All my life, I pursued knowledge of the foundation of existence. Physics (which I totally love and respect) does the same, but I looked to Vedic Knowledge for a fuller and deeper understanding. I see physics and Vedic Knowledge ultimately, as seamlessly merged, but with very different approaches. We could say that physics is a subset of Veda. To even begin to understand Vedic Knowledge, it is essential to understand cognition. It is quite natural to identify with one paradigm (for example, physics) or another. However in a larger sense, I view Vedic Knowledge as the vessel that holds all paradigms, yet is dedicated (or lost) to none. Nature (the Tao) is not lost to any paradigm, but lies beyond the reach of them all. Its foundation is transcendental, Ishwara.
I started reading Thoreau in the sixth grade, but do not recall this quote. Many famous minds were into Vedic Knowledge… Einstein, Oppenheimer, Schrodinger, and Heisenberg, to name a few. In the following, “Vedas and Angas” refers to the texts which, to this day, are considered by many to be written and ‘created’ a handful of thousands of years ago. In reality, they are eternal. They are inherent to nature, to existence. Thoreau knew that deep within himself and touches upon it.
To understand how this can be is to understand cognition. Understanding cognition changes everything. But that understanding must not be simplistic. Simplistic understandings of the nature of life and existence lead to fanatical dogmas. This is not to say that Thoreau cognized Veda. But he was a thinker… deeper than most. By Veda, I do not mean a book or books. By Veda, I mean nature. To Know, to understand nature is to transcend all echoes of Truth… all dogma. Echoes of Truth, perceived as Truth, hold Truth at bay.
“Was not Asia mapped in my brain before it was in any geography?
In my brain is the Sanskrit, which contains the history of primitive times.
The Vedas and Angas are not so ancient as my serenest contemplations…
Farthest India is nearer to me than Concord & Lexington.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, journal entries, circa 1851
"I’m always interested in health and food, etc. I have recently come across information about hybrid and electric foods. Apparently, a lot of foods are a cross between different foods, like carrots, cauliflower, beans, seedless grapes, etc.
"I don’t know what your thoughts are on this. Can it be harmful to try to eat only food in their natural form? I’m wondering, because I believe there wouldn’t be much left to eat. I’m amazed at how many foods have been played with (besides GMOs and pesticides)!"
My response:
The DNA of our food is like the Veda… nature. Breaking it up with engineering is harmful and will result in many weird and undiagnosed diseases.
Every coin has two sides. The two sides of our existence are science and psychology… rational and emotional… objective and subjective… right and left brain… etc. For knowledge to be pure, it must include both. Wisdom is the integration of heart and mind. The word "Veda" is not just one or the other. It is both. The legends of the Veda are beautiful from a personal level. But understanding them from the scientific perspective enhances their beauty and enhances our understanding of them. The intellectual understanding is far reaching. Instead of coming up with a rigid perspective, it is wonderful to reflect and ponder… Viewing the mechanics of creation, represented from many angles and many levels… the heart and mind… They sing the song of life together… in harmony. Exploring one enhances our ability to fathom the other. What follows is an example I invite you to ponder:
According to Vedic scriptures, there are three birthdays for Hanuman:
One marking his physical birth, which we celebrate in Vishakha Maas.
One when he got Gnyana (True Knowledge, or enlightenment), which comes in Kaarthika Maas.
One when he met Lord Rama for the first time and he felt he got a new birth, which was Saturday.
In different places, they celebrate Hanuman Jayanthi as they would like.
Last Saturday was also my first live-stream video talk with the Remote Advanced Techniques Course, Phase 1. I didn’t realize it coincided with the celebration of Hanuman meeting Lord Rama, until that morning.
The underlying basis of existence is pure Consciousness, what modern physics calls “the unified field.”
Pure Consciousness = Is-ness. It is the stuff that thing-ness is made of… Like in a dream, everything is born out of Consciousness.
Consciousness is conscious by its own nature.
Before the manifestation of the universe (the world of things), what can Consciousness be conscious of? The only thing that exists: namely, itself.
Consciousness becomes conscious of itself, and perceives it as other. Duality is born. That is why the universe is called the field of “Maya”… illusion… the domain where multiplicity is experienced as reality.
Consciousness becomes aware of itself as other, and then becomes aware of those two things, and a third thing is born. The process goes on and on to unfold the field of multiplicity… This is called the universe, i.e., Creation.
Modern physics calls this self-interaction of pure Consciousness “quantum mechanics,” the mechanics of the quantization of Oneness… the foundation of existence. Hindus call that level “the Veda.” It is simply Nature. Nature is born out of the nature of pure Consciousness.
The structure of Nature is profoundly complex. People see various patterns in that structure, and call that limited perspective Truth. In reality, it is just one of many simultaneously valid, but contradictory paradigms. Paradox is the nature of existence. All such paradigms are superficial echoes… limited knowledge.
Some call the texts about the knowledge of the Veda “secret doctrines,” thinking they can read them and know all the secrets of creation. But they are secret doctrines because even after people read them, the knowledge remains a secret to those people. Yet, those people believe they ‘get it.’
The cosmic joke has many facets. One facet is that people think they get it, but they don’t. The joke is on them.
Enlightenment is highly elusive: the razor’s edge.
I received the following question:
Every coin has two sides. The two sides of our existence are science and psychology… rational and emotional… objective and subjective… right and left brain… etc. For knowledge to be pure, it must include both. Wisdom is the integration of heart and mind. The word "Veda" is not just one or the other. It is both. The legends of the Veda are beautiful from a personal level. But understanding them from the scientific perspective enhances their beauty and enhances our understanding of them. The intellectual understanding is far reaching. Instead of coming up with a rigid perspective, it is wonderful to reflect and ponder… Viewing the mechanics of creation, represented from many angles and many levels… the heart and mind… They sing the song of life together… in harmony. Exploring one enhances our ability to fathom the other. What follows is an example I invite you to ponder:
