Met a gorgeous Lady

 Met a gorgeous Lady

I met a gorgeous lady in Delhi this week. When she introduced herself as Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi (IFS:1970), I couldn’t catch her surname. When I asked her again she replied with a broad smile on her face. ‘Uban is my surname from my father and Tripathi is a surname from my husband’. Uban was their native place located in North West Frontier Province. Her father was a Captain in Indian Army and was posted in Delhi at the time of partition of India. Her grandmother was living in Ravalpindi. When she was to move to Delhi as Pakistan was formed, she denied by saying राजाओ का बँटवारा होता है, प्रजा का बँटवारा नहीं होता। However, the family somehow convinced her to come to Delhi as her daughter in law was expecting a delivery of her first baby (Ms. Shashi). She came but was saying that she would return to Ravalpindi after three four months. She couldn’t because the situation worsen thereafter. 

Whomsoever the migrants one meets, their love and attachment to their native land and love to the people of that land are visible on their face and expressions. Many of them don’t carry the hatred of partition instead remember the days of loving relationships of both the communities. Destiny had scattered their lives. The act of violences by some anti socials and misguided youths hurt both the communities badly resulting in killings of one million people and displacement of 15 million. They couldn’t forget, the warmth of relations as well a the unfortunate partition. However, life has to move forward. 

Ms. Shashi was born in the year of Partition of India. After her graduation, she joined IFS:1970 and served in the External Affairs Ministry and abroad as Ambassador & High Commissioner to Poland, Zimbabwe and Canada. Her husband Manilal Tripathi was also from IFS:1970 had served on various capacities as diplomat of India. Ms. Shashi served as Member of UPSC post retirement. 

She was sharing anecdotes. It was Indian PMs visit to Moscow in 1979. He was accompanied by the MFA Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr. Gujaral was the Ambassador. The couple was serving as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy of Moscow. The Embassy had prepared the toast speech of H’ble PM in English. But when Mr. Vajpayee came to know that the USSR President Brezhnev was going to toast in Russian, he proposed that our PM would toast in Hindi. But who would translate? There was no facility of translator and the officers and staff were carrying english background. Finally, Mr. Vajpayee himself translated the speech and gave dictation to Ms. Shashi who wrote it down on a paper neatly. PM Morarjibhai read the toast speech in Hindi. What a coincidence it was that the three men present in the event Morarjibhai, Vajpayee and Gujaral became the PM of India. 

At 76, she carries childlike innocence and her face lights up with her smile. She is a diplomat in action, very courteous, speaks precisely, reads carefully, writes neatly and verifying before sending the note to another hand. I read somewhere that neat handwriting is a sign of organization and discipline. Furthermore, people who write neatly tend to be reliable and dedicated. They are conscientious and take a pride in their work. They have a strong work ethic and are meticulous about following instructions and procedures. I could mark all these qualities present in Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi. Our salutes to her.🙏🙏🙏

Punamchand 

13 November 2024

New Delhi

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Spirituality is a quest

Spirituality is a quest 

Search of knowledge is the basic instinct of humans living on the earth including India. Who is He behind the play/creation was the quest and in realising Him (knowing the truth), man used his available five senses of perception and ultimately surrendered when failed to realise. It was beginning of the prayers. All our practices and rituals of religions are mainly aimed at realisation of the true self. If atom-quantum-photon is the basic element behind the creation of the visible world, consciousness is us is the basic element of the universal power of the Purusha/God. All mantras, suktas are payers to pray the Shakti of the Shaktiman and all the japs, tirthatans, meditation, yoga, etc, are means to realise Shakti and Her Shaktiman. The five senses of perception when are outward, run after the world-bhog for getting happiness. But when fail, revert inward and make the mind powerful which connects itself with the soul/individual consciousness and the smaller I further deeper get connected with the universal real I in Samadhi. Knowledge of the real true self (the eternal- सनातन) is the quest.

