Can anything travel faster than light? According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, this is just impossible. You will require infinite energy to push anything to achieve the speed of light. At the Large Hadron Collider in CERN, Switzerland, they have achieved speeds of 99.99% of light, but achieving 100% is just impossible. Then you look around and you see photons zipping around the universe at the speed of light. Photons are small packets of energy which make up light and the complete spectrum of electromagnetic waves. These small energy particles zip around the universe at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.  

We may sometimes wonder that if it is impossible to achieve the speed of light, how come all these zillions of photons are traveling around the universe at the speed of light? What is happening? This is where a massive illusion is taking place. Nature is playing a neat trick on all of us. We perceive the photons zipping around at the speed of light, but, “according” to the photons, they DO NOT TRAVEL. These photons with infinite energy operate outside space and time. The illusion gives an impression that the photons travel at the speed of light, but actually they reside outside space and time. Just like a mirage on a hot day is an illusion, in the same way the universe we see around us is an illusion. Vedanta teaches us that the universe is mithya (not real). In this illusionary universe, photons travel at the speed of light. A concept not easy to grasp, but it is the only truth.

If the photons do not travel, how does one then perceive the universe? We perceive the universe because of Awareness. Awareness is the substratum of everything in the universe. Look outside your window and you will become aware of the trees and buildings out there. Now look at the plane flying in the sky; you are aware of the plane flying. Now shift your view and look at the stars in the sky. You instantly become aware of the stars. Now move your body 180 degrees, and you will become aware of a new set of stars. Move your eyes around; you will see different objects and stars. You will notice that, in each case, you are instantaneously aware of the different views of the objects and stars. Irrespective of the distance, far or near, there is never a delay in becoming aware of the different objects. Distance is immaterial. The stars may be billions of light-years away, and still there is never any delay in your awareness of the stars. This is a point worth contemplating. A proper understanding of the functioning of Awareness is critical. Awareness is the core matter discussed in my book, Science Meets Vedanta.

In reality, the photons do not travel, and Awareness is the cause of perception. This Awareness is instantaneous. This Awareness travels much faster than light. How much faster? The star or any object can be any distance away, millions or billions of miles away, but the Awareness is instantaneous. Since it is instantaneous, it is impossible to measure the speed of Awareness. There is zero delay in being Aware of any perception—far or near. Since there is zero delay, it is logical to conclude that the speed of Awareness must be infinite. So, the speed of Awareness is infinite while the speed of light is limited to 186,000 miles per second.    

That photons do not travel and Awareness is the source of perception must be a new concept or idea to most people. Let us discuss these two topics in a little detail.   

Limitation of Photons in the Perception Process

Science has taught us that light (photons) is reflected from any object in this universe that we observe, and it travels to the retina in our eye. The retina converts the incoming light into an optical signal. This optical signal is transmitted to the visual cortex in the human brain. This is the end of the journey of the perception process. There is no explanation of what happens to the optical signal and how the brain decodes the optical signal and reconstructs our visual world. It does seem that this reflected light is our only connection to the outside world. We are aware of all the objects, both far and near, only because of this reflected light. Is it asking too much of the reflected light? Yes, we are asking too much of the reflected light. There are many limitations to this understanding. We shall discuss some of the key shortcomings as follows:

1. If you look at a faraway star, the light traveling from there can take a long time to reach us. For Star A, which is 10 light-years away, the photon would have had to start traveling 10 light-years earlier so that it could hit the retina in our eye “right now” to make Star A visible. Now we turn around and try and see Star B, which is five billion light-years away. That tiny photon would have needed to start its journey five billion years earlier, when there was no sun, no planet Earth. Our Earth is 4.5 billion years old. It seems strange that the photon started its journey even before the existence of Earth. Nevertheless, it started its journey that long ago so that it would be available to our eyes now. This is a long, lonely journey for the photon passing through space containing dark matter, galaxies, and planets. Through all this traveling, the photon must keep its purity of wavelength and energy level. Now imagine millions of people spread over many different galaxies looking at the same stars at the same time. Photons from Star A and Star B must also travel from the past to the present to reach these millions of viewers. It seems that photons from anywhere in the universe are available to viewers everywhere on demand, and that too instantaneously. This makes you wonder—how can this happen and is there a limit to the number of photons the reflected light can generate from the object that travels to all corners of such a huge universe?

2. We know that light is made up of different colors and that each of the colors has a different wavelength. When light passes through a prism (basically from one medium to another), the wavelengths for each color refract differently, and we see the rainbow effect on the other side of the prism. Light refracts and scatters in different directions. Can this happen to photons which are traveling from so far away? If all this is really happening, what is the accuracy of the photons reaching the human eye? Are they really representing the objects accurately? It is taken for granted that the photons reaching us from distant objects are an accurate representation.

3. Another question: it is a proven fact that vacuum energy is present everywhere in space. It is the energy just below the surface of space. Physics tells us that photons interact with this vacuum energy to become other particles and that they could combine once again to become photons. This dance of destruction and re-creation goes on continuously. In view of this, there is no way to know if the original photon has traveled to reach the human eye.

4. As of now, there is no indication that the photon has some sort of memory of its origin. There are millions of photons hitting the retina, but there is no way to know which photon comes from which object and how much distance it has traveled. If this critical information is lacking, it is impossible for the eye to reproduce the image we are trying to perceive.

You could say that this is perhaps unknown to science, and that the photon does have memory of the distance it has traveled. If so, how does it transfer this distance data to the retina? The retina, in turn, must add the data regarding distance to the optical signal being sent to the brain. Only in this way can the brain reconstruct the visual image accurately.

All of the above arguments show that it is just not clear how we really perceive objects in the universe. What science tells us so far is full of problems and shortcomings.

Photons Do Not Travel: How do we understand this? To understand this topic, we need to correctly interpret Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Let us do that. One of the main conclusions of this theory is as follows:

Motion and time are interconnected. Wherever there is motion, time does slow down. This is a proven fact. The faster the motion, the slower time will tick. If you achieve the speed of light, time comes to a standstill. In a way, there is no time at the speed of light. How should we interpret this? So, what does travel at the speed of light? Only photons (light particles) travel at the speed of light. There is nothing else in the universe which can achieve this speed. As people, we see photons traveling at the speed of light. There is no denying this fact. We need to understand what is happening from the point of view of the photon. This is important. As a thought experiment, let us put a camera on a photon. What will the photon see? Since the photon is traveling at the speed of light, it will see no time, no space, and it will feel that it has infinite energy. This is a fact because we just indicated that anything traveling at the speed of light will have these properties: no time, no space, and has infinite energy.

How do we understand no time and no space? This really means that the photon remains stationary—it does not move since there is no space or time. Time and space are required for any movement. You think the photons move around at the speed of light, but “according” to the photons, they do not move; they are stationary.

If time does not exist for the photon, it must be outside space and time and it must be beyond the spacetime framework. Where is beyond spacetime? Science has no answer to this question. According to Vedanta, Brahman or Self-Awareness is beyond time and the spacetime framework. This Brahman is our innermost core. Our innermost core is outside space and time. See the illusion taking place—we see the photon traveling at the speed of light, but the photon really does not move; it is always present within our innermost core, and it has infinite energy.

This is an amazing conclusion and must be properly understood. This does indicate that the perception process taught by science has many shortcomings. So, what is the correct perception process?

Projection of the Universe Using “Awareness”

Yes, the mind is a projector. One of the key functions of the mind is to project the world “out there.” It uses Awareness to project the universe “out there.” This does seem drastic and counter intuitive. To justify this, in my essay “Projection—The Only Truth” I have given the following five different explanations, which support the fact that we indeed project the external world with all its components.

1. By using Science
2. By using Logic
3. By using Math
4. By using Quantum Physics
5. By using Neuroscience

All these explanations are based on science and logic. You must read this essay to be fully convinced.

The mind as a projector is like the working of a digital projector that projects a movie on the screen. A digital projector has two major components—one is the light bulb, and the other is the content which must be projected. The mind also does have two very similar components:

• Bulb of Awareness
• Content Which Must Be Projected

Bulb of Awareness: Awareness is the innermost core of any living being. It is like a bulb shining Awareness. If any object—it could be an image, sound, touch, or feeling—comes in the presence of this bulb of Awareness, you will be aware of that experience. Here are some examples of awareness that we experience daily.

• How do we know the tree is green? Because we are aware of it. 
• How do we know sugar is sweet? Because we are aware of it. 
• How do we know we have two legs and two hands? Because we are aware of them. 
• How do we know the weight of the chair is 20 lb.? Because we are aware of it. 
• How do we know the smooth touch of silk? Because we are aware of it. 
• How do we know we are listening to music? Because we are aware of it. 

The common thread in all these questions is Awareness. It would seem that Awareness is a prerequisite to observe any object. Awareness has the power to make us aware of everything around us. Without Awareness, we would not know any objects which are perceived by the five sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. These objects perceived by the sensory organs must encounter Awareness; only then can we observe the object. Awareness is the most powerful and critical force in the universe. In my book, Science Meets Vedanta, we have discussed many different aspects of Awareness. To quickly summarize, Awareness is made of the following three components and three powers of Awareness:

• Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence
• Power of Awareness = Power of Knower + Power of Knowing + Power of Known

Our inner core is full, complete, and stands alone. This Self-Shining Awareness is the bulb of Awareness, and it is our inner core. It is not dependent on anything else, and it generates its own light of Awareness.

Content Which Must Be Projected: We have just seen that the bulb of Awareness is the power source of the projection of content. What about the content which must be projected? Vedanta teaches us that there are individual minds, and the total of individual minds can be called the cosmic mind. The cosmic mind is the source of the content. A good way to understand this is to compare this with Google Maps. I think all of us use Google Maps. Somewhere in the cloud, there is a complete software or code for Google Maps. This software shows the roads of almost every city and country in the world. If I am at a certain location and you are at another location, Google Maps will show the map for just those locations.

The cosmic map is like Google Maps but more extensive, complex, smarter, and dynamic. The cosmic map covers the entire universe. It is extremely detailed and covers every inch of the universe. No place is left out. It cannot be more complete. Every tree, every mountain, every planet, and every galaxy is covered by the cosmic map. Also, every living being is part of this cosmic map. The cosmic mind stores the complete map of the universe. The individual mind contains a subset of the map. This would depend upon the individual person’s location. The content within the individual mind is used for projection. How does the projection take place? In my book, Science Meets Vedanta, we have devoted a complete chapter to this subject. A step-by-step analysis of the projection process is explained.

The digital projector projects light onto a screen. What you see on the screen is nothing but different shades, colors, and intensity of light. All the objects you see on the screen are made up of only light. Nothing else. In the same way, the mind projector projects only Awareness. Everything you see “out there” is made up of only Awareness. Sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch are made up of only Awareness. The projection of content with Awareness is instantaneous. There is never any delay. The objects could be close by or a billion years away, the Awareness of these objects is immediate.

As a conclusion, we can say that the only thing faster than the speed of light is the speed of Awareness by which the universe is projected by the mind projector.

If you follow science, you must have heard about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was launched on December 25, 2021. The JWST is a great advancement compared to its cousin the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched in 1990. The Hubble rotates around Earth at an altitude of about 525 km. Like Earth, the JWST rotates around the sun; it is at about one million kilometers from Earth. For the JWST to avoid the direct sun, Earth is always between it and the sun. The light-catching capacity of the JWST is about six times that of the Hubble. The Hubble Space Telescope has been sending amazing images of the universe “out there.” The JWST is a much more powerful telescope and, being in outer space with much less disturbance, the images it sends are just breathtaking.

The goal of the JWST is to peer deeper into space and to find out the events around the Big Bang moment. Scientists tell us that the Big Bang took place 13.7 billion years ago. The universe began with this Big Bang. Scientists believe that a vast amount of energy was jammed into a very tiny point, which they call a Singularity. This extremely dense point exploded with unimaginable force and temperature. As expansion took place, the temperature cooled down and the hydrogen atom was formed. We know from our chemistry classes that hydrogen is the most basic atom, with one proton and one electron. Slowly, these basic atoms started to combine to create a more complex atomic structure for a wide range of elements. These elements were then the basis for the formation of stars. Subsequently, these stars started to form galaxies. Galaxies are massive structures with many hundreds of millions of stars within them. Scientists estimate that the formation of a galaxy takes over a billion years. It is estimated that there are around a billion galaxies—some are small while others are bigger. Also, some are relatively new while others are much older.

With this cosmic understanding, the JWST started its deep space exploration around June 2022. The Hubble with its limited power had no chance to look that deep into space. The images and data collected by the JWST were indeed revolutionary. It captured images of when the universe was only 200 million years old. Since it is estimated that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, the JWST has been capturing images of the universe 13.5 billion years away. At that time, the universe was in the early stage of formation. According to the Big Bang Theory, the universe was gaseous and in the stage of formation of hydrogen atoms.

When the data from the JWST was analyzed, scientists expected that they would view images of the early stages of the formation of the universe. They got a complete shock—they saw galaxies in an advanced stage of maturity! This was completely unexpected. How could galaxies, which take billions of years to form, be so huge and complete? This has completely foxed astronomers and cosmologists. This has shaken their faith in the Big Bang Theory. In fact, they feel they must go back to square one in their understanding of the universe “out there.” They need to go back to the drawing board and start their journey once again. Obviously, the current path has not worked; they need to make a radical shift in their approach toward and understanding of the universe.

Firstly, they need a fresh perspective on what really happened before, at, and after the Big Bang moment. This subject has been discussed in detail in my essay “Big Bang—A Fresh Perspective.” I would request everyone to read this essay.

Also, they need a new approach on understanding the framework of space and how and why the universe is expanding. This expansion is caused by the stretching of the time fabric. This stretching of time makes the distant galaxies appear further away than they normally should be. It is an optical illusion created by Nature and makes the universe look larger than expected. This may be the reason why the JWST found the distant galaxies more mature and complete than expected. To understand and resolve this confusion, it is very important to properly understand the time fabric. Time fabric (or spacetime) is a term coined by Einstein in his Theory of General Relativity. The focus of this essay is to explore and discuss this subject.   

Understanding Space

The sky watchers through their powerful telescopes have discovered so much. They have mapped the entire sky with billions of galaxies. They have discovered black holes, stars, and so much more. In spite of all this, they still have a limited understanding of the basic framework of space and of why the universe is expanding.

So, how is the framework of space structured? This is where the confusion begins. Science teaches us that space started with the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. Thus, the starting point of space is the Big Bang. Is this correct? Yes, the start of space is the Big Bang, but that event was 13.7 billion years ago. Where is the starting point of space “right now”?

It is not the Big Bang; the Big Bang is the outer edge of the universe. It is at the other end. It is, therefore, NOT the start of the framework of space. No one has seen the edge of the universe, so how can it be called the start of space? This incorrect understanding about the start of space is the underlying cause of the confusion about space. This misunderstanding has led to the lack of proper knowledge about the construction of space, how fast it is expanding, and why there is an uneven expansion all over the universe.

