Let us study the external objects ‘out there’. If we can see a far away star, say 5 million light years away, it will take light from that star 5 million years to reach us. Now we see the sun, the light from the sun takes 8 min to reach us. We look at the moon; light will take 3 sec to reach us. We look at the plane flying in the sky, at 30,000 feet; light will take about 300 milliseconds to reach us. As the distance of the object being viewed is reduced, the time taken for light to reach us or for us to see it is much smaller. I now look at the tree outside the window; the time taken for light to reach me is 10 microseconds (10^-6). I am looking at the computer screen 1 ft away typing this article, light will take about 1 nanosecond (10^-9).

If you look closely at what we have just discussed, you would agree that whatever we see out there is all dated or past. That far away star is 5 million old, the sun is 8 min old, the moon is 3 sec old, the plane in the sky is 300 milliseconds old, the tree outside my window is 10 microseconds old, and the computer in front of me is 1 nanosecond old. We do not see any ‘now’ objects, we only see ‘memory objects’ (for lack of a better word), which are no longer current. The full universe is only made up of ‘memory objects’. This applies to both living and non living objects. Can anyone show me ‘now objects’? However hard you try, you won’t find any ‘now object’ in this universe, you will only find ‘memory objects’.

Nothing is current and neither is anything real. ‘Real’, ‘Live’ or ‘Now’ objects cannot be Memory objects. Just to give an example, if you go to a stadium and watch a sporting event, this event would be a ‘live’ event. Your friend is busy and records the event to watch it the next day. When he watches, his is a recorded event, and what he is watching are memory objects, they are not ‘live’ or ‘real’ objects. If you apply this to the universe, you know that everything you see is in the past, and a memory object, so it cannot be the real “live” event. Therefore, if you see any object, then you can conclude the following

• Since it’s a memory object, it must be a “recorded” event.
• If it is a recorded object, it must be stored somewhere in some type of storage or memory device.
• To see a memory object, it must be played back from some type of memory or storage device.

All this indicates that there is some type of cosmic DVR, which is playing all the memory objects. Maya Shakti, the creative power of Brahman or Atma is this cosmic DVR, which is playing out the blueprint of your life and also the life of the entire universe. This Maya Shakti creates stores and plays back all the memory objects. The space time framework is the screen on which these memory objects are projected. Maya Shakti is the DVR, the space time frame work is the projection screen and the movie being played is the current cycle of creation and dissolution, with memory objects of the universe. Atma is the observer of this movie called Life.

You will never find the composition of the real object by looking at memory objects. Going back to the earlier example of the recording being viewed by your friend, he is looking at the memory or recorded objects being played back on the screen. If he starts zooming in the image to see what the objects are made of, the only things he will find on the screen are pixels! If he spends his entire life only watching recordings and he never sees any real objects, he will conclude that the all objects are made of pixels. What a wrong conclusion this would be! The only reason he reaches this conclusion is because of his ignorance of the real objects. We can apply the same logic and reasoning for the memory objects of the universe. We will never understand what is ‘real’ by looking at memory objects. Because of our ignorance we think the memory objects are real and therefore we are trying our best to find the reality of the universe in these memory objects. Science will never find the underlying reality in these memory objects.

‘Now’ Objects

The far away star is 5 million old, the sun is 8 min old, the moon is 3 sec old, the plane in the sky is 300 milliseconds old, the tree outside my window is 10 microseconds old, and the computer in front of me is 1 nanosecond old – we saw this earlier. We do not see any ‘now’ objects, we only see ‘memory objects’, which are no longer current. The question is, does there exist a ‘now’ version of memory objects? If yes, – where do they exist, how do they exist and what are they made of?

Science adds to the confusion. When it talks about memory objects, it seems to refer to ‘now’ objects. When scientists discover a planet 5 million light years away, they talk as if it is a ‘now’ object, but really it’s a memory object. They are talking about an object which is 5 million years old, no one knows where that object is ‘right now’. Does it even exist, has it been destroyed by meteor. No one can be certain. One certainty is that the ‘now’ object cannot be in the same location where the ‘memory’ object was 5 million years ago..

It almost feels like that there two different universes one is ‘now’ universe and the other is universe of memory objects. We know where the universe made up of memory objects is, it is right in front of us. The question where is the universe of ‘now’ objects. You will never find the ‘now’ universe by looking at memory objects. You cannot extrapolate the memory objects to the future to understand the ‘now’ objects or the ‘now’ universe. It the same as the earlier example of seeing recorded images on TV and trying to find out what the ‘real’ and ‘live’ objects in the live event in the sports stadium are made up. If you study the recorded images on TV, you will only find pixels. You will not find the reality of the live objects.

So where is the ‘now’ universe where everything is ‘now’, where there are no memory objects? This is just not possible in the space time framework. To be in the ‘now’ universe, every object in this universe must be at t=0. If it is not t=0, then it is not a ‘now’ object, it is a memory object. We have seen in previous post and articles that the Observer/Atma/Brahman is t=0, which is fixed and non-moving as compared to the moving universe. We have seen that the Brahman/Atma is the underlying reality of you, me and of everything in this universe which is observed. It is the only ‘now’ universe, where everything is t=0, both for the Observer and Observed. The Observer is the subject and the observed (object) is the universe. Both the subject and object are t=0 in Atma/Brahman. Atma/Brahman is complete (with both the subject and object) and is the only reality of the universe. Everything else is a memory object.