As all humans are not equal intellectually, therefore, they interpret the pathways differently and therefore there are many practices and orthodoxies across the Indic and other religions. 

Spirituality/peace/happiness is the inner most thrust of the mankind, therefore humans will continue running after it knowingly or unknowingly.

Punamchand 

29 October 2024

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Indian Spirituality, a search for thyself

 Indian Spirituality, a search for thyself

Many Indian myths are symbolic and therefore carry multiple interpretations. Let some people call them imaginary or some call them rich thoughts of ancient Indian minds but even if they are imaginary, are useful in the research of modern science on theory of creation.

A mechanical diploma holder clerk (Einstein) had changed the vision of the scientific world with his thoughts in the beginning of 20th century and within a century modern physics has uncovered many mysteries of creation with the theories of Big Bang, black holes and strings. Physicists have identified four fundamental forces (gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear) and 12 building blocks made of 6 quarks (up, down, top, bottom, charm, strange) and 6 leptons (electron, electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau, tau neutrino) along with gluon, photon, z boson and higgs boson. The photons released by the Big Bang are makers of our universe/s of galaxies, stars, planets and satellites but what was before Big Bang, what is dark matter and dark energy are yet to be proved with evidences. The biologists are simultaneously working and have discovered DNA, RNA and mRNA. But the beginning is yet to be made on the ‘origin of thought’, whether it is a product of physics or beyond. Some of the scientists have started addressing consciousness but are unclear whether it is an outcome of the permutations and combinations of physical particles or something independent to them.

Ancient Indian thoughts hv described the un-manifested Supreme with his manifestation through Power (शक्ति) in form of creation as visible world/s. It is imagined as a play out of ecstasy (KSD). The consciousness is taking different forms as solid, emaciated, dream states through reflection. The dream state is further classified as ignorance (जाग्रत-स्वप्न-सुषुप्ति) as reflected consciousness through which a yogi transcends crossing the voids and realises the true self, the master or creator of the creation. They hv also claimed space travel with subtle body and narrated multiverses they had visualised. As human eyes have limitations, Galileo initiated the efforts to see the world using telescope and now we see it using JWST.

Spirituality in India therefore is a search of the reality by the Indians worshiping different forms of Gods and Goddesses through idols and rituals but are aimed at either to pay respects to the fundamental forces of creation or realising thyself.

Once we free our minds from the imaginations of human forms of Krishna-Kali-Radha, Shiv-Shakti and interpret them as un-manifested and manifested power of creator/creation, we may feel amazed with the glory.

Our heart-mind is the field to create joy or sorrow ourselves. Whatever we see is the world is the reflection of our mind on the mirror of consciousness. It’s a choice of an individual to select the spectacles (thoughts) through which he/she sees and interprets the visible world.

It was a thought of Einstein that discovered relativity. Quantum mechanics has taken another leap. Let’s admire the thoughts/myths of the ancient sages and enjoy them by linking with modern science; but not at the cost of human dignity, equality, liberty and justice. 

Punamchand

21 October 2024

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Formless Form

Formless Form

Prajna is the light in the darkness. Void or Self, there is unity in formless non duality. Physicists are busy in study of the forces that put the existence in existence: gravity and quantum gravity of electromagnetic interaction, the strong and weak nuclear forces; the end result may be voidness. But the causality of existence is still a mystery. Who and why was it brought up? 

One who crosses (पारमिता) the borders of duality may attain the unity of non duality, the voidness or the self. 

Either say: 

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

or 

शून्यमदः शून्यमिदं,शून्यात् शून्यमुदच्यते। शून्यस्य शून्यमादाय, शून्यमेवावशिष्यते।।

None can explain without experience. And to explain, one needs a mind, mind and form are interdependent, mind can’t express without form and without form mind can’t be expressed. 

The root cause is ignorance and it can’t go away without following Prajna Pramita either of Buddha or Shankara.