So, what is the starting point of space “right now”? As we have discussed this in many different essays, you may have guessed the correct answer. The correct answer is that you are the starting point of space. The observer within you, the observer within me, the observer within every living being is the starting point of space. You can call this starting point t=0 for space. The observer is the start of space; it is therefore the t=0 for the framework. If you have my book Science Meets Vedanta, you will find that this topic has been discussed in many different essays.

Connection between Time and Space: Yes, time and space are connected. Time is the cause, and space the effect. If there was no time, there would be no space. Space is nothing but stretched-out time. How should we understand this?

Scientists tell us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. If light must travel from the outer edge of the universe, it will take 13.7 billion years to reach us. The distance that light must travel is 13.7 billion light-years. One light-year is the amount of distance light travels in one year.

Let us play around with the age of the universe and the size of the universe. If we assume that the universe is 13.7 billion years old at this very “moment,” then the size of space is 13.7 billion light-years. After one second, the age of the universe will be 13.7 billion years + one second. Light must now travel an additional 186,000 miles to reach us, which means the size of the universe has grown by 186,000 miles. The size of the universe would be 13.7 billion light-years + 186,000 miles. After 10 seconds, the age of the universe would be 13.7 billion years + 10 seconds, and the size of space would be 13.7 billion light-years + 1,860,000 miles. After one year, the age of the universe would be 13.7 billion years + one year, and the size of the universe would be 13.7 billion light-years + one light-year.

From the above analysis, it is quite clear that time is the cause of space. As long as time passes, space will continue to expand. With each second of time that passes, the universe expands by 186,000 miles. This means that the outer edge of the universe is expanding by 186,000 miles every second, which is the speed of light. This is an amazing conclusion.

Understanding Time Fabric: The first step is properly to understand some key terms used while describing space. Einstein coined the term “spacetime” to describe the fabric of the universe. This term causes confusion. There are now two terms—there is space and there is spacetime. What is the difference? Space is what we see when we look out, and everything in space is measured in distances. The tree is 200 feet away; the plane is flying at 30,000 feet. Space is visible and operates in three dimensions.

Spacetime looks at the same objects in terms of time. This term is confusing because there is no space in spacetime; there is only time. In spacetime, the measurement is in units of time alone; no distances are measured. For example, light takes eight minutes to reach us from the sun; the distant star is 500 million light-years away. Everything in spacetime is measured only in time. There are NO distances, only time. Time fabric is more accurate and conveys the meaning that time alone is the variable in spacetime. Henceforth, we will refer to spacetime fabric as time fabric.

Spacetime Fabric = Time Fabric

Science wrongly conveys the impression that the time fabric operates in space. This is wrong because time operates on a different plane. As Einstein stated, spacetime operates in the fourth dimension. Where is the fourth dimension? One thing is clear: the fourth dimension cannot function in the three dimensions, otherwise we would have to say that space has four dimensions. Time and the time fabric, the fourth dimension—it cannot function in space. Then, where does time function; where does the time fabric operate? If it is not space—then where? If you think and analyze, the only other logical place where time and the time fabric function is the mind. The fourth dimension is within the mind. Strange, but it is the truth. Please read my essay “Understanding Time,” where we have analyzed and shown that time is a function of the mind. Time operates only within the mind.

Creation of Space: So how is space created? Brahman, our innermost core, is the source of infinite energy. Please read my essay “Awareness—The Infinite Energy Source” for a detailed explanation. A part of this infinite energy, which we can call dark energy, interacts with the time fabric. This dark energy is used to stretch out the time fabric. Dark energy has the capacity to stretch time. That is the property and function of dark energy. One second of the time fabric is stretched out to become 186,000 miles of space. All the space we see “out there” is because the time fabric is stretched out to become space. Space has been created by the time fabric. The time fabric is the basic ingredient of space. One second of the time fabric becomes 186,000 miles of space.

Framework of Space: With this understanding of the time fabric and of the creation of space, we can draw some important conclusions about the framework of space.

1. The starting point of the time fabric and space is the observer within us. It is always the t=0 for space. This is the fixed starting point of space.

2. The outer edge of the time fabric of the universe is 13.7 billion years away. This outer edge is expanding by 186,000 miles every second or one light-year every year.

3. We see that the starting point of space is always fixed at t=0; it never changes. However, the outer edge of space is expanding by one light-year every year. So, what happens in between the starting point and the outer edge of the time fabric? To understand this, imagine a rubber band which is fixed at one end while the other end is pulled outward. You will notice that the expansion of the different parts of the rubber band is different. The outer edges will expand much faster compared to the part of the rubber band that is closer to the fixed point. As you move away from the starting or fixed point, the expansion of the rubber band will be larger.

This is exactly what is happening to the time fabric. The start of the time fabric is fixed at t=0, and the outer edge is expanding every second. As time flows, the outer edge of the time fabric keeps expanding. Since the starting point is fixed and the outer edge is expanding, the entire time fabric is pulled outward. The expansion of time is uneven all through the time fabric. Time is less stretched at the starting point and much more stretched out at the outer edge. What does this stretching of the time fabric mean? It means that the size of one second of time is uneven all through the time fabric. The size of one second is less at the starting point, while it is most stretched at the outer edges. The size of one second is more stretched as one moves from the starting point to the outer edges of the fabric. In fact, there is a compounding effect that takes place all through the time fabric. The first second is stretched outward. The next second will include the stretching of the first one and its own outward stretch. The third second will include the stretch of the first two and its own stretch. This process will apply all through the time fabric. As we come closer to the outer edge of the time fabric—billions and billions of seconds away—this compounding effect will stretch the time fabric immensely.

It may seem strange that time can have different durations and units. There are many factors which can influence time—motion, energy, etc. This is a proven fact. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity deals with this subject, and it has been proven under many different circumstances.

What effect does the expanding size of one second of the time fabric have on space? One second of the time fabric always becomes 186,000 miles of space. The speed of light is always 186,000 per second under all circumstances. The speed of light never changes. Because of the stretching of the time fabric, the duration of one second is more stretched. When this stretched out second becomes space, the size of the 186,000 miles of space is much larger. In other words, the size of space is much larger with the stretched-out time. The universe will appear larger than if there is no stretching of time. This apparent expansion will be much larger and more prominent at the outer edges than closer to the starting point, which is the observer. The compounding effect discussed earlier will make space look much larger in the outer regions of space.

What an illusion is being created by Nature! Nature is making space look larger and bigger. This illusion is what is foxing the scientists looking at distant galaxies using the JWST. The JWST looks deep into space, finding mature galaxies which are beyond 13.7 billion years. I read that they have found a galaxy which is 33 billion years old. All these galaxies are beyond the starting point or birth of the universe. I am guessing that the scientists must rework their calculation methods to estimate the distances of these galaxies. They need to discount all the stretching of time which is taking place in the time fabric. I am sure that once this is done, the correct distances for all the faraway galaxies will be known. This will bring out the correct picture of all the galaxies “out there”—both near and far away.

As a conclusion, it is critical that the scientific community understand and realize that the starting point of space is the observer, which is within each one of us. This community also needs to understand the importance of the time fabric in creating space, and how the stretching of the time fabric is creating an illusion of the size of the universe. If these factors are accepted, the misunderstanding created by the JWST images will be resolved, otherwise we will continue to remain confused and live in ignorance.

In our universe, we have a large variety of living beings. Humans, animals, fishes, ants, insects, etc. You can also include plants in this category. There is no doubt that there is an amazing variety and range of living beings. A question to be asked is, is there any similarity among these living beings? On the face of it, each living being looks so different, so how can they be similar? Some living beings are born from seeds, some from eggs, while others are born from a mother’s womb. Living beings may be born by different methods, but is the makeup of all living beings the same? Is the structure of all living beings the same? This is definitely an interesting question. Science will tell you that all living beings are built of the same subatomic particles. In this way, all living beings are similar—all are made up of subatomic particles. Unfortunately, this scientific analysis does not give the complete picture behind the makeup and structure of living beings.

In this essay, we will discuss a different and unique perspective on the science of living beings. The findings from this analysis will give us fresh insights and perspectives on many different aspects of living beings. So, let us get the ball rolling.   

The Makeup of Living Beings

If you are a student of Vedanta, you will learn that the makeup of all living beings is similar. Vedanta teaches us that all living beings in the universe are made up of the following three bodies:

1. Seed Body
2. Subtle Body
3. Gross Body

The Seed Body creates a Subtle Body. Then the Subtle Body is the source of the Gross or Physical Body. 

First we need to understand the Seed Body. We are all familiar with seeds of plants like flowers and trees. Isn’t it mysterious how a plant comes out of such a tiny seed? It does seem that a potential plant or a blueprint of that plant is already stored within its seed. When the seed germinates, all aspects of the plant come out. If the seed is of a rose, only a rose will grow and nothing else. This is what the blueprint tells the seed—a rose plant from a rose seed. If this is true for plants, then why not for all living beings in the universe? This is only logical. This is what Vedanta teaches us. Yes, there is a Seed Body for all living beings. You have a Seed Body, I have a Seed Body, every living being has a Seed Body. All living beings germinate from their seed, just like a rose plant comes from a rose seed.

When the Seed Body starts to germinate, the Subtle Body is created. The Subtle Body is nothing but the mind. The mind is the Subtle Body. The Subtle Body or mind is made up of vrittis or waveforms. These waveforms represent all the different objects in the universe. Right from the smallest object to the largest object, all objects have a subtle version of waveforms or vrittis.

These object waveforms, in the presence of the Observer or Atma, become gross objects. These are the gross objects we see in the universe “out there.”

It seems that the makeup of all living beings is the same; they are made up of the three bodies—Seed, Subtle, and Gross. We are all aware of the Gross or Physical Body. Yes, we can see and touch the Gross Body. We can investigate the Physical Body and find out its key properties, etc. This is not possible of the Subtle Body and Seed Body. As the saying goes, “seeing is believing”—it does become difficult to grasp the concept of Subtle and Seed Body. As mentioned earlier, the Subtle Body is the mind. We know the mind does exist. This fact cannot be denied. All thoughts, feelings, and perceptions happen in the mind.

The Seed Body is even subtler than the mind. Any investigation of the Seed Body is difficult. But the fact is that it must exist. Just like a plant must have a seed, in the same way every living being must have a Seed Body. It is the starting point for any living being. It is the source of the Subtle Body and Gross Body. You have a Seed Body, I have a Seed Body, and every living being has a Seed Body.

Understanding the Seed Body for Human Beings

Every living being must have a Seed Body. It is therefore important to understand this Seed Body. To start with, let us focus on the Seed Body for human beings. Once we have a better understanding of the Seed Body for human beings, we can then apply that understanding to all other living beings.

If you take the time to analyze our inner structure, you will reach the conclusion that each human being has the following three components:

1. Ego
2. Mind
3. Body

Each human being is made up of these three components. Our essence is these three components. If you try and compare these three components with the three bodies just discussed, you will see a direct correlation among them. Our body is the Gross Body—there can be no confusion about this. As mentioned earlier, the mind is the Subtle Body. The only other body is the Seed Body. From this it does seem that the ego represents the Seed Body. Yes, the ego is the representative, but it is only part of our Seed Body. We will see shortly that our soul or Atma is our Seed Body, and the ego is part of this Seed Body.

Logically, we would expect that each individual has only one Seed Body and that everything grows and blossoms out of this Seed Body. But, in reality, our ego–body–mind complex is made up of two different Seed Bodies and not one Seed Body. When we are born, these two Seed Bodies merge to function as a single unit. All our life, we think we have one Seed Body—but we have the following two Seed Bodies:

1. Ego Seed Body
2. Genetic Seed Body

Each of these Seed Bodies starts to germinate, and they play out their own independent blueprint. Not surprisingly, these Seed Bodies have their own agendas. We will see how these two Seed Bodies work for and against each other. This will give us good insight into the functioning and nature of human beings.

Ego Seed Body: The Seed Body is a new concept for most people, and the question can arise—where do we find the Ego Seed Body within us? How do we look for our Seed Body? If you think about it, you will conclude that the Seed Body is the soul. The soul is the starting point of our existence; everything blossoms from the soul. Your soul and your Ego Seed Body are synonymous.

Ego Seed Body = Soul

Your Ego Seed Body or your soul is like your resume; it contains your history, your skill set, your personality profile. This Seed Body travels with you, and, on every rebirth, it attaches to a new body. Each individual’s Ego Seed Body has a blueprint which is based on its history. Some of the information contained in each Seed Body is as follows:  

• Ego—the feeling of “I-ness”
• Past history
• Personality traits or vasanas
• Pending karmas, which still needs to fructify.

The Ego Seed Body is your essential nature, and it belongs to you. It is your passport which you carry with you. Another important aspect is that the Seed Body is not static; it is dynamic. It is continuously updated. All experiences are recorded in the Seed Body as grooves. If the same experience is repeated often, the grooves become deeper. The deeper grooves can modify the personality trait of the Seed Body. For example, if a person practices music, tennis, or meditation with great intensity and dedication, that skill set will make a deep impression on the soul. That skill set is then carried forward to future births.

Genetic Seed Body: As we have just discussed, the Ego Seed Body belongs to you; it is your passport to future births. In that respect, the Genetic Seed Body takes a very different path, and it is quite independent from the Ego Seed Body. A simple question: what is the source of your Physical Body? The simple answer is that your parents are the source of your Physical Body. A tiny cell is formed by combining the chromosomes from the parents. This tiny cell is the Seed Body—the Genetic Seed Body. It represents the genetics from the two parents. This tiny cell grows in the mother’s womb. All the different body parts, both internal and external, grow from this tiny Genetic Seed Body. It is simply amazing how this happens—the magic of Nature.

Did you notice that the Ego Seed Body has no connection with the Genetic Seed Body? The Genetic Seed Body grows within the womb, but the Ego Seed Body is elsewhere. Most likely the Ego Seed Body waits its turn for a Physical Body in heaven. Without the Ego Seed Body, the Physical Body in the womb is incomplete. It is just like another internal body part. So, the question can be asked: when does the Ego Seed Body combine with the Genetic Seed Body? When does the soul enter the Physical Body in the womb? Obviously, there is no scientific data or proof, but the Garbha Upanishad deals with this subject. This Upanishad gives a detailed timetable of when the different body parts show up in the womb. This Upanishad indicates that the soul enters the Physical Body in the seventh month. This timetable may be correct or incorrect. No one can be sure. However, it is logical to expect that the Genetic Seed Body is already available in the mother womb when the soul enters the Physical Body. Only when the Ego Seed Body merges with the Genetic Seed Body is the person complete. This does indicate that the Ego Seed Body and Genetic Seed Body are separate entities.

The Physical Body grows from the Genetic Seed Body. All the body parts, personality traits, and characteristics come from the Genetic Seed Body. The Genetic Seed Body has many features; let us discuss a few key ones. 

DNA Code: Scientists describe deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as the building block of any living being. DNA carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, and reproduction of all known organisms. This DNA is the Genetic Seed Body.

