Divinity lies within us all

According to an old Hindu legend, there was a time when all human beings were gods, but they abused their divinity. So, Brahma, the chief god, decided to take the divinity away from them and hide it somewhere they could never find it.

Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide where to hide the divinity. “Let’s bury it deep in the earth,” said the gods. But Brahma answered, “Humans will dig into the earth and find it.” Some gods suggested, “Let’s sink it in the deepest ocean.” But Brahma said, “No, Human will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it.” Then some gods suggested, “Let’s take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there.” Brahma replied, “Human will eventually climb every mountain and take up their divinity.” Then all the gods gave up and said, “We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or ocean that human beings will not eventually reach.”

Brahma thought for a long time said, “We will hide their divinity deep into the center of their own being, Humans will search for it here and there but they wont look for the divinity inside their true selves”

All the gods agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since then, humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring, searching for something, which already lies within themselves.

“Divinity lies within us all”

Quantum Physics and Vedic Unified Consciousness

Quantum Physics and Vedic Unified Consciousness

Today, science and religion say that a single entity or force created the universe and is omnipresent, maintaining and governing the fundamental machinery of everything in this and other universes. In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the universe.  The very first book of Hindus named Rig Veda proclaims, “Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahudha Vadanti,” which means “there is only one truth, only men describe it in different ways.”  Recent scientific discoveries validate the concept of Brahman, the ultimate reality for the Hindus.

Physicists and cosmologists call this divine source the Unified Field. In a profound sense, Brahman (the Vedantic concept) and the Unified Field of physics appear to be synonymous. Vedanta is a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads.  Vedanta philosophy has two main concepts. The first is the human’s real nature is divine and the second concept is that the aim of human life is to realize this divinity.

In the Vedic language God and the realized individuals are  described as “anor aniyan mahato mahiyan” (Katha Upanisad 1-2-20), meaning “God is smaller than the smallest and greater than the greatest.” This means that whether something is extremely large or infinitesimal, it is still made of the same divine source.  God is present everywhere and in everyone.

Paradigm Shift

Quantum physicists, neuroscientists, psychologists and mystics have evolved to the point where a significant paradigm shift is happening as predicted by Dr Amit Goswami, endowed with a Rishis insight: “While mainstream science remains materialist, a substantial number of scientists are supporting and developing a paradigm based on the primacy of consciousness…”  Goswami is convinced that the universe, in order to exist, requires a conscious sentient being to be aware of it.

The universe is and can be viewed as symbiotically and totally unbroken, interconnected, highly networked, integrated, and harmonized.  The entire universe is contained holographically in each of its parts, unifying matter, energy and consciousness by systems, subsystems and sub, sub, systems at macro and at micro levels through nonlocal, local, vacuum energy, strings and other entities yet to be understood or to be established.

The consciousness that comprises the universe can be tapped into by practicing the yogic art of laser focusing of the mind through Gayatri Mantra, leading to downloading of the contents of transcendent domains through tuned resonant circuits by kindling one’s mind there while tending towards Brahmatejas (the effulgence of Brahman),

The Gayatri Mantra (GM)

The Gayatri Mantra is a highly revered mantra in Hiduism, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of the Rigveda (3-62-10):and is universal in its directive “Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat” meaning let our Buddhi/Mind Complex (BMC)  be kindled

Om Bhur Bhuvah Svaha
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat.

GM on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDnamSM3Z3s

The meaning of GM is this: let the omnipresent, primordial force, Brahman, govern our BMC.  Swami Vivekananda paraphrased the GM as follows: “We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds.”

The Gayatri Mantra (GM) is said to enable one to tune to this field and if tuned up as prescribed, will ultimately make anyone realize that he is none else than that primordial force:

“My dear boy, when a man dies, his voice is absorbed (sampad) into the mind, his mind into breath, breath into light, heat and light, and heat into the highest substance. This finest essence—the whole universe has it as its Self; that is the Real: that is the Self: That you are, Svetaketu!”  ~ Chandogya Upanishad 6-8-7

Anyone can profit from kindling his BMC, gradually shedding his ego, greed etc. By chanting the Gayatri  Mantra, one can tend to achieve Brahmatejas and for the mundane world, collectively a better place to live in.