Punamchand 

24 September 2024

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आत्मा-अनात्मा (self - no self)

आत्मा-अनात्मा (self- no self) 

How could we teach the mystery of creation and bondage through an example other than us when we ourselves is a great example of the mystery? How to break the ignorance? How to cross the body-mind-ego identity and realise the truth? How to move from the reflective I to the real I? There are many questions with different-confusing answers. 

Mirror has been used as an example. Imagine that the image person in the mirror is the body-mind-ego identity of the real one who is out of the mirror. The real I of the mirror in this example has a form but the real I which we are trying to realise is formless and has form (विश्वोर्तीर्ण, विश्वरूप). Can the image person realises the real person? Will it be possible for him to reach out to the real by putting all his efforts?

Buddhism helps here. It teaches that we are anatma. It calls the Chetana as Vigyan which is a flow of energy like a flame of a lamp though looks constant but changing continuously with continuous replacement of the previous. Five skandh (रूप-पदार्थ, वेदना-संवेदना, संज्ञा-विषय, संस्कार-मानसिक गठन, विज्ञान-चेतना-जागरूकता) for them are parts of the physical world. Five skandha is another way of presenting physical, subtle and causal bodies. Buddhism believes in the theory of karma and rebirth but call it भव संसरण of संस्कार, the thread of desire carried forward on the vehicle of vigyan-consciousness. Our belief of journey of birth and rebirth is through the subtle (पूर्यष्टक) body. 

Our teaching of calling ourselves Atma many times becomes a road block in leaving our body-mind-ego identity of the self. Instead of unification of all creatures and the visible world as manifestation of one Atma (विश्वरूप), we end up in differentiating ourselves with I, you and they. Our likes and dislikes remain as they are. To identify ourselves Anatma (no self) is a quick solution of the problem of leaving body-mind-ego identity. If we carefully analyse, our body-mind-ego identity is not the Atma (self) but Anatma (no self). We have also place them in the compartment of ignorance, the bodies or koshas. As soon as we accept the image person as Anatma, the bondage of I limited to the image disappears. Our borders break and we enter into the vast ocean of emptiness. Remember the journey from सकल to अकल taught in KSD. If we don’t follow any taught model of self hypnosis, the pure I or no I, reveals its identity itself. How a compressed चित्त acts and how the expanded चिति express, the realised one only can experience. What is truth and what is the play, unless one goes through the experience of realisation, the ignorance can’t go. शनैः शनैः one has to continue on the path through a process of शील (सात्विक जीवन), समाधि (meditation to resolve संदेह) and प्रज्ञा (pure intellect - pure wisdom) to overcome ignorance. It’s a process of merger of a drop into the ocean. The drop is not lost but it realises its true state, the water, of which the drop and the ocean are made. Truth is not hidden, removal of the cover-मल is the process to uncover it. Shakti-universal consciousness- विज्ञान helps. 

To start with ‘no self’ (अनात्मा) may be another way to make the process faster. 

Punamchand 

20 September 2024

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मायापुरी (unreal universe)

मायापुरी (not locally real: unreal universe)

साक्षात्कार किताबों और प्रवचनों से नहीं होता, अनुभव में आना चाहिए। वे मार्गदर्शन कर सकते हैं लेकिन स्वरूप स्वानुभूति ही प्रमाण रहेगा। मोटे तौर पर दो विश्व मानते है; एक दृश्यमान और दूसरा अदृश्य। दूसरे को विश्व कहे या कुछ और, नहीं पता।

