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. Other life forms do not exist at the psychological level. Man is therefore different from other life forms due to the psychological dimension. Nature evolves only at the biological dimension. t does not go beyond the biological level. Nature cannot evolve at the psychological dimension. !cience is concerned only with the physical" visible" biological and material dimension. !cience 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% it has the potential to transcend nature. t 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 exercise the choice to grow further then he is bound to remain in misery. Animals do not have any choice to grow therefore they 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" it cannot remain contented as he is% therefore sooner or later he has to find ways and means for further growth. One can go on committing mista'es and remain in misery. &hat would become suicidal. !ince there is dar'ness all around" nowhere to go" therefore to end life by committing suicide seems to be the only answer. &hat is the easy path. 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 beings" who have passed through dar'ness" and successfully come out of it and to see' their guidance for further growth. But" to find out such a human being is not an easy tas') &his search is possible only when one has intense thirst and *uest. 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. !ociety thin's collectively" it has no place for individual growth. !ociety 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 organi+ed religions. 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 is unconscious" it cannot grow consciousness. &hus the child becomes slave psychologically and starts living to fulfill his biological needs by learning s'ills for survival in the ever increasing competitive 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

world. ,e raises a family" becomes a good father" a good son" a good and patriotic citi+en" according to the norms set up by the particular culture and society he is brought up. t is good to live a life according to the dictates of the collective wisdom of the society but that does not satisfy a man as it does not allow any individual wisdom and consciousness to grow any further. t is surprising to note that a person should have attained a certain minimum age even to choose a political party for governance. t is presumed that he does not have a grown up mind to choose our political leaders and ideologies. -ven for choosing a wife or a husband a minimum age is re*uired by the society. But when it comes to choosing an organi+ed religion there is no such minimum age prescribed. s religion a lower thing than politics or marriage and does not re*uire any wisdom to choose) &his seems ironical. Organi+ed religions therefore become more political than politics. Organi+ed religions want to catch them young to enroll" do not allow defections whereas political systems do provide a greater freedom to choose. &hey do not go fishing so soon. ,uman growth becomes impossible because of this indoctrination by the organi+ed religions at such a young age. t becomes difficult for the human mind to thin' and choose for growth of its consciousness. ,owever" there are many schools in the world even today that are not part of any organi+ed religions and provide platform to grow consciousness through various methods and techni*ues. n ndia .oga and &antra and many other schools were born that do not belong to any organi+ed religion. &he six philosophical schools in ndia too did not belong to any organi+ed religion. Out of these /!an'hya0 and .oga0 have survived. /.oga0 was developed by Maharishi 1atan(ali.0 &antra0 is 1re-Aryan. 2hen Aryans came in the ndo-3angetic plane" ndia already had 4ravidian culture well entrenched. /!hiva0 is pre-Aryan and a /&antri'a0. Aryans absorbed /!hiva0 into their fold. 5ater they added their own 3ods and deities. -ight limbs of /.oga0 developed by 1atan(ali is a techni*ue for step by step growth of consciousness leading to !amadhi. /&antra0 is based upon love. !hiva and his consort /1arvati0 are in deep embrace of love. &antra offers techni*ues for transcendence of sex energy leading to !amadhi. ndia#s contribution to the world for the growth of human consciousness at the psychological level is immense. /.oga0 and /&antra0 are valuable contributions of ndia to the world of spirituality. &hey are not part of any organi+ed religions. &hey are not dogmatic" not part of any organi+ed church or religion. .oga and &antra are scientific. &hey are based upon experimentation. One can experiment and grow consciousness to its ultimate. &he method or techni*ue of experimentation is: /Meditation0. &he achievement or the goal is /!amadhi0. !amadhi is the very culmination and pea' of consciousness. Buddhism was also born in ndia" but it became an organi+ed religion when it moved outside ndia. 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 experimenter. ,e too' the courage to leave his 'ingdom and go out for a search. ,e did not find any Master and practiced 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

penance for 67 years as per the advice of pseudo-masters of those days. !uch pseudo-masters exist today in large numbers and are very harmful for the individuals for their growth. But society respects them for various reasons. &his should be banned" regulated and licensed. After Buddha became enlightened in his own right and attained !amadhi he returned to the world to help and guide those who were in search. Buddha devised meditative techni*ues on scientific principles. ,e denied 3od and !oul. But through this denial he should not to be mista'en 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 !outh -ast Asia and became the greatest organi+ed religion in the world. By becoming an organi+ed religion Buddhism has gone astray. 8en is the only survivor branch of Buddhism that is still young and fresh. 8en is not based upon any method or techni*ue but offers a deeper understanding for the growth of consciousness. 8en too is not part of any organi+ed religion. !ufism and &ao are also living religions. &heir roots too can be traced to ndia. &hey too are not dogmatic and part of any organi+ed church. !hiva has given most number of meditative techni*ues for growth of consciousness. ,is dialogues with his consort 1arvati is compiled in /9igyan Bhairav &antra0 and is the greatest treatise on meditation. All the meditative techni*ues have one thing in common. &hey are helpful in our understanding the cause of human misery. &hat cause is only one. &hat cause is human -go or a false centre of self. 2hat is -go) 5et us try to understand this. &he whole can be bro'en into two parts: the world of the 'nown and the world of the un'nown. -go functions only in the areas of the 'nown. t exists only in defined areas. t loses control in undefined territories. t fears the un'nown. All efforts of science are to enter the un'nown" to 'now the un'nown with certainty. !cience proclaims that un'nown is un'nown only due to our ignorance. Once 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 that the region of the un'nown goes further beyond. &he un'nown does not contract% on the contrary it grows further into more and more un'nown regions. &herefore 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. One man 'noc'ed at a 4octor#s" an eye specialist#s office" and he said" /My left eye is hurting much" and cannot see rightly" my vision is blurred0

8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

&he 4octor said" /-xcuse me" am sorry" but speciali+e only in right eyes. :or the left eye you will have to go to some other specialist.0 &he specialist goes on dividing. &herefore 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 /;nowing everything about nothing0< !cience is a tunnel vision. !cience is egocentric% it defies everything that is un'nowable. Beyond the un'nown is the vast region of the un'nowable. But -go 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 defeat of science. &he world of uncertainty is mysterious. Meditation ta'es us 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. -go cannot exist with the mysterious. t loses significance. -go can function only in the defined region of the 'nown. t fears encounter with the un'nowable. 4eath is mysterious and un'nowable. Mind tries to grasp death" science tries to defy death but it encounters the region of the un'nowable and fear grips over. &hat is the whole fear of death. Once we enter the mysterious consciously" we understand fear. Meditation prepares ground for us to enter the un'nowable with awareness. Once we enter the mysterious consciously" the ego drops and death disappears. &hat is the whole message of /;athopnishad0. Meditation therefore helps in the dissolution of the self or the -go. Once we are able to catch it by the nec'" it dies. Once -go dies" 3od descends into us" we become a flute for the celestial song. 2e become immortal" /Amritasya 1utrah0< n the days of the =panishad" there was no concept of a personal 3od who is the creator of the universe. !pirituality 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 was the most valuable contribution of ndia. t has perished under the burden of science and technology of the west. &he spirit needs to be revived. &here is no choice left. &his planet would otherwise soon perish. &he choice is ours< 8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##

8/13, Second Floor, Arya Nagar, Kanpur 208 002 Ph: (0512) 2551251 52! "#151012##