Ashtanga Yoga

GM paves the way and opens the door for Ashtanga Yoga, which aims at the final state of spiritual absorption through eight component parts. The eight limbs of Yoga according to Patanjali taken together is called as Raja Yoga. The eight limbs are:

1. Yama aims at internal purification or moral code
2. Niyama aims at external purity or personal discipline
3. Asana consists in the performance of the postures of Yoga
4. Pranayama is breath control
5. Pratyahara results from the withdrawal of sense organs from the corresponding sense objects
6. Dharana is concentration
7. Dhyana is meditation
8. Samadhi is the final state of spiritual absorption

The first five steps are the preliminaries promoting Samanya (normal) Dharma, infusing and elevating the personality of individuals.

These five steps are within the reach of most of the people to usher all its unlimited worldly benefits. Such individuals forming sizable groups in every nation and across the globe will be eligible citizens of “VASUDEVA KUTUMBAM” (the world as one family).  After the family acquires a critical mass, it will set up its own chain reaction to multiply its growth exponentially and in the process gradually and eventually eradicating ethnic, religious, and political tensions that fuel violence and conflict between individuals, communities and nations.

Such a trend is now seen picking up globally stemming out of all-round increasing frustrations. Many right thinking people and institutions are very earnestly involved in integrating massive network of brains to input positive emotions and to cultivate “do good” attitudes as a global mass movement. Of them, the most prominent one is the “Quantum Activists” movement, catalyzed and led by Dr. Amit Goswami.

That is why it is said that in earlier Yugas, (cosmological time cycle of Hindus) there was profound happiness, peace, prosperity, health, and all round fragrance as those who lived then is attributed to have lead a highly Dharma life, (forming and inputting benevolent Strings instead of malevolent ones of the present days) creating a better world, each previous Yuga being better than the succeeding Yuga. Garbage in garbage out phenomena is thus conspicuous.

Unity Consciousness

British historian, Arnold J. Toynbee, wrote the following regarding the Hindu philosophy of life and its culture: “We witness such unique mental approach and consciousness among Indians as may help humanity progress like a family unit. If we do not wish to perish in this atomic age, we have no other alternative left.”

According to David Pratt in his article “David Bohm and the Implicate Order,” Bohm believed that the general tendency for individuals, nations, races, social groups, etc., to see one another as fundamentally different and separate was a major source of conflict in the world. It was Boehm’s hope that one day people would come to recognize the essential interrelatedness of all things and would join together to build a more holistic and harmonious world. What better tribute to David Boehm’s life and work than to take this message to heart and make the ideal of universal brotherhood the keynote of our lives.

In his introduction to the book The Highest State of Consciousness, editor John White said:

“If the border between self and environment can be made to disappear, this is likely to have profound effects on man’s attitude to his environment, both social and physical. If the self is experienced as actually embracing other people, self-consciousness becomes social consciousness.”

Such words match in spirit, if not in letter, the profound sayings of the Upanishads: Yas-tu sarvani bhutani Atmani-evanupasyati, Sarva-bhuteshu catmanam tato no vijugupsate.Yasmin-sarvani bhutani Atmai-vabhudvijanathah,Tatra ko mohah kah sokah ekatamanupasyathah (Isa up), which means: He who sees all beings in his own self and his own self in all beings, he does not feel any revulsion to any being.

Dr.S. Radhakrishnan, one of the most profound philosophers of the 20th century, author, educator and past president of India advocated the world embrace the Indian approach in order to save humanity:

“Today, the western scientific progress has physically united the world. It has not only got rid of the ‘space’ factor, it has also equipped the various countries of the world with deadly arms. But they have not yet learnt the art of knowing and loving one another. If we want to save humanity at this most critical juncture, the only option is the Indian approach. India has a perception of life force and has a vital role to play in the performance of human conduct, which will be beneficial not only to India but to the whole world in the present sorry state of affairs.” (source: East and West: Some Reflections – By S. Radhakrishnan p.128)

Gayatri Mantra only deals with nature and we all of us are part of it. GM is therefore an universal tool to cut across borders, shattering barricades, has the potential to generate Viswa Mitras (meaning friends of the world) and can create a better world to live in manned by evolved souls of VASUDEVAKUTUMBAM which is “Quantum Activism” substantiating the title of this write up.

