I happy to introduce my book – Science Meets Vedanta. This book is now available worldwide on Amazon. It has 37 essays.

Many of you who followed my posts had suggested I should compile them into a book. Based on this feedback, I undertook this task in October 2020. To create the book, I rewrote the content, added brand new content and added more than 50 illustrations. The book was then professionally edited to make it compact, readable and presentable. The 37 essays are broken into the following four groups

Concepts: This is essential reading. The key concepts from Vedanta and science are covered here. These essays must be read and understood properly. They are important because these concepts are the foundation of most of the essays that follow.

Vedanta: The more you learn about and understand Vedanta, the better you can appreciate how the teachings can help science. The essays in this section cover a good cross-section of key topics in Vedanta.

Science: In these essays, science “meets” Vedanta. I have taken a range of topics and shown the influence Vedanta can have on science. With the help of Vedanta, a new dimension is added, a new perspective is given to science. Vedanta helps remove many obstacles faced by science.

Cosmos: In these essays, the cosmos “meets” Vedanta. There is so much misunderstanding and confusion in understanding space and the universe “out there.” Based on the logic of the teachings of Vedanta, we have resolved many of the issues in these essays.

The book is available as an ebook, as a paperback and a hard cover (in some markets). Just go to Amazon and search for – Science Meets Vedanta. I do hope you will support this book. 

It will be very nice if you can share this information with your family, friends, and other WhatsApp’s groups.

Do contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

In classical physics, space and time were considered completely different and independent of each other. Newton considered space to have three dimensions and a separate single dimension for time. Einstein, with his Theory of Relativity, showed that space and time were interlinked, and he changed the terminology from “space and time” to “spacetime,” and this spacetime had four dimensions. But it’s hard to understand four dimensions; it’s not intuitive. We can visualize the three dimensions “out there” in space. We are used to the three dimensions. Time is supposed to be the fourth dimension. Where is the fourth dimension? Where is it located?  How does it function? Neither Einstein nor science has given a proper explanation for the fourth dimension. Once we have a better understanding of time, the fourth dimension will be self-explanatory. So, let us start our investigation of time.

Location of the Time Dimension

This is not an easy question to answer. Most people will answer that time must exist “out there.” They see changes in objects “out there.” The object was in location A, but now it is in location B. An object was three feet tall and now it is five feet tall. They see these changes in the objects and conclude that time is the cause of these changes, and therefore time is the inherent property of space “out there.” They think that time is operating within the space “out there.” Is this correct? It is true that time is the cause behind all the changes we see in the objects “out there,” but it is incorrect to conclude that time is operating within the space “out there.” “Out there” is only the three dimensions; there is no place for the fourth dimension in space. Time must be located elsewhere, away from the three dimensions of space. But where?

To understand the location of time, we need to understand time better. If you look at time carefully, you can break it down into the following three components:

• Past
• Now or present
• Future

Time is made up of only these three components. A simple question: can you look at the past in space “out there”? Obviously not. The only thing you can see “out there” is the present. The past is something which is gone; it cannot come back. It must be understood that every passing event which we experience is stored in our memory. This memory is part of our mind. When the present becomes the past, that event is stored in the mind. In this way, all the past events are stored in the mind—though we may not remember all of them. When we remember something, we are bringing a past event from the mind. We can remember past events only in the mind and not “out there.” This does mean that the time for the past event is available only in the mind.

As mentioned earlier, what is “out there” is only the present. This present is the “now” moment. It must be appreciated that what is “out there” is always the present. It can never be the past or the future. What is the duration of the present? According to the Planck constant, the smallest block of time is 10^-44 sec. Once this tiny time duration passes, the current present becomes the past, and it is replaced by a new present. We know these past events are stored in the mind. When we compare the current present with the past event in the mind, we get a sense of time. This comparison of two events is the key for the generation of time.

Let us imagine that we did not have any memory; this would mean that no past events would be stored in the mind. If there were no past events, there would be no way of comparing the present “out there” with the past event stored in the mind. What does this mean? It means that we would only see the present “out there.” We would always be in the present. Since we would always be in the present, time would be an unknown entity. There would be no time. We would never have the need to understand time. This reasoning does indicate that the mind is required for the generation or presence of time. The mind is the location and creator of time. Therefore, the location of the fourth dimension, which is time, is present only in the mind. Space has three dimensions, and the mind has the fourth dimension.

Vedanta has always been clear that time or “kaala” is present only in the mind. The source and location of time is the mind. Vedanta also teaches us that everything in the mind is subtle and is made of vrittis or waveforms. Since we have shown that time is generated only in the mind, it must be made of vrittis. It is quite difficult for us to understand or visualize the composition of these waveforms, but one thing is certain—that time is subtle and therefore it is a waveform and is present in everyone’s mind, and it creates time.

Origin of Time

We now know that time is generated and is operational in the mind. So, the next question is: what is the origin of time and from where does this time come? The time waveform must come from somewhere; it cannot come from nothing.

Time comes from Self-Awareness or SatChitAnanda. In other essays, we have discussed that our inner core is Self-Awareness or SatChitAnanda. It is our inner bulb of Awareness. It is self-shining, full, and complete. This Self-Awareness is unborn, it is formless, and it is unchanging. In this essay, we will focus on the unchanging nature of Self-Awareness.

Unchanging: Awareness is unchanging. It always remains the same and it will never change. It is the same now, it was the same in the past, and it will remain the same in the future. Nothing in this physical universe fits this bill. Everything in the universe keeps changing. If you dig deeper into “unchanging,” you can conclude that time is present in an unchanging environment, but it is static and unmoving. Time is an inherent quality within something which is not changing, but this time factor remains dormant. The entity is unchanging due to the sole reason that the time factor is not active. If, for whatever reason, this “unchanging” starts “changing,” time will and must pop out from this unchanging entity. If something is changing, it means that what is now is no longer the same. Since the two events are not the same, the time factor comes into play to connect them. It is not incorrect to say that time drives the change between two events. Self-Awareness is unchanging, and the only reason it does not change is that the time factor is static or remains dormant.

How does unchanging Self-Awareness become the changing mind? The simple answer is: ignorance. We have seen in other essays that ignorance has the power to break up the non-dual Self-Awareness into duality with the object “out there” and the subject “in here.” This ignorance also breaks up the “unchanging” Self-Awareness into a “changing” mind. When this unchanging Self-Awareness becomes the changing mind, the dormant time in the unchanging environment pops out and becomes available, and it is active in the mind. This time then becomes operational in the mind. This changing part of the time waveform is the driving force of the time we know and see.

Powers of Time

Time is powerful. It interacts in our daily life in many ways. Some are known and some are unknown. Let us discuss some of the powers of time to show the scope and width of its power.

• Time and Objects
• Time and Space
• Time and Spacetime
• Time and Energy
• Time and Gravity
• Time and Motion

Time and Objects: Time is a waveform in the mind, and all the objects in the world are also a waveform in the mind. Do they interact with each other? Of course; the time waveform interacts with every object waveform in the mind. When any Seed Body germinates (or is born) and becomes a waveform in the Subtle Body, the time waveform superimposes itself on the object waveform. In the essay “Life Is a Living Wave,” we have discussed how there is a fully functional subtle universe made of waveforms. When a new object waveform is born, it is the t=0 or the birthday of the object waveform. Right from the t=0 moment, the time waveform is the driving force for the object waveform to modify itself, to grow itself to play out the blueprint of its life. If there was no time waveform, all the object waveforms would remain static and in the same state, with no growth. The time waveform is the underlying force which moves this universe and object waveforms forward.

The t=0 for each object is different. The t=0 for the universe was 13.7 billion years ago. The t=0 for the sun was about four billion years ago. In the same way, every object in the universe had its own t=0 when it came into existence. From t=0 to “now,” each of the objects has gone through a history of events. From one moment to the next, each of the objects modifies itself. As time moves forward, the object waveform keeps changing, playing out the blueprint of its life cycle. It is like a small shoot coming out from the seed, and then over time it becomes a fully grown tree with branches and leaves, and finally it decays and dies. The tree waveform plays out its blueprint as time moves forward. This life cycle applies to everything in the universe. It must be noted that the time waveform does not change the object waveform; it only moves it forward. The change in the object waveform is due to many reasons, including the fulfillment of its pending karmas and interaction with other objects waveforms.

