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Maya And Physics

Discussion in 'Interesting Shares' started by jayasala42, Jun 18, 2019.

  1. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Maya is a word which is very familiar to us all, but very few know what it actually means. It is a word which was used by the rishis (sages) of ancient India to describe the nature of this universe of changing forms. The rishis have always been telling us that matter is not as real or as solid as we think. It is only an illusion projected by our senses. They called It “maya” or the magical creative power of the “Brahman”.
    With the dawn of the 20th century, we find that physics started to support this view.

    The theory of relativity showed us that we can only know the relations between objects, and quantum theory declared that we can only see probabilities. What we think of as solid matter is an illusion created by our eyes. In fact, it is the “maya” which the rishis talked about.
    Matter is actually made up of particles and waves that merely indicate the different types of knowledge that can be derived from that object. Scientists finally realized that our senses do not give us a true picture of Reality. This is exactly what the rishis of ancient India had been telling us more than five thousand years ago.
    We see the pictures in TV through the screen. The screen itself has no qualities. It is unmoving and unchanging, but without this solid support, the play of light and shade which we are watching would have no form and no meaning.

    Similarly, the drama of our life and the drama of the world taking place in front of our eyes would have no meaning without the solid stage of the steady, unchanging state of the Pure Consciousness of the Brahman on which it is being enacted.

    The quantum world of science, which is a strange, unbelievable dance of particles, solidifies into a semblance of concrete reality when an observation is made by someone. In the absence of an observer, the atomic world is only a possibility. The particles materialize only when we look for them.
    Another strange fact is that when scientists looked for the location of a particle they were able to find it at a particular place, but they could not gauge its speed. When they wanted to gauge its speed, the particle turns into a wave and they could see it in motion. However, the scientist could not fix both its location and speed at the same time. Both depended on the observer! We cannot observe a thing without influencing it.

    This takes us back to the truth which had been declared by the rishis: that each of us is really creating our own world. Modern science has corroborated the statements of the rishis that this is actually a shadow world, which can be called real only when the consciousness of the observer comes into play. Normally quantum particles act in a haphazard fashion of chaos and disorder; but when individual consciousness is focused on them, they lose their individuality and begin to act as a single unit. This coherence extends into the world. Thus, human consciousness represents the greatest form of order known in nature and can help to shape and create order in the world.
    The modern physicist corroborates the claim of the rishis that the world exists only because we who are the observers are actively participating in it. The world is a creation of the human mind. Each of us creates our own world. These words are used both by Vedanta and by the quantum physicists. Vedanta says that the universe is an illusion created by the participators in this drama taking place on the stage of the universe!

    The question now comes up as to how the Supreme, unchangeable Being of the Brahman turned into the changing world. Vedanta explains this unique phenomenon by postulating “maya” as the cause of the superimposition.

    Maya has two powers- one to veil and the other to project. It veils the nature of the Brahman and projects pluralities on the screen of the non-dual. We can understand this only through examples. Light exists, darkness does not. The latter is only the absence of the former. Although darkness does not exist in reality, it has empirical existence. Similarly, the world also has empirical reality.
    According to the theory of relativity, continuous activity is the very essence of matter. Hence in Hinduism, maya is described as a state of “becoming” whereas Brahman is the state of “Being”. The Puranas describe this relationship in a very poetic way. Shiva in his essence is the Absolute and is known as Bhava or “Being”, whereas his consort Parvati, who is the essence of maya, is known as Bhavani or “Becoming.” There can be no change without expenditure of energy. The Sanskrit word for energy is “Shakti” and this also refers to maya, as we have seen.
    Maya is thus the enchantress who has cast this spell on us and made us believe in the solid reality of this universe of forms. She has made us believe in the reality of the forms and forget that formless that is upholding the forms.
    The only way to break free from the spell of the enchantress is to realize that all the forms we see are aspects of that one Reality, just as all the rays of light emanate from just one sun.
    This is known as moksha or liberation and is the goal of Hinduism. Liberation is when the individual experiences that he or she is nothing but that Brahman. This is the very essence of Hinduism.
    The sage of Arunachala known as Ramana Maharishi said,"Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web)out of itself and again withdraws it into itself,likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself.when the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears.Therefore,when the world appears to be real, the Self does not appear;and when the Self shines, the world does not appear.
    When one persistently enquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self shine, as the residue.
    “Who am I?” is the question that he asked his disciples to use. By negating all those parts of our selves that are transitory or superficial, we will come to the realization that we are nothing other than that Supreme Consciousness of the Brahman.This is the final liberation from all the fears that haunt the mind of the human being.
    If this knowledge is made a part of our everyday life, all our basic hang-ups like the fear of death and extreme attachment to people, places, and objects can be banished forever.
    Our inquiry into the true nature of our selves will make us realize that the Supreme Self is present in all beings irrespective of any perceived differences.
    Meditation and yoga can only give us occasional glimpses of that Supreme Self, but the abiding knowledge and realization that our existence is not separate from that universal existence, can at one stroke remove all our mental agonies.
    Based on Maya: Science Only Acknowledges Now What Ancient Sages Knew About Reality 5000 Years Ago
    Jayasala 42
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 19, 2019
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. Jayasala:

