Can India be Rediscovered?

Vishnu Ratna Man lives in many dimensions. But the two fundamental dimensions are: biological and psychological. Animals and other life forms live only in one dimension - the dimension of the physical or biological. Man is therefore different from other life forms due to the psychological dimension. Nature evolves only at the biological dimension and cannot evolve at the psychological dimension. Science is concerned only with the physical, visible, biological and material dimension. Science is the study of nature at the material, physical level. Nature s evolution at the biological level is blind, unconscious and collective. !onscious evolution is possible only with man. Man is a seed" he has the potential to grow and transcend nature. #e can grow consciousness beyond the point nature has brought him through collective evolution. $his growth beyond nature is possible but it is not a collective growth" it now becomes individual. %t is a matter of choice for man whether to grow or not. %f man chooses not to e&ercise the choice to grow further, then he is bound to remain in misery. Animals cannot e&ercise any choice to grow further. $herefore, they are totally in tune with nature and are not in misery. Animals remain contented with nature, there is no discontentment. But man cannot remain contented" discontentment is bound to happen. Man cannot fall to the level of the animal" therefore sooner or later he will have find ways and means for further growth. 'ne can go on committing mista(es and remain in misery. $hat would become suicidal. But everyone does not have the courage to commit suicide to end life. $herefore ma)ority chooses to live life at the very minimum, eating and defecating. $hat is what they call life and living. $he other method is to see( and search such human beings who have passed through dar(ness and successfully come out of it, and to see( their guidance for further growth. But finding out such a human being is an uphill tas(. $his search is possible only when one has intense thirst and *uest to grow out of misery. But for most of us life means living with ad)ustments, living according to the model dictated by the society and culture we are brought up in. Society thin(s collectively" it has no place for individual growth. Society believes in our animal heritage and wor(s with the herd mentality. $hat is what we call socialism, communism, and capitalism. %t is all animalistic. All the organi+ed religions are collective. No individual growth is possible through them. But these organi+ed religions dominate the society and are part of our heritage, culture, education and nurture. A child is born. #e is immediately bapti+ed in the religion he is born into. #e has not even learnt to spea(. #ow can he thin( independently when he grows, #e will always thin( in terms of the program that is fed into him. #e becomes a computer and repeats the mantra mechanically li(e a computer. #ow can he grow consciousness, A machine cannot grow consciousness. $hus the child becomes a slave psychologically. Society teaches the child to learn s(ills to fulfill biological needs for survival in the ever-increasing competitive world. #e- she is e&pected to raise a family, become a good father-mother , a good son-daughter , a good husbandwife, a patriotic citi+en to sacrifice for the country according to the norms of the particular culture or society in which he- she is brought up. %t is alright to live a life according to the dictates of the collective wisdom of the society but that does not satisfy man as it does not allow any individual freedom for wisdom and consciousness to grow any further. $hat is slavery and cause of misery for ma)ority of human beings. 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