Genetic Seed Body = DNA Code

Human beings have around three trillion cells, and each cell carries within it the DNA code. The personality traits for the human body are present within each DNA cell. The personality traits come from the genetics of the parents. The skills and personality traits therefore pass on to the human body from the parents. It is important to understand that these traits belong to the body; they do not belong to you. They do not belong to the Ego Seed Body. The Ego Seed Body has its own collection of personality traits which belong to you, while the personality traits of the Genetic Seed Body come from your parents and ancestors. Agreed, this may seem complicated, but the key takeaway point is the separation between the Ego Seed Body and the Genetic Seed Body.         

Procreation: Procreation is one of the key functions of the human body—in fact, of any living being. Perpetuation of the species is the goal. This tendency is inbuilt in the Genetic Seed Body. Sexual attraction to the opposite sex is an ingredient of the Genetic Seed Body. Without sexual attraction there can be no procreation. Therefore, this characteristic is part and parcel of the Physical Body and not really of the soul.

Sense Organs: Human beings have five sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. The connection to the external world is through these five senses. These five senses, which are part of the human body, grow out of the Genetic Seed Body. These five sense organs are powerful; they have their own desires and needs. The eyes want to see beautiful objects and avoid seeing unpleasant objects. The ears want to listen to soothing sounds and avoid loud and irritating noise. In the same way, all the sense organs want pleasant experiences and avoid unpleasant experiences. These characteristics come from the Genetic Seed Body. These sense organs are their own power base; they have the capacity to run amok and manipulate the Physical Body to achieve its goals. We will soon look at some examples of this.

Survival Instinct: All living beings have a survival instinct. If there is danger, they will do everything they can to protect the body. If they are hungry, they will hunt for food. This instinct is programmed in the Genetic Seed Body.  

Working of the Ego Seed Body and Genetic Seed Body

When the Ego Seed Body combines with the Genetic Seed Body in the womb, magic happens. The soul, which is the Ego Seed Body, brings the Power of Awareness along with it. The power of the subject, the power of the object, and the power of intelligence enters the Physical Body through the soul. This power creates the mind and activates all the functions. The body–mind complex becomes operational.

The Ego Seed Body or the soul by itself is nonfunctional. The ego cannot function without a body. It needs a body to operate. In a way, the ego or soul is desperate to find a body. So, when the soul enters the Physical Body, the Ego Seed Body and the Genetic Seed Body combine to form a single unit. The ego closely associates itself with the Physical Body and now says “I am this body.” Although they are separate units, the ego now completely identifies with the Physical Body. It associates itself with all the plus and minus points of the Physical Body.

As mentioned earlier, the sense organs of the Physical Body are quite powerful and have their own desires and needs. In the same way, the ego or the soul also is a self-centered power. It has its own desires and needs. It is almost like two rulers who want to rule over the body–mind complex. Each wants to dominate the other. Sometimes they do cooperate, and sometimes they fight each other. This tussle between the ego and the Physical Body has many repercussions. Vedanta teaches us that the ego–body–mind complex has the following three gunas or qualities. The gunas or qualities come about because of the interaction between the Ego Seed Body and Genetic Seed Body. Whenever we act, one of the three gunas is needed to complete the action. Sometimes one of the gunas will dominate, while at other times the other gunas will take over.  

1. Rajas Guna
2. Tamas Guna
3. Sattva Guna

Rajas Guna: In the rajas guna, the ego dominates and wants continuous action. The ego has many strong desires—to be rich, to be famous, to be successful. It uses the five sense organs to interact with the external world to try and fulfill these desires. When one desire is satisfied, it will go after another desire. This is a never-ending cycle. The ego is restless, and it uses the sense organs to achieve its goals. During rajas action, the ego is the boss and the body–mind complex plays a supporting role.

Tamas Guna: There are many times when the ego is lazy and lethargic. The ego is depressed, and it is not interested in action. During such times, the five sense organs can control and manage the ego. If care is not taken, the sense organs can dominate, and the ego can lose control of the actions it undertakes. When the ego is not in control and the sense organs dominate, chances of non-dharmic actions increase dramatically. These are tamasic actions. This can happen in a wide variety of situations, from simple to major actions.   

• The doctor has told you that sweets are not good for your health. However, when you see a tasty sweet on the table, your taste buds take over and direct your hand to pick up and put the sweet in your mouth. The ego seems helpless, and the sense organ takes over to undertake an action which is tamasic in nature.
• The ego is depressed and lethargic. The ego is vulnerable and, under these circumstances, the sense organs take over and find immense pleasure and satisfaction in drinking. The ego does not resist, and you become an alcoholic.

Sattva Guna: Here the ego is strong, and it realizes that it will never find satisfaction and happiness with external objects. The ego avoids the sense organs and directs its focus inward to find its true source of happiness. Such action does lead to radical change. Compassion, goodness, forgiveness, and other positive qualities will come forward.

So, we can see that there is continuous interaction between the ego and the body–mind complex. This interplay continues throughout one’s life. When one dies, the soul or Ego Seed Body disengages from the Genetic Seed Body. The Ego Seed Body no longer has access to the body–mind complex. The Ego Seed Body is once again isolated and once again waits for a new body so that it can once again resume its actions.  

Seed Body and Other Living Beings

We have just seen that human beings have two seed bodies—Ego Seed Body and Genetic Seed Body. Does that mean all living beings have these two Seed Bodies? This is not an easy question to answer. My guess is that most living beings other than human beings have only Genetic Seed Bodies. They do not have an Ego Seed Body. These living beings do not have the feeling of “I-ness”; they do not have the power of thinking and rationalization. These living beings operate through the Genetic Seed Body alone. They use their survival instinct to eat, keep away from danger, and procreate. As mentioned earlier, these characteristics belong to the Genetic Seed Body and not the Ego Seed Body. All these living beings seem to function instinctively, and they do not have the Ego Seed Body. Only human beings have the Ego Seed Body; the other living being do not have one. Some of the more evolved living beings may have better organizational skills, but these come from the Genetic Seed Body and not the Ego Seed Body.

What is the brain? What is the mind? Both the brain and the mind reside in the head. Because of this, many people use these terms, brain and mind, interchangeably. Further, people believe that the mind is the creation of the brain. All perceptions, thoughts, and feelings appear in the mind as an output device of the brain. Just like the monitor of a computer. All the number-crunching takes place in the brain, and the results are displayed in the mind. In this essay, we will show that this is incorrect. In fact, it is the other way around—the mind controls the brain. Mind is the boss and not the other way around.

Role of the Brain: A closer study will show that the brain is a physical object and is located inside our skull. The brain regulates all physical functions of the human body. It is the central hub of our nervous system, and it serves as the focal point for gathering, organizing, and disseminating information throughout the body. Most of the body’s organs are under its control. The brain, the most complex organ in the body, has about 86 billion neurons, which interact with each other to create circuits that exchange information.

Scientists believe that the five sense organs are controlled and managed by the brain. For example, the perception process—reflected light travels from an object and reaches the retina in the eye. The retina converts this into an optical signal, which travels to the brain for processing. How the processing is done in the brain is not clear to science, but the output is sent to the mind for display. This is how perception takes place. The output of the perception takes place in the mind. This process is similar for the other senses like hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The signal is sent from the sense organs to the brain for processing. The output is viewed in the mind.

From this, it does seem that the brain is the most critical organ in the human body, and the mind plays a secondary role in being an output device where perception, thoughts, and feelings are viewed. There are many shortcomings in this approach currently followed by science.

1. We have awareness of perception, thoughts, and feelings. We are aware of all our experiences. Where does this Awareness reside? Where does Awareness come from? Is this Awareness generated by the brain? If yes, there is no evidence of how this works.  

2. There is an observer of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. Who is the observer? How does the observer fit within the brain? There are no good answers to this question.

Role of the Mind: The mind is not a physical entity. It cannot be touched or be diagnosed in any way. It is therefore difficult to fully grasp the real role played by the mind. Is it just an output device as envisaged by scientists? All perceptions, thoughts, and feelings take place in the mind. Since it is almost impossible for science to investigate the role played by the mind, we must look elsewhere to properly understand it. Vedanta is the best source to understand the real role played by the mind.  

Vedanta teaches us that every object in the universe is made up of the following three bodies:

1. Seed Body
2. Subtle Body
3. Gross Body

The Seed Body creates a Subtle Body. Then the Subtle Body is the source of the Gross or Physical Body. 

We need to first understand the Seed Body. We are all familiar with seeds for flowers, plants, and trees. It is mysterious how a plant comes out of such a tiny seed. It does seem that a potential plant or a blueprint of that plant is already stored within its seed. When the seed germinates, all aspects of the plant come out. If the seed is of a rose plant, only a rose will grow and nothing else. This is what the blueprint tells the seed—a rose plant from a rose seed. If this is true for plants, then why not for all the objects in the universe? This is only logical. This is what Vedanta teaches us. Yes, there is a Seed Body for all objects. You have a Seed Body, I have a Seed Body, every living being has a Seed Body. All objects germinate from their seed, just like a rose plant comes from a rose seed.

The Seed Body is a new concept for most people, and the question can arise—where do we find the Seed Body within us? How to look for your Seed Body? If you think about it, you will conclude that the Seed Body is your soul. Your soul and the Seed Body are synonymous.

Seed Body = Soul

Your Seed Body or your soul is like your biodata; it contains your history, your skill set, your personality profile. The seed travels with you and, on every rebirth, it attaches to a new body.     

When the Seed Body starts to germinate, the Subtle Body is created. The Subtle Body is nothing but the mind. The mind is the Subtle Body. The Subtle Body or mind is made up of vrittis or waveforms. These waveforms represent all the different objects in the universe. Right from the smallest object to the largest object, all objects have a subtle version of waveforms or vrittis. This includes your brain and all other body parts. This logic is supported by quantum physics, according to which, everything in the universe has a particle version and a wave version. The wave version discussed by quantum physics is nothing but the object vrittis taught by Vedanta. It is amazing how similar are the teachings of Vedanta and quantum physics.

These object waveforms, in the presence of the observer or Atma, become the gross objects. These are the gross objects we see in the universe “out there.” Even quantum physics has a similar teaching. Quantum physics teaches us that in the presence of a measurement device (observer), the wave collapses to become a particle. Once again, the similarity between the teaching of Vedanta and that of quantum physics is uncanny.

The main goal of this discussion is to show that the subtle objects come first and then come the gross objects. The source of the gross objects is the subtle objects. Mind is subtle and brain is gross. So, the correct conclusion is that the mind is the cause and the brain is the effect. The mind comes first and then the brain. So, the mind creates the brain and not the other way around. This is contradictory to the teachings of science. Science teaches that the brain comes first, and the mind is the output of the brain. The understanding of science is incorrect. Even quantum physics supports the teaching of Vedanta. We have seen earlier that quantum physics shows that the correct sequence is that the wave comes first, and then the wave collapses to become a particle. Therefore, the only truth is that the mind must come first and then the brain.

This logic and reasoning become much clearer when we understand the origin of the mind and the origin of the brain. So, let us discuss this further.

Origin of the Mind

To understand the origin of the mind, we must first understand our innermost core. Vedanta teaches us that our inner core is SatChitAnanda or Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness is like a bulb within us, shining Awareness. It does nothing except radiate Awareness. For a detailed analysis of Awareness, please read the essay “Powers of Awareness.” Here we will give a quick overview.

As discussed in the essay mentioned above, Awareness is the most powerful force in the universe, and it is the underlying reality of the universe. It has the power to connect with a form present in the mind and create an experience of which we are aware. Awareness is made of three things: Subject, Object, and Intelligence. If any one of them is missing, there will be no Awareness.

• There must be a subject, who is aware of the experience. The Subject is the knower part of Awareness.
• There must be an object, which must be experienced. This Object is the known part of Awareness.
• There must be Intelligence, by which the Subject gets to know the Object. This is the knowing part of Awareness.

Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence

Power of Awareness = Power of Knower + Power of Known + Power of Knowing

Awareness is made of Subject, Object, and Intelligence, and it has three different powers—Knower, Known, and Knowing. Subject has Power of the Knower, Object has Power of the Known, and Intelligence has Power of Knowing.

It must be understood that Subject, Object, Intelligence, and the three powers are not something outside in the world—they are within Awareness and make up Awareness. Wherever there is Awareness, there are present Subject, Object, and Intelligence with all the three powers. Right now, you are aware of reading this essay, therefore Subject, Object, and Intelligence are present within your awareness of this essay.

• Power of the Knower manipulates Awareness to become a Subject—a Subject is a reader, listener, seer, talker, eater, etc.
• Power of the Known manipulates Awareness so that Awareness takes the shape of the object coming from the five senses—just like Play-Doh can be manipulated to become an object.
• Power of Knowing is the Intelligence part of Awareness. All possible knowledge and intelligence is available within Awareness. Power of Knowing extracts this knowledge from Awareness. To give some examples—how does one see a tree? The power of seeing (a power within Power of Knowing) decodes the incoming signal of the tree and adds intelligence so that one can see the tree. How does one listen to music? It is because of the power of listening, which is part of Power of Knowing. This listening power decodes the incoming music signal and adds intelligence to the input signal. In this way, you become aware of the music.

We have just seen that the bulb of Awareness is within each of us, and it radiates Awareness, which includes the three awesome powers mentioned earlier. So, who is the recipient of these powers of Awareness? You guessed it—it is the Seed Bodies. Your Seed Body, my Seed Body, the Seed Bodies of each living being. As discussed earlier, the Seed Body and soul are synonymous. What happens when the light of Awareness passes through the soul or Seed Body? Just like a prism refracts light into seven different colors, in the same way the Seed Body refracts the light of Awareness by separating Subject, Object, and Intelligence into the following three different departments. These three separated different departments make up the mind.

• Sakshi (Witness)—the home of the Subject (with Power of the Knower)
• Manas—the home of the Object (with Power of the Known)
• Buddhi—the home of the Intelligence (with Power of Knowing)

The mind is a very powerful tool. Awareness along with its three powers is present in the mind.

Origin of the Brain

We have just seen that the powers of Awareness passing through our soul or Seed Body are the source of the mind. Because of these powers, the mind is a powerful tool. We now know the source of the mind; let us investigate the origin of the brain.

The brain is part of the Gross Body, and its origin takes a very different route. What and where is the source of the Gross Body? The correct answer is that the mother’s womb is the place where the Gross Body grows from a single cell to a complex body with so many different parts. The development of the brain is also part of this Gross Body. The fetus starts with the cells of the parents, and it contains their genes. There is a fascinating Upanishad called the Garbha Upanishad. This Upanishad gives details of how and when the different body parts grow within the mother’s womb. When does the hand show up, when does the heart show up, etc. Reading this Upanishad, you get the distinct feeling that the fetus in the womb is just like any other body part. It has no personality, no ego, no feeling of “me.” To put it crudely, the fetus is a piece of flesh growing in the mother’s womb. However, this Upanishad indicates that in the seventh month, the Seed Body or soul enters the fetus. That is when all the magic begins. The fetus gets the mind. This mind with all the intelligence enters the brain and activates all the required functionality. The neurons in the brain start firing, activating all the different body parts. The brain becomes the central unit controlling all the different body parts through the complicated nervous system.

