The Enigma Of The Universe : (A) Nature Of Reality: Idealism And Realism

The most fundamental question of the enigma of the universe is- What is the Universe? The famous scientist Fred Hoyle, giving a broad definition of the universe, writes, "The Universe is everything, both living and inanimate things, both atoms and galaxies and if the spiritual exists as well as the material, of spiritual things also; and if there is a Heaven and a Hell, of Heaven and Hell too; for by its very nature the Universe is the totality of all things".^[1] Thus the word universe means a composition of all the entities whose existence we may experience through the media of sense-organs (perception), reason (conception), or more directly by transcendental knowledge. It contains not only all the material things from the atoms to the galaxies, but also the non-material entities such as space, time, ether, consciousness, etc. which we cognize either directly or indirectly. In the present book (The Enigma of the Universe), we propose to discuss mainly and in greater detail space as "The Universe". And because the problem of space cannot be separated from that of time, discussion of "time" is also inevitable, "What is space?", "What is time?", are our primary questions. But in order to understand fully the answers to these questions, it is necessary to know first about the nature of "reality". For this, we shall also consider very briefly the problems of Substance, Quality and Change.