Thus Spoke Mahapragya - Vol.1: 22. A Journey: From Macro to Micro

A Journey: From Macro to Micro

We know vyasthi (single) and samasthi (sum-total). As per the Vedic literature we know pind (the body) and the universe. Instead of saying we know, it is better to say that we know neither. This appears to be contradictory but it is not. The reason is everything that exists has two forms: visible and invisible. What is visible is limited and what is invisible is unlimited. Man has the Indriya Chetana (consciousness of the senses) and only knows what is visible and does not know what is invisible. What is invisible is like a sea and what is visible is like a small island in that sea.

We know very less and what we know in totality is further very less when compared to what we know. Very often we hear people saying that they knew somebody but they realized his new trait until very recently. They were never aware of this new trait of that person before. Just a few days back, I received a letter from an author from Calcutta. He had read one of my books 'Akshar ko pranam'. It is a collection of poems and was dedicated to Acharya Tulsi. When he read this book he was surprised and wrote a letter to me. He said that he had read many books of mine and read the thoughts which I have expressed in them. It was only recently, that he realized that I even write poems.

In fact, I have said many times that my journey as a writer started with poems. I have almost stopped writing poems after I took over editing the work on Aagam (Jain literature). I can say that in the recent years that aspect of mine is invisible and the aspect which is visible to the people is as an editor. Thus, people only know what is visible and do not know what is invisible.

As per Tarkshastra (logical reasoning), vyavahit (obstructed) and the people with microscopic  views have a boundary which is limited. They do not know what is beyond. The eyes have a limitation and so does the five senses of ours have a limitation. We only know what is within our frequency range. We do not know everything but we do know something. Other than these we do not even know imaginations. When we see somebody, we can see his face, expressions and body language but we cannot see what is happening within him.

We must understand the truth that we know only what is visible to us. What is far beyond we do not know. What is behind the curtain we do not know? What is behind the wall we do not know? We know what is at a macroscopic level and we do not know what is at a microscopic level. When a fly sits on our body our sensory organs tells us that a fly is sitting. Within our skin, in the pores there could be numerous bacteria that we do not know. We do not know how many living cells are there in our body. We see the body but we do not know the numerous invisible rays coming out of it. Every object that is macroscopic produces a shadow when light falls on it. A ray of light comes out of every invisible cell. These rays influence one another. If the thought process is good and the good rays are being emitted then it can bring about happiness in the other person. On the other hand if the thought process is bad then it can bring about sadness in the other person. It is believed that when a person sits beneath a tree and if his thoughts are bad, then it can even destroy the tree beneath which he is sitting.

A king had sent his messenger to China to find out the condition there. The messenger was asked to find out how the people were in that country and how their intellectual level and understanding was. This messenger was received as an honorary guest in that country. The officials asked him how long he wished to stay there. There was a huge tree in front of the guest room where the messenger stayed. The messenger replied to the officials that he wished to stay in their country as long as the tree was healthy and green. The officials thought that this man would die in their country as the tree would not die so soon.

The messenger used to sit beneath the tree and think negatively. He used to curse the tree saying that the tree should die soon, all its leaves should turn dry and the tree should turn hollow inside. Boon and curse both work. If one's thoughts are good, the ray of energy that flows out is positive, and it can even bring a dead man alive. It is a well know fact in literature that when Shri Krishna played his flute, the entire garden turned green within no time. You will find such numerous examples in the ancient history.

The messenger's negative thinking was so powerful that the huge green tree turned into a hollow block of wood and it fell down within no time. The man told the officials that he was leaving. The officials were surprised to see what had happened to the tree. There was no one to understand how that happened. A positive thought and a negative thought both have a long lasting effect. The messenger said “I came here to show you that how much India has progressed intellectually and how well developed were it's people's mind power. I did this experiment only to demonstrate this ability.” Whether the people understood the experiment or not but they had witnessed the result of that experiment in front of them.