सब जीवों में मनुष्य जटिल दिमाग़ लेकर जन्मा है इसलिए सृष्टि के रहस्यों की खोज में वह सदियों से लगा हुआ है। पहले तो पृथ्वी को केन्द्र मानकर चल रहा था लेकिन फिर सूरज को केंद्र बना दिया। आगे चलकर वैज्ञानिक न्यूटन ने गुरुत्वाकर्षण और गति के सिद्धांत देकर विश्व को २०० साल तक अपनी आँखों से चलाया। फिर आया वैज्ञानिक आइन्स्टाइन जिसने सापेक्षवाद और दिक्-काल के सिद्धांतों से हमारी नज़र ही बदल दी। फिर आए बोहर, वर्नर, पौली इत्यादि; क्वांटम यांत्रिकी लाकर भौतिकी असल दुनिया (particle) को नक़ली और उसके नीचे की स्पन्दित दुनिया (wave) को आगे कर दिया। भौतिक दरिया लहर के समुद्र पर जैसे तैर रहा है। सब तरंगें एक ही है, एक साथ जुड़ी है, सब पानी है। तीन वैज्ञानिकों की ‘the universe is not locally real’ शोध को नोबेल पुरस्कार (२०२२) भी मिल गया। तरंगों की दुनिया जिसमें एक अणु दूसरे से जुड़ा है। चाहे कितना भी दूर हो, प्रकाश की गति से भी कईं गुना अधिक, तुरंत, एक का बदलाव दूसरे को बदल देगा। एक दक्षिणावर्त (clockwise) चलेगा तो दूसरा वामावर्त (anti-clockwise)। ऐसा लगता है दोनों दूर होते हुए भी एक दूसरे के घनिष्ठ संपर्क में है, और संतुलन बना रहे है। एक का बदलाव दूसरे को तुरंत बदल देता है। हम quantum entanglement and quantum teleportation के ज़रिए Quantum computer के जमाने में आ गए। संचार अब तुरंत, प्रकाश की गति से भी ज़्यादा तेज़ी से होगा।

जो चीज़ वैज्ञानिक भौतिक जगत की प्रयोगशाला में खोज रहे हैं वह हमारे प्राचीन ऋषिगण अपनी चेतना में ध्यानस्थ होकर टटोल रहे थे। किसी एक विषय पर केन्द्रित होकर वे उनका अवलोकन निष्कर्ष दे रहे थे। कुछ हज़ार साल पहले हिन्दुस्तानी दिमाग़ ऐसा तेज था यह अचरज की बात है। 

पूरा विश्व एक दूसरे से जुड़ा है; सतह के नीचे चल रहे स्पंदनों का दृश्यमान रूप है। दृश्यमान जगत परिवर्तनशील है इसलिए मिथ्या है लेकिन जिस पर्दे पर उसका खेल चल रहा है वह सचेत-जागरूक-चेतना एक एवं अपरिवर्तनशील है। चेतना के पीछे क्या है किसी को नहीं पता। उस अनिर्वचनीय को कईं नाम दिए गये लेकिन कोई बयान नहीं कर सकता। प्रकाश और विमर्श। विमर्श के भी दो रूप, दृश्यमान जगत और अदृश्य शक्ति। शक्ति के भी दो रूपः शिव और शक्ति, entangled, एक का उन्मेष दूसरे का निमेष, परस्पर, एकसाथ।

बाह्य जगत को भोगने हमारे पास साधन है। इन्द्रियाँ, मन, बुद्धि और अहंकार। एक रथी (सीमित चैतन्य-जीव), दूसरा सारथी (बुद्धि), तीसरा लगाम (मन) और चौथे घोड़े (इन्द्रियाँ)। लेकिन अक्सर देखा जाता है की सामान्य जनसमूह की इन्द्रियाँ दौड़ती रहती है। मन उस पर लगाम कस नहीं सकता क्यूँकि उस पर बुद्धि की पकड़ कमजोर है। बुद्धि की पकड़ इसलिए कमजोर है क्योंकि जीव बेपरवाह है। इसलिए जीव अपने ६०-८० साल के इस छोटे से भौतिक आवर्तन में सुख की खोज में अभाव का दुःख लिए भटकता रहता है और शरीर जीर्ण होते ही छोड़ जाता है। 

