Time
and Space
by Dr. Sushil Fotedar
Time
and Space ("Kaala" and "Desh"--or in certain other contexts,
"Aakasha"--in Sanskrit) have fascinated thinkers from times immemorial.
Whether it is the western philosophers and scientists-or rather physicists- on
the one hand, and eastern thinkers and mystics, on the other, people
have tried to unravel these "categories" of existence and their impact
on understanding the human condition.
I would not venture deep into the scientific
concept of Time and Space as that is best left to the experts.
Suffice it to say that
the scientific explanation has progressed rapidly from the mechanistic notions
of Newton to the complexity of Einstein wherein Time and Space are no more
perceived as absolutes but as relative extensions of "n" number of
flexible dimensions (how boring!!)
With the advent of Quantum Physics things have
now started to border dangerously on the mystical with the "Schrodinger's
cat" and other such related concepts being the most mind-boggling.
Among western philosophers, it
was Immanuel Kant who tried to interpret these categories with the clear logic
of the highest order. His
magnum opus,
the
"Critique of Pure Reason" stands tall as one of the greatest
achievements of the human mind.
In this beautifully argued critique,
Kant proposes that Both
Time and Space are "a Priori" modes of knowledge,
i.
e.,
they exist in the human mind independent of any
empirical, i.
e.,
sensory,
experience.
Just imagine the beauty
of this explanation at the practical level (this is my own interpretation,
of course,
and therefore,
not scholarly)--Time and Space and thus,
the worlds,
"arise" and "set" with the
mind, with
human consciousness.
When I am born,
the world is born and
when I die,
the world too dies.
The world,
with Time and Space as it building blocks,
is therefore Maya,
i.
e.,
a concoction of a group
of "vasanas",
which is called the "I",
the "Me" or
the "Myself".
Eastern mysticism, in
particular Trika Shastra, has
dealt with the concepts of Time and Space extensively.
In His divine descent
through His Svatantrya Shakti,
Bhairava "creates" the limiting
Tattvas of Kaala and Desh and thereby conjures up the world with its opposing
poles of "Aham" and "Idam",
i.
e.,
"I" and
"This"--
thereby creating so many suffering beings like
me who then again want to return to the source!!! Ah,
what a Leela!!! (of
course, again
this is my own puny interpretation!!).
The "jagat"(Idam) and the
"I" (Aham) arise and set with the opening (Unmesha) and
closing(Nimesha) of the Divine Eye.
So brothers,
who are but an extension of "Myself",
let
us awaken from this divine Yognidra and shake off the shackles of Time and Space
and go beyond suffering into the realm of the "Turiya", the
"fourth" state, the
"Anirvachaniya" Bhairavahood.
There is no "mann" there,
no "buddhi",
no "chitta",
no "ahankara",
(and no politics,
of course!!)
just "Chidananda
rupah Shivoham,
Shivoham".
God bless us all.
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