%t is pertinent to note that a person is e&pected to have attained a certain minimum age to choose a political party for governance. %t is presumed that below a certain age he does not have a grown up mind to choose political leaders and understand their ideologies. .ven for choosing a wife or a husband a minimum age is e&pected to be attained by the society. But when it comes to choosing an organi+ed religion there is no such minimum age prescribed. %s religion such an inferior thing in comparison to politics or marriage that it does not re*uire any wisdom to choose amongst different religious organi+ations, $his seems ironical. 'rgani+ed religions are more political than political organi+ations. 'rgani+ed religions catch the young ones to enroll in their fold without giving any chance to them to thin( and evaluate, do not allow defections. %n this regard political systems provide greater liberty and freedom to choose than organi+ed religions. $herefore, human growth becomes impossible because of the indoctrination by the organi+ed religions at such a young age. %t is almost difficult for the human mind to comprehend ways and means for the growth of consciousness. #owever, there are many schools in the world even today that are not part of any organi+ed religion and provide platform to grow consciousness through various methods and techni*ues. %n %ndia /0oga and /$antra and many other schools were born that do not belong to any organi+ed religion. $he si& philosophical schools in %ndia, too, did not belong to any organi+ed religion. 'ut of these, /San(hya and /0oga have survived. /0oga was developed by Maharshi 1atan)ali. $antra is pre-Aryan. 2hen Aryans came in the %ndo-3angetic plane, %ndia already had 4ravidian culture well entrenched. /Shiva is a pre-Aryan and $antri(a concept. Aryans absorbed /Shiva into their fold. 5ater they added their own gods and deities. $he eight limbs of /0oga developed by 1atan)ali is a techni*ue for step by step growth of consciousness leading to Samadhi or full consciousness. $antra is based upon love. Shiva and his consort 1arvati are in deep embrace of love. $antra offers techni*ues for transcendence of se& energy leading to Samadhi. %ndia s contribution to the world for the growth of human consciousness at the psychological level is immense. 0oga and $antra are valuable contributions of %ndia to the world of spirituality. $hey are not part of any organi+ed religion. $hey are not dogmatic but scientific. $hey are based upon e&perimentation. 'ne can e&periment and grow consciousness to its ultimate. $he method or techni*ue of e&perimentation is Dhyana. Meditation and Dhyana are not synonymous. But in .nglish language there is no word for Dhyana. %t is untranslatable. $o understand the difference between Dhyana and Meditation we would have to understand the correct connotation of the words /!oncentration , /Meditation and /!ontemplation . /!oncentration is concerned with focusing our attention on an ob)ect. A scientist focuses his mind on an ob)ect and through his intense observation probes into the reality of the ob)ect he is concentrating upon. 2ithout concentration no science is possible. /!ontemplation is a wider area of mind s movement and is not concerned with any ob)ect in particular. 6or e&ample, one can contemplate about love or beauty. $hese are not ob)ects of study 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

and cannot be concentrated upon. 1hilosophy arises out of contemplation, )ust as science arises out of concentration. !ontemplation is a logical dreaming. /Meditation is e&actly mid way between concentration and contemplation. $hus concentration, meditation and contemplation are all concerned with mind s movement to an ob)ect 7 material or non-material. %t does not matter whether the ob)ect is outside or inside. But Dhyana is not concerned with mind and its movement. %t is concerned with the one who concentrates, meditates and contemplates. Dhyana means /No-Mind . %t is neither concentration, nor meditation nor contemplation. %n concentration, mind concentrates. %n contemplation, mind contemplates" in meditation mind meditates. %n all these three situations we move away from our centre. But in Dhyana the mind simply disappears and we are at the very core of our centre which is also the centre of all beings, the centre of the universe. %n Dhyana the one who concentrates, meditates, contemplates and is behind all the ob)ects and sub)ects is e&perienced when the mind disappears. 'ne is utterly rela&ed, centered, not even a ripple of thought appears. Dhyana is %ndia s contribution to the world. $he goal of Dhyana is Samadhi, which is the very culmination of consciousness when one is at the centre of all the movements going on around and within us. Samadhi and /.nlightenment are synonymous. !oncentration is concerned with the instinctive layer" hence even animals are capable of concentration. 2hen an animal is hunting, he is utterly concentrated. #e is unmoving, not ma(ing even a little stir. And if you see his eyes, they are fi&ed, unblin(ing. .verybody can practice concentration" all that is needed is to pinpoint the consciousness. Dhyana is intuitive. %t has no sub)ect-matter. %t is not thin(ing at all. But it does not mean falling into sleep. %t is awareness without thoughts, without mind. Mind is nothing but a chain of thoughts. Dhyana is a state of no-mind. Buddhism was born in %ndia. But it became an organi+ed religion when it moved outside. %t has now lost trac( from its roots. Buddha s contribution for the growth of human consciousness is immense. #e was not dogmatic. #e himself was an e&perimenter. #e too( the courage to leave his (ingdom at the age of 89, left his beautiful young wife and the only son to carry out e&periment in his interiority. #e found some Masters and practiced penance for : years as per the advice of these masters. But it did not result into anything. #e became frustrated. 6inally he gave up hope. %t is said that one day he rela&ed under a bodhi tree, ate the meal offered by a low caste woman, loo(ed at the full moon in the night and attained to enlightenment. 2hat happened to him is not (nown and has been a matter of con)ecture for centuries across the whole of South .ast Asia amongst scholars and pundits. Such pseudo-masters have mushroomed nowadays to provide short-cut prescriptions for enlightenment. $hey appear on $elevision, on mass media prescribing various (inds of Mantras and techni*ues to alleviate human misery. %ndia has been e&porting such 3urus in large numbers to the west. Such a home grown product is also sold indigenously through a variety of 0oga 3urus and is a booming business. 2esterners who are torn apart listen attentively to such 3urus to decipher hidden meanings in the discourses. But they are very harmful to the individuals for 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