Time and Space: Time and space are interconnected. They are two sides of the same coin. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity confirms this. Time is subtle and space is gross. It is correct to conclude that time creates space. Time is the source of space. How do we understand this? Science tells us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. If a photon must travel from the beginning of the universe, it will take the photon 13.7 billion light-years to reach us. One light-year is the distance that light travels in one year. The size of the universe will be the distance traveled by the photon from the Big Bang. This distance traveled by the photon is the outer limit of the universe, because there was no universe before the Big Bang. If you assume the universe is 13.7 billion years old “right now,” then after one second, the age of the universe will be 13.7 billion years + one second. The photon now has to travel an additional 186,000 miles (speed of light) to reach us, which means the size of the universe has grown by 186,000 miles. After 10 seconds, the size of the universe would increase by 186,000 x 10 = 1,860,000 miles. One year from now, the size of the universe will increase by one light-year. By this reasoning, it is quite clear that time is creating the expansion of the universe. Every year, the universe expands by one light-year. As more time passes, the space of the universe keeps expanding. It is therefore only correct to conclude that time (which is subtle), creates space (which is gross).

From the above discussion, it is clear that time is the cause of the space “out there.” Without time, there would be no space.

Time and Spacetime: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity postulated the existence of the spacetime fabric. All objects rest on this fabric. A detailed analysis of this fabric is made in the essay “Understanding the Fabric of Space.”

This spacetime fabric has no space, but it is made up of time. Yes, it is made up of time. Time is the source of the spacetime fabric. This fabric operates only in the mind. Since it is made up of time, it must have a starting point and an end point. The starting point of this fabric is the observer/mind within each one of us. This is the t=0 for spacetime. The end point of this fabric is the age of the universe, which is around 13.7 billion years. So, this time-based fabric stretches from the observer/mind to the current age of the universe. As time passes, this fabric keeps expanding.

All the objects in the universe are placed appropriately on this time-based fabric. The sun is placed eight minutes away on the fabric, the moon is three seconds away, the tree some milliseconds away. In this way, all the objects are placed on this fabric. This time-based fabric is then converted into space “out there.”

Time is the underlying fabric of this universe. Without time, there would be no space and no universe.

Time and Energy: Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity interlinks time and energy. This theory states that in the presence of energy, the spacetime fabric curves or bends and, in the process, time slows down. A good example to understand this is that when you place any mass on a stretched rubber sheet, the rubber sheet curves around the mass of the object. In the same way, if you place a mass of energy representing an object on the spacetime fabric, the spacetime fabric bends and curves around this object. This bending of the spacetime fabric slows down time. This is a proven fact. The slowdown will depend on the mass of the object. The higher the mass, the higher the curvature, the slower the time.

A question can be asked: does the mass of energy slow down time, or does the slowing down of time create the mass of energy? Which came first—time or energy? It is like the chicken and the egg—which came first? This question is not easy to answer. However, both time and energy are subtle; both are vrittis and function only in the mind.

Time and Gravity: As taught in school, gravity is a mutual pull between different objects. There was no proper understanding of gravity till Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. This theory clearly showed that time is the key factor for the creation of gravity. The bending of the spacetime fabric or the slowing of time is the cause of the pull of gravity between objects.

We have seen in the previous section that an object bends or curves the spacetime fabric around itself. Any object which is within the curvature of the fabric will tend to slide down the curve toward the other objects. This tendency of sliding down is the cause of the gravitational pull between objects. The only reason why the object may not slide down is that the horizontal velocity is large enough to avoid the downward slide of the object. The downward pull is always present between all objects. This is the gravitational pull between objects.

The spacetime fabric is made up of time, so the curvature of time is the cause of gravity. It is not easy to grasp, but time is the only factor which creates the gravitational pull. The deeper the time-based curvature, the stronger the gravitational pull. With a shallow curvature, the gravitational pull is weaker. Once again, time plays a key role, this time in the creation of gravity.

Time and Motion: We see so much motion in the universe. On planet Earth, we see people walking, we see cars, trains, planes moving around. If we look at our solar system, all the planets, including Earth, are moving around the sun. Then the sun and other stars are moving around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is moving in relation to the other galaxies in the universe.

How is this motion generated? You will be surprised to learn that time is the cause of motion. Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity completely supports this. If you study this theory, you will understand that wherever there is motion, time slows down. The faster the motion, the slower the time clock. If you achieve the speed of light, time will completely stop. It must be pointed out that this theory gives the impression that there is motion, therefore time slows down. Motion is cause, and time is effect. This is incorrect. It is the other way around. Time slows down, and it creates a sense of motion of the object. Time creates motion. Please read the essay “Understanding Motion” for a more detailed analysis of this connection between time and motion.

Time is highly active in the mind. It drives every object to play out its life-cycle blueprint. Time is the source of the creation of space. Time is interconnected with energy. Time creates gravity. Finally, time is the source of object motion.

Time has awesome powers. Time is King! Nothing works without time.

Karma means action. The doctrine of Karma deals with the results of these actions. The technical word for the results of action is karma phala—fruit of our actions. Whenever we act, there can be any one of the four possible phalas (results):

1. The result is as expected.
2. The result is worse than expected.
3. The result is better than expected.
4. The result is totally different.

To explain this, my Guruji always gave the following example. You have to cross the road to catch your office bus. You cross the road and catch the bus—the result is as expected. You cross the road but miss the bus—the result is worse than expected. You cross the road but meet a friend who gives you a ride—the result is better than expected. While crossing the road you are hit by the bus and you go to the hospital instead—the result is totally different.

These four options apply to all the actions we take. For every action we take, one of the four results will happen. Which one? Unfortunately, we have no clue which one of the four results will fructify. It is impossible to guess till the results of the action are known. It would seem there is a hidden variable which manages the results. There is something unknown which drives the karma phalas. What is that hidden variable which gives the fruit of our actions? Chapter 2, Verse 47 of the Bhagavad Gita explains this concept brilliantly. 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.

This is a profound and universal truth. It is applicable to everyone and to every action we undertake. We can only act; we have no choice or control over the result. This sounds like an obvious statement to make. But how often do we undertake an action without any expectation of what the result will be?

The question is who decides or controls these results. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that it is Ishvara or Bhagavan (God) who decides the results. Does that mean Ishvara is judgmental and uses His own likes and dislikes to pass judgment? The answer is No. Ishvara has a Will but it is unlike the human will; it has no ragas (likes) and dveshas (dislikes). Ishvara’s Will is the Laws of Nature. Ishvara controls this universe through the Laws of Nature. Once these laws are set in motion, Ishvara does not do anything. The doctrine of Karma is part of these Laws. You are the karma karta (doer or agent of action), while Ishvara is the Karma Phala Daata (the giver of the results of action).

With this background, let us discuss the different aspects of the doctrine of Karma in the following four sections.

1. Understanding Karmas
2. Understanding Karma Phalas
3. Understanding Pending Karma Phalas
4. Exhausting the Sanchita Karmas

Understanding Karmas

It is obvious that “I am” or ego is the doer of all the karma/actions. It is important to understand how “I am” or ego performs karma and what we really mean by karma. It must be understood that all karmas happen in the Mind itself. This seems contradictory. It does appear that we perform action in the world out there. As we have discussed in other essays, everything happens first in the subtle world. This subtle world is then manifested as the gross world.

To perform any karma we need a subject who does the action, and we also need an object on whom or which the action is performed. We have the “I am” or ego, the subject, and all the vrittis or mental waveforms representing different objects in Manas.

It is part of nature that when ego encounters the object vritti, the ego MUST make a response. All living beings are pre-programmed and compelled to make this response. It is part of their genetic makeup. This applies even to a single cell body. Put a drop of vinegar close to a cell, and the cell will be repulsed and it will move away. Put a drop of liquid sugar, the single cell body will be attracted to the sweetness and move toward it. Basically, the ego of the cell is reacting to the object vritti. The ego of the cell either likes the situation or dislikes the situation.

This duality of like–dislike, attraction–repulsion, positive–negative, good–bad is the underlying force that compels the “I am” or ego to do karmas. This logic applies to every living being, irrespective of what type of creature it is. Even human beings must react in the same manner to every situation. We cannot remain still.

Whenever the ego comes in touch with an object vritti, it cannot remain still, it must act. The response is either raga (like) or dvesha (dislike). This response by the ego is karma. The interaction between ego and object is NOT karma; the response of “like” or “dislike” is karma. Let us discuss some examples so that this point becomes clear.

• People think that when we talk it is karma. This is incorrect. Talking is natural and is a standard feature which comes with the body. The human body is meant to talk. However, it is only when you talk negatively or positively about anyone that you have done a bad or good karma.
• Walking is a natural action. There is no karma when you walk. However, while walking you see an insect and with purpose you squash it with your foot. The intentional squashing of the insect is karma. However, if without your knowing an insect comes under your foot, this is not karma because the ego is not involved.
• If you have ears, you are going to listen to things. For example, if you listen indifferently to all the chattering around you in the airport lounge, that is not karma; it is natural. However, if you get irritated by all the noise around you, that is karma.
• Watching the physical world outside is natural. If you are standing in front of a few people, you cannot say you do not want to see them. Seeing is natural, you have no power to stop this. However, if you make a judgment—what a horrible shirt someone is wearing, or how nice this person is looking—these judgment calls are karmas. 