It is proved that we can exploit the energy that comes out of our mind. When we think, these invisible rays get transformed into the mind rays and get emitted out. These rays take the form of how one thinks and get dissipated in the sky. A thinker who could understand these rays can decipher and understand what a person would have thought about on a subject thousand years back. He can visualize the entire vivid description of the thought process that would have taken at that time.

These rays come out even when someone speaks and they can also influence a person. They influence a person to a very large extent at the macroscopic level. Mind is subtle and at a microscopic level and the speech which is at a macroscopic level influences it. A man could be influenced not only by speech but without the speech also. Sound has to pass through several stages before it is fully experienced by the listener in perfection. These stages are termed as para, pashyanti, madhyama^[1] and vaikhari^[2]. Of them, two are of prime importance.

• Pashyanti (represents the intellectual consciousness)
  
• Para (represents the transcendental consciousness)

When we speak, it implies the usage of a language. Even when a person remains silent but his thought process is on, it still comes under the category of speaking. People practicing Mouna Vrata (vow of silence) must also remember that even though they are not speaking but if they are thinking it means to say that at a macroscopic level they are not talking but when one looks at a microscopic level, they have never stopped talking. It is very clear that when our swara yantra (vocal chords) is active, irrespective of whether we speak or not. It has been experimented and proven that, when the person dreams his vocal chords get activated. The reason behind this is that our memory makes use of the language.

Our memory, thought process and imagination can be expressed using a language. They all have words. The words can express memory, thought process and imagination. Wherever there is usage of words and even if they take a macroscopic form, the vocal chords get activated. At a macroscopic level one can say Mouna means not speaking but when one looks at the microscopic level Mouna means the de-activation of the vocal chord.

Mouna and Nirvikalpa Dhyan (a state of mind which is free from emotions of like and dislike, and feelings-of pleasure and pain) can be clubbed together. One can call them Mouna or Nirvichir Dhyan (zero thoughts). The moment a thought comes to the mind, the words are bound to come. One may not speak, but the speaking continues internally in the form of thoughts. When this happens the rays which are in the form of pudgala (Physical substance, matter, energy) flows out. What we think, it becomes true. How is this possible? It is possible because the pudgala's go out and do their work. This is also called as ‘telepathy’. Even before we speak, our thought process would have reached the person who is capable of receiving it. Very often I have experienced this happening between me and Acharya Tulsi. Whenever I say something, Acharya Tulsi would say “I wanted to say this, but you said it”. Many times when Gurudev used to say something I would say “I also wanted to say the same thing, but you said it.”

The microscopic world of our consciousness is so mysterious that one cannot express or describe it. There is so much of an exertion of energy happening with the pudgala that we are only able to see the things at the macroscopic level. Reaching this microscopic level at times becomes almost impossible. Many people say that they don't believe the soul or the parmatma (the supreme soul), hell and heaven or moksha (salvation, final liberation, nirvana). It is their wish. No one is compelling them to believe it. You must at least believe what you speak. One doesn't even believe that. The speed is not even ten kilometer but the thoughts are going at few hundred kilometers speed.

Based on the human intelligence, some boundaries have been drawn. We want to confine ourselves within four walls and we do not want to open the windows and doors. A quarrel broke out between the husband and wife. It took the shape of a fight and the neighbours also gathered to witness it. Somebody enquired the reason for the quarrel. The husband replied “The root cause of this fight is the goat which my wife is keeping in this room. The room stinks and I cannot stay inside. Hence I have decided to divorce her.” People advised him that this is a small thing and they, both should compromise. They suggested that if the room stinks they can open the windows so that the fresh air can get in. The husband replied “If I open the windows my pigeons would fly away which I have kept them inside the room”.

The husband's problem is the goat kept by his wife and the wife's problem is the pigeon kept by her husband. How does one solve a problem? We get engrossed in such small petty things. If one looks at the microscopic level and understands the microscopic truth that lies beneath, then he can easily cross the border of ignorance. Once the ignorance comes out and the centre point of knowledge will appear to have shrunk. It appears to be just a small dot. The entire thoughts will change. It will bring about a total change in your perspective.

