal, agni, vayu, akash) referred in Vedic literature. While prithvi is the grossest, the akash is the subtlest among the five.
Akash is principle of Existence. It is the raw material, the primal matter, from which all creation is born. It is the ever-present vast ocean; it is the cause of manifestation, it is the ocean in which creation exists, and it is the ocean into which all creation dissolves. Space is thus also referred to as Hiranyagarbha, the infinite creative womb. It is an all-encompassing idea of Existence.
A close analogy can be of an iceberg floating in water. The iceberg is composed of water, it exists in water, and when it dissolves it will be water. The concept that it is, akash contains both, the manifest as well as the unmanifest; the manifest as differentiated creation and the non-manifest as undifferentiated akash. It contains within itself all-intelligence and all-energy.
Eckhart Tolle in his best-selling work, The Power of Now, explains space thus, “Just as no sound can exist without silence, nothing can exist without no-thing, without the empty space that enables it to be. Every physical object or body has come out of nothing, is surrounded by nothing, and will eventually return to nothing. Not only that, but even inside every physical body there is far more ‘no-thing’ than ‘something’. He further explains, ‘Space has no ‘existence’. ‘To exist’ literally means ‘to stand out’. Although in itself it has no existence, it enables everything else to exist.’
Space and Time
Time is a dimension lower, and contained within space. Akash itself is beyond time.
As we have discussed earlier that akash is a field encompassing both the manifest and the unmanifest. In itself, akash is more an idea of unmanifest than manifest; there is always more space than matter. When the unmanifest changes and becomes manifest, this moment of transition, of change, is the instant of the birth of the idea of Time. This is the birth of a new center, one that defines a new field, a kind of a circle on its own.
It is only the manifest aspect that comes within the frame of time; the unmanifest is beyond time. All existence has a beginning, undergoes a continued process of change, and dissolution. Hence it is only that the manifest aspect of space that can be associated with time.
The idea that akash is, is beyond time.
Akash and Science
Einstein had concluded that that space and time are not different entities and that both space and time are intimately connected and form a four-dimensional continuum, ‘space-time’. Despite being only a part expression of reality, he achieved the great scientific milestone with this realization, the famous equation E=mc2. Space-time integration expressed by Einstein was, however, an expression of only the manifest aspect of space. It did not deal with the unmanifest aspect of space.
Einstein’s next milestone, the General Theory of Relativity was an intuitive attempt to integrate the non-manifest aspect of space or the akash itself. The theory, however, is yet not conclusively established despite more than a hundred years of efforts of eminent scientists like Stephen Hawking (Unified Field Theory or the Theory of Everything). The reason for them not making headway is the faulty assumption that ‘one can never talk about space without talking about time and vice versa’.
Physics can deal with objects, only that which exist, and that too within the limitation of the subject; physics cannot deal with non-existence. The field for that kind of an aspiration, as visualized in the Theory of Everything, is metaphysics where the emphasis is on development of the subject first to a point beyond akash; when the subject is so evolved any object can be explained completely.
Stephen Hawking has to cease being a scientist and instead become a rishi if he has to succeed with the Unified Field Theory or the Theory of Everything. He needs a new constant, one that is beyond the speed of light. The constant needed for the Theory of Everything is paramgati, or omnipresence.
Use of the Idea of Space
The akash is ever-present. It contains within it the apparent opposites, the manifest as well as the unmanifest. Undifferentiated existence, if one can call it that, or more appropriately, the ideas of Being or Existence, are the ideas pertaining to the dimension of akash. It gives us a direction towards understanding a dimension of the Divine, i.e. omnipresence.
Space is an idea of existence. Space is also an idea of that which is unchanging; it is always similar and immovable. Time on the other hand is an idea of constant change. When we integrate that which is unchanging (space) with that which is forever changing (time) do we step into the field of pure consciousness (pragya), a field of Presence. It is the doorway into the next dimension, omniscience, the integrated knowledge that knows both, ‘I’ and ‘existence’.
The idea of space is an idea of tremendous significance as it helps one to step beyond the narrow points of views acquired by unconscious living. Dissolving the differences and moving into the field that can contain within itself the apparent opposites can lead an inquisitive mind towards the Universal Consciousness.
****************************************************
# posted by Abhay Gupta @ 8:45 AM 