The important conclusion from this discussion is that the mind is created by your soul/Seed Body, while the brain/Gross Body is created by something external—your parents’ cells. However, after they combine, the mind and the body seem to operate as a well-oiled machine.

Functioning of the Mind and Brain

Vedanta teaches us that there is a cosmic mind. This cosmic mind is the sum total of all possible individual minds. The vrittis or waveforms of the possible objects are present in the cosmic mind, forming a single complex cosmic waveform. This cosmic waveform represents anything and everything in this universe. A question can be asked—how does each object keep its identity within this massive cosmic waveform? The answer is that each object waveform is made up of intelligence. Yes, intelligence—a gift from SatChitAnanda. In this way, each intelligent object waveform maintains its own identity within a complex waveform. As activity takes place, these intelligent waveforms keep interacting with each other and modifying each other. It must be understood that there is a fully functioning subtle universe made up of these intelligent vrittis. Your mind, my mind, each living mind is part of this complex cosmic waveform. This may be difficult to grasp, but it is a reality. Obviously, we are not aware of this because these waveforms are not gross, they are subtle. I have given a detailed analysis on this subject in my essay “Life Is a Living Wave.” Please read this when you have time. Everything happens first in the subtle universe and then it is translated into the gross world. Even the smallest of actions happens first in the subtle universe.

A subsection of the cosmic waveform makes its presence in each individual mind. This is the activity you are undertaking. As we have seen earlier, Awareness is present in each mind. When the subsection of the cosmic waveform comes in the presence of Awareness, this Awareness fills up the waveform to make the object gross. These gross objects are what you see “out there” in the gross universe. To put it in a nutshell, the mind is like a projector, projecting the object waveforms present in the mind. To be fully convinced, please read my essay “Projection—The Only Truth.”

Then what is the function of the brain? The main role of the brain is to translate and understand the instructions and information of the mind so that our Gross Body can function in this gross world we see around us. To explain this, let us take a simple example. It is late at night and you are hungry. The mind sends instructions to the brain to get up from the chair, go to the fridge, and take out some food to eat. After receiving these instructions, the brain must then organize and coordinate the different parts of the body so that this task is accomplished. It tells the correct muscles so that the body gets up from the chair, then it tells the legs to start walking toward the fridge, then tells the hands to open the fridge and take out the required food. Then it tells the mouth to open itself so that the food can be eaten. It does sound like the body is like a robot—in fact, in many ways it is.   

Perception, emotions, feelings, etc.—all of it happens in the mind first, and then it registers in the gross brain. The brain has different departments. Each department specializes in different activities. Some specialize in vision or sound or coordinating with different organs and parts of the body. So how does the brain receive its instructions from the mind? The connection between the mind and brain is through the billions of neurons available within the brain. These neurons are the information messengers between the mind and brain. When instructions or activity happens in the mind, the neurons pass this information to the relevant parts of the brain. This is how information is shared between the mind and brain—through neurons.

A different class of neurons will then coordinate and organize the different parts of the brain so that the instructions from the mind can be completed. For actual implementation, the brain will send signals to the different organs and body parts through the complex nervous system within our bodies.

Wow! The setup of the brain is so complex, and it is amazing how our daily activity moves from the mind to the brain for execution. So much intelligence is required. We must acknowledge and be grateful that all this intelligence comes from our innermost core—SatChitAnanda or Self-Awareness.

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 [SA1]What is the word in Vedanta for “soul”?

If you follow science, you would have heard about the discovery of gravitational waves which are present in the universe. Gravitational waves were first discovered in 2016 in a high-precision experiment at the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). This was reconfirmed in June 2023 by the observations made at the NANOGrav (North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves). Interestingly, in 1916, Einstein predicted the presence of gravitational waves in his Theory of General Relativity. These observations and experiments confirmed it. It is definitely great progress for science.

Yes, gravitational waves have been observed in different experiments. The problem is that there is limited understanding of what exactly they are. There are many unanswered questions. Do gravitational waves really move across space? Also, the fact that science still does not have a complete understanding of how gravity really works. So, is the terminology “gravitational waves” really accurate? To answer these questions, we will provide a fresh perspective on gravitational waves. In this essay, we will cover the following topics:

1. Gravitational Waves—Perspective according to Science
2. Unanswered Questions about Gravitational Waves
3. Untold Story of Gravitational Waves

1. Gravitational Waves—Perspective according to Science

A simple definition of gravitational waves is that they are invisible waves which travel in space at the speed of light. A technical understanding of gravitational waves would be that they are due to the spacetime fabric. Spacetime is a word coined by Einstein to indicate that there is a fabric in space which is made up of three dimensions of space and a fourth dimension of time. This spacetime fabric causes gravitational waves. These are not your typical understanding of waves, like sound waves. Sound waves propagate through space. Gravitational waves are different. They have a direct effect on space. They compress and expand space. To give a visual description of this concept, it is like the tree in front of you (or any other object) coming closer to you and moving away. The tree’s position moves forward and backward. Space is being compressed and expanded like a wave. The example of the tree coming closer and moving away is extreme, but that is what is really happening on a nano scale. We will never notice these minute changes, but they are really happening. Gravitational waves expand and compress space.

The spacetime fabric can be compared to a rubber sheet. If you place a heavy ball on this rubber sheet, the rubber sheet will curve around it. While this curvature forms, there will be vibrations or ripples all over the rubber sheet. These ripples are like gravitational waves. Another example is that you throw a stone in a pond; waves are formed in the pond. The bigger the stone, the larger the waves in the pond. The waves travel outward in the pond. The spacetime fabric behaves similarly. Any object placed on the spacetime fabric will cause ripples in the fabric. The larger the object, the bigger the ripples or waves. Small objects will not cause much of a ripple as compared to larger objects.

The only addition in the spacetime fabric is that ripples cause space to shrink or compress. Yes, this does happen—space shrinks. This was predicted based on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. These ripples of space are the gravitational waves discovered by scientists. So, what causes these ripples of space? Small objects will not make much of a dent, only massive objects will. The most massive objects known in the universe are black holes. Science believes that when two black holes combine somewhere in space, they cause ripples in space, which can be noticed or observed. In that regard, there is no shortage of black holes in space. In our own galaxy—the Milky Way—it is estimated that there are about 10 million black holes. There are over one billion galaxies in this universe. Also, each of the billion galaxies has a supermassive black hole in its center. All the stars and solar systems rotate around this black hole. So, we can see there is no shortage of black holes in the universe. The supermassive black holes are very dense and heavy in mass. Some of the biggest black holes have a mass of about 40 billion times the mass of our sun. So, when a large black hole finds a way to combine with another black hole, it has a tremendous impact on the spacetime fabric. A ripple is created in the spacetime fabric, and it moves all over the universe at the speed of light. The greater the mass of the black holes combining, the greater the impact on space, the longer the ripple will travel all over the universe.

The goal of the scientist is to track these ripples in the spacetime fabric and try and measure them, try and understand these ripples. The science of gravitational waves was born to understand and measure these gravitational waves. To date, two experiments have been conducted. Let us discuss these briefly. 

LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory): LIGO’s design is simple, but the construction must be extremely precise and accurate. Two arms in an L shape are constructed. The length of each arm must be the same at 4 km. This measurement must be exact without any error. At the end of each tunnel is a reflecting mirror. At the source, a laser beam is divided and sent through the two arms. Each beam travels through an arm and is reflected by the mirror at the other end. On their return journey, the two beams meet and combine at the starting point. The distance traveled by the two beams is the same. If the initial two beams were 90 degrees out of phase, when they combine the two beams will cancel each other and no light will be detected at the end-point detector. This is the working principle of the LIGO system.

The objects that create gravitational waves are far away. Most of the time, these events only cause weak gravitational waves. The waves are very weak by the time they reach Earth. This makes gravitational waves hard to detect.

However, there was success in September 2015. When a gravitational wave passed through the LIGO system, one of the arms was compressed by a very small amount. This meant that the distance traveled by the light beams in the two arms would not be the same. So, after reflecting from the mirrors, the light beams were out of phase. Since the beams were out of phase, the two beams did not cancel each other out; instead, the detector received a signal from the LIGO system. The signal was because of the gravitational wave. On investigation, they found that the gravitational wave in this case was due to two black holes merging about 1.3 billion light-years from Earth.

It is amazing how sensitive the LIGO system is. LIGO is able to detect a change in distance between its mirrors of up to 1/10,000th the width of a proton! The width of a proton is 10^-15 meters. What an engineering feat is the construction of the LIGO system! This is equivalent to measuring the distance to the nearest star (some 4.2 light-years away) to an accuracy smaller than the width of a human hair.

To remove any bias or avoid any false alarms, a few LIGO systems have been built around the world. When a gravitational wave passes through, it must be read by all the LIGO systems. This way any false alarms are avoided.

It is amazing to know that the wavelengths generated by gravitational waves can be up to four light-years long, or 20 million million miles. Wow! It is so hard to imagine a wave with a wavelength this long! In that way, the LIGO system is limited. The LIGO system can catch gravitational waves up to roughly 2000 miles. Obviously, the LIGO system is not designed to discover gravitational waves which have these long wavelengths. To catch these long gravitational waves, a different approach was needed. The NANOGrav group was formed to undertake this task.

NANOGrav (North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves): NANOGrav is a team of 100 members from dozens of countries including the US, Canada, India, and China. Basically, the approach is very different from the LIGO system.

Here the pulsar stars which are available in the universe are used to detect gravitational waves. Pulsars are super-dense, spinning cores of dead stars. Each pulsar is small, about the size of a city, but it spins hundreds of times a second, sending out beams of radio emissions. On every rotation of a pulsar star, the radio pulse is picked up by a radio telescope on Earth. The rotation speed of the pulsar is very steady, so the timing of the pulse received is also accurate. It is always on time. However, when a gravitational wave passes through the pulsar, the rotation of the pulsar is disturbed. This means that the timing of the pulses received on Earth is disturbed. This change in pulse timing has allowed scientists to study gravitational waves. There are so many pulsar stars in the universe. Different members or groups who are part of NANOGrav are currently studying around 60 different pulsars for gravitational waves. The data collected confirms the presence of gravitational waves. As more data is collected, scientists’ understanding of the gravitational waves will only improve.

2. Unanswered Questions about Gravitational Waves

We have just read about the understanding of gravitational waves according to science. There are many unanswered questions about gravitational waves. We will try and raise some of these questions.

a. It is quite clear that any wave must have a propagation medium. There must be some medium through which the wave must travel. We know air is the propagation medium for sound waves. Air is compressed and expands so that sound can travel. For water waves, the medium is water. So, logically, gravitational waves or even the full spectrum of electromagnetic waves must have a propagation medium. Earlier it was thought that there was an ether in space through which light waves or gravitational waves traveled. Scientists have tried to track this ether. They designed different experiments to discover this ether. After all this effort, they concluded that there was no ether in space. Einstein mentioned the presence of the spacetime fabric. Maybe this fabric was the propagation medium. Once again, there is no fabric in space. Science has not discovered this fabric. If you think about it, spacetime fabric is an imaginary idea which is required to explain the functioning of space. It gives an idea of how gravity works. But, in reality, there is no fabric in space. So where is the spacetime fabric which Einstein proposed? So how do the gravitational waves propagate? Unfortunately, there is no answer. It is a mystery. There must be an answer to this question. We will give a fresh perspective to this problem in the next section.

b. The name “gravitational waves” is indeed quite intriguing. It is quite a fancy name. What does it really mean? We are all taught about the gravitational force—an attraction force between two objects. According to science, it is one of the four forces in nature. Science has a pretty good understanding of three forces—electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. The only force which remains a mystery is gravitational force. Scientists believe there is a particle called graviton which provides the gravitational force. But this graviton particle is still unknown, still undiscovered. With this lack of understanding about gravity, it is quite intriguing why the waves in the above experiments are called gravitational waves. Are gravitational waves the correct name to understand this concept?

3. Untold Story of Gravitational Waves

While defining gravitational waves, we saw earlier that they are connected to the spacetime fabric. Einstein coined the term “spacetime” to describe the fabric of the universe. This term causes confusion. There are now two terms—there is space and there is spacetime. What is the difference? Space is what we see when we look out, and everything in space is measured in distances. The tree is 200 feet away; the plane is flying at 30,000 feet. Space is visible and operates in three dimensions.

Spacetime looks at the same objects in terms of time. This term is confusing and not accurate because there is no space in spacetime; there is only time. In spacetime, the measurement is in units of time alone; no distances are measured. For example, light takes eight minutes to reach us from the sun; the distant star is 500 million light-years away. Everything in spacetime is measured only in time. There are NO distances, only time.

Einstein indicated that there is a fabric to this universe and this fabric is made up of spacetime. Of what is spacetime fabric made? You guessed it: this fabric is made up of time alone. Not easy to grasp, but you can try to imagine a fabric made of time. Time is the only variable of the fabric. Since this term “spacetime fabric” does cause confusion, it is therefore more appropriate to call the spacetime fabric “the time fabric.” Time fabric is more accurate and conveys the meaning that time alone is the variable in spacetime. Henceforth, we will refer to spacetime fabric as time fabric.

Spacetime Fabric = Time Fabric

Science wrongly conveys the impression that the time fabric operates in space. This is wrong because time operates on a different plane. As Einstein stated, spacetime has four dimensions. Space has three dimensions and time is the fourth dimension. One thing is clear: the fourth dimension cannot function in the three dimensions, otherwise we would have to say that space has four dimensions. Time and the time fabric, the fourth dimension—it cannot function in space. Then, where does time function; where does the time fabric operate? If it is not space—then where? If you think and analyze, the only other logical place where time and the time fabric function is the mind. The fourth dimension is within the mind. Strange but true. Please read my essay “Understanding Time,” which is available on my website, where we have analyzed and shown that time is a function of the mind. Time operates only within the mind. Vedanta has been very clear about this—kaala (time) is a function of the mind alone.

Since time and the time fabric function in the mind, it is only logical that all the objects which are placed on the time fabric also function in the mind. The sun is placed eight minutes away on the fabric. The moon is placed three seconds away on the fabric. The plane flying at 30,000 feet is placed three milliseconds away on the fabric. All possible objects are placed on the fabric in this way. The objects on the time fabric are not gross objects, which you see in space, but subtle objects. As Vedanta teaches us, the subtle objects in the mind are made up of vrittis or waveforms. You must read my essay “Life Is a Living Wave,” where I have given a detailed analysis to show that there is a fully functioning universe made up of waveforms. There is a cosmic waveform which is the total of all the possible object waveforms. This cosmic waveform operates in the cosmic mind. Hiranyagarbha (golden egg/womb) is the technical word used in Vedanta to represent this idea. Everything happens first in the cosmic mind, and then a part of this or a subset is projected out by the individual minds. If you think about it, quantum physics does support this concept. The foundation of quantum physics is that every object in this universe has a particle property and a wave property. Yes, everything right from the smallest to the largest objects in the universe has a wave version and a particle version. This is so like the teaching of Vedanta with subtle objects and gross objects. If quantum physics focuses on better understanding the wave version of objects, scientists will also reach the same conclusion that there is a fully functional subtle universe made up of waveforms.