their inner growth because such 3urus dominate the minds of persons who are gullible. 'ne should be beware of such 3urus; A doctor treats a patient for his physical ailments. $here are regulations for registration of medical practitioners to treat the body. But the pseudo-masters who claim to treat the mind are unregulated, unlicensed. $hey offer various (inds of religious discourses, sermons, faith, belief systems, trust in 3od, mantra and techni*ues for alleviation of human misery, an&iety and tension. But there is no ob)ective evidence of their effect to mitigate the malaise that is eating into human(ind. 4espite all (inds of technological and scientific developments now available to man, there is terrorism, violence and crime in ever increasing numbers. 2hy has the human invention of !apitalism, !ommunism, Socialism and other forms of governance failed to bring peace and harmony on this beautiful planet, .&istence has chosen especially .arth for the growth of life forms and consciousness amongst various planets that surround us. 2hy animals and other life forms are not in discontentment and man suffers on .arth, $his needs to be pondered into. After Siddhartha <Buddha= became enlightened in spite of all the pseudo-masters of those days and in his own right, he returned to the world to help and guide those who were in search. #e returned to his palace, met his father >ing Suddhodana, his wife 0asodhara and the only son ?ahul whom he had left when he was still an infant. Buddha devised Dhyana on scientific principles. #e spo(e in 1ali, a language spo(en by the masses of those days. Dhyana is a Sans(rit word. Sans(rit was a refined language spo(en by the pundits and professionals those days. !ommon masses did not understand Sans(rit. Buddha spo(e in the language of the masses and gave /made easy techni*ues long (ept hidden by the professionals for their own vested interest. Buddha called Dhyana as /@hana in the 1ali language. 2hen Buddhism spread to !hina after several centuries the word /@hana became /!hana which shortened to become /!han . %n @apanese, it became /Aen . Buddhism was thrown out of %ndia because it made Dhyana easily graspable by the people in search of truth those days. According to the 8BBC census, Buddhism now accounts for only B.D E population of %ndia. But in the neighboring countries, in South .ast Asia, Buddhism has a large following. Statistics are: 5aos 9DE, Mongolia 9DE, @apan 9:.FE, !ambodia 9:.GE, Myanmar 9:E, $hailand 9HE, Bhutan 9GE, ?epublic of !hina<$aiwan= 9IE, !hina 9CE, Macau D9E, Jietnam DHE, North >orea FI.HE, Sri 5an(a FCE , Singapore :FE. 2hy Buddhism vanished from %ndia and flourished in the outside world, Buddha denied 3od and Soul. 6or him the search of 3od was to be replaced with the words KSearch for $ruthL. But due to this denial he should not be mista(en to be an atheist. #3 2ells has said somewhere that Buddha was the most 3odly and yet most 3odless person on this earth. But he was misunderstood in %ndia. Buddhism spread its wings to South .ast Asia and became the greatest organi+ed religion in the world. But by becoming an organi+ed religion Buddhism has gone astray. Aen is the only surviving branch of Buddhism that is still young and fresh. Aen is not based upon any method or techni*ue but offers a deeper understanding for the growth of consciousness. Aen too is not part of any organi+ed religion. Sufism and $aoism are also living religions. $heir roots can be traced to %ndia. $hey too are not dogmatic nor part of any organi+ed church. 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

