Faith and Conviction.

विश्वास और निष्ठा

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Two days ago I wrote in Hindi, a post about this title. Still I think / feel I should write one in English also.

I came across the understanding that trying to find out a philosophy from the scriptures  that leads us in believing to a certain faith, is quite different from that of trying to find out the conviction about the Truth. 

An unflinching conviction which can remove finally and ultimately all our confusions and ignorance, doubts and prejudices about the essential Reality / Truth as well. 

Discussions, dialogues, talks, debates go on without an end whatever, whenever we try to reach at an intellectual conclusion. And we think this is the final and ultimate truth, while this is merely an intellectual result of an intellevtual process, which still keeps us tethered to a certain philosophy, and yet we feel we have arrived. 

Then we say: "This is my faith".

So, what is "conviction"? How the conviction is different from the "faith"!

Let us see the conviction is intrinsic to our very being and our spontaneous knowing that I / We (always) exist. By whatever logic, argument or experience, this fact about our existence could never be denied or refuted.

Faith is always acquired from the knowledge from outside, from a scripture, from some-one who has been given the status, authority, and is supposed to know better than what we think we know.

Most often such a man seizes this authority, this opportunity by / from from tradition, by serving his superiors, who too might have captured the same probably in this way only.

Could we perhaps deny all tradition and the authority that is forced upon us according to certain philosophy in the name of religion, God, scriptures, and can we turn inwards to our heart, to the gut-feeling within our own and see that this simple knowing "I am", and the quite simple knowing :

"I know that I am" 

may be the whole and the only truth!

Maybe, if we give it a try, we could discover the above conviction within our own heart, and see what happens next.

Even after this revelation, perhaps still we could get more and more self-centered and selfish, even more confused a bit, may soon forget all about this simple realization, and get stuck deep in the quagmire of ignorance, or this may bring out in us the awareness of our own very true reality.

Depends upon how we proceed further from there.

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The Extension Theorem.

The 5 Atharva SheerSha.

पञ्च अथर्वशीर्ष

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In the last post it was pointed out that how a plain is contained in a sphere, and a sphere is contained in a plain.

We can see that any four points on a sphere could be said to have a one-one relationship with four assumed points on a plain.

This implies that every plain could be seen to be a  representation of a sphere. 

In the same way a point and a straight line are also related to one-another. 

This could be explained by treating them in terms of equivalence class and equivalence relations, or also in terms of envelopes and evolutes.

The same principle applies to and fits well  perfectly in the case of all thise 5 Atharva SheerSha texts.

That is How Rudra, GaNapati, DevI, Surya and Narayana are aspects of the one and the same unique principle.

Furthermore treatment of the topic is left to those who could check, see and verify if the arguments presented / made in the earlier post are valid enough on the criteria of the Mathematics.

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एको हि रुद्रो

A New Mathematical Approach to :

शिव-अथर्वशीर्षम् 

Shiva-AtharvasheershaM

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I started reciting the above Vedika text in the year 2009.

I am well aware that no Vedika text could or should be translated into any language and should be learnt only by way of reciting the same. 

The Vedika text may have or may not have meaning but has a purpose definitely no doubt, always. 

Meaning is of secondary importance.

(Or, It is like a painting, which may have or not have a meaning yet has a significance.)

The essence however is revealed to one who recites and when it is recited strictly in tune with, and according to the perfectly correct and proper pronunciation, because Veda (वेद) is kind of shruti (श्रुति) and is either heard by a Rishi (ऋषि) or one who in consciousness is synchronized with the consciousness of the corresponding Devata (देवता).

Learning this scripture in this way, one day it suddenly dawned upon me that I could relate this experience with a mathematical model, that I had worked out upon while I was studying in the school.

But at that time I couldn't get what it was all about. Now after having recited this Vedika text for so long, I am awakened to the fact that I knew the relation between this text and the mathematical model I was thinking of in my school days.

The Premise and the Theorem :

A simple way is by asking the question --

"How to transform a sphere mathematically into a plane and vice-versa?"

I started in this way:

Sum of the three angles in a triagle is 2 right angles.

We can imagine a circle revolving about its diameter as axis. Given that circle is always a plane, let us choose a point that is lying on its circumference.

Revolving the circle about the diameter as an axis generates a sphere.

On the circle, let us choose any two points on the either side of the diameter.

These points joined to the end-points of the diameter would form two triangles.

(We already know) The sum of the 3 angles in each of the two 🔺s is two right angles.

Thus, on the circle, the sum of the measure of the angles of these triangles is 360° or 4 right angles. Again, the same result could be obtained in an alternate way also(?).