If you fully understand and are convinced that there is a fully functioning universe made up of vrittis or waveforms, we are then ready to tackle the question of gravitational waves. As mentioned earlier, the origin of the gravitational waves is when two large black holes spin around each other and finally merge. The subtle version (waveform version) of the black holes is spinning around on the time fabric. This process makes a deeper curvature on the time fabric. When this happens, the time fabric gets stretched around the merged black hole and the entire time fabric is pulled inward. The inward pull compresses the time fabric. This inward compression causes ripples in the time fabric. These ripples start from the merged black hole and move outward on the time fabric. All this is happening in the cosmic mind. So, the gravitational waves are nothing but the compression of the time fabric. When the time fabric gets compressed, time slows down. This is logical because, upon compression, the interval between the time unit on the fabric is smaller. When the time unit is smaller, time must slow down. Therefore, the ripple of the time fabric causes time to slow down as the ripple moves outward.

The ripple in the time fabric and the time slowing down happens in the cosmic mind. So, what happens in space? Einstein’s Theory of Relativity does connect time and space. If time slows down, then even space gets more compressed. As we have seen discussed in many different essays, space is created by the stretching of time. One second of time fabric becomes 186,000 miles of space. If time is compressed in the fabric, space will also be compressed. This is the direct connection between time and space. When space is compressed, the objects in that space are also affected.

Gravitational waves are a product of the subtle universe, causing time to slow down. This translates into space getting compressed in the gross universe, thereby affecting objects in their path.

This is the untold story of gravitational waves.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a topic in the news everywhere. ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing AI, and Google Bard are some of the AI tools which are being debated in the media. Artificial intelligence is also used in robots for a wide variety of skills and applications. Robots as medical assistants, robots as office assistants, robots working in restaurants. The list can go on.

So, what is artificial intelligence? Wikipedia defines and describes artificial intelligence as follows:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by humans or by other animals. “Intelligence” encompasses the ability to learn and to reason, to generalize, and to infer meaning. Example tasks in which this is done include speech recognition, computer vision, translation between (natural) languages, as well as other mappings of inputs. 

AI applications include advanced web search engines (e.g., Google Search), recommendation systems (used by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix), understanding human speech (such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (e.g., Waymo), generative or creative tools (ChatGPT), and competing at the highest level in strategic game systems (such as chess and Go).

From this description as given by Wikipedia, it seems that the original intelligence (OI) belongs to living beings (human + animals + plants), and anything external which tries to mimic this intelligence is called an artificial intelligence device. AI is trying to copy this intelligence which is freely available within living beings.

This difference between OI and AI seems logical. Original intelligence belongs to living beings and artificial intelligence to external objects, systems, or machines. If you are a student of Vedanta, you may find a fallacy in this logic and reasoning. Vedanta teaches us that the human body and animal body are insentient; they are inanimate. They are as insentient as all the external objects in the universe. The word used in Sanskrit is jada—which means insentient or non-intelligent. Not only the body, but also the mind is jada. This may be difficult to accept, but it is a fact. Vedanta teaches us that the body and mind do not have their own intelligence; they borrow or acquire intelligence from an external source. They themselves do not have intelligence; they acquire intelligence. Just like robots acquire artificial intelligence, in the same way all living beings acquire intelligence from an external source. What is this external source? Vedanta teaches us that SatChitAnanda, your innermost core, is the source of unlimited intelligence. This inner core is within each living being. Each living being acquires intelligence from this source.

So, both living beings and external objects (like robots) are made up of artificial intelligence. Having said this, there are major differences between living beings and robots or other AI applications.

1. Living beings get their intelligence directly from the original source; they get their intelligence directly from SatChitAnanda. Robots and other AI applications do not have any direct connections with the original intelligence source. They are dependent upon the intelligence of the human mind. The human minds program them, write algorithms, and create self-learning software tools for these applications and machines.

2. Living beings have a feeling of “I am.” They have emotions, they have feelings, they know who and what they are. They are conscious. AI machines and applications lack this feeling of “I-ness” or emotions and feelings. They are not a conscious entity.    

So, the Mind is inert; it is jada. SatChitAnanda—the source of unlimited intelligence—is present within our inner core. So why is the Mind still inert? Why is this unlimited knowledge not available to the Mind? How does the Mind become intelligent?

We have raised some interesting questions here. We will now focus on answering them by understanding the following points:

1. Understanding SatChitAnanda (Self-Awareness)—the source of unlimited intelligence.
2. Understanding Ignorance—the powers of Ignorance.
3. Understanding Mind—creation of Mind.
4. Mind and Artificial Intelligence.

1. Understanding SatChitAnanda (Self-Awareness)

Vedanta teaches us that our inner core is SatChitAnanda or Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness is like a bulb within us, shining Awareness. It does nothing except radiate Awareness. For a detailed analysis of Awareness, please read the essay “Power of Awareness.” Here we will give a quick overview.

As we have discussed in the essay mentioned above, Awareness is the most powerful force in the universe, and it is the underlying reality of the universe. It has the power to connect with a form present in the mind and create an experience of which we are aware. Awareness is made of three things: Subject, Object, and Intelligence. If any one of them is missing, there will be no Awareness.

• There must be a subject, who is aware of the experience. The subject is the knower part of Awareness.
• There must be an object, which must be experienced. This object is the known part of Awareness.
• There must be intelligence, by which the subject gets to know the object. This is the knowing part of Awareness.

Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence

Power of Awareness = Power of Knower + Power of Known + Power of Knowing

Awareness is made of Subject, Object, and Intelligence, and it has three different powers—Knower, Known, and Knowing. Subject has the Power of the Knower, Object has the Power of the Known, and Intelligence has the Power of Knowing.

It must be understood that Subject, Object, Intelligence, and the three powers are not something outside in the world—they are within Awareness and make up Awareness. Wherever there is Awareness, there are present Subject, Object, and Intelligence with all the three powers. Right now, you are aware of reading this essay, therefore Subject, Object, and Intelligence are present within your awareness of this essay.

• Power of the Knower manipulates Awareness to become a Subject—a Subject is a reader, listener, seer, talker, eater, etc.
• Power of the Known manipulates Awareness so that Awareness takes the shape of the object coming from the five senses—just like Play-Doh can be manipulated to become an object. 
• Power of Knowing is the Intelligence part of Awareness. All possible knowledge and intelligence is available within Awareness. Power of Knowing extracts this knowledge from Awareness. To give some examples—how does one see a tree? The power of seeing (a power within Power of Knowing) decodes the incoming signal of the tree and adds intelligence so that one can see the tree. How does one listen to music? It is because of the power of listening, which is part of Power of Knowing. This listening power decodes the incoming music signal and adds intelligence to the input signal. In this way, you become aware of the music.

2. Understanding Ignorance

Isn’t it amazing that all this Intelligence is available within our inner core, yet we do not know this fact? This unlimited Power of Knowing is present within each living being, and we do not know this fact. What is the reason? The simple answer is that our Ignorance is covering this fact. Ignorance gives an impression of being a word in the English language, but it is a very powerful force. It covers all possible knowledge and intelligence.  

Ignorance is extremely powerful, and it comes with three shaktis or powers:

• A “Veiling” Power
• A “Projecting” Power
• A Power of “Mutual Superimposition”

To explain these powers, the classic example given in Vedanta is the rope/snake example. On a dark night with limited visibility, there is a rope in our path. However, instead of seeing the rope, we see a snake. We have all experienced this at one time or another. If there was no ignorance, we would never see the snake; we would know straightaway that there is a rope “out there.” So, the snake was created out of our ignorance. How does ignorance create the snake?

First, the “veiling power” of Ignorance covers up the rope completely so that the rope is not visible. As a second step, the “projection power” of Ignorance projects the snake onto the rope. Finally, the “power of mutual superimposition,” which superimposes the rope’s qualities on the snake and the snake’s qualities on the rope. They are mutually superimposed on each other. The shape and size of the rope are transferred to the “snake,” and the awesome and fearful qualities of the “snake” are superimposed on the rope. So, by looking at this superimposed snake in the shape of the rope, you get frightened.

The same veiling power of Ignorance covers up Self-Awareness, your essential nature; you don’t know you are Self-Aware. You don’t know you are SatChitAnanda; you don’t know you are Uncreated, Unchanging, Limitless, Blissful, and Self-Aware. With the mutual superimposition power, the qualities of the Self and Ignorance are mutually interchanged. The Awareness part of the Self is superimposed on Ignorance to make Ignorance conscious and sentient. The nature of Ignorance, which is always limited and incomplete, is superimposed on the Self. Then the “projection power” creates a new entity—the mind with the ego (small self).

3. Understanding Mind – Creation with Ignorance

We have just seen that the Mind is created by the mutual superimposition of Awareness and Ignorance. If there was no Ignorance of the Self, there would be no Mind—there would be only Awareness, your inner core. With the superimposition of Awareness, even the three Powers of Awareness are added and are available within the Mind. The three Powers of Awareness are present in the mind as follows:

1. Sakshi—the home of the Subject with Power of the Knower
2. Manas—the home of the Object with Power of the Known
3. Buddhi—the home of the Intelligence with Power of Knowing
4. Ahamkara—the home of the Ego (self)

The four parts of the mind are in different “departments.” Intelligence is sitting in Buddhi, the Object part is sitting in Manas, the Subject part is sitting in Sakshi, and the self or “I-ness” is sitting in Ahamkara. These four parts are separated, but there is a natural tendency for them to combine to create Self-Awareness. There is a mutual attraction to come together so that they can collectively achieve their original status of being Self-Aware and therefore feel complete. When the Subject, Object and Intelligence are separated, the self (ego) feels incomplete; it feels inadequate, and it wants to feel full and complete. The only way the self can feel complete is when the Subject, Object, and Intelligence combine into one entity. This happens every time we experience something; for example, when we look at a tree all the components combine to create an experience of “completeness” and we are Aware of the tree.

• Mind = Awareness + Ignorance
• Mind = three Powers of Awareness + Ignorance

4. Buddhi and Artificial Intelligence

Buddhi is the home of Intelligence with Ignorance. It has Power of Knowing. Power of Knowing has unlimited intelligence and is the storage of all possible knowledge. There is no knowledge which is not present in this Power of Knowing. Some of the powers which are available in Buddhi are as follows:

Power of Cognition or Sensation: This is Power of Knowing that is available in the sense organs. This power decodes the incoming signal from the five senses and adds the required knowledge about the input signal. It is like adding the source code to the input signal.

Power of Imagination: Daydreaming or creative/positive thinking are good examples. We are involved in this on a regular basis, where we can construct an imaginary vision for ourselves. This power is present in Buddhi.

Power of Logic: The power of comparing, drawing inferences, discussion, etc. So, we can say that the power of logic is within Buddhi. If you see smoke on the hill, you conclude there is fire. A wide range of logic “circuitry” is available in Buddhi, which we use on a regular basis. However, many of these powers remain unused.

Power of Will: This is the power to execute desires, wishes, and ideals, and is available within Buddhi and within Ahamkara (ego). It is originally within Ahamkara, but Buddhi also learns this skill over time.

Power of Memory: This is where all the things learned and experienced are stored. This storage is Chitta. The next time a similar input signal is presented, Memory knows what the waveform represents. When you see an orange for the first time, the knowledge of the orange is stored in the memory. When you see an orange the next time, the knowledge of the orange is retrieved from the memory.

In Buddhi, Power of Knowing (Intelligence) and Ignorance are mutually superimposed on each other. Intelligence imposes itself on Ignorance, and Ignorance imposes itself on Intelligence. The new entity, Buddhi, has Power of Knowing but is restricted or covered by Ignorance. The goal is then to remove this Ignorance so that Power of Knowing reveals itself. How to remove Ignorance? It is a fact that Knowledge is the only antidote to Ignorance. Only Knowledge can remove Ignorance. Nothing else. Knowledge of Chinese can remove the ignorance of Chinese. Knowledge of gravity can remove the ignorance of gravity. Nothing else.

When a baby is born it has no knowledge, it is only covered with ignorance. Knowledge-wise it is a blank slate. So how does one gain knowledge? We have all been through this process. With repeated instructions and practice, the baby recognizes simple objects and words and gains knowledge. This new knowledge sticks and removes ignorance, and Power of Knowing on these topics is exposed and is available in Buddhi. This power allows Buddhi to pick up this knowledge. Buddhi therefore gains intelligence. As children grow up and go to school, with repeated learning and practice, more ignorance is removed, and more knowledge is gained. It is surprising how rapidly this knowledge grows. It is almost exponential in the early stages. This is because more and more aspects of the Power of Knowing are exposed within Buddhi. For example, suppose you start to learn English. Then the Buddhi self-learns many words and sentences just by picking up from the English spoken around you. Very little effort is made to get the additional knowledge. It comes almost automatically. This applies to all aspects of our learning. A well-tuned learning Buddhi makes full use of the connections with the revealed Power of Knowing. Buddhi is a powerful self-learning tool; it is constantly learning and picking up intelligence in the presence of Power of Knowing. That is the strength and beauty of Buddhi—it is self-learning. The more knowledge you gain, the stronger Buddhi will become. It is not wrong to say that Buddhi is the ultimate artificial intelligence device, continuously learning and upgrading itself in the presence of Power of Knowing. In spite of this, a great deal of Power of Knowing remains covered by Ignorance. Only that knowledge which has been revealed is available to Buddhi. The knowledge of calculus will not reveal itself automatically. It must be learned first; only then will the knowledge of calculus be available.

The Power of Knowledge is a repository of all knowledge – good, positive, and constructive and even bad, negative, and destructive knowledge. The Buddhi is exposed to all sorts of knowledge. The Buddhi can easily go in the wrong direction and could become “evil” or a “rouge” Buddhi. It is just like robots we read in sci-fi stories where robots can become rouge and do destructive work. The robots can be controlled by proper programming of the software included. The only way the Buddhi can be controlled is by the willpower of the ego. If the ego is weak, then there is a possibility of the Buddhi to take over the mind and move it in a negative direction. A strong moral fiber of the ego is the only way to control the Buddhi going haywire.  

Individual Buddhi Profile: It is a known fact that each person has a different knowledge–ignorance profile. Some people are more intelligent than others. Some people are intelligent in a certain skill set, while others are more skillful in other skills. According to Vedanta, the soul is the keeper of this knowledge–ignorance profile—keeping a profile of our intelligence. Every bit of knowledge you gain makes a dent in the soul. If the same experience is repeated often, the dent is deeper; it will make a deeper groove in the soul. For example, if you spend lots of time practicing music, the groove for music will be deep and strong. This groove for music in the soul will continue to your future life. In the next life, when you learn music, the job will be much easier, and you will pick up music much faster and quicker. That is why we see people who are naturally better at music, or more scientifically minded, or better at sports. All this happens because the knowledge/intelligence of these skills is available in the soul. It must be noted that all the knowledge you gain in this life does not go to waste. You will carry those skills or knowledge to your future life as well. Your soul is like a passport, carrying your knowledge and skills with you.