The ego must be involved while doing a karma. We know we are doing karma on a continuous basis. It is only logical that anyone who does karma also owns that karma. We know that the ego is the doer of karmas, therefore “I am” is the owner of all the karmas. These karmas go into the “bank balance” of that person. As we shall see in the next section, the doer of the action which is ego should also face the consequence of the karma committed.  

Understanding Karma Phalas

Any karma you perform, good or bad, must have a result. In Vedanta, this result is called karma phala (fruit). In science, an equivalent scenario would be Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which says: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you do any karma, it must have a reaction; this is the basic law of nature. If you rub your hand against the bark of a tree, the tree will rub back with equal intensity. If you do good actions or deeds, the reaction or results will be positive (punya karmas) and if you do bad karmas, the results will be negative (paapa karmas).

Good actions = Good results = Punya karmas

Bad actions = Bad results = Paapa karmas

The question can be asked, how do you define good and bad actions? This can be arbitrary. A surgeon with a knife can heal people by operating on them. A criminal with the knife can kill people. The same knife, but a good action by the surgeon and a bad action by the criminal. So, how do you decide between a good and bad action? Vedanta uses the following phrase, which is the gold standard to distinguish between good and bad actions.

Ahimsa Paramo Dharma—Non-violence is the highest moral virtue.

Non-violence does not mean only physical action. Even bad thoughts—thinking bad things about people and other objects—is part of ahimsa. Both physical and mental actions are part of this moral virtue. If you think about it, it is impossible to live without causing harm. You may give up eating meat, but even as a vegetarian you are causing harm to plants. The ideal goal is complete non-violence. Since this is impossible, the goal should be to minimize harm by all your actions. If any action has multiple choices, the best choice is the one which causes the least harm. Minimizing harm should be the driving force of all actions.

The doctrine of Karma as taught by Vedanta states that every karma must yield two types of results:

• Seen Result (Drishta Phala): Every karma has a Seen Result. If you do any karma, it will have an immediate result which can be seen or felt immediately.
• Unseen Result (Adrishta Phala): The same karma will also have a result which will be felt in the future. The result of the karma could be felt in a few seconds, 20 minutes later, next year, 20 years later, in this lifetime, or in a future lifetime. When this karma ripens, it will yield its fruit. When this will happen no one knows, but it will happen. You must reap what you sow. This concept is only logical and correct.

How do we understand this? When the ego interacts with the object vrittis in the mind, it modifies the object vrittis. This modification of the object vrittis is the Seen Result. It must be understood that the object vrittis are part of the cosmic waveform. This cosmic waveform is the total of all the possible object vrittis in the world.

When the ego modifies the object vrittis, the modification has a ripple effect within the cosmic waveform. This ripple circulates within the cosmic waveform, making changes. Some actions may make minor ripples, while other actions could cause major ripples. Squash an insect intentionally, it will cause a minor ripple in the cosmic waveform. But if a president or king starts an unprovoked war, this can cause a major ripple in the cosmic waveform. People dying, livelihoods destroyed. The ripples can last multiple years or decades. The unseen results of this action will take a much longer time to fructify.

The ripple could have a positive effect (punya) or negative effect (paapa) on the cosmic waveform. The cosmic waveform stores all these modifications. In the end, this ripple will come back to interact with the ego. When, no one knows. This is the Unseen Result.   

Some Examples

• Let us say you give $100 to charity. The immediate Seen Result is that you are poorer by $100, but the Unseen Result is that you accumulated a punya karma and this will result in some type of favorable situation in the future.
• You get angry and insult your close friend. The Seen Result is that your friend starts to cry, and the Unseen Result is that you have accumulated a paapa karma and this will result in some type of negative situation in the future.
• You drop your reading glasses from 10 feet. The Seen Result is that the glasses start falling downward as per the Laws of Nature. The Unseen Result will be evident when the glasses hit the ground; they may or may not break. You are not sure until they hit the ground; the Unseen Result is delayed by a few seconds.

These pending unseen results are like your bank balance. Your bank balance will have all the pending results of good karmas and bad karmas which were done earlier. The bank balance includes pending karma phalas from this life and all your previous lives. Everyone has a balance of pending karmas which still must yield their fruit.

Good actions will result in punya karma phalas and bad actions will result in paapa karma phalas. This doctrine of Karma is the instrument which Ishvara uses to provide the results or fruit of your actions. The results you are getting now are based on the pending phalas of your past actions. They are not arbitrary. This is a Vedantic explanation of why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people. It because they are receiving the fruit of their past actions.

Understanding Pending Karma Phalas

Why are we reborn? The simple reason is that we have pending karmas. These karmas need their phala or results. These karmas cannot be left unfinished. The loop must be completed. All good or bad actions must face their consequences. If you did not receive the result in this life, the pending karma is carried over to a future life. The result to your action is a must. All action must achieve its unseen or adrishta phala. We are reborn again and again to face the good and bad results of actions done in the past.

You would think that the goal is to exhaust all the pending karmas. Is this possible? Impossible. We do exhaust karmas on a continuous basis, but then we are also creating new karmas awaiting results. In this way, the bank balance of pending karmas hardly changes. In fact, Vedanta teaches us that each one of us has an infinite number of karmas—an infinite number of punya and paapa karmas. This is because we have had an infinite number of rebirths. Infinite rebirths is not an easy concept to understand. We will not discuss this subject now, as it is not the focus of this essay. 

To exhaust the infinite karmas, you must live for infinite years. This is impossible. We all live only for a finite number of years. Therefore, we exhaust a finite number of karmas in one lifetime. The doctrine of Karma explains this concept by dividing the karmas into the following three groups:

1. Sanchita Karmas—Sanchita means “accumulated.” This is the total of all the pending karmas collected over all the past lives. It is the storage for all the pending karmas. This storage is a mix of paapa and punya karmas. All these karmas are still awaiting their results.

2. Prarabdha Karmas—Prarabdha means “that which has already begun.” These karmas fructify in this lifetime. From the sanchita karmas a certain number of paapa and punya karmas are chosen. These karmas will be exhausted in the current lifetime. You will face the results of these karmas in this life. The selected karmas are placed in your Seed Body. As the Seed Body germinates and blossoms, these karmas will slowly but surely fructify. Our daily life is responding to these karmas. The happy times we enjoy are due to the past punya karmas, and the unhappiness and difficulties we face are because of the past paapa karmas.

The ratio between the paapa and punya will vary from life to life. The greater the punya karmas, the easier and happier will be life. If the paapa karmas are dominant, life will be one big struggle. We can see that the prarabdha karmas are the driving force for the duration of one’s life. Once the prarabdha karmas are exhausted, the person will die. After we die, there is still an infinite number of pending sanchita karmas. We are reborn with a new body to exhaust a new batch of karmas. When we exhaust this lot, we take up another body. This cycle is unending; the pending karmas will never be exhausted. We will continue this cycle of rebirths. The picture does look bleak and depressing.  

3. Agami Karmas—While we are exhausting karmas continuously, we are also creating new karmas. The ego is acting every day, some good actions and some bad actions. The unseen results of these actions must happen. When, we do not know. Some of the unseen results will be felt in this lifetime itself. Other karmas will be added to your bank balance. They will be added to the pending sanchita karmas.

Exhausting the Sanchita Karmas

It is impossible to exhaust sanchita karmas. Even an infinite lifetime will not do the job. Does that mean we are doomed, with no possible solution to break this unending cycle? Fortunately, there is a solution. The teachings of Vedanta.

The ego is the doer of all the actions; it is the karma karta. Therefore, the results must be faced by the ego. The ego is the owner of the sanchita karmas. The ego cannot escape this fact. It must face the consequences of all its past karmas. What is the solution? How do we break this cycle? To explain this, my Guruji liked to give the example of Bill Gates, who has hundreds of billions of dollars. He writes a check for $10 every day, hoping to exhaust his account. With his vast bank balance, it is impossible to empty his bank balance with a check for $10 every day. The only solution is to disown the bank account and the bank balance. This way, the bank account does not belong to Bill Gates.

How does the ego disown the sanchita karmas? If you are a student of Vedanta, you will learn that there is the Real Self (capital S) and ego. The Self is your innermost core and it is SatChitAnanda or Self-Awareness. It is non-dual, in which the Self is Subject and the Self is Object.

