14-15

How does material science lead us to Moksha path ? With a strong interest in Quantum Theory, I could digest the possibility of matter behaving like a non-matter, wave. However, taking this further to concepts like jIva, Samsara, liberation, moksha? It was a Himalayan stretch. This was my impression till I started the conversation with Umesh. He introduced me to the concept of Ontology which are the building blocks through which we relate to external universe. 


Not stopping with that, Umesha told me of an incident when jyeshta Mahasanndianam demonstrated how the scientific laws are under the control of Ishwara, rather than define his actions. Once Umesha was  explaining Faraday’s laws of induction- 
 how the direction of the current induced dependent of magnetic flux direction.   Umesha had jigged up a device with coils, a magnet and a galvanometer to demonstrate the law. As he moved the magnet to and fro, the needle would deflect in opposite directions.

Looking at this jyeshata Mahasannidanam smiled and asked him to do it again . Much to Umesha’s amazement, the needle were now deflecting exactly in opposite directions, violating the left handed thumb rule.Quoting this experience, Umesha said we should recognize that the division of knowledge as material science and non-material science is an arbitrary one. 

I didn’t take this story very seriously for quite some time, until a day my brain caught fire; after every meditation session I started getting a severe burning sensation in the head. It was unbearable and disorienting. 


In sheer panic I called Umesha and sought his help. He calmed me down and suggested I go to Sringeri and talk to Acharya about this. Ran I did that weekend, totally confused, anxious and in terror. Was I losing my head ? Was Lord Narasimha striking back for ignoring the Oracle’s commands and going to Sringeri ? Was Rayaru getting upset that I was abandoning Tatva Vaada to embrace Advaitha? 

With a burning head and a burning heart I rushed to Sringeri and surrendered to Acharyas. They listened carefully and asked a few searching questions about my dhyana techniques. Jyeshta Mahasannidhanam finally gave a verdict, “Your body is unable to keep pace with the progress in meditation. Kunadlini shakti is very powerful and you need to take care of your health. I know that Maadhwas are very strict in the eating regimen but remember your saadhana is not exactly maadhwa type. So, relax a bit, eat well regularly and on time. This burning sensation will go now and will never return to bother you”.

At that very instant the burning sensation in the brain vanished completely, as if it never even existed.There was not even a tiredness one feels after an ordinary head ache goes. My head was restored to a “status quo ante” health in a moment. Mind over mind and matter was demonstrated. 

Shri Bharati Theertha made a remark that we are all connected in the universe and compartmentalizing was just a matter of convenience and not of absolute reality. 

This experience made me recall an old incident when Umesha would start his car and shut it down; then another person would try but car won’t start; Umesha would try and it would start; but it wouldn’t for other person again.
Amazing, but true. 

With all these guiding thoughts, I looked at Vaisheshika sutra in a different perspective. The way it was positioning Matter, characteristics and actions as building blocks for perceiving the universe was interesting.
धर्मविशेशप्रसूताद द्रव्य गुण कर्म सामान्य विशेष समवायनां पदार्थानां साधर्म्य वैधर्म्याभ्यां 
तत्त्व ज्ञानांनी श्रेयसः ||
पृथ्वि आप तेजो वायु आकाशं कालो दिगात्मा मन इति द्रव्याणि 
रूप रस गंध स्पर्शाः संख्यां परिमाणानि पृथक्त्वं संयोग विभागौ परतत्वा परत्वे बुध्दयः सूख दुखे इचछा द्वेषौ प्रयत्न गुणाः ||
उत्क्षेपणं वक्षेपणं अकुञ्जनं प्रसारणं गमनं इति कर्मणि ||

What is more noteworthy is listing Atma & Manas as dravyas; and intellect as a guNa. 

One can understand that manas being categorized as a material in Ontology, but how and why Atma is treated as a dravya material ? 

Mind is the closest we have to our cognition and if it is treated as a matter, the implications are serious-it means that the universe any one ‘feels’ is just what the mind projects , far away from the real universe that is out there. Echoes of Dakshnimurty stotram here.

Atma is a dravya ? Does this not lead to an argument that we are not the atma as it has been reduced an object here, even if atma here is jiVatma. This categorization perhaps leads to another advaitha concept that we are the Brahman really speaking, as even jiVa is a definition. 

More serious is the slotting of Intellect as a guNa, attribute. If the proposition is that intellect is an attribute guNa, it means that anything the real “us” sense is deeply colored by the intellect. More importantly what the intellect tells us is only a portion what the entity is-as attributes are not the entity. Echoes of Tanmatra ‘post processors’ of the Sankhya system.

So, the vaiseshika material system is more than just a material system. It actuals turns our understanding on its head by making ‘us’ as a part of a larger existence and at deeper core. It is to be noted even Shrimad Ananda Theertha has also adopted this structure, bringing Sentients as part of his Ontology.

Years later I got a stunning expansion of this concept from a short book, “Bhoogola Varnanam”, written by Shri Vaadiraja Muni. He was one of the greatest Yatis of the Maadhwa samparadaya.He was a  great Yogi, prolific writer and such accomplished person, he is considered as the second coming of Shrimad Ananda Theertha. He would assume Vayu status in future. 