Unlimited Knowledge: We have discussed that Self-Awareness has unlimited knowledge. All the possible knowledge is available in Self-Awareness. There is nothing missing. In comparison to this, we are exposed to only a limited amount of knowledge. We are aware only of a miniscule amount of knowledge. It is impossible to gain all the possible knowledge within Power of Knowing. It does seem that all the possible knowledge is so close, but still very far and remote to us. So much knowledge is still unknown to us.

Is there a solution to gain all possible knowledge? The only way out is merging the limited ego into the ocean of unlimited Self-Awareness. This is moksha or self-realization. Once that goal is achieved you will become the Power of Knowing. All possible knowledge and intelligence will be part of you.

Conclusion

The Mind is inert; it is jada. It gains intelligence only from the unlimited intelligence available with Self-Awareness. Power of Knowing—the source of intelligence—is part of Awareness. Buddhi, a part of the Mind, becomes intelligent only because of Power of Knowing. It must be remembered that all the intelligence we have gained is only because of the knowledge present within Power of Knowing. Our Buddhi is the ultimate artificial intelligence device.

The most common meaning of Bhakti is devotion. A better definition of Bhakti is the feeling of love. Marga means path. So, Bhakti Marga would mean the path of devotion or the path of love. 

Everyone wants permanent happiness—happiness which is unending 24/7/365. There is no denying that we all have moments of happiness, but unfortunately this happiness does not last very long. Happiness comes and goes. Looking at the unhappiness all over the world, it is easy to conclude that people are not doing a good job of finding this everlasting peace and happiness. So, what is the solution? This is where the teaching of Vedanta becomes very important and critical. Vedanta teaches us that if you want this permanent and continuous happiness, the goal for every living being must be to achieve Moksha. Moksha means Liberation. Liberation from the cycle of birth and death. That is the only solution to find permanent happiness. Yes, it is indeed a very lofty goal, but then there is no other solution to achieve permanent happiness and peace. There are no shortcuts. As long as we are in the cycle of birth and death, you will never find Moksha; you will continue a life of struggle in search of permanent happiness. You will try to find this happiness within all the objects. The success rate of finding happiness within objects is virtually zero. It may give momentary happiness, but it is never everlasting.

Then, logically, finding Moksha should be the ultimate goal for each one of us. How to find this Moksha? It is not easy. It is a tough road. The only way out is to look at our ancient scriptures for guidance. We must study and understand these scriptures to find the path to Moksha. Not only understand this theoretically but assimilate and make this knowledge part of our day-to-day living. To do that, as per our scriptures we must follow the following four paths to reach our goal.

1. Jnana Yoga—the practice of knowledge
2. Bhakti Yoga—the practice of devotion, love, and self-surrender
3. Raja Yoga—the practice of meditation and contemplation
4. Karma Yoga—the practice of action with the right attitude

These four paths are the underlying core for the teaching of the Hindu scriptures. If implemented correctly, they will help us reach the ultimate goal of Moksha. Can we choose one of these paths? Do we have a choice? Many people have the wrong impression that you can choose one of these paths to reach the goal of Moksha. Choose one of these paths and then concentrate your full focus on implementing that path. This is incorrect; it does not work that way. All paths are important; you cannot ignore any of them.

Having said this, do these paths have any pecking order? Are some paths more critical and important than others? Maybe. The path of Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga can be considered prerequisites. If you are starting your spiritual journey, these two paths are the base camp. You need to understand and assimilate this knowledge before climbing the steep mountain of Moksha. These two are the initial paths which will help purify your mind. They will make the mind more peaceful and clutter-free. This is critical. Only after the mind is sufficiently purified will the paths of Jnana and Bhakti bear results.  Let us briefly discuss these practices to get a good overview.

Karma Yoga: Any spiritual journey must start with Karma Yoga—the path of action. It is like the foundation course for starting your journey. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita are the source material for understanding Karma Yoga. We undertake action on a continuous basis, right from the time we get up in the morning till we go to sleep at night. Whenever we undertake any action, we expect a favorable result. The result is the effect of any action. Action is the cause and results are the effect. When we receive favorable results, we are happy. However, when we receive an unfavorable result, we are disappointed, frustrated, and even angry. Not receiving a favorable result is the main source of our unhappiness. How do we overcome this issue? Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 47 explains this concept. This is one of its most quoted verses:

karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi

You have authority or control over the action you do, but you have no authority or control over the results of the action.

The result of our action is given by God. We have no control over the results. Therefore, we must accept these results, good or bad, with humility and equanimity. We must accept the results as prasad (blessing) from God. We always accept the prasad from God with reverence. This must also apply to the results of actions. We must accept all the results like a prasad from God. It may not always be easy, but that is the core teaching of Karma Yoga. If this practice of Karma Yoga becomes a part of us, it will make our mind peaceful. Good or bad results will not agitate the mind—thereby purifying our mind.

Raja Yoga: Raja Yoga is another way to quieten the mind. The mind is full of continuous activity: perceptions, emotions, thoughts, daydreaming, etc. If you analyze your mind, you will notice that it is continuously jumping from one thought to another. In the waking state, it is rarely quiet. People have compared the mind to a monkey. Monkeys are hardly still, always jumping around from branch to branch. The mind is similar. So, how to quieten the mind? The only way is to reduce the number of thoughts in the mind. This is where the teaching of Raja Yoga becomes critical. Reduce the number of thoughts in the mind. How? The only way is to direct the mind from outward activity to inward activity. Look inward. We are habituated to interacting with worldly objects, and this is the source of all the unlimited activity within the mind. How to focus inward? The only way is to focus the mind on prayer, meditation, japam (meditative repetition), etc. Look inward. Doing this regularly will change the focus of the mind inward. This does not mean you do not deal with the outside world, but whenever you are free, focus your mind inward. Utilize all free moments, however brief, to do some japam, prayer, or meditation. Its regular practice will make the mind peaceful, and the mind will become purer.

Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga: These are two sides of the same coin. They are complementary to each other, and they go hand in hand. You cannot avoid either one of them if you want to reach the goal of Moksha. Jnana Yoga is the practice of knowledge, and Bhakti Yoga is the practice of devotion and love. Many people believe that it is possible to choose one of them and still achieve your goal. You can choose either the path of knowledge or the path of devotion. Is this possible? The simple answer is—No. If you follow the path of knowledge, you will study all the scriptures, study the Upanishads to gain the required knowledge. All this knowledge is theoretical knowledge. This knowledge needs to be assimilated; it cannot remain theoretical. The only way to do this is to integrate it to follow the path of devotion and love. Follow the Bhakti Marga with all devotion and love to assimilate the knowledge gained. Convert the knowledge from remote to personal; transform it from indirect to direct knowledge. 

Also, if you follow just the path of Bhakti, it will make you a pious and holy person, but it will not take you to the ultimate destination. You need to properly understand to whom you are showing all the devotion and all the love. In other words, you need to properly understand God. The more you know about God, the more you will appreciate the powers of God. The more knowledge you have about God, the closer you will come to God. The more you know, the more devotion and love you can have for God. With limited knowledge, God could seem remote and far away. If you want to come closer to God, you need to have the proper Jnana of God. Therefore, the path of Bhakti is incomplete without the complete integration of the path of Jnana, the path of knowledge. 

So, Jnana and Bhakti are two sides of the same coin. They are both essential paths to reach your destination. 

Brahman and Ishvara

Let us start this discussion by trying to answer the following questions!

Q1. Jnana is the path of knowledge. The question is, knowledge of what? Is this the knowledge of the physical world?

A: Ask any student of Jnana Yoga; they will answer that it is the knowledge of the underlying reality of the universe. Understand your innermost core, which is the same as the underlying reality of the universe. In other words, understand Brahman, SatChitAnanda, or Self-Awareness. These three terms are synonymous. This is the pursuit of Jnana Yoga.

Q2. Bhakti is the path of devotion and love. The question is, devotion to whom, love of what?

A: The most likely answer of anyone following this path is devotion to God or Ishvara. Love for God and having reverence for God. This is the goal of Bhakti Yoga.  

Did you notice the difference—Jnana is trying to tell you how to reach Brahman, while Bhakti is trying to focus on devotion to God or Ishvara. Are they the same? Unfortunately, they are not exactly the same—the underlying reality is the same, but they are not exactly the same. What is the same and what is the difference? This must be properly understood. This is where there is a disconnect between Jnana Marga and Bhakti Marga. This disconnect must be properly resolved to bring about unity between these two paths.  The difference between Brahman and Ishvara is summed up by Vedanta as follows:

Nirguna Brahman: Nirguna Brahman means Brahman without qualities or attributes.

Saguna Brahman/Ishvara: Saguna Brahman or Ishvara means Brahman with qualities and attributes.

The focus of Jnana Yoga is Nirguna Brahman, while the focus of Bhakti is Saguna Brahman. People who follow the path of Bhakti are committed to devotion and love to Ishvara with attributes. The serious followers of Bhakti are passionately committed to Ishvara. Saguna Brahman is God with Maya Shakti—the power to create, control, and manage the universe. Everything you see in the world is because of the creative power of God. There is no denying that Ishvara is an awesome entity and worthy of our complete reverence, dedication, devotion, and love. The problem is that if we are looking for permanent happiness—looking for Moksha or Liberation—then trying to reach Ishvara will not complete the job. There is no denying that you are on the correct path, but it will not take you to the ultimate goal. If you want to reach the final destination, then you must seek Nirguna Brahman. As we will discuss shortly, Nirguna Brahman is the source of Saguna Brahman. God or Ishvara does not have an independent existence; it is dependent upon Nirguna Brahman. You will be surprised to learn that Ishvara is a creation of our ignorance. In fact, ignorance is the source not only of Ishvara, but also of our soul and all the objects you see in the world. If there is no ignorance, there will be no Ishvara, no soul, and no world. Amazing but true. There will only be Nirguna Brahman. To make this amply clear, we must study this aspect in much more detail. 

Understanding Self-Awareness (or Brahman/SatChitAnanda): Self-Awareness is Nirguna Brahman. Self-Awareness has no qualities and attributes. How to understand this? Awareness is the most powerful force in the universe, and it is the underlying reality of everything. Please read my essay “Analyzing Awareness” for details about Awareness. Just like water is made up of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen to give you H₂O, in the same way, Awareness is made up of Subject, Object, and Intelligence, and it has the three powers of Awareness. Whenever these three ingredients combine, you get Awareness.

• Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence
• Power of Awareness = Power of Knower + Power of Known + Power of Knowing

At this moment you are aware of reading this essay. There is a subject in the Awareness, who is the reader of the essay. There is an object, which is the content of this essay. There is intelligence with the power of reading, which decodes the content so that the reader is aware. Subject, Object, and Intelligence are the necessary ingredients of Awareness.   

What is Self-Awareness? Self-Awareness means that “Self is Aware of the Self.” When the Self is Aware of itself, it is Self-Aware. In this situation, you will notice that Self is the Subject and Self is also the Object. In other words, Self is both the Subject and Object. You will be Self-Aware when Subject = Object and Object = Subject. It is not an easy concept to grasp—you just have to imagine an entity where Subject and Object are the same. This entity is Self-Awareness. When Subject and Object are the same, it makes Self-Awareness non-dual, part-less, and unchanging. It is therefore without qualities and attributes—it is one homogeneous unit.

• Self-Awareness = Subject = Object = Intelligence
• Power of Self-Awareness = Power of Knower = Power of Known = Power of Knowing

Self-Awareness is SatChitAnanda and it is our innermost core.

Sat: means Real. To be Real, it must exist in the past, present, and future. Nothing in the universe meets this requirement. Everything in the universe is changing and has an end date. Our inner core is the only Sat; it has always been there, and it is unchanging.

Chit: Chit is the nature of Sat. It is Awareness. This Sat is made up of the three powers of Awareness.

Ananda: Ananda or happiness/Love is the nature of Sat.

Self-Awareness is like a bulb shining Awareness and Love. Self-Awareness does not do anything other than shine Awareness and Love. Nothing affects Self-Awareness; it is always at peace. Peace is its inherent nature.

Understanding Ishvara: Ishvara is Saguna Brahman. If our nature and inner core is Self-Awareness, why don’t we know it, why don’t we feel it? The simple answer is that we are ignorant of our inner core. Ignorance has the power to cover up this knowledge. Ignorance is like a veil covering Awareness. When Self-Awareness is covered by ignorance, the Awareness gets reflected on ignorance. Ignorance is like a mirror in which reflection takes place. What you get then is Reflected Awareness. When the sun is reflected in a mirror, you still have the sun, and you also have a reflected sun. This is exactly what happens here.  You have non-dual Self-Awareness and Reflected Awareness. This Reflected Awareness is Ishvara.

• Reflected Awareness = Ishvara

We have seen that Self-Awareness is non-dual, in which “Self” is both the subject and object. Unfortunately, because of our ignorance, we have forgotten that our inner core is non-dual, and we are both the subject and the object. Since we have forgotten that we are both the subject and the object, it simply means that there is a separation of the subject being “in here” and the object being “out there.” Our forgetting, our ignorance converts the non-duality into the duality of the subject in here and the object out there. Ignorance has this amazing power. Our ignorance creates the world of duality.

1. It is quite strange to know that our ignorance is the cause of Ishvara. If there was no ignorance, there would be no Reflected Awareness, and then there would be no Ishvara either. If there was no ignorance, the only thing present would be Brahman, the self-shining Self-Awareness. So, our ignorance is the reason and cause of Ishvara. Amazing but true. When non-dual Self-Awareness becomes Ishvara with duality, all the three powers of Awareness become available to Ishvara. In the presence of ignorance, the homogeneous non-dual Self-Awareness becomes Ishvara with Maya Shakti.

• Maya Shakti = Power of Knower + Power of Known + Power of Knowing

Ishvara is Saguna Brahman as it wields the power of Maya Shakti to manage and control the functioning of the universe with duality. Ishvara with Maya Shakti has qualities and attributes. In comparison, Self-Awareness has no attributes as it only shines Awareness and Love.

2. It seems that both Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman are inside each one of us. Both non-dual Self-Awareness and Ishvara with duality are within us. Self-Awareness is just shining Awareness and Love. The Reflected version of Awareness or Ishvara is present because of Ignorance. One thing should be clear: Ishvara continues to remain pure, and Ignorance does not have any effect on God. Ishvara with Maya Shakti is present in each living being.