Ego = Ignorance in the presence of Self

When we forget our true nature of being full and complete, the ego pops up. In the presence of ignorance, the Self appears to become the ego. This ego masquerades as the Real Self. This ego lives with the world of forms and objects. This is the ego which accumulates the sanchita karmas. If you follow the teachings of Vedanta, you can remove the ignorance of your Real Self. By gaining knowledge, you become your Real Self. You become Self-Realized. When you discover your true Self, the ego will disappear—like the snake which disappears when you discover that it is a rope.

The ego owns the sanchita karmas. If the ego is no longer there, the connection with the ego is broken. There is no ego who must face the results of these pending karmas. The Real Self is full and complete. It does not act. It is like a witness to all the actions. It is impossible for the sanchita karmas to be passed on to the Real Self. Once the ego disappears, the bank account for the sanchita karmas is closed. There is no owner for the sanchita karmas.

What about the prarabdha karmas? Does the Self-Realized person face the prarabdha karmas, which are already fructifying in this lifetime? Yes, the body–mind complex will face the results, but the Self-Realized person has nothing to do with the body–mind complex. Yes, to an outsider it does seem as though the Self-Realized person is acting, but from the point of view of the Self-Realized person, he is not performing any action. He is just a witness to all the action.

Real Self (capital S) is your inner most core. This Self is also called SatChitAnanda or Self Awareness. On the other hand, self (small s) is your ego. It is also called ahamkara – the maker of ‘I’. To avoid the confusion between Self and self, we will use ego for self (small s).

To a new Vedanta student, this can be quite confusing – how can there be two selves? It is obvious there cannot be two selves. We know and we do not feel that there are two selves. There is no case of split personality. We are always a single entity. Right from our birth to this moment, we know ourselves as the ‘I’. I am this, I am that, I want this, I need this. This ‘I’ has been with us since birth and it remains unchanged. Everything may have change around us, but the feeling of ‘I’ is the same.

This is the only ‘I’ we know. Isn’t this the Real Self or the Real ‘I’? Unfortunately, no. There is a Real Self and there is the Ego. If this ‘I’ we know is not the Real Self, then this is a source of confusion. How can there be two Selves? What is the difference between the Real Self and ego? Why don’t we know the Real Self? Do the Real Self and Ego function in different domains?  

The focus of this article is to answer these questions. This will help in clarifying the doubts between Self and Ego. All the above questions can be divided into the following three sections:

1. Understanding the Real Self
2. How does the Real Self create the Ego?
3. Functioning of Self and Ego

Understanding the Real Self

Who Am I? Many people may not ponder about this question, because they are very sure – they are the body/mind complex. They are born with this body/mind and they have grown up with this body, so the association with the body is deep rooted. A simple question to ask is:  which part of the body are you? Are you the hands or legs, or the eyes? There is no clear-cut answer, but they may answer: we are the cumulative total of all the body parts. If so, what happens to the person, if they lose a hand, leg, or vision in some accident. Do they feel incomplete, do they feel only a fraction of the total? If you were to ask a crippled person, he or she would answer, despite losing a body part, they still feel complete. Their Self is not a fraction but is always full. This goes to show that they are not the body but something else. But what is that something else?

Another way to look at it is to ask yourself the question, are you the tree outside the window? You will look shocked and reply – of course not! Why aren’t you the tree? Because you can perceive the tree, its outside – you know it is a tree, you are aware of the tree. Since you are the knower, the tree is known to you. Anything known to you cannot be you.  It is something external. It is for this reason; you are not the tree. This logic and reasoning will apply to all external objects in the world. It is quite simple and straight forward when you talk about objects external to yourself. What about your body? Do you know or are you aware of your hands, legs and all the body parts? Of course, you are. So, we can apply the same logic as used for external objects. Applying the same reasoning, you will realize that your body and body parts are external to you. You are aware of your body and body parts; therefore, you cannot be the body. Then you may say you are the mind. The mind is full of thoughts made up of perceptions, feelings, and emotions. Once again you are aware of what is happening in your mind. You are the witness to your thoughts. There is no thought which you do not know about or which you are not aware of. This means that you are also not the mind. As a next step, you may say you are the ego.? This maybe close but the ego is only a thought, like any other thought masquerading as the Self. Below, are some of the typical statements made by the ego

• I am a father
• I am a son
• I am a husband
• I am a writer
• I am a meditator
• I am a player (of golf)

All the above are different roles played by the ego. You are aware of each one of these roles. You know you are a son, father, husband, etc. If you are aware of these roles of the ego, then you are a witness of them, so you cannot be your ego.

So, what are you or who am I? As Vedanta teaches, there are only two things in this universe. The Self and all the external objects. The universe is that simple. This is entirely logical and not complicated. We are obviously not external objects – not the body, not the mind nor any of the objects of the world. Vedanta states that we are the Self who is aware of all the external objects.

Who is the Self? What is the nature of the Self? Self is our inner most core, it is beyond our body, mind, and ego. Vedanta teaches us that our true self is SatChitAnanda.

• Sat = Real – which is unchanging, uncreated, and uncaused
• Chit = Consciousness
• Ananda = Bliss

Over the years, I have discovered that understanding ‘Self Awareness’ is a better way to know your inner core or your true Self. If you get a proper understanding of Awareness and the inherent powers within this Awareness, it brings clarity to your understanding of your inner core or Self.

Self-Awareness: Self-Awareness is our inner core. It is the Real ‘I’ or Self. Self-Awareness means that Self is Awareness and Awareness is Self. Self and Awareness are the same thing.

Self = Awareness

Since the Self and Awareness are the same, it is important to understand Awareness. Please read my post ‘Analyzing Awareness’ for a detailed explanation. Here is a quick run-down.

If Awareness is analyzed, it will be found to have three things: Subject, Intelligence and Object. 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” 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 the Awareness

Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence

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

Awareness is made up of Subject, Intelligence, and Object and it has three different powers – Knower, Knowing and Known. It must be understood that the Subject, Intelligence, and Object and the three powers are not something outside in the world, they are within Awareness and they make up Awareness. Wherever there is awareness, Subject, Intelligence and Objectare present with all the three powers. Right now, you are aware of reading this article, therefore Subject, Intelligence and Object are present within your Awareness of this article. 

What is Self-Awareness? There must be a Self who is Aware. Vedanta teaches us that this Self is our inner core, which is full, complete and it is self-sufficient. For Awareness to be full and complete, it must be Self-Aware. Self-Awareness means that ‘Awareness is aware of Awareness’. It is like saying ‘I am reading this article’. Here ‘I am’ is the subject and the article is the object. Reading is the intelligence connecting the object with the subject. Applying this to Self-Awareness, you will notice that the subject is Awareness, object is Awareness, and the intelligence is Awareness. The Self in Awareness plays the role of subject and object. In other words, Self is the subject and Self is the object. This is not easy to grasp, but there is only the Self which is both subject and object. This Self is therefore non-dual. This complete, independent Self is our inner core. It is both subject and object. Self-Awareness is non-dual and homogenous. It is Self-Shining.

Awareness = Subject + Object + Intelligence

In Self-Awareness, Self = Subject = Object = Intelligence.

This Self is shining Awareness. It is like a Bulb radiating of Awareness. This is our inner core. It is not dependent upon anything else and it generates its own light of Awareness. 

How does the Real Self create Ego?

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. Since we have forgotten our true nature, Ignorance covers up the Real Self. When we forget who we really are, Ignorance pops up and like a veil that covers Awareness.

This veil of Ignorance is made up of a countless number of pixels, each pixel representing a living being. Each living being thus has their own unique pixel of ignorance, depending upon their degree of ignorance. A self-realized person will have zero ignorance and at the other extreme there are living beings with 100% ignorance, who have no clue about their true nature. Each one of us falls somewhere in between these two extremes. You have a pixel of ignorance; I have one and every living being has a pixel of ignorance. You could say that the veil of ignorance with its countless pixels covers Self-Awareness.

Ignorance has yet another strange power; it can separate the subject and object from the non-dual Self-Awareness. Yes, it has that power! How does this happen? Because of ignorance, we forget we are both the subject and object, we do not know that both subject and object are part of our inner core. If we do not know that we are both Subject and Object, it means that the subject and object are no longer a single entity but are separate and independent entities. Non duality becomes duality by the simple fact of not knowing. This forgetting or not knowing is the power of Ignorance. 

Although Self Awareness is nondual, it does have the following 4 parts:

In Self-Awareness, Self = Subject = Object = Intelligence

The process of separation of the subject and object is like refraction. Place a prism in front of light and we can see the 7 different colors on the other side. In the same way, the pixel of ignorance refracts the light of Self-Awareness into the following 4 different components. 

1. Manas (Mind)– The home of the objects  
2. Buddhi (Intellect) – The home of the intelligence
3. Sakshi (Witness) – The home of the subject.
4. Ahamkara (Ego) – The home of the self

These homogenous and integrated parts of Self-Awareness become 4 independent parts. The word “Mind” is also used to describe the 4 parts collectively. Thus, Ignorance of the Self has the power to create the mind. This ignorance also creates the ego.   