Shaivism has given the most number of techni*ues for growth of consciousness. Shiva s dialogues with his consort 1arvati are compiled in KJigyan Bhairav $antraL which is the greatest treatise on Dhyana. All the Dhyana techni*ues have one thing in common. $hey help us in our understanding the cause of our misery. $hat cause is only one. $hat cause is our .go or a false centre of the Self. 2henever you are in misery, despair, anguish, depressing moods, (now well the cause is your own ego" no one else is responsible for your misery. $hat is the fundamental premise before beginning to understand and learn Dhyana. 'ne would have to begin only with one premise: to e&plore one s interiority to understand the ego or the false centre of the self. Dhyana helps us to enter into our interiority, to understand our ego. $hrough this understanding one day you stumble upon the $ruth, the ego dissolves and a new perspective of life and a totally new vision is born. 2hat is this .go or the false centre of the Self, 5et us try to understand this. $he whole e&istence can be bro(en into two parts: the world of the (nown and the world of the un(nown. Mind functions only in the areas of the (nown. %t e&ists only in defined areas. %t loses control in undefined territories. Mind fears the un(nown. All efforts of science are meant to enter the un(nown, to (now the un(nown with certainty. Science proclaims that un(nown is un(nown only due to our ignorance. 'nce all that is un(nown becomes part of our (nowledge, there would be nothing more to (now and we would have (nown everything. But there is a fallacy in this statement. %n the very process of (nowing the un(nown, science finds itself in a peculiar situation. $he region of the un(nown is pushed further beyond. $he un(nown does not contract" on the contrary, it grows further into more and more un(nown regions. As such, un(nown increases in geometric proportions, it does not shrin(. $hat is how science goes on speciali+ing into various fields. %t (nows more and more about less and less. $he whole vision becomes narrow and narrow. A man (noc(ed at an eye specialist s clinic and said, KMy left eye is hurting much, and % cannot see rightly, my vision is blurredL $he 4octor said, K.&cuse me, % am sorry, but % speciali+e only in right eye. 6or the left eye you will have to go to some other specialist.L $he specialist goes on dividing. As such, science divides, it (nows more and more about less and less. And if science ever succeeds in its goal, then we will have to say K>nowing everything about nothingL; Science is a tunnel vision. Science is egocentric" it defies everything that is un(nowable. Beyond the un(nown is the vast region of the un(nowable. But mind does not accept anything un(nowable. %t struggles to unravel the mysterious. But the mystery remains. #eisenberg s principle of uncertainty is a victory of the un(nowable and a defeat of science. %t is mind-boggling. #ow can things be uncertain, #ow could science accept this theory of uncertainty, 2hy can t mind comprehend uncertainty, $he world of uncertainty is mysterious.

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Dhyana helps us to move into the world of the un(nowable, (nown is left behind, un(nown is left behind and we enter the mysterious world of the un(nowable. Mind cannot e&ist with the mysterious. %t loses significance. Mind can, therefore, function only in the defined region of the (nown. %t fears encounter with the un(nowable. 6or e&ample, death is mysterious and un(nowable. But mind tries to grasp death. Science tries to defy death. But as the mind encounters the region of the un(nowable, fear grips over. 4eath is un(nown and would remain un(nowable beyond the grasp of the mind. Dhyana helps us to go into the mystery of death even before actual death has happened. 'nce we go into Dhyana with full awareness, we can e&perience the mysterious phenomenon. Science e&periments in the ob)ective world, Dhyana brings e&perience to us in the innermost core of our being. A miracle happens; Mind is only a part of the whole e&istence. %t is beyond mind s capability to grasp the whole. But it struggles to (now the whole. #ow can a part understand the whole, A part can only dissolve into the whole and disappear. %t cannot e&ist in separation. $o thin( that we are separate is the /.go . Dhyana helps in the dissolution of the ego. $he separation is no more, ego dissolves, mind goes into utter silence, utterly rela&ed, and becomes one with the whole. $hought ceases. %nstead of being a master, mind now serves as an obedient servant. %t can be started and shut down at our will when we want to use it. Mind functions as an instrument. 2ithout Dhyana mind is a continuous chatterbo&, it does not shut down when we want it to shut down during wa(ing states. %n sleep it functions as dreams which are nothing but unfulfilled desires. Dhyana helps dreams to disappear whether during wa(ing states <ambition, position, prestige, wealth all are dreams= or in sleep. $hat is the miracle of Dhyana. Dhyana thus helps in the dissolution of the .go. 'nce we are able to catch it, it withers away li(e a dead leaf. 'nce .go dies, mind is in harmony with everything surrounding us, 3od descends into us, and we become a flute for the celestial song. %n the days of the Mpanishads in %ndia, there was no concept of any personal 3od, who was the creator of the universe. Spirituality was not an organi+ed religion. $he sole concern of spirituality was how to raise consciousness. %ndia needs to be rediscovered if human misery has to disappear through growth of consciousness. $hat has been the most valuable contribution of %ndia in the Mpanishadic period. %t has perished under the burden of the modern day science and technology. $hat spirit has to be revived. $his planet would otherwise perish soon much before its death for which man alone will be responsible. $he choice is ours;

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