While I am a great fan of materialistic or physical methods of discovery of nature and universe, especially since they present, at least currently, the best way towards understanding of the true nature of physical universe that surrounds us – I cannot, but help thinking about the inner universe and other more outré methods of understanding the reality.
To understand this reality, one needs to calm one’s mind down to a level where the clutter of daily mundane thoughts is swept away and instead one’s consciousness is able to concentrate on higher things and contemplation of the whole rather than parts. I found that throughout human history, before the advent of our “technological society”, there have been attempts to understand the reality of universe through powers of the mind alone. Meditation is one such technique which allows human mind to achieve level of consciousness which is way beyond the regular everyday requirements and may possibly allow us to tap into a hitherto unknown aspect of the universe, of which we are usually unaware.
According to Wikipedia - Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. It often involves turning attention to a single point of reference. Meditation is recognized as a component of almost all religions, and has been practiced for over 5,000 years. It is also practiced outside religious traditions. Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual and/or psychophysical practices which may emphasize different goals -- from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.
Meditation has been central to almost all religions in the world. Usually we find that Concentration meditation is used in many religions and spiritual practices.
Buzzle Staff and Agencies talk at length over the - The Long History of Meditation Is Evidence of Its Benefits.
“Meditation is both an ancient spiritual practice and a contemporary mind-body technique for relaxing the body and calming the mind. Although there is not a lot of recorded information dealing with the history of meditation, its roots can be traced back to ancient times. Researchers speculate that even primitive societies may have discovered altered states of consciousness and meditative states while staring into the flames of their campfires”
Meditation has been defined as: "self regulation of attention, in the service of self-inquiry, in the here and now." The various techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. Some focus on the field or background perception and experience, also called "mindfulness"; others focus on a preselected specific object, and are called "concentrative" meditation. There are also techniques that shift between the field and the object.
Tracing meditation to its beginning is like tracing the controlled use of fire to its beginning: In all probability the controlled use of fire emerged in many different places at approximately the same time, being instinctual and intrinsic to human development. It is speculated, in fact, that meditation may have been stumbled upon by early men falling into a state of relaxation by staring for long periods of time into the flames of man made fires. It is similarly argued that the experience of spending time in dark caves could lead the mind to enter a trance like state - accounting for the profusion of simple abstract symbols drawn on cave walls in the Paleolithic period.
We can also define 'meditation' as the art of consciousness becoming aware of itself on the grand and cosmic scale. Meditation cannot be called a science as yet, because science requires objective testing with objectively proven methods and results. Meditation is on the road to becoming a real science, however, and not just an intuitive art veiled in mystery.
For those who might be interested in learning meditation “Learning Meditation” might be a good starting point. A further resource in this direction can be found at - http://www.how-to-meditate.org/ I also strongly recommend a further reading with transcendental meditation.
Okay, I always digress into the side topicsJ. The fundamental point we are discussing here is the way to understanding this universe, and not restricting oneself to one path alone. However, the lure of meditation as a path to aid the understanding of universe is irresistible indeed.
Christopher Calder describes meditation as inner astronomy. “You discover the stars, the moon, and the sun are all inside you”.
The TES Hypothesis, by Calder, is rather more interesting. “It is a mind that is unprejudiced by religion, philosophy, and cultural conditioning. It is going naked in the stars”
The TES hypothesis is inherently obvious, fundamental, and in harmony with a state of mind that values both science and super consciousness. It declares that the universe and all of its manifestations are created by time-energy-space, the TES. Nothing in the universe is truly supernatural and beyond the laws of nature. Everything that exists is created through cycles of the TES, both on the large physical scale involving the formation of stars, galaxies, and planets, and on the subtler inner dimensions involving the evolution of the human brain and consciousness. The vast majority of the TES exists unconsciously, without feeling or life. This portion is made up of empty space, stars, and the bulk of planets. No human being has ever known the unconscious part of the TES directly because all that we know is within the world of consciousness. We become aware of the unconscious realm of the TES only through inference. When you look at a tree, you are not seeing the tree directly, but rather a representation of the tree created by your own brain. Our experience of colors, smells, tastes, and sounds, are all subjective creations of our mammalian neurological evolution.
Christopher Calder also talks of The Realms of Consciousness. According to him, ancient Hindu yogis and Tibetan Buddhist monks categorized seven stages of human consciousness, and referred to them as the "seven bodies." He would like to describe these "bodies" as realms of consciousness, because he feels the evidence strongly suggests that they are all layers of awareness in the purely physical human brain. In his articles and teachings, he is trying to bring science and the Eastern traditions into harmony in order to express the actual facts, rather than just restating ancient myths. This marriage of science and meditative states of consciousness may be a bit awkward at first, as the combination is so very new.
Personally, I don’t think I know enough about these schools of thought to become either a follower or a critic. However, they are stepping stones to our understanding of the universe through multiple channels.
I found a distinctly different, though not unique, view on symbolic or spiritual cosmology by M. Salim McCarron - Cosmos as meditation: Sufi and Shi’a Muslim Reflections on the Spiritual Cosmology.
However, to date, in my personal experience, I have come across the most moving discussion is from Dalai Lama - From Meditation to the Atom in the Universe. He talks of consciousness, the experiences of human mind, the natural boundaries of introspection, Buddhism’s long history of investigation into the nature of the mind and its various aspects and his call for modern science and Buddhism to conduct collaborative research on the understanding of consciousness while leaving aside the philosophical question of whether consciousness is ultimately physical. I definitely recommend reading of The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality.
And if you are looking for wonderful inspirations into the area of science related to consciousness, take a look at Edgar Mitchell’s foundation - the Institute of Noetic Science. The institute of Noetic Science is a nonprofit membership organization located in Northern California that conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness - including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigor. The vision for creating the Institute of Noetic Sciences came in 1971. Nations throughout the world had galvanized around the exciting frontier of space exploration. The potential for scientific understanding of our world seemed unlimited to a naval air captain named Edgar Mitchell. He was a pragmatic young test pilot, engineer and scientist; a mission to the moon on Apollo 14 was his “dream come true.” Space exploration symbolized for Dr Mitchell what it did for his nation as a whole - technological triumph of historical proportions, unprecedented mastery of the world in which we live, and extraordinary potentials for new discoveries. But it was the trip home that Mitchell recalls most. Sitting in the cramped cabin of the space capsule, he saw planet Earth floating freely in the vastness of space. He was engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness - an epiphany. In Mitchell’s own words: “The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes. . . . The knowledge came to me directly.”Mitchell faced a critical challenge. As a physical scientist, he had grown accustomed to directing his attention to the objective world “out there.” But the experience that came to him in space led him to a startling hypothesis: Perhaps reality is more complex, subtle, and inexorably mysterious than conventional science had led him to believe. Perhaps a deeper understanding of consciousness (inner space) could lead to a new and expanded view of reality in which objective and subjective, outer and inner, are understood as co-equal aspects of the miracle and mystery of being.
Sounds interesting? – I’ll explain more in my next post… watch out this space for more…
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