Difference between Real Self and Ahamkara (ego)

Ahamkara means the maker of ‘I’. It is the self or ego within us. There is a Self within Self Awareness. This Self in the presence of ignorance is refracted to become the self (with a small s). This self is the Ahamkara or ego. The ego is the combination of Self and Ignorance:

Ahamkara (ego) = Ignorance in the presence of Self

Ignorance in the presence of Self in Self-Awareness creates the self/Ahamkara or ego. The substratum of ego is Ignorance. It does appear that in the presence of ignorance the Self has been modified to be become the Ego. The entity of Self has now become ego. This is what the ego thinks, it thinks it is the Self.  This is the delusion of the ego. This delusion is because of ignorance. This ignorance is hiding Real Self.

The Real Self is full and complete, it can never be deluded by Ignorance. Real Self is always pure. How to understand this? Let us take an example. We know water is colorless. If you put this colorless water in a red bottle, the water in the bottle will appear red. An ignorant person will think that the color of the water has changed to red. The color of water will always be colorless. In presence of the red bottle the water may appear red, but it is still colorless.

In the same way, the Real Self is always untainted and pure. However, in the presence of ignorance Self appears as ego. This ego is the product ignorance. If there was no ignorance, there would be no ego, there would only be the bulb of self-shining awareness. In the presence of ignorance, the Self appears to play the role of ego.

We mentioned earlier that each living being has a pixel of ignorance. Each of these pixels, refracts the Self to create an ego within each pixel of ignorance. It is important to note that there is only one Real Self, which is refracted by all the pixels of ignorance. How can a single Real Self become so many different egos? Vedanta has the classic example of buckets with water. If there are an unlimited number of buckets filled with water, the sun will be reflected in every bucket. There is but one sun in the sky, but each bucket has a reflected sun. In the same way, there is one Real Self, but the Reflected Self appears as ego in each pixel of ignorance. The Real Self is common to all the different egos. The inner core of every living being is the same. This is the power of the Real Self.

Functioning of Real Self and Ego

If you see a tree, ask yourself who is it that is really witnessing the tree? The ego or the Real Self? If you ask the ego, the ego will confirm it is witnessing the tree. If you ask the same question to the Real Self, the Real Self is also aware of the tree. This can cause confusion – it’s a dilemma that causes misunderstanding and a difficulty in grasping the difference between Real Self and ego.

How is this misunderstanding to be removed?  The best way to begin to understand it is to go to the popular Vedantic metaphor of the Pot and the Clay. We know the clay pot comes in many different sizes, shapes, and designs. Some are tall, some are short, some are round, some are square etc. There seems to be an unlimited possibility for shapes and sizes. If you study all the clay pots carefully you will see that each clay pot has the following two components – Content and Form. So, which part is the content and which part is the from? The answer is obvious, the clay is the content, and the pot is a form on the clay. With different shapes and sizes, the form of the pot could vary, but the content of all the pots will always be clay.  

Clay Pot = Clay (content) + Pot (form)

A simple question – in the clay pot, what is the weight of the clay which is the content and what is weight of the pot which is a form? The answer is obvious, the clay has all the weight and pot has no weight. Another question – can you separate the pot form from the clay content? The answer is that it is impossible to separate the pot form from the clay content. They are inseparable. It would seem the pot form is an idea or concept which has been superimposed on the clay.

This Vedantic metaphor can help us understand the underlying components for every object in this physical universe. it would seem every object in the universe has the following two components:

1. Content
2. Form.

What is Content made of?

So, what is the Content for all the objects in the universe? First, let us ask – how do we know an object exists? The simple answer is that we are aware of the object. We see it, we know it, we can touch it.

• 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 it. 
• How do we know the weight of the chair is 20 lbs.? 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 to all these questions is Awareness. It would seem Awareness is a prerequisite to observe any object. Awareness is a prerequisite for the existence of any object. Without awareness, we would not know any object which is perceived by the 5 senses – eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. These objects coming in from our sensory organs must encounter Awareness. The object we perceive is then filled with Awareness, only at that point do we observe the object.  For an analogy, think of the sun. When there is no light from the sun, you cannot see anything, but in the presence of the light everything becomes visible. In the same way, when an object comes in the presence of the light of Awareness, we become aware of the object. If there is no light of Awareness, you will perceive nothing, and no object will exist.

So, what is Awareness and what does Awareness have to do with the content of the object? Everything. Awareness is the content of all the objects in the universe. The content of the objects from the five senses can only be Awareness.

 Awareness by itself is formless, but it has the potential to become any object. The object it will become depends up on the input received from the five senses. A good metaphor to explain this is a lump of playdoh which is formless, but you can manipulate the playdoh to any shape. Whatever form you create; the content is always playdoh. In the same way, the content of all the objects in the universe is only Awareness. It can take any shape or form, but the content is always Awareness.

Next time you see a tree, or listen to music or feel the cold water, you must be clear that the tree, music, or water is made up only by Awareness and nothing but Awareness. It is content of every object.

What is the Form Made up off?

We now know the Content of any object is Awareness. What about Form? This is not an easy question to answer. In the clay/pot example we saw, the content is clay only. There is no place for pot in the content. Pot is something introduced from outside the clay, we can agree that it is just an idea which is superimposed on clay (by the potter). Yet, though it is external, the pot cannot be separated from the clay.  The pot form is totally dependent on clay. The clay can exist on its own, but the pot cannot exist on its own.  Even after the superimposition of the pot, the content is still Clay. There is no change to the content. The idea of the pot does not make any difference to the clay. Clay is still clay.

Using the same logic, the content of all the objects in the world is Awareness. There is no place for form in this content. There is no denying that we do see form everywhere. This form cannot be part of the content; it cannot be part of Awareness. It is something external being superimposed on Awareness. The form may be external, but it cannot be separated from the content and the form cannot exist on its own; it is totally dependent on Content.

We saw earlier that because of our ignorance of our true nature, a veil of ignorance is created and covers Awareness. This veil is external to Awareness. The veil of Ignorance has nothing to do with Awareness. See the connection – the veil of ignorance is external; the Form of objects is external. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that the veil of ignorance is the source of the Form of Objects.

Veil of Ignorance = the source of the Form of Objects.

Yes, veil of ignorance is the source for the Form of objects. The underlying reality of every object in the universe is ignorance. The tree outside, the car on the road, your friend sitting next you, even the stars and planets out there, are all ignorance.

This is not easy to comprehend because all the objects of the world seem so real. They appear real because of our ignorance. The truth is that the content of objects is always Awareness. The Form is part of ignorance and not Awareness.

Based on the reasoning given above, there seem to be two independent worlds –

1. The World of Content
2. The World of Form

World of Content: This is the Real World. This is the world of Awareness. We have mentioned earlier, wherever there is Awareness, there must be subject, object and intelligence. The Real Self is Awareness. The Real Self is the Subject, the Real Self is the Object and Real Self is the intelligence. The Real Self has nothing to do with Ignorance. The Real Self has nothing to do with the Form of the Objects – it is the Content of the objects. This is the Real world but is unknown to the ego.

Self-realized people live in this world of content, the world of Awareness. They have no ignorance. A more accurate statement would be to state that they are Awareness. They are the Awareness in the objects. They are not part of the Form. Since they are Self-Aware, they see their own Self in all the objects. There is no separation between them and the Awareness in all the objects. Awareness in all objects is their Self.  

World of the Form: This is world of the ego and the mind. This is the world we live in. This is the world whose source is Ignorance. The ego functions in this world. Everything we see around us functions in the world of Form. The world of Form is elaborate, it appears so real. Such a huge universe out there. It appears real, but it is not real. The world of Content is the only Real World. Just like clay is the only real thing in the pot/clay example.

The ego along with the power of intelligence in the buddhi, slowly learns and gains knowledge of the different forms in the world. We learn about different things in the world almost every day. All the advancements in science are taking place the world of Forms. Gaining knowledge of objects of the world will not remove the ultimate veil of ignorance. The ultimate veil of ignorance lies in not knowing our true nature, not knowing we are Self-Aware. No knowledge of the external world can help remove this veil of ignorance.

The final objective for any ego is to transfer itself from the world of forms to the world of content. This is not an easy task. The teachings of Vedanta can help direct your ego towards the Real Self.

To conclude, Real Self is our inner most core, it is our Real ‘I’. However due to ignorance of our true nature, the ego comes into existence, which masquerades as the Real Self. This ego lives in the world of forms.    

