Our ancient rishis have estimated the age of our present creation to be about 10 billion years, whereas in other traditions it’s just 150,000 years. But recently, European space telescopes have measured the age, from looking at the fossil radiation from the big bang, and it exactly matches the estimation of the ancient rishis. My question is, did they have another route to this truth? Because the technology was not available. 

We have largely ignored our ability to cognize. Our consciousness has the ability to cognize. So they went through the subjective route. Anything you cognize you cognize through the mind, right? Mind cognizes through the senses. This is an objective cognition. When you turn the mind inward and take another dimension of cognition, then many secrets appear to us. 

Interestingly, it matches very well with what we see from objective cognition, because truth is the same. 

There are many physics-based laws in many ancient scriptures. Ancient rishis also had the concepts of gravity, DNA and atoms, etc. Long ago, Newton rediscovered these laws. Then why is western literature getting huge attention and citations? 

As time went on, the spirit to do research and the scientific temper took a back seat. That’s when we lost. This is partially also because there was no support from the establishment. 

This country was ruled by invaders for a long time and so science wasn’t encouraged during those times. That could be one reason.

Another reason is we consider things to be too sacred and too localized, and people keep it to themselves. They would only pass it on to their own children. They tested students on whether or not they were capable and nobody passed those tests. So they don’t pass it on to anybody. 

That’s how the transfer of knowledge was hampered. The spirit of inquiry and scientific temper was somewhat curtailed. 

The third thing was when the country was facing so many challenges, such as security challenges and food and famine challenges. With all of these problems, science takes a back seat. 

But still, we should salute those people who at least maintained the original books all along. At least we can know now that such things do exist.

The concept of zero and its implications

Zero, the concept of zero, “Om Purnamadah Purnamidam,” is a mantra everybody recites but have never related with zero. The whole formula of zero is said in “That is full, this is full. And when this fullness comes out of that fullness, yet that fullness remains the same, and when this fullness is subtracted from that, then again fullness remains.” 

Zero subtracted from zero is zero. Zero added to zero is zero. We never saw the mantras from this angle. Similarly, if you listen to Rudram chanting, all odd numbers are chanted and then even numbers are chanted.

I mean, there’s a certain amount of computing that’s happening there. These secret formulas have to be explored. 

They even used to remember numbers. This technique is called Avadhan. If you say 50 numbers from all different permutations and combinations, in whatever sequence, a person listens and absorbs it. In just a few seconds, they’ll repeat the same thing in the same order. This is almost a photographic memory.

Attuning your memory to say 100 numbers, you can go on saying 28, 29, 48, 89, 34, and they’ll repeat it in the same sequence. These are abilities that our consciousness has, our mind has. You simply have to attune to it. You simply have to learn and practice it. Train yourself in this.

Most of us have a feeling of individuality and a sense of being different from another person, a sense of I-ness. Does each cell of the body also have this feeling of I-ness? And on the humorous side, Gurudev, does the virus also have a feeling of I-ness?

The feeling of I-ness only I can know. So if the virus has a feeling of I-ness, only the virus can know that. That’s why they say, “When I know you, I become you.” You know Brahman, you become Brahman. Knowing you, you become you. So one who knows Brahman becomes Brahman. 

Modern science says matter doesn’t exist. All that we see is vibration. So then, is God a being or the underlying force behind this universe? Or is God just a vibration?

God is just vibration, in other words, Asti Bhathi Preeti. Asthi means it is, Bhathi means it shines, or it exhibits, and Preeti means it’s love. Love is just a vibration. It’s not a substance. And the world is nama and roopa, name and form. 

I touch a bottle or some object, and it looks rigid, but science says it’s vibration. So from which realm of my consciousness can I experience that? 

Well, when you’re in a waking state of consciousness you touch a bottle, and you feel you’re touching a bottle. Suppose your hands are numb and you touch a bottle. You don’t feel that the bottle is there. 

In a sleeping state of consciousness, you may be touching the bottle, but you won’t even know that it’s a bottle. You may think you’re holding some gadha (donkey). Your sensory perceptions have all limitations. After holding an ice cube in your hand, touch something and it feels very hot. 

So it’s all perception. Whatever signal your brain gets, it’s just used to a certain band of signals. You see some areas as very dark. But the cat doesn’t see them as dark. 

The frequency in which we live, our perceptual world, is very limited. Our existence has a huge range of perception. The capacity of the lenses in our eyes is very limited. That’s why you use a microscope. It has a bigger lens. Through that, you see so that you’re able to perceive what the naked eye cannot see. But things do exist. Don’t they? 

Just because I don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. 

In nature, the collection of matter maximizes entropy or chaos with time. But for life to happen, it needs organization. How did life appear or manifest from chaos?

Chaos is part of life. Orderliness and chaos, they’re two sides of the same coin. Entropy is very much part of the creative process. So that’s why in ancient times they said, “Yes, when the creative process continues, it becomes destructive.” So destruction is also part of creation. 

In between, the maintenance principle is where we say that there should be zero entropy. 

In science, there are two schools of thought. One says that matter came first. Then, consciousness arose. But lately, some scientists are saying that consciousness is fundamental and matter came later. Which one is true?

I would say this is linear thinking. One after another. Why couldn’t it all happen spontaneously? I think it’s more scientific to think spherically. 

In this sense, more possibilities of what I would call spherical thinking are needed. Linear thinking is where we say something begins somewhere and ends somewhere. So we try to find one origin for everything. That need not be. In fact, it is not. 

Science says that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. So what’s the source of this huge energy in this cosmos? How did it manifest?

Again I’m saying we’re trying to find the source for something which has no beginning. There’s a word used in the ancient scriptures, anaadi. It means beginningless. And there’s anant, endless. So where does this universe begin? It doesn’t begin anywhere. 

If you take a tennis ball and try to find where it began, it will be a futile exercise. Because every point can be the beginning, and every point can be the end, also. Right?

Science has made amazing discoveries, such as the God particle, black holes, and indirect evidence for dark matter. Is there any mention of such things in our ancient scriptures?

There’s one Sukta which is called The Sukta of Creation in the Rig Veda. It says that darkness was enveloped by darkness in the beginning. There was neither existence nor non-existence. 

When you read that Sukta it’s very confusing for a layperson. They don’t understand it at all. 

In the beginning, there was neither this nor that. Darkness was enveloped with darkness. So that explains two types of darkness, one that envelopes and another that gets enveloped. So that could be dark matter and dark energy. And it says it’s energy. 

There is a lot of mystical and scientific data, but unfortunately, people who know the ancient scriptures have no knowledge of science. And those who are in science have not made any effort to look into the ancient scriptures. Somewhere we must bridge this gap.

Read part 2 of this article here.

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