Now when we rotate the plane (where-upon the circle is lying), about its diameter as the axis, the four points (two vertices / points on the circumference, and another two on the corresponding plane, we see what is true for the sphere is also true for the plane.

This suggests (and may be, proves also) that the sphere is a transformed plane, and again the plane is a transformed sphere.

Though I can't say if I have discovered some-thing really quite true or not, I do find that the Vedika text points out the same.

यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यश्च ब्रह्मा तस्मै वै नमो नमः।।१।।

...

यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यच्च सर्वं तस्मै वै नमो नमः।।३२।।

--

Hence Proved.

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Initiation and Awareness.

Relationship between

the Initiation (अनुग्रह),

and

the Awareness (चित् / चैतन्य) 

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In Awareness you grow (spiritually).

That means :

In Awareness is your spiritual growth.

Awareness attracts Initiation,

and conversely,

Through Initiation you become Aware of your Spiritual Worth.

Attention (अवधान) is individual manifestation of Awareness (चित् / चैतन्य), 

Though Consciousness is Sentience (चेतना), and Consciousness as whole is Awareness as well, the sentience is always the individual consciousness only.

Sentience is always in terms of the sensory perception. Therefore it is always limited and restricted within a physical body or an organism (living being).

In Awareness, arises the sentience or the  sense of individuality, and the same merges again in Awareness only.

This is precisely the relation between the sentience and Awareness, while (as has been pointed out earlier), Awareness is Initiation, and Initiation is growing-up in Awareness.

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दीक्षा, अभ्यास और अवधान

आध्यात्मिक दीक्षा  / The Initiation. 

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दीक्षा ईश्वरीय कार्य है, जो ईश्वरीय अनुग्रह शक्ति का उल्लास है। उपदेश-सार के अध्ययन का प्रयोजन है, बहिर्मुखी मन को बाहर से भीतर की ओर लाना अर्थात् अन्तर्मुख करना। इसका दूसरा प्रयोजन है, बिखरे हुए अवधान को एकत्र कर चित्त को एकाग्र करना ।

पूजन, जप-ध्यान तथा चिन्तन से क्रमशः इसी दिशा में अग्रसर हुआ जा सकता है।

मन के तीन तत्त्व क्रमशः अवधान, प्राण एवं वृत्ति की तरह व्यक्त होते हैं। ये तीनों पुनः मन की जाग्रत, स्वप्न तथा सुषुप्ति की दशा में भिन्न भिन्न स्थितियों में होते हैं। अवधान मन की जागृति की दशा में स्पष्ट होता है, स्वप्न की दशा में कल्पना से मोहित होता है तथा सुषुप्ति की दशा में लीन या समाहित (absorbed / merged) होता है।

मन के तथा प्राणों के लय को ही पातञ्जल योग में चित्तवृत्ति का निरोध भी कहा गया है। इसे ही इन्द्रिय-निग्रह व मनोनिग्रह भी कहा जा सकता है। मन तथा प्राणों को एकाग्र कर लेने पर उनका लय अथवा नाश हो सकता है। वैसे तो मृत्यु में भी इनका नाश नहीं होता, किन्तु मनुष्य के जीवित होने की अवस्था में लय का अर्थ है इन्द्रिय-निग्रह एवं मनोनिग्रह, एवं नाश का अर्थ है समाधि या आत्म-ज्ञान जो आत्म-साक्षात्कार की ही भूमिका है। यद्यपि इस प्रकार की समाधि या आत्म-ज्ञान में मनुष्य को परम ज्ञान प्राप्त हो जाता है, किन्तु पूर्व-संस्कारों के कारण शरीर रहने तक उसके कर्म प्रारब्ध से संचालित होते हैं। 

उपदेश-सार में ऐसे ही मनुष्य को नष्ट-मानस कहा गया है। उसे ही उत्कृष्ट योगी भी कहा गया है। 

मन का लय अथवा नाश क्रमशः प्राणबन्धन अर्थात् प्राणों को निरुद्ध कर लेने से, और एकचिन्तन इन दो विधियों से होता है।

प्राणबन्धनाल्लीन मानसः। 

एकचिन्तनान्नाशमेत्यदः।।

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शब्दानुक्रमणिका / Terminology :

मन - mind, चित्त - state of mind, वृत्ति - mode of mind, प्राण - the vital force that prompts the various physical and mental activities, अहंकार - sense if being a person, ego, self, अहम् - Self, आत्मा -Self, लय - dissolution / suspension, नाश - extinction, अवधान - awareness, ध्यान - the attention on one or more than one specific objects at the same time, जप-ध्यान - reciting a mantra while keeping attention focussed on the same, letting not the attention divert to other objects, चिन्तन - meditation, consciousness of / contemplation keeping attention  focussed upon a particular object, दीक्षा - initiation.

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