When the person stays at a macroscopic level, new imaginations, new thoughts everything looks new. The moment one steps into the microscopic level, everything around them changes. Acharya Tulsi had interest in Science. I too have the interest and so do our sadhu and sadhvi. The reason is that science gives you an opportunity to learn facts at a microscopic level. In the literature the microscopic facts which are written, one gets the opportunity to discuss about them. Mahavirrajji Galeda has studied in detail the facts from a scientific point of view. He is an expert in mathematics. He had gone to Indore, he wrote a paper on mathematics. It was based on that paper, many professors and scientists decide to study mathematics described in the Jain books. They knew the fact that when one gets into detail he will certainly discover new and interesting things. When one gets into the detail, there is no communalism. The entire gamut of problem is in the macroscopic thought. In a macroscopic world, it gives pleasure to people to demean each other. In the microscopic world, the rules are different. There are no disputes or quarrel here. Here people talk about rules and when rules are talked about, and adhered to, the disputes are automatically resolved and closed. Where there is exchange of words, it can lead to a dispute but when one goes to the microscopic or subtle level, the chances of any dispute diminish altogether.

When a scientist discovers something the entire world accepts it without any argument. However when a person belonging to any religion thinks and talks about anything, people start questioning and arguing. What could be the reason? The reason is that we do not talk about sarvabhauma (universal).  Bhauma means 'the world' and sarva means 'all'. If we talk about the rules which are applicable to all the people, then people would accept it. There would not be any disagreement or argument. They would be unanimous on it. Earlier there was always a cold war between America and Russia. If one discovers something the other would not object because it was based on scientific fact. It appears that the people do not accept religion as something unanimous. Hence, if there is anything said and that is against their interest they start objecting it.

Today a union between religion and science is required. If they both go in parallel then the communal frenzies can be reduced to a great extent. The dispute over small things can be reduced. People’s curiosity to find the truth would increase. Earlier the spiritual people used to find the truth with the help of Dhyan (meditation). They had such power through which the truth would emerge out automatically. In my mind sometimes a question arises and I would be glad if somebody could answer that. Spices are considered hot and rose is considered cool. Everybody knows this but who discovered these properties first? If someone's body is pitta pradhan (bile prominent) then these would appear as hot and if it is kaf pradhan (Phlegm prominent) they would appear cold. How did one find out all the properties and characteristics of thousands of herbs and plants?

Around fifteen hundred years back there were no laboratories or scientific instruments as we have today. I am sure there were no scientists but still so many experiments were done. The only answer is that through meditation one can sharpen the power of consciousness and make it so powerful that this can be made possible. The experts had done this before. It is believed that Dhanvantari, the father of Ayurveda, had been gifted with the knowledge of 'Atindriya Gyan' (knowledge which is beyond the reach of senses). He used to sit in front of plants and trees and all the subtle details (good and bad) of those plants would automatically surface in front of him.

With the meditation, we can awaken and develop this consciousness. Once the power of this consciousness is realized, it can establish link with any object and find out the subtle details. Hence mouna, dhyan (meditation) and swadhyaya (self-study) are all the means by which one can develop the 'Atindriya Gyan'. It should be goal of every sadhu and sadhvi to develop this 'Atindriya Gyan'. If we merely say that Acharya Bhikshu had this 'Atindriya Gyan' then it is merely an oral recitation. However, if we make an attempt to move in this direction, we will be making a sincere attempt to enhance the dignity of the religion. This would not only increase dignity of the religion but also give an opportunity to understand the truth. It is every individual's duty to understand the religion through meditation and keep in mind that its only religion coupled with meditation that can take one towards the truth. Where there is no meditation there is no religion.  Without Dharma Dhyan (Dhyan which leads to good health) and Shukla Dhyan (Pure consciousness endowed with infinite energy, bliss and knowledge), knowledge cannot be produced. Shukla Dhyan (Pure consciousness endowed with infinite energy, bliss and knowledge) leads to Keval Gyan (Total knowledge, omniscience). Hence we must make an attempt to understand religion, meditation and mouna not at a macroscopic level but at a microscopic level.

On a 30th January