जो बुद्धिवादी और तर्क संगत है उनके लिए अपने दिमाग़ की सीमाएँ एक मर्यादा बन जाती है। वे भौतिक से अभौतिक की खोज में लगे है इसलिए उनका तर्क उनको वास्तविक दृश्यमान दुनिया से अलग नहीं होने देता। जबकि सत्य तो अदृश्य विश्व में छिपा पड़ा है। 

जहां न पहुँचे दिमाग़ वहाँ ह्रदय पहुँचता है। ह्रदय के द्वार खोले बिना सत्य का साक्षात्कार हो नहीं सकता। ह्रदय प्रेम भाव से भरपूर है इसलिए वह तुरंत जुड़ जाता है। इसलिए अगर उस अगोचर से ह्रदय का नाता जोड़ लिया तो वह प्रकट हो जाएगा। जीव शिव से entangled है। जीव का मेसेज जाएगा तो शिव का जवाब आना ही आना है।जीव जैसे स्पीन करेगा शक्ति वैसे स्पीन करेगी। वे दो नहीं, एक ही है, संसार लीला में खेल रहे है।

हमें चेतना के संकोचन से बाहर निकलना है। चिति जो चित्त बनी है उसे चिति में परिवर्तित करना है। इसके लिए अपनी चेतना का विस्तरण करना होगा। सर्वं समाविष्ट ह्रदय विकसाना पड़ेगा। प्रेमनगर में किसका विरोध करेंगे? विस्तारित चेतना के सब विरोध जब शांत हो जाएँगे तब वह अखंड चेतना का अनुभव होगा। वही माँ अंबा है, जगदंबा है, जिसके अनुग्रह से शिव का साक्षात्कार होगा।

आओ इस मायापुरी को प्रेमनगर बना लें। जाना तो है, दोनों के पार।

पूनमचंद

८ सितंबर २०२४

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Big Bang and Adwaita

Big Bang and Adwaita 

If scientists hv concluded Big Bang as the cause of this universe, which has expanded from a hot dense energy ball, which with its spacetime curvature manifested as the visible world; but they hv no answer for the creation of the base coil, the egg of the mass and energy. Some say it was compression of earlier universe as Big Crunch but they have yet to prove it beyond doubt. 

Which came first the egg or chicken, the causality dilemma won’t end. 

Our world of vision is nothing but the vision of our intellect which is evolving.  As human intellect evolves further it may uncover more secrets. A day may come when it reaches to its highest peak (पूर्णत्व) and explains the truth.

Interestingly, it is searching for all, counting all, but unable to see the Self, the visionary researcher who is making the experiments. The manifested consciousness and its unmanifested state are beyond the scope of the physicists it seems.

ॐ अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवमृत्विजम् । होतारं रत्नधातमम् ॥१.१.१॥ The first mantra of the Rig Veda tells that Agni is invoked as the priest of the Yagna who invoke the other Devas in the Yagna. Agni is the power which connects all the other divine powers. What could be the state of the energy before the Big Bang? A very hot dense energy ball unable to take shapes as objects. The Hindu cosmic order suggests that the Agni (self) invokes three deities (GOD) who drank Soma (grace-cooling) hv awaken the Yagya (creation). The whole of the universe is a Yagya of which Agni is the Purohit (fills energy).

Buddhism proposed the state of void from which the play of creation begun. But void without energy is a dead element, can’t be the base of the play; therefore, the Adwaita vedantis named it void but with potential energy of creation, the unmenifested form of the creation. HE manifests as power (shakti-kinetic energy) which take forms of different elements by its compression and forms the visible world.

One may and may not believe in the theory of God with his physical incarnations as human Gods, but the formless Almighty is yet to be realised by the physicists. The commoners are happy within their faiths as they feel human life is short to realise the truth. But the evolving intellect of the scientists (modern sages) may uncover the truth one day. From the ancient sages who experienced HIM, some tried to explain the mystery in words but many went in silence, as HE is beyond the reach of human intellect and impossible to explain through human language. The Self only can be realised by the Self.

Punamchand 

2nd September 2024

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