    A phenomenal write up about Maya and Consciousness and how the science and spirituality blend into one conclusion. When we dive deep into quantum physics, one can confirm Mahavakyas. My humble respect to you for a well-researched snippet and really there is nothing further to add. :worship2:
     
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  3. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Thank you viswa.Two days back there was a small write up in 'Faith' column of The Hindu, even as I was reading a book by Ramana.That motivated me to sketch a write up on maya.
    Jayasala 42
     
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  4. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello::hello:Kudos to madam sister for yet another wonderful awesome post simplifying the entire physics that even a lay man can understand and ponder about himself or herself and the universe.
    2. In physics I studied “LIGHT” as a separate subject . For measuring the velocity of LIGHT seven different experiments discussed and there light was treated as particles. In wave theory of light it was considered as only wavelets.
    3. Light behaves differently and the phenomenon explained as simple waves and also as diffraction. What is vibrating can simultaneously exists as particle as well as wave. It looks the whole universe can be solid and disappears from vision when it vibrates. When a wire vibrates, we could see vibration but the solid wire can’t be seen. It could be something like that?
    5. I was always wondering how the plank’s constant was arrived at in the quantum energy equation E= h x frequency.
    Hats off to your analysis.
    Thanks and Regards.
     
  5. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear JS Ma'am,

    Some of it went beyond my understanding but I quite enjoyed reading it. I especially loved the way "Bhava" and "bhavani" are described. I was always fascinated with "Vagarthaviva samprukthou" from RaghuVamsha as I think of Shiva and Parvati in their ardhanareeshawara form and now I have another meaning to look up to them and worship them. Simply loved the explanation. Thank you!
     
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  6. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Mam,
    Nice one. Volumes have been written on the subject of Maya and more will come.
    The one I came across is by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and that is -' That which can be measured is Maya.'
    Another is -'I and you' is Maya.
     
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  7. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Shri Thyagarajan,
    Thanks for the response. Whatever physics I have read has been totally forgitten.Now it is a relearning process, but quite interesting since it is connected with Maya.
    However much we get convinced just on reading, it just amazes us as to how the entire world can be unreal and it has just been created by ourselves.Are all these advancements in Science and communication, natural phenomenon,seas rivers and oceans and change of seasons, so much of space science, astronomical calculations, our IL forum, its members, snippets and our responses etc etc fall under the category of Maya.Any suitable explanation from physicists in the group will be much benefit to clear our doubts.
    jayasala 42
     
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  8. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Srama,
    Just in time you have reminded of the first verse in Raghuvamsam about the inseparability of the word and meaning( vaak and Artha) just like parvathi and Parameshwara in Arthanaree form.
    I think maya also is totally inseparable and that is why we don't understand the total significance.She is a perfectionist in her work of 'veiling' and 'projecting'.She does it so cleverly that she deceives people not one or two or hundreds but the entire universe.
    Jayasala 42
     
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  9. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Shri Hari Lakhera,
    As you say ,volumes and volumes have been written, read and re read. But the veil is so powerful that we can never draw the curtain or tear the veil to understand the truth.
    If we start understanding, the entire nature of Universe may change.
    Jayasala 42
     
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  10. rgz

    rgz Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you @jayasala42 Excellent write up on a tough subject.
     

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