3. A question can be asked—if both Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman are present within us, what is the purpose of going to temples? It is an observation worth contemplating. Why not worship the divinity within us? It is more direct, and you can have continuous contact with God. Divinity is so close; why look for it outside? So why is this not happening? The one-word answer—ignorance. For most people, the focus of Bhakti Marga is devotion and love toward external Ishvara and God. Going to temples to worship God there. It is therefore not incorrect to say that the current Bhakti Marga is steeped in ignorance. It may seem like a very strong statement, but if you follow the logic and reasoning given in this essay, you must come to the same conclusion.

There is no denying that if you follow the Bhakti Marga with great devotion and dedication, your mind will be peaceful, pious, and pure. The problem is that your mind is still externalized. You are doing Bhakti to all external objects. The visit to temples, undertaking elaborate pujas are all external. All this is fantastic, but it will not take you to the final destination. The goal is Moksha—liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

4. Since both Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman are within us, does that mean we have a choice? Does that mean we can choose either Self-Awareness or Ishvara? To answer that question, it must be noted that your inner core is always superior to even God. Brahman is superior to Ishvara or God. Why? We have just seen that Self-Awareness or SatChitAnanda/Brahman is the source of Ishvara or God. Brahman is the Real Awareness and Ishvara is the Reflected Awareness. Ishvara is dependent upon Self-Awareness for its existence. Ishvara does not have an independent existence. So, the focus must be on Nirguna Brahman.

It is therefore correct to say that Bhakti Marga must be upgraded to devotion and love toward our innermost core. Dedicate oneself to Self-Awareness. Instead of focusing on external objects, focus on our innermost core. Our innermost core is the only REAL thing in this universe; everything else—our soul, God, and the world—is there only because of our ignorance. The source of all the knowledge and all the powers is our inner core.

Discovering the Spiritual Heart

Making statements—like one must focus on our innermost core or look for divinity within us—may be easy to write and talk about, but the question is how to focus and implement this, how to search for Self-Awareness within us. Self-Awareness or SatChitAnanda is not an object within us that you can search and find. All this makes the process tough to implement; some might say it is impossible. So, what is the solution? We need to study our scriptures and follow what self-realized Gurus say on this subject. One of the most revered teachers in this regard is Ramana Maharshi, the great saint from Tiruvannamalai. He taught that the innermost core is two fingers to the right of the physical heart. It is not a physical location; Vedanta calls this the spiritual heart, or the cave which contains your essential essence. This does make sense. When you point to say “I am …,” you do not point to your head, hands, or stomach; you always point to the point which is two fingers to the right of your heart—the center of your chest. Just try it and you will see that this is always correct. This spiritual heart contains your innermost core.

To discover this source, one must focus on the feeling of “I am” within you. We all have the feeling of “I am” within us. No one can deny this. We need to focus on the feeling of “I am.” We need to give complete self-attention, focus internally on ourselves. We should give only first-person attention, not second- or third-person attention. Focus on the self. Do this properly and regularly, and you will realize that the feeling of “I am” comes from this location, your spiritual heart. Ramana Maharshi taught this methodology, and it is the most direct way to reach your innermost core. Your destination is the inner core; why not go there directly? Why follow some indirect paths!

Once you have discovered this and are convinced that this is a fact, then you are on the right path. The next steps are:

1. Make this self-attention and focusing on this feeling of “I am” within you a regular habit.
2. You should start Loving your Self, your innermost core. All the Love must be showered on your Self (not your ego). As Vedanta teaches us, do not waste your Love on external objects, direct all the Love toward the Self. Love and happiness are connected. You love something because it gives you happiness. The source of this Love is your inner core—SatChitAnanda.

At the beginning, the feeling of “I am” is nothing but your ego. Ego is your “I am” within you. Yes, this may be true, but as Vedanta teaches, if this practice is done regularly and properly, this ego will merge into the Self, within Self-Awareness. Your Love of the Self (Swatma Bhakti) will be complete when your ego merges with the Self. The ego will start moving closer and closer to the inner SELF and then finally merge with it. The mind must get purer and purer for the merger to take place. When the Mind is sufficiently pure, your ego will merge with the ocean of Self-Awareness. When this happens, you achieve the goal of Moksha. This is the only route to Moksha. You can get Moksha only when the ego merges with the Supreme Self. When you start to do this regularly, you will start residing at this place of feeling of “I am”; stay there long enough and it will take you to the Supreme Self, the REAL Self.

1. As mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with going to temples. It is a positive step; it will make your mind purer and holier. However, when you are in the temple, you must pray to the inner core within you. You must focus on this aspect. You must have your attention on the feeling of “I am” when in the temple. Love for the deities must be directed to your Real Self. Pray to this spiritual heart. If you think about it, this spiritual heart is the source of the temple. Why? The source of everything in the universe is your inner core—Brahman. The deity in the temple is because of the Self-Awareness or Brahman; the vibration and peace you feel in the temple is because of your inner core. This logic and reasoning apply even to the temple in your home.

2. People undertake different pujas in their homes or other holy places; they recite different mantras or read different scriptures—this is indeed fantastic. But here, again, the focus must not be external; the focus must be toward your inner core, toward the feeling of “I am” within you. Direct your Love to the Real Self. Undertake all these spiritual activities with an inward attention.

3. Whenever you have free time, do not waste it; try and focus on your inner Self. Contemplate your inner Self; meditate on this feeling of “I am.” Be aware of your Self. Shower all your Love toward the Self. Whenever you are focused on the feeling of “I am,” at that time you are Self-Aware. Being aware of your Self will make you Self-Aware. Your Self is aware of the Self—that is nothing but your non-dual Self-Awareness.

These practices will slowly but surely take you to your goal of Self-Awareness. So, you can see that the real Bhakti is to show devotion and Love toward your inner Self. Not to Ishvara or God. Your inner core is always superior to even God. Ishvara is created by your Self-Awareness or SatChitAnanda/Brahman. So, you can see that Jnana or knowledge of inner core is essential. Proper knowledge of your inner core is compulsory and an essential prerequisite. The more knowledge you will have of your inner core, the closer you will get to Self-Awareness. Once this is understood, dedicated Bhakti and Love is required, toward your spiritual heart or your inner Self. This will take you to the ultimate goal of Moksha. You will be liberated and reach the destination of permanent happiness and bliss.

In April 2023, I conducted a webinar on this subject

The perception process taught by science and Vedanta are completely contradictory. Which is correct? What Vedanta teaches is the only Truth. In a detailed analysis we will show that each one projects their own universe. To support this, we will cover the following topics.

• Limitation of the perception process as taught by science. 
• Why projection of the universe is the only truth? – Five different reasons.
• Step by step of the projection process

Find below the link for the recording.

I do hope you will take the time to watch this recording. Do contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Also, it will be great if you can share this link with your family, friends and other groups.

According to science, dark energy makes up 79% of the estimated energy available within the universe. It is called “dark” because it is undiscoverable, but it is known to exist. Without this energy, the universe cannot sustain itself—in fact, there will be no space “out there.”

What Is Dark Energy? Cosmologists know there is a gravitational pull between galaxies, which means that the galaxies are pulled closer to each other. So, the space between the galaxies should contract as they come closer to each other by this gravitational pull. Observation has shown that this is not happening. Instead, what is seen is that space is expanding, and the galaxies are moving apart. The only way this can happen is if there is some force which is pushing all the galaxies apart. We can deduce that this force is much greater than gravitational pull and is the reason for the expansion of space. This expansionary force requires energy—lots of energy. This energy is the mysterious dark energy, which is responsible for the expansion of the universe.

Dark energy is unknown. Scientists have no clue about its composition. It is not like visible energy. It is not gamma rays, X-rays, or any other electromagnetic waves which make up the spectrum of visible energy. Researchers are looking for dark energy, but it continues to elude them.

Spacetime vs. Space

To understand dark energy, the first step is properly to understand some key terms used while describing space. Einstein coined the term “spacetime” to describe the fabric of the universe. This term causes confusion. There are now two terms—there is space and there is spacetime. What is the difference? Space is what we see when we look out, and everything in space is measured in distances. The tree is 200 feet away; the plane is flying at 30,000 feet. Space is visible and operates in the three dimensions.

Spacetime looks at the same objects in terms of time. This term is confusing because there is no space in spacetime; there is only time. In spacetime, the measurement is in units of time alone; no distances are measured. For example, light takes eight minutes to reach us from the sun; the distant star is 500 million light-years away. Everything in spacetime is measured only in time. There are NO distances, only time.

Einstein indicated that there is a fabric to this universe and this fabric is made up of spacetime. All the objects, both small and big, rest on this spacetime fabric. Think of any object, from a small ant to a large planet or star; everything in the universe rests on this fabric. Of what is the spacetime fabric made? You guessed it; this fabric is made up of time alone. Yes, there is a fabric underlying this universe which is made up of time. Not easy to grasp, but you can try to imagine a fabric made of time. Time is the only variable of the fabric. Since this term “spacetime fabric” does cause confusion, it is therefore more appropriate to call the spacetime fabric “the time fabric.” Time fabric is more accurate and conveys the meaning that time alone is the variable in spacetime. Henceforth we will call spacetime fabric as time fabric.

Spacetime Fabric = Time Fabric

Science wrongly conveys the impression that the time fabric operates in space. This is wrong because time operates on a different plane. As Einstein stated, spacetime operates in the fourth dimension. Where is the fourth dimension? One thing is clear: the fourth dimension cannot function in the three dimensions, otherwise we would have to say that space has four dimensions. Time and the time fabric, the fourth dimension—it cannot function in space. Then, where does time function; where does the time fabric operate? If it is not space—then where? If you think and analyze, the only other logical place where time and the time fabric function is the mind. The fourth dimension is within the mind. Strange but it is the truth. Please read my essay “Understanding Time” which is available on my website https://vedantaandscience.com/ , where we have analyzed and shown that time is a function of the mind. Time operates only within the mind.

Connection between Time and Space

Let me make a bold statement that time is the source of space. Yes, time is the cause, and space the effect. If there was no time, there would be no space. As we will see shortly, space is nothing but stretched-out time. How to understand this?

Science tells us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. If light must travel from the outer edge of the universe, it will take light 13.7 billion years to reach us. The distance that light must travel is 13.7 light-years. One light-year is the amount of distance light travels in one year. One light-year = 9.43 x10¹² km. This means that light travels 13.7 billion light-years to reach us. This distance gives us the size of our universe, which is 9.43 x10¹² km x 13.7 billion years.

Let us play around with the age of the universe and the size of the universe. If you assume the universe is 13.7 billion years old at this very “moment,” then the size of space is 13.7 billion light-years. After one second, the age of the universe will be 13.7 billion years + one second. Light must now travel an additional 186,000 miles to reach us, which means the size of the universe has grown by 186,000 miles. The size of the universe would be 13.7 billion light-years + 186,000 miles. After 10 seconds, the age of the universe would be 13.7 billion years + 10 seconds, and the size of space would be 13.7 billion light-years + 1,860,000 miles. After one year, the age of the universe would be 13.7 billion years + one year, and the size of the universe would be 13.7 billion light-years + one light-year.

It is clear from the above analysis that, as the universe is aging, the size of the universe is increasing. It is so easy to see that time is creating the expansion of the universe. Every year, the universe expands by one light-year. As time passes, the space of the universe will keep expanding. As long as time is flowing, space will keep expanding. This is an amazing conclusion—that time is the source of space. Time is creating space. When will space stop expanding? You guessed it—when time comes to a halt. When will time come to a halt? No one knows—but I am guessing that will be the end of the universe. When time stops, the universe will stop expanding.  

Framework of the Time Fabric

Since the time fabric is made up of time, there must be a start point and an end point for the fabric. Time must have a beginning and an end. There must be a starting point, which is t=0 for the time fabric. Right now, the end point of the time fabric is the age of the universe, which is 13.7 billion years away on the time fabric. As time flows, this time fabric will keep expanding. This time fabric will keep expanding as long as time keeps increasing. At the time of the birth of the universe, the time fabric was very small; now, it is 13.7 billion years, and it is expanding every moment.

Construction of the Time Fabric

Based on the Planck constant, it is proven that time is made of discrete elements. It is not continuous. The shortest separation between two discrete elements is 10^-44 seconds. These discrete time elements make up the time fabric. The start of the time fabric is t=0. The first node will be at 10^-44 seconds away from the starting point. The second node will be at 2 x 10^-44 seconds away; the third node will be 3 x 10^-44 away. The entire time fabric is built up with these small increments of time nodes. As noted earlier, this time fabric is available only within the mind.

Dark Energy and Space

Yes, infinite energy is present within our innermost core. All the energy you see in the universe comes from this source. It does sound amazing that infinite energy is present within our inner core. On my website https://vedantaandscience.com/ , I have an essay, “Awareness—The Infinite Energy Source,” which gives a detailed explanation. When you have time, please read this essay. If you correctly interpret Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, you can easily conclude that infinite energy is available within our innermost core. This energy source cannot be anywhere else.

This infinite energy source plays different roles. A part of this energy is used to create all the visible matter. The entire electromagnetic spectrum is created by this energy, which in turn creates all the visible objects in the universe.

Let us see what happens when another part of this energy interacts with the time fabric. This energy has the power to stretch out the time fabric. That is one of the powers of this energy. One second of the fabric is stretched out to become 186,000 miles of space. Just like a rubber band can be stretched outward, in the same way, the time fabric is stretched outward by this energy. With this stretching of the time fabric, space is created. Every second of the time fabric becomes 186,000 miles of space. This is the space we see. At this moment, the size of the time fabric is 13.7 billion years. This entire fabric is stretched out by this energy to give all the space in this universe. What is this energy? This is the dark energy which is eluding the scientific community. So, the dark energy is nothing but the energy used to stretch out the time fabric to give us the space we see “out there.” A great deal of energy is required to stretch out the entire time fabric. Scientists have estimated that dark energy is about 79% of the total energy requirement of this universe.

1. We have seen earlier that as time flows, the time fabric keeps expanding. This means that dark energy stretches the time fabric to create an ever-expanding space “out there.” As long as time flows, space will continue to expand. More and more dark energy is required to continue the expansion of space.

2. So, this energy which can stretch the time fabric is dark energy. It is not your ordinary energy, which is part of the visible universe. Dark energy is not part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic energy is good for visible matter; it cannot stretch the time fabric to create space. What is this energy type which can stretch the time fabric? What is the composition and makeup of this energy? I do not think it is possible to answer this question, because the stretching out of the time fabric takes place in the mind. You can only speculate, but it is not possible to discover the dark energy in space.

Self-Awareness is a term used often in Vedanta. This term is synonymous with SatChitAnanda or Brahman. Self-Awareness is our innermost core and is the substratum of the universe. In fact, it is not wrong to say that everything in the universe depends on our innermost core. Black holes are a hot topic and the focus of many studies and discussions among the scientific community. New information and new data about black holes are continuously being discovered and presented.