Is there any connection between String Theory, Quantum Waves and Mental Waves? The focus of this article is to investigate this connection. You will be surprised to learn that all these 3 elements are one and the same thing. They seem separate elements, but they there are the same. To get the ball rolling, let us briefly understand each of the 3 elements:

String Theory: The purpose of the string theory is to find the theory of everything. In the 1970’s it was discovered that everything in this universe is made up of the 12 elementary matter particles and 4 underlying forces. They called this the standard model. However, the goal is to look for Singularity – a single basis for the Theory of Everything – a single entity which is the substratum of all the elementary particles/forces.

This is the background in which the String Theory was developed. As the name suggests, all the elementary particles are made up of strings. These strings vibrate in different ways to create the different elementary particles and 4 forces. The mathematics for the string theory is quite solid and it has been able to unify many of the particles and forces. For this unification to work, it meant that the string vibration must have 10 dimensions.     

String Theory has shown promise, but many scientists have the following objections.

1. We know space is made up of only 3 dimensions. So, how do we understand the 10 dimensions? Where can you find the 10 dimensions in the 3 dimensions of space? The believers of string theory have suggested that the additional dimensions are curled up within these 3 dimensions. How this is done, they cannot answer convincingly. Since it is impossible to find the additional dimensions within space, the only solution is to look elsewhere. But where? The simple answer is the Mind. If properly understood, mind is a powerful tool. It has the capacity and capability to handle the additional dimensions and much more. We will be discussing this further later.

2. The vibrating strings are so small that it is impossible for science to experimentally discover them. This lack of evidence has discouraged many scientists. The problem is that science will not discover the vibrating strings in the outside world; it needs to find them elsewhere. Once again, the mind is the right place to look for them.   

Quantum Waves: Quantum Physics took off in 1920’s, when it was discovered that every object in the universe has a particle as well as a wave property. Right from micro particles like quarks and atoms to macro items like planets and stars, everything in the universe has a particle/wave duality. This includes both living and non-living beings. Yes, particle/ wave duality is a fact. This means every object can be a particle and a wave.

We are aware of the particle version or the gross version of objects around us. The world out there only has the particle version. The question always remains where do the wave parts of the objects exist? The waves must exist, but where? Unfortunately, no serious investigation has been made in this regard. The wave existence of particles is so subtle, that it is not possible to see, touch or feel them. That is true, but they do exist somewhere. It is important to investigate this fact.  

Before we move forward, we must acknowledge the similarity between string theory and quantum waves. Both are vibrations. String theory suggests that there are strings which cause the vibration. Nobody knows what these strings are. What are they made of? This may not be that important. What is important is that there is something which is causing the vibrations. In the same way the wave part of objects are also vibrations. Both string theory and quantum waves are vibrations.  A good question to ask is: Do quantum waves and vibrations in the string theory have the same source? There is no scientific proof, but it is reasonable to assume that the source which causes vibrations in elementary particles must be the same which causes the waves for all the objects.     

It is logical to assume that quantum waves and string theory have the same source, but even so there are questions to be asked. 

Question 1: Where do the waves reside? ‘Out there’ or ‘in here’? One thing is clear: it cannot be within the particle object, because the particle objects only show up when their wave functions collapse (based on Schrodinger’s wave equation). The wave comes first and then the particle; therefore, the wave cannot exist within the particle.

Question 2: The waves need some sort of medium to propagate. What is this underlying medium? At one time, scientist speculated that there is some sort of ‘ether’ in which the electromagnetic waves travelled. Experiments have proven that there is no ‘ether’ underlying this universe. So, what is the medium through which waves travel?

Question 3: What are the waves made of? Nobody has seen a wave, but it must be made of something, it cannot be made of nothing.

It is important to answer these questions. Unfortunately, science is unable to answer these critical questions. The only choice we have is to look elsewhere. Luckily, we have the teaching of Vedanta. If you have a proper understanding of Vedanta, you can answer the questions raised above.

Mental Waves or Vrittis

Vedanta teaches us that there are mental waves in the mind. These mental waves are called vrittis. To understand these mental waves, it is important to understand that each one of us has the following 3 bodies. Even the universe has these 3 bodies. The seed body germinates to become the subtle body. The subtle body manifests to become the gross body. Let us discuss this briefly to get a better understanding of the 3 bodies and see how mental waves fits in.

Seed body:

The seed body is like a seed from which a tree, with branches, leaves and fruits comes out. A seed already has the potential form of the tree built into it. You could say that the tree is in an un-manifest condition inside the seed. The seed body is also called a causal body because it is the cause for the tree to grow from the seed. For us humans, too, the individual seed body will become an individual human being with all its genetic character traits, or tendencies (called Vasanas). These are also the blueprint of that person’s life including all the karmas that one will exhaust in this life.

Under the right conditions, this causal body or the seed body germinates and grows into the subtle body and the gross body to play out the blueprint that is contained within. The seed body is the driving force and is the cause for the creation of the subtle body and the gross body.

Subtle Body:

The subtle body grows out of the seed body. The subtle body can also be called the mind. The subtle body is full of vibrations and waves. Vedanta calls these vibrations – ‘vrittis’. These mental waves represent the different objects or combination of objects including emotions and feelings. Everything in this universe can be represented by mental waves. Vedanta teaches us that there is a fully functioning subtle universe where the different waveforms interact with each other to form new complex waveforms. Every thought, every experience in the mind is made up of vrittis or mental waves.

How to understand mental waves? There are two major sheaths within the mind – manas and buddhi. The mental waves are a combination of these two sheaths. These two sheaths are the substratum of the mental waves. Manas is the source for the different object forms. The buddhi is the knowledge/intelligence component of  the mental waves.  Manas has the power to become objects and buddhi has the power of knowing. Where do manas and buddhi get these powers? These powers come from the Power of Awareness, also called Maya Shakti. The Power of Awareness has the following three powers:

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

Power of Awareness = Maya Shakti

If you wish an in depth knowledge about the Powers of Awareness, please read my post ‘Analyzing Awareness’.

Manas: It could be seeing, hearing, feeling (touching), smelling, or tasting, the perception of these sensations and the objects which give rise to them takes place only in the manas. For example, when the input signal is a tree – this signal superimposes itself on the manas and the manas creates the required material which makes up the tree. This is not physical material, but the waveform representing these materials. This object waveform has the required ingredients for the tree. If the input is music; it creates the material waveform which makes up the sound for the music. In this way, it handles all the input signals coming from the outside world.

It may not be easy to grasp this concept, but the manas has the power of becoming the object which is superimposed on it. A good metaphor to explain this is that it is like a lump of playdoh which is formless. You can manipulate the playdoh to any shape. It can take any shape or form. In the same way the manas can take any shape or form superimposed on it. This is the amazing power of the manas.

Buddhi: Buddhi has intelligence. It decodes the input signal from the manas. In the process of decoding, it adds intelligence to the object waveform. The object waveform is now made of knowledge. Knowledge is the substratum of the waveform. The object waveform has the knowledge of what the waveform represents.

So, we can say that the substratum of the mental waves or vrittis is intelligence and object form. The mental waves themselves have the knowledge of what objects they represent. That is the nature of the mental waves.

Gross Body: The intelligent mental waves manifest themselves to become the gross objects. These are the gross objects we see out there. A good example to understand this is a JPEG file. The JPEG file for an image is in a subtle form, while the actual image you see on your computer is the gross version of the JPEG file. This is a good way to understand the connection between the subtle and gross bodies. The subtle body is the software version, and the gross body is the physical version. The software version functions within the subtle body or the mind. The subtle body must come first. Without the software code, no gross version is possible.

After understanding the seed, subtle and gross aspects from Vedanta, I think we are ready to answer the questions raised earlier.

Answer 1: Where do the waves reside? The only place where the waves can reside is either in space or in the mind. Space is made up of gross objects only, there is no place for waves or subtle objects. We have seen that the subtle objects create the gross objects. The subtle objects must come first. Based on this, the correct conclusion is that space (and gross objects) is created by the subtle objects. Since subtle objects create space, therefore, the waves cannot exist in space. Mind is the only logical place for the waves to reside. The teachings of Vedanta support this conclusion.

It is important to connect the mental waves taught in Vedanta with the waves in the wave/particle duality and the strings in string theory. Everything subtle can only reside in the mind. Quantum waves and the vibration of the strings can only exist in the mind. If this is correct, waves as described in quantum physics are the same as the mental waves taught by Vedanta.

Yes, it does seem radical to think that everything subtle exists only in the mind. Even in quantum physics, the particle pops up when an observation is made of the wave. An observation is necessary for the wave to collapse. The ultimate observer is within you, the observer who witnesses everything coming in from the different senses. Vedanta calls this observer the Jivatma. When the intelligent mental waves from the buddhi comes in the presence of the observer, the intelligent waves collapse to become the objects we see in space.