May that tribe increase – Sarve Janaha Sukuno Bhanatu- Shanti, Shanti, Shanthihi – Let peace surround all of us.

Yoga : The Best Way Of Healthy Living

Harvard Yoga Scientists Find Proof of Meditation Benefit

Scientists are getting close to proving what yogis have held to be true for centuries — yoga and meditation can ward off stress and disease.

John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, is leading a five-year study on how the ancient practices affect genes and brain activity in the chronically stressed. His latest work follows a study he and others published earlier this year showing how so-called mind-body techniques can switch on and off some genes linked to stress and immune function.

While hundreds of studies have been conducted on the mental health benefits of yoga and meditation, they have tended to rely on blunt tools like participant questionnaires, as well as heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. Only recently have neuro-imaging and genomics technology used in Denninger’s latest studies allowed scientists to measure physiological changes in greater detail.

“There is a true biological effect,” said Denninger, director of research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of Harvard Medical School’s teaching hospitals. “The kinds of things that happen when you meditate do have effects throughout the body, not just in the brain.”

The government-funded study may persuade more doctors to try an alternative route for tackling the source of a myriad of modern ailments. Stress-induced conditions can include everything from hypertension and infertility to depression and even the aging process. They account for 60 to 90 percent of doctor’s visits in the U.S., according to the Benson-Henry Institute. The World Health Organization estimates stress costs U.S. companies at least $300 billion a year through absenteeism, turn-over and low productivity.

Seinfeld, Murdoch

The science is advancing alongside a budding “mindfulness” movement, which includes meditation devotees such as Bill George, board member of Goldman Sachs Group and Exxon Mobil Corp., and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch recently revealed on Twitterthat he is giving meditation a try.

As a psychiatrist specializing in depression, Denninger said he was attracted to mind-body medicine, pioneered in the late 1960s by Harvard professor Herbert Benson, as a possible way to prevent the onset of depression through stress reduction. While treatment with pharmaceuticals is still essential, he sees yoga and meditation as useful additions to his medical arsenal.

Exchange Program

It’s an interest that dates back to an exchange program he attended in China the summer before entering Harvard as an undergraduate student. At Hangzhou University he trained with a tai chi master every morning for three weeks.

“By the end of my time there, I had gotten through my thick teenage skull that there was something very important about the breath and about inhabiting the present moment,” he said. “I’ve carried that with me since then.”

His current study, to conclude in 2015 with about $3.3 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, tracks 210 healthy subjects with high levels of reported chronic stress for six months. They are divided in three groups.

One group with 70 participants perform a form of yoga known as Kundalini, another 70 meditate and the rest listen to stress education audiobooks, all for 20 minutes a day at home. Kundalini is a form of yoga that incorporates meditation, breathing exercises and the singing of mantras in addition to postures. Denninger said it was chosen for the study because of its strong meditation component.

Participants come into the lab for weekly instruction for two months, followed by three sessions where they answer questionnaires, give blood samples used for genomic analysis and undergo neuro-imaging tests.

‘Immortality Enzyme’

Unlike earlier studies, this one is the first to focus on participants with high levels of stress. The study published in May in the medical journal PloS One showed that one session of relaxation-response practice was enough to enhance the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism and insulin secretion and reduce expression of genes linked to inflammatory response and stress. There was an effect even among novices who had never practiced before.

Harvard isn’t the only place where scientists have started examining the biology behind yoga.

In a study published last year, scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn found that 12 minutes of daily yoga meditation for eight weeks increased telomerase activity by 43 percent, suggesting an improvement in stress-induced aging. Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, shared the Nobel medicine prize in 2009 with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for research on the telomerase “immortality enzyme,” which slows the cellular aging process.

Build Resilience

Not all patients will be able to stick to a daily regimen of exercise and relaxation. Nor should they have to, according to Denninger and others. Simply knowing breath-management techniques and having a better understanding of stress can help build resilience.

“A certain amount of stress can be helpful,” said Sophia Dunn, a clinical psychotherapist who trained at King’s College London. “Yoga and meditation are tools for enabling us to swim in difficult waters.”