So, what is the connection between Self-Awareness and black holes? On the face of it, it does seem that there is no direct connection. Black holes fall in the realm of science, while Self-Awareness falls in the realm of spirituality. That is the purpose of this essay, to substantiate the connection. We will show that black holes depend on Self-Awareness; in fact, Self-Awareness is the ultimate or the first black hole. Comparing some of the common properties between the two, one can easily conclude that Self-Awareness is a type of black hole. So, let us move forward to prove this hypothesis. We will divide this essay as follows:

1. Understanding Black Holes

2. Connection between Black Holes and Self-Awareness

3. Self-Awareness: The Ultimate Black Hole

1. Understanding Black Holes

The term “black holes” comes around because it is not possible to view them, but the existence of black holes is known because of the energy radiation emitted by them. There are two types of known black holes. We will discuss these briefly.

Stellar: This is the most common type of black hole. It is estimated that there are between 10 million to one billion stellar black holes within the Milky Way alone—our own galaxy. Science tells us that there are around one billion such galaxies in the universe. So, you can estimate the number of stellar black holes in the universe. How is a stellar black hole formed? Whenever a large star runs out of its fuel, the star collapses; it undergoes a complicated process to become a black hole. This type of black hole is known as a stellar black hole. Stellar black holes are being formed on a continuous basis as the stars do exhaust their fuel. In the same vein, our sun will also run out of fuel, and it could become a stellar black hole.  

Scientists suspect that many of the stellar black holes do combine with each other or gobble up other local stars nearby to form intermediate-size black holes.

Supermassive: Every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. These black holes are massive. Typically, they could be millions of times the sun’s mass. One of the biggest known black holes has a mass of 40 billion times the mass of the sun. This is indeed huge. The black hole in the center of our galaxy is called Sagittarius A and is four million times the mass of the sun.  

Very little is known about the origin of these supermassive black holes. How and why they were formed. If you think logically, it does seem that these black holes are required and necessary to hold together the galaxy. We know that these massive galaxies with millions of stars are rotating around their center. They need a very strong and stable center. The black holes seem to provide this function. A good way to understand this is to compare a rotating galaxy with a black hole at its center with an image of a rotating hurricane. If you have seen an image of a hurricane taken by a satellite far above, you will see the similarities. The hurricane has a center, and the hurricane is rotating around this center. The center of the hurricane is known as the eye. This eye looks just like a black hole. The similarity is uncanny. It is known that all the energy is stored around the eye. The eye packs in all the energy of the hurricane. The bigger the eye, the more massive the hurricane. The hurricane rotates around the eye. This eye is the backbone of the hurricane. The hurricane collapses when the eye deteriorates or loses shape. In the same way, the black hole is the backbone of the rotating galaxy. All the stars and planets in a galaxy are rotating around the black hole. If something happens to the black hole, the galaxy will collapse. Obviously, there is no comparison between the energy levels in a black hole and a hurricane, but the imagery is very similar.

An important conclusion one must keep in mind is that just like the energy for the rotating hurricane is stored in the eye, in the same way the source of the energy for the rotating galaxy is the black hole. All the energy within the galaxy comes from energy stored in the black hole. The bigger the black hole, the bigger the galaxy and the larger the amount of energy stored in the black hole. Just like the eye of the hurricane is the source of the energy for the storm, in the same way the black hole is the source of all the energy required for the rotating galaxy.

Black Hole and Energy

It is a fact, the black hole is a storehouse of energy. It contains massive amounts of energy. We mentioned earlier that these black holes have millions of times the energy of the sun. Nobody knows much about the functioning of these black holes, including their origin. It can be speculated that the amount of energy the black holes had at their birth was much greater than their current levels. As time passes, these black holes keep emitting energy to fuel the growth of all the new stars in the galaxy and sustain the current stars and the different solar systems. Science has, in some ways, confirmed this fact with the discovery of the Hawking radiation. Hawking radiation confirms that there is a leakage of energy from the black holes. What is the volume of this leakage and what is the purpose and usage of this energy? Nothing much is known. One can speculate that this energy leakage from the black holes is used to fuel the energy requirements of the galaxy. In other words, the galaxy totally depends on the black hole for its existence. It would indicate that black holes are continuously losing energy and possibly, one day, will run out of the energy fuel to sustain the galaxy. This would mean that all the energy requirement for the galaxy comes from the black hole.   

A question can be asked here: from where does the black hole get all its energy? The requirement is massive. This is an important question; unfortunately science does not have a proper answer. You will be surprised by this answer. Self-Awareness is the source of infinite energy and fuels the black holes with the required energy. We will be discussing this later in this essay.   

Black Hole and Seed Body

What is a Seed Body? We are all familiar with seeds for plants, trees, and many other things. It is always mysterious how a plant comes out of such a tiny seed. It does seem that a potential plant or the blueprint of that plant is already stored within this seed. When the seed germinates, all aspects of the plant come out. If the seed is of a rose plant, only roses will grow and nothing else. This is what the blueprint tells the seed—a rose plant from a rose seed. If this is true for plants and other similar things, then why not everything else in the universe? This is only logical. This is what Vedanta teaches us. Everything in the universe has a Seed Body. You have a Seed Body, I have a Seed Body, and so does every living being. Even a galaxy has a Seed Body. The potential for the galaxy is already built in this Seed Body. All the potential stars and planets are within this Seed Body. The blueprint, the source code for the galaxy, is part of this Seed Body. When the galaxy is born, the Seed Body starts to germinate. It starts to play out the blueprint which is stored within the Seed Body. A question: where do you think the Seed Body for the galaxy resides? The only logical place would be the black hole in the center of the galaxy. It just cannot be any other place. The galaxy grows out of the black hole to play out its inbuilt blueprint.

If you go one level lower, it will indicate that all the stars and planets must also have their own Seed Bodies. They have their own blueprints within their Seed Body, which is being played out. From this, one can speculate that the Seed Body for the galaxy will be the sum of these individual Seed Bodies. All the possible Seed Bodies within the galaxy will be part of the Seed Body of the galaxy. The galaxy Seed Body must be a complex place—with so many different individual Seed Bodies. Knowing Nature, one can be sure that it will be well organized and regulated.

Black Holes and Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity

One of the objectives of the Theory of General Relativity is to show that in the presence of energy or mass, time slows down. The slowing down of time is represented by the spacetime fabric bending or curving around an object. This bend or curvature is like placing a heavy ball on a stretched-out rubber sheet. The weight of the ball will curve the rubber sheet around itself. The spacetime fabric operates in a similar manner. Place a heavy ball on the spacetime fabric, and the spacetime fabric curves around the object. It is to be noted here that the heavier the mass, the greater is the curvature. The greater the curvature, the slower the time. Any curvature will slow down time, including ants, people, planets, stars and black holes. In most cases, the slowness of time is so minute that it is not noticeable; the human mind cannot differentiate it. However, as the mass increases, the effect becomes noticeable. If you have seen the movie Interstellar, there is a scene in which astronauts visit a planet close to a black hole. Their plan is to visit this planet for 10 minutes, but because of a technical problem with their spaceship, they stay on for one hour. When they return to their mother ship, they notice that 23 years have elapsed in the mother ship. This happened because the planet they visited was very close to the black hole and the spacetime curvature around it was very deep, and therefore time slowed dramatically. Their one hour was equivalent to 23 years in the mother ship. It is complicated, but this is how the universe is set up. Can you imagine how slow the time will be for the massive black hole which is 40 billion times the mass of our sun? If you are living around that black hole, your time will hardly move. The more massive the black hole, the slower time will be around that black hole.

One point to remember is that time never comes to a halt around a black hole; it only slows down dramatically. The only place where time comes to a complete halt is where there is infinite energy.

Based on our discussion, we can conclude the following two main properties of the black holes:

1. Black holes are a storehouse of massive energy.
2. Time slows down dramatically around black holes.

2. Connection between Black Holes and Self-Awareness

How far is Sagittarius A, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way—our galaxy? The answer is it is 26,000 light-years away. What is a light-year? A light-year is the distance light travels in one year—which is 9.43 trillion kilometers. Multiply this by 26,000 and you will get the distance of the black hole from Earth. Yes, light does take 26,000 years to reach us from the black hole. That is how big our galaxy is. What is the implication of this information? If you think carefully, it does suggest that you are watching a “now minus 26000 years” old version of the black hole. You are not seeing the “now” version of the black hole, you are seeing a dated version of the black hole, because light is taking 26000 years to reach us. The black hole you are seeing is a 26000-year-old version. This applies not only to black holes but to all the objects in the universe. You only see dated objects because light takes a finite amount of time to reach us from any object. In other words, this universe is made up of only dated objects. So, the question can be asked: if the black hole you are seeing is a dated version, where is the “now” version of the black hole? It must be somewhere, but where? Science has never tried to discover this.

“Now” Version of Black Hole

We just saw that the black hole we see is the “now minus 26000 years” version. This is because light takes 26000 years to reach us. Let us play around with this idea. Suppose that, for whatever reason, the black hole could move, and we could see a “now minus eight minutes” version of the black hole—what does this mean? It means that light would take eight minutes to reach us from the black hole. The black hole would be located much closer, somewhere near the current position of the sun. If the black hole moves even closer and we see the “now minus 30 seconds” version, it will mean that the black hole is almost on our face. Light would take 30 seconds to reach us from the black hole. As the black hole comes closer, light takes less time to reach us. Using this reasoning, where do we find the “now minus zero seconds” version of the black hole? This must be the place where light will take zero seconds to reach us. Where is that? The only correct answer is that the “now” version of the black hole is within us, as light will take zero seconds to reach the Observer within us. This is the Observer who is watching the black hole and all other objects “out there.” This logic and reasoning apply not only to all the black holes but to every object in the universe. Vedanta always teaches us that the full “now” universe is within us. This is so true and correct. Not easy to reconcile, but the “now” version of all objects is within us—this is a fact.

If you are a student of Vedanta, you will learn that the terms “Observer” and “Self-Awareness” are synonymous. It does seem that the Observer or Self-Awareness is beyond space and time. The “now” versions of the black holes and all the objects in the universe are within Self-Awareness, and they are beyond space and time. In the universe you will see only dated objects, not “now’ objects. So, we can see the connection between the “now” version of the black holes and Self-Awareness. The “now” version of the black holes functions within Self-Awareness.

3. Self-Awareness: The Ultimate Black Hole

Vedanta teaches us that Self-Awareness is our innermost core. Other terms used for Self-Awareness are SatChitAnanda or Brahman. Vedanta teaches that Self-Awareness is unchanging; it is uncaused and uncreated. This means that Self-Awareness was present in the past, it is present now, and it will also be there in the future. It has always been there and will always be there, and it will remain unchanging. Nothing in this universe meets this definition. All the objects in this universe are born, and they must die at some stage. This applies even to the universe. The universe was born 13.7 billion years ago; before that there was no universe. The only thing which has always been present is Self-Awareness.

For a detailed explanation, please read the essay “Analyzing Awareness” on my website (www.vendantaandscience.com). This Self-Awareness is non-dual, it is full, and it is complete. It does not need anything for its existence. It is self-sufficient. The only thing it does is radiate Awareness. It is like a bulb shining Awareness. This Awareness is the most powerful force in the universe. It is the substratum of everything in the universe. Awareness has many different awesome powers. We list a few of them here:

1. Power of the Knower: this power allows the Subject to perceive the Object.
2. Power of the Known: this power manipulates Awareness to become any Object.
3. Power of Knowing: this intelligence or power decodes what each Object is.
4. Power of Infinite Energy: Self-Awareness is the source of infinite energy.
5. Power to Create Time: Awareness is the source of Time. For an explanation, please read the essay “Understanding Time” in my book, Science Meets Vedanta.

All the possible powers are present within Awareness.

Self-Awareness and Infinite Energy

Yes, infinite energy is present within our inner Self-Awareness. All the energy you see in the universe comes from this source. Self-Awareness is the source of infinite energy. It does sound amazing that infinite energy is present within our inner core. How should we understand this, and how do we show that this is indeed a fact? On my website, I have an essay, “Awareness—The Infinite Energy Source,” which gives a detailed explanation. When you have time, please read this essay. Here I will give a quick overview.

To understand the source of infinite energy, you need to correctly interpret Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Some of the main conclusions of this theory are as follows:

1. Motion and time are interconnected. Wherever there is motion, time does slow down. This is a proven fact. The faster the motion, the slower time will tick. If you achieve the speed of light, time comes to a standstill. In a way, there is no time at the speed of light. How to understand this?  Imagine that a rocket is going at the speed of light. You will see the rocket zipping at the speed of light, but what will the person in the rocket experience? He will not experience time; he will feel he has not moved at all; he will feel he is stationary. This is amazing but true. This is how nature works.

2. If anything does achieve the speed of light, it will have infinite energy. Yes, infinite energy. This is because infinite energy is required to achieve the speed of light. Infinite energy is available for anything traveling at the speed of light.

So, what does travel at the speed of light? If you look around, you will realize that only photons (light particles) travel at the speed of light. There is nothing else in the universe which can achieve this speed. Light is everywhere and therefore we see these photons everywhere, zipping around at the speed of light. As a person, we see the photons traveling at the speed of light. There is no denying this fact. We need to understand what is happening from the point of view of the photon. This is important. As a thought experiment, let us put a camera on a photon. What will the photon see? Since the photon is traveling at the speed of light, it will see no time, no space, and it will see that it has infinite energy. This is a fact because we just indicated that anything traveling at the speed of light will have these properties: no time, no space, and has infinite energy.

How do we interpret no time and no space? This really means that the photon remains stationary—it does not move since there is no space or time. You think the photons move around at the speed of light, but “according” to the photons, they do not move; they are stationary. According to the photon, it has an infinite amount of energy.

If time does not exist for the photon, it must be outside time and it must be beyond the spacetime framework. If it is within the spacetime framework, the time for the photon must change. Time changes for everything in space. Where is beyond spacetime? According to Vedanta, Self-Awareness is beyond time and the spacetime framework. This means that the infinite energy of the photon is present only in Self-Awareness. Therefore, our inner core is the source of infinite energy. See the illusion taking place—we see the photons traveling at the speed of light, but the photon really does not move; it is always present in Self-Awareness. This does indicate that Self-Awareness has infinite energy.

Comparison of Black Hole and Self-Awareness

We saw earlier that black holes are a storehouse of massive energy and, because of this, time slows down dramatically around them. How does this compare with Self-Awareness? We have just seen that Self-Awareness has infinite energy, because of which time has slowed so much that it is at a complete standstill—it does not move. In a way, Self-Awareness is exactly like a black hole with infinite energy. It is therefore correct to conclude that Self-Awareness is the ultimate black hole. You can also call it the first black hole because all the other black holes in the universe depend on its energy. All the black holes get their energy from Self-Awareness—a reservoir with infinite energy.

We saw earlier that the “now” version of the black holes is within Self-Awareness. These black holes depend on Self-Awareness for everything, including their existence. This ultimate black hole is the source of all the other black holes.

Many scientists believe that there was a primordial black hole at the birth of the universe. A black hole from which other black holes were born. We have just shown that Self-Awareness must be that primordial black hole. Self-Awareness existed at the time of the birth of this universe. It will also exist when the universe comes to an end. This universe, including all the black holes, depend upon Self-Awareness for their existence.