Let us look at this from another perspective. We know that the sun we see is 8 minutes old and it is a memory object. Let us play around with this. Now, for whatever reason, suppose the sun is only 3 minutes old; it would mean the sun has moved closer to the Observer (and much hotter). If the sun is 30 seconds old, the sun is extremely close to the Observer, but it is still a memory object. If you keep extrapolating this and finally if t=0 for the sun, it would only mean that the sun is within the Observer/Atma. We have seen in other articles that t=0 is the coordinate for the Atma/Brahman. For the sun to be a ‘now’ object, it must be within Atma/Brahman. At t=0, the sun is a ‘now’ object, and this ‘now’ object is beyond the space time framework and is within Brahman/Atma.

This reasoning and logic is applicable to every memory object in the universe. The only ‘now’ universe is Atma/Reality, this is the only place where everything is t=0. The ‘now’ universe is Atma, while memory objects universe is the universe we see around us.

So do we have two universes? Can there two universes? Vedanta says that the only universe is Atma/Brahman, but due to our ignorance we have forgotten our true nature of being Atma. This ignorance creates the mind and this mind manifests the photon and creates the physical universe with all the memory objects. Due to our ignorance we think the physical universe is real and we keep looking for the reality within this physical universe.

Where is the center of the universe? Where is the x=0, y=0, z=0 and t=0 for the universe. Before Galileo, people thought the Earth was the center of the universe, and everything revolved around the earth. Galileo peered into the stars using his telescope; he found that the earth and all the other planets moved around the sun. He realized the sun was the center of the solar system we live in. Using more powerful telescopes, people found that there are billions of stars like the sun in the Milky Way; our solar system is part of this galaxy. All the stars in this galaxy are rotating around the center of the Milky Way. Cosmologists have now discovered there are millions of such galaxies in the universe and all these galaxies moving in relation to each other. There is continuous movement in this vast universe. To find the 0,0,0,0 coordinate for the entire universe, would mean this point should always be stationery or fixed, as compared to the continuously moving universe.

Science states that the big bang is the t=0 for the universe. This t=0 may have been correct at the time of the big bang, but right now the big bang is 13.7 billion old or the t= -13.7 billion years. It is definitely not t=0. Logically the position of ‘now’ can only be t=0. This ‘now’ is the fixed point and it is also the coordinate for x=0, y=0 and z=0. Where do you find this the ‘now’? Time flows continuously, what is ‘now’ becomes past in a millisecond.

Science is still looking but it will never find this immovable (0,0,0,0) in the space time framework, it has to be outside this framework. If you apply the teachings of Vedanta we can find this fixed, non moving coordinate.

1. Let us study the external objects ‘out there’. If we can see a far away star, say 5 million light years away, it will take light from that star 5 million years to reach us. Now we see the sun, the light from the sun takes 8 min to reach us. We look at the moon; light will take 3 sec to reach us. We look at the plane flying in the sky, at 30,000 feet; light will take about 300 milliseconds to reach us. As the distance of the object being viewed is reduced, the time taken for light to reach us or for us to see it is much smaller. I now look at the tree outside the window; the time taken for light to reach me is 10 microseconds (10^-6). I am looking at the computer screen 1 ft away typing this article, light will take about 1 nanosecond (10^-9). You even watch your thoughts, this also takes some time to form, and they are not instantaneous. As the distance is reducing the time taken for the light is reducing. If you extrapolate this backward, the only logical place for t to be equal to 0 is the Observer, who is watching all these objects within your mind. We have said in other articles that Atma (your underlying reality) is the Observer, so it the Atma within you, where t becomes 0. This t=0 is, in a sense, beyond time, it is always ‘now’. If you think about it, the center of the universe is the Atma or the Observer, which is within you, me, or everyone. The earth, the sun, the center of the Milky Way is not the center of the universe. The center of the universe, which is your Atma/Observer, is right within you. Vedanta has always said in all its scriptures that Atma is the center of the universe. If the reasoning provided here is correct, it is only logical for science to agree and accept what Vedanta has been saying for centuries.

If you or anyone else looks around the universe, they will reach the same conclusion. Everyone has their own t=0, which is within themselves. This will apply to every living being in the universe. It would seem, therefore, I have my own t=0, you have your own t=0 and every living being in the universe has their own t=0. The only way to understand this, is that each and every living being creates their own universe and this universe starts with t=0. You cannot create your own universe and be separate from it. Science has to correct its thinking; the observer is non-separate from the universe.

As we have mentioned earlier space and time are inter-related. If Atma is t=0, than Atma is also the x=0, y=0, z=0 coordinate for the universe.

2. If you look closely at what we have just discussed, you would agree that whatever we see out there is all dated or past. That far away star is 1 million old, the sun is 8 min old, the moon is 3 sec old, the plane in the sky is 300 milliseconds old, the tree outside my window is 10 microseconds old, and the computer in front of me is 1 nanosecond old. We do not see any ‘now’ objects, we only see ‘memory objects’ (for lack of a better word), which are no longer current. The full universe is only made up of ‘memory objects’. This applies to both living and non living objects. Can anyone show me ‘now objects’? However hard you try, you won’t find any ‘now object’ in this universe, you will only find ‘memory objects’. We are so used to this that we don’t realize what’s really happening. I am sure scientists are aware of this, but think of it, perhaps as trivial.