This book is not discussed much even in Maadhwa circles let alone others. It gives out a structure of universe that is so different from the modern cosmology. It wouldn’t make sense unless we understand what I call as ‘Experiential cosmology”.

As I was grappling with understanding Vaisehika system , Umesha was enthralling me with all the great experiences we can have in intense dhyana. We can see the entire universe in us he would say. In fact what he explained can now be called ‘multiverse’ experience in today’s parlance.

With his encouragement and guidance I intensified my dhyana schedule and occasionally could feel myself expanding all around. I would feel I was everywhere and ‘every where’ was so far away from me. It was a curious feeling of being ‘there’ as well as ‘here’ at the same time ; of being infinitely big and infinitesimally small at the same time. Witnessing all kind of tantalizing scenes of akasha , the colors, sparks, billows of gases of intense brightness was amazing. The sheer power of some huge gravity force pulling me away from me was exhilarating  experience. 

I was seeing them without actually seeing. 

When I went back to Umesha and discussed the details, he said that biggest mistake we do as human beings is ignore or forget that everything is connected in the universe, and that all of us have come down from a single entity. 

“All of us vigorously nod when a scholar says we are not the body, without realizing the meaning behind the words; nor does the scholar get what he is preaching. Meaning of the very same words seek us, when uttered by a  Guru who is a jnAni and accomplished yogi. We not  only understand the words, but also realize the experience behind the words”

“The words need not be plentiful; a couple of words are enough to help us realize”, he continued. “ Just like Kaula Upansihad”, he concluded with his enigmatic smile.

Umesha’s statements carried life , not just meanings. It made perfect sense.With his mentorship I was fortunate to come into the penumbra of jyeshta Mahasannidhanam’s grace. My interactions with jyeshta Mahasannidhanam were always brief in words .

But what was that Kaula Upanishad Umesha was mentioning ? It was very typical of him to say lots of things and throw a directional word suddenly. It was as if he was always ensuring we are alert and know how to seize a fine point , like a Garuda eagle, be able to spot the good thing while scanning large area. 

It was but natural for me to study Kaula Upanishad.The Upanishad itself is small , barely a couple pages. It was short on words but deep on substance. Three words caught my attention in the very first stanza.
ज्ञानम् बुद्दिश्च | ज्ञानं मोक्षक  कारणं  | मोक्ष सर्वात्मता सिद्दिः |
पञ्च विषयाः प्रपञ्चः |
तेषां ज्ञान स्वरुपाः |योगो मोक्षः ||

“Panca VishayAh prapanca : the five senses constitute the Universe”, was a stunning line. The significance of this innocuous statement is far reaching. This implies that outside of what the five senses convey, the physical universe, albeit real, has no objective relevance. This is an endorsement of Mithya Vaada of Shankara. I thought this was perhaps a sectarian view of Advaithins for a very long time till I stumbled upon the book “Bhoogola Varnana” of  Tatva Vaada Yati ,Shri Vaadiraja Bhikshu of Sonda .

In that book Shri Vaadiraja Bhiskhu gives a graphic description of the universe. The way he describes the superstructure is beyond belief, way ahead of his times. How did he get all this in the 16th century, living in the dense forests of Malnad area ?

One of the idols in the mutt shows him in a siddhasana , with his palm touching his heart with a snake in the side. This indicates his deep Yogic powers and intense dhyana expertise. He must have seen the entire multiverse images during the meditation. The most intriguing factor was that the structure included vayu , Akasha, ahamkara, mahat, and Three Gunas. This effectively covered the inner tatvas of Sankhya model. 

He writes of the Universe structure as follows. 
The Brahmanda (the golden shellcovering the universe) is a Billion yojanas thick .It is surrounded by the watery envelope which has a thickness of billion yojanas .Around it is the envelope of the fire element with a  thickness of 100 billion.

Similarly, there are other seven envelopes, each ten times thicker than its inner complement.They are: Air element, Trillion Yojanas ; Sky element, 10 Trillion Yojanas; Ahamkara, 100 Trillion Yojanas, Quadrillion Yojanas;Tamoguna, 10 Quadrillion Yojanas; Rajoguna ,100 Quadrillion Yojanas; and Satvaguna, Qunitillion Yojanas. Our universe within the Brahmanda is only 500 million  yojanas.

The point is not about exact dimensions but is more about recognizing that our universe is bigger than earth,  the interstellar space is vast and our inner faculties spread to the farthest point of the multiverse. The last point almost echoes Kaula Upanishad. Inspired  by it, I am writing a book, “Experiential Cosmology of Vaadiraja Bhikshu”. I travelled to Sonda and obtained the blessings of Shri Vishwa Vallabha Thirtha,  a young Tejasvi Yati who heads the Mutt. 

While all these were going on, a word came from jyeshta maha sannidhanam that a famous Mimamsaka was about to conduct a great rotual Homa at Dr Subbaramaiyah’s place and I should participate in that. When asked for details I was told that he was a Professor of Metallurgy in IIT Madras. His name was Dr Srikanta Kumara swamy