Answer 2: what is the medium through which waves travel? Science has shown that there is no ‘ether’ in space for waves to propagate. Since there is no ether, the waves cannot propagate in space. Therefore, there can be no waves in space. We have just seen that the only place the waves can reside is the mind. So, the question which can be asked – is there an ‘ether’ within the mind? This is an interesting question. Understanding the mind, does give a clue to the ‘ether’ within the mind. As we have discussed in other articles, the mind is composed of the following two items.

Mind = Awareness + Mental Waves (Vrittis)

The mind is filled with Awareness (or consciousness) and the different mental waves are superimposed on this Awareness. When these mental waves superimpose, the observer becomes aware of the object. Awareness is the ‘ether’ within the mind. The mental waves propagate upon Awareness.

Answer 3: What are the waves made of? We have discussed earlier that the mental waves are made up of manas and buddhi. The manas has the power to become any object, representing the incoming signal from the 5 senses. Buddhi adds inteliignece to the mental wave. The mental wave knows what object/s it represents. Intelligence and knowledge are the substratum of the mental waves.

The vibrations in string theory and quantum waves, are the same as mental waves. The vibrations and quantum waves are made of intelligence. The waves have the knowledge what they represent. String theory requires 10 dimensions. No one really knows the internal functioning of the mind. I am guessing having 10 dimensions within the mind should not be an issue. So, in conclusion, mental waves are the same as the waves in the particle/wave duality and they are also the source for vibrations in string theory. Everything happens within the mind.  

Multiverses or Multi Universes is a topic which is debated often by scientists. Multiverses are also called parallel or alternative universes. If Quantum Physics is properly understood, it does indicate the existence of multiple universes. Is this even possible? We have hypothesis, but there is little understanding of how and where the multiple universes exist.

It all began with the famous Schrodinger’s cat. This was a thought experiment created by Schrodinger, a Nobel prize winner physicist in 1920/30’s. A cat is enclosed in a box which contains a vial of poison attached to an atomic trigger. The atomic trigger can randomly trigger or not trigger the poison vial. If it triggers, the poison will kill the cat. If does not, the cat will be alive. One is never sure if the cat is dead or alive at any given time. Both possibilities exist. Only upon opening the box, one can confirm if the cat is dead or alive. Observation is a must. Both a dead cat and a live one has the same probability. If you find the cat is alive, some scientists suggest that the other possibility of the cat being dead is equally possible. The Schrodinger wave function indicates this possibility. This means that the scenario of the dead cat will happen in an alternative universe. If the cat is found dead in this universe, then in the parallel universe the cat will be alive. The idea of multiverses became popular with this interpretation of Schrodinger’s cat.

Frankly, it is an incorrect interpretation of the Schrodinger wave function. Even Schrodinger himself was not trying to show this possibility of alternative universes with the thought experiment of the cat. He was trying to show how the Schrodinger wave function superimposes and entangles with each other. To make a proper interpretation, it is important to understand the Schrodinger wave function correctly. We will do this without being technical.

A proper diagnosis of the wave function will show that we do live in a multi universe that too right in front of our eyes.  

Understanding the Schrodinger Wave Function

As Newton’s law of motion is the heart of classical physics, Schrodinger’s wave function is the heart of quantum physics.

A little bit of background on Quantum Physics. Quantum physics took off in the early twentieth century when they found that light had both a wave property and a particle property. Sometimes it behaves like a particle and sometimes like a particle. If this subject of quantum physics is new to you, you must watch the following YouTube video, which shows the famous double slit experiment. It highlights the strangeness of the light being both a wave and particle.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YqgPAtzho.

In this double slit experiment, light behaves like a wave and whenever a measuring device is added, light starts behaving like a particle. Strange but true.

In 1923 de Broglie, a French Ph D student (the only recipient of the Nobel Prize for a doctoral thesis) went further and confirmed that not only light or subatomic particles, but ALL matter had wave and particle properties. You, me, a molecule, a tree, planets, stars, galaxies everything in this universe has a wave property and particle property. The wave and particle are two sides of the same coin. Everything can be a wave or a particle. In 1925, Schrodinger formulated a complex equation to understand the ‘wave’ part of the particle/wave duality. Schrodinger’s wave equation is a generic equation which can represent all the possible wave functions in the universe.

Schrodinger’s wave equation represents a physical system consisting of the following two parts:

1. Observed system
2. Observing system.

Observed System: The Observed System is the wave function of objects which is being observed. In the double slit experiment as shown in the YouTube link, the observed system is the waveform of light which is passing through the two slits. If you think about it, the wave function is much broader and not limited to light. De Broglie confirmed that all objects in the universe have a wave property. That would mean that the double slit plate will also have a wave property, so does the measuring device and photographic plate. Everything in this universe has a wave property.

 Schrodinger in his thought experiment about the cat, was trying to highlight this wider impact of the wave function. In the cat experiment, the box has a wave function, the vial of poison has a wave function, the atomic trigger has a wavefunction and so also the cat. All these wave functions in this thought experiment entangle with each other to form a single wave function representing the full system.

Entangle means they are part of one system, and they interact with each other. This interaction means that the combined wave function has many different possibilities. The technical term for the different possibilities is superpositions. Superposition means that the system wavefunction has many possibilities. The wavefunction could become anyone of these possibilities. However, whenever any observation or measurement is made only one the possibilities will take effect. In the Schrodinger’s cat experiment there are many possibilities. The atomic trigger may activate or may not. The box may collapse, and cat will escape. The cat maybe dead or alive. All these possibilities are inherent in this combined wavefunction. We just gave one example how different individual waveforms entangle to create a system wavefunction. If you look outside your window, the waveforms of all the objects will combine to from a single system wavefunction of that view. If you now look elsewhere, the wave function of those objects combines into one system. The system wave function could be complex, but they will follow the Schrodinger wave equation.  

Observing System: The Observing System is the observer or a measuring device. The observer observes the observed system or the wavefunction. In the double slit experiment, the measuring device or camera is the observing system. In the cat experiment, the person opening the box is the observing system. When the observing system interacts with the system wavefunction, only one of the possibilities will happen. The wave function collapses and a single possibility from all the possibilities will take place. In the cat experiment, either the cat is dead or it is alive.

There is always a confusion as to what is an Observing System. Who is the actual observer? Can a measuring device have the capacity to collapse a wave function? Very unlikely. What is the inherent power within a measuring device to collapse a wave? If you think about it, the measuring device is also a wave function. It is also made up of sub-atomic particles. What is happening is that the wavefunction of the measuring device gets entangled with the system wavefunction of the Observed system. This way they interact with each other. Even the person opening the box in the Schrodinger Cat’s experiment is not the ultimate observer. This person is also a wave function. Okay a person is wave function, what about his brain. Even a brain is made up of cells and is a wavefunction. Where does this cycle end to find the real observer of any event?

The only logical place to find the Observer is within you. This Observer within you is the witness to everything happening around you. This Observer is not a wavefunction, it is the witness to the wavefunction. The system wavefunction has many possibilities. It will collapse in the presence of the Observer to one of the options to become ‘particles’. Still, the unanswered question remains – what and who is this Observer within us. Science has never attempted to answer this critical question. It must be answered because the Observer is a component of the Schrodinger wave function. Since science is unable to answer, it is best to look elsewhere. Fortunately, the teaching of Vedanta has a clear and precise answer to this question. Vedanta teaches us that the nature of the Observer within us is like a bulb of Awareness. This bulb keeps shining Awareness. If you want to read and learn about Awareness, please read my post ‘Analyzing Awareness’. When the system wavefunction comes into the presence of Awareness, the system wavefunction collapses to become particle or object you are aware of. Awareness collapses the wavefunction and witness within you observes it.

Composition of the System Wave Function

The system wave function is much more complicated than what we have discussed. We will see that ultimately there is a single system wave function representing every possible object in this universe. Right from a single atom, to a living being, to stars and to complex galaxies. There is a single system wave function for the universe. We can call this the cosmic wave function. This cosmic wave function represents every object in the universe.

1. The Schrodinger wave function represents the energy profile of an object at any given moment. As time changes, the energy profile will also change. A new energy wavefunction is created with every passing moment. No energy wavefunction is lost. All the past wavefunctions are still available within the object wavefunction. All the past wavefunctions right from the birth of the object to this current moment combine to create a single wavefunction for the object. The object wavefunction is total of all the wavefunctions for the object right from its inception to the present time.

The energy profile of an object is a total of all the profiles since the birth of the object. For example, the sun is over 4.5 billion years old. The energy profile of the sun will include all the profiles for every passing moment. Every moment in time is part of the wavefunction for the sun. All these individual wave functions are combined to create a ‘grand’ wave function for the sun. As time passes, the new wave function is added to the cumulative profile of the sun.  In the sun’s cumulative wave function, the profile for each moment of the sun since inception is available.  

This cumulative sun wave function has the possibility to become any of the suns in the historical timeline. All the possibilities of the sun are available in sun’s wavefunction. How do we understand this? Let us take an example. You are on Earth; your friend is in Mars and your alien friend lives in a planet 5 million light years away. What happens if each one them looks at the sun at this ‘now’ moment? Light takes 8 mins to reach Earth from the sun, it takes 13 mins to reach Mars and 5 million light years to the remote planet. The total sun wave function is available to every observer. This sun wave function has all the possibilities in the historical timeline. Every moment is present in the sun wavefunction. When this wave function collapses in the presence of the observer, you in Earth will see the sun which is (now – 8 min) old. This is because, light takes 8 min to reach you, you will only see an older version of the sun, not the ‘now’ version. You will see the (now minus 8min) version of the sun. This (now minus 8min) version of the wave function is present within the cumulative sun wave function. For your friend in Mars, the wave function which is (now -13 mins) will collapse so that he can see the sun which is (now-13 min) old sun. Your alien friend will see a very ancient sun. He will see (now – 5 million years) old version of the sun. Each one of us is seeing a different version of the sun. All these different versions of the sun are available in the cumulative wave function. Even if millions of people are looking at the sun right ‘now’, each one of them will collapse one of the versions of the sun.    

We just seen the example of the sun with all the historical wavefunctions. This will apply to all the objects in the universe. Every object in the universe is a cumulative wavefunction of every moment in time. Your wavefunction will be a total of all the wave functions since your birth. The trees, cars, planets, galaxies each one them will have a time wise total wavefunction.

2. To add to the complexity to the wavefunctions, each object in the universe with its own cumulative wave function will all combine to create a one big wavefunction for the universe. We can call this the cosmic wavefunction. This cosmic wavefunction includes everything which is contained in the universe. Nothing is left out.

3. A single cosmic function which contains every object in the universe since the start of time, which is the big bang. It is not easy to grasp this. How can a single waveform represent everything? How does each object’s wavefunction keep its own identity within the cosmic wavefunction? It is not an easy question to answer. A good analogy to answer this question is Google Maps.  We use Google maps often and it has the road map of almost the entire world. The central server stores the software content for Google maps. This one single server has the information of all the required content. If you are in New York, you will see the maps of that city, if you are in New Delhi, you will see the maps of that area.

In many ways, this centralized software code is like the cosmic wavefunction. Both are one big bundle of information. The cosmic wavefunction is much more complicated and extensive. It contains the entire universe and keeps the historical information of all the objects.

4. Vedanta teaches us that there are ‘mental waves’ or ‘vrittis’ in the mind. These mental waves represent different objects. It is important to understand that these mental waves or vrittis are made up of Knowledge. Yes, Knowledge or intelligence. This intelligent wavefunction knows what object it represents. Please think and reflect upon this. Knowledge or intelligence is the substance of the wavefunction. This is a great insight because it will help understand the object wavefunctions we have been discussing. Even if all the object wavefunctions combine to form a single cosmic wavefunction, knowledge of each object is maintained. It is not wrong to say that the cosmic wavefunction or mental waves is the total knowledge repository of the universe. Total knowledge or intelligence of the universe is present in the cosmic wavefunction. The knowledge or wavefunction of an object can be found within the cosmic wavefunction. Just as Google Maps has the coding to keep track of all the roads in the world, the cosmic wavefunction has coding to keep knowledge of all the objects in the universe.  

5. Another important conclusion which can be made is that the cosmic wavefunction operates only within the mind. Quantum physics has shown that matter has both wave and particle properties. We see and know that the ‘particle’ is the universe we see out there. But quantum physics rarely discusses the wave part. Where does it reside? The Wave part of the wave/particle duality is largely unknown. If you are a student of Vedanta, you will learn that the only place where the wave part of objects can reside is in the mind. It is the same as the mental waves or ‘vrittis’ as indicated by Vedanta. And these object wavefunctions are made up of knowledge or intelligence. If you have time, you must read my article ‘Vedanta and Quantum Physics’ where I have shown that the wave part of the object and mental wave or ‘vritti’ as taught by Vedanta are the same.

Multiverses

We just seen that the cosmic wavefunction is a one big wavefunction. It is a combination of all the objects in the universe. In this cosmic wavefunction there are a great number of possibilities.

• The possibilities could be a combination of any number of objects. It does not matter if it is a large or small combination of objects. For example, if you look out of your window, you will see one possibility which is combination of many objects. You look away from the window, which is another possibility where you will see a different combination of objects. In this way, the cosmic wavefunction can be ‘sliced’ into many different parts. Each ‘slice’ which you see is a possibility.  
• Within each object, there are many possibilities – the historical wavefunctions for that object since its inception to this moment. Each one of these historical wavefunctions is a possibility. The sun wavefunction has 4.5 billion years of possibilities. For each moment, the sun has a unique wavefunction. We saw earlier how 3 people saw 3 different possibilities of the sun from different locations.

Combine the above two and you will have an unlimited number of possibilities in the cosmic wavefunction. Each of these unlimited possibilities can be sliced out from the cosmic wavefunction. We will show that each of these possibilities within the cosmic wavefunction is a universe by itself. Since there are unlimited possibilities, there could be an unlimited number of universes.

We have seen earlier that in the presence of an observer the wavefunction must collapse to take up only one of the possibilities. Only one possibility can take root from the unlimited possibilities. Before understanding which possibility, do you think there is only one Observer? Is there only one observer in this universe? I am sure you will agree the answer is No. Each one of us is an observer. You are an observer, I am an observer, every human being is an observer. Besides the 8 billion human beings, there is huge population of animals and insects. Many of them also have eyes, so they must be observers. These are the observers on Earth. If you believe there are living beings in other planets, then you will need to add those observers to the total number of observers. The conclusion is:  there is a gigantic number of observers!

We have seen earlier that the cosmic wavefunction operates within the mind only – in fact in the cosmic mind.  The cosmic mind is the total of all the minds. Add up all the minds and you will get the cosmic mind. Within every individual mind there is an observer. From the total cosmic wavefunction, each mind will choose a subsection or part of the cosmic wavefunction. Every mind will choose a different subsection.

1. Let us take an example of a single mind. This mind will choose one possibility, which is a subsection within the cosmic wavefunction. This subsection is a combination of different object wavefunctions. We have seen earlier that these wavefunctions are made up of self-knowledge. The wavefunction knows what objects it represents. In the presence of the observer in the mind, this knowledge in the wavefunction takes root to become the various objects. Quantum physics will call this the collapsing of the wavefunction to a single possibility.

One of the possibilities within the cosmic wavefunction has collapsed to become the universe this mind sees. This universe is created by the observing mind. It will not be wrong to say that this universe belongs to this mind. We will shortly see that this universe is not shared with other minds. Each mind has their own unique universe. As time passes, there is a constant change in the universe. New and different subsections of the wavefunction will keep collapsing in this mind and the mind will witness a changing universe outside. This changing universe is unique to this single mind.

2. In the same way, all the available minds will choose a different possibility from the cosmic wavefunction. Each mind will have a different and unique subsection of the cosmic wavefunction. The objects are never the same in two subsections. Each possibility or subsection within the cosmic wavefunction is unique. A good comparison to understand this – cutting slices of a cake. All the cake slices will be unique and different. The same slice cannot be repeated. In the same way, each subsection of the cosmic wavefunction is unique. If one subsection is being used by one mind, another mind cannot use the same possibility or subsection. This way, each mind has a unique subsection of the cosmic wavefunction.  

The observer in each mind will collapse a unique subsection. When this wavefunction collapses, the mind will witness the objects contained in the wavefunction. Since the subsection is unique and it is not repeated, each mind will create a different and unique universe. From the Schrodinger wavefunction point of view, each mind is collapsing a different possibility. Each mind is creating a different universe. No two universes are the same. There is a gigantic number of minds, each mind is creating their own unique universe. Multiverses are being created by each mind.

3. It is easy to argue that we are looking at the same objects in the universe. How can each mind look at different set of objects? If you and your friend are looking at a bunch of trees, you will both say that we are looking at the same objects, how can they be different? Let us analyze this further to show that you and your friend are looking at different versions of the same objects. The objects may look the same, but you are looking at different versions of these objects.

• Different object distances – If your friend is standing 10 feet ahead of you. Light is going to take less time from the trees to reach him and a bit longer to reach you. Since light is taking a bit longer to reach you, you are seeing an older version of the tree, while your friend is seeing a more current version of the tree. The two versions are not the same. The different is so minute that the human mind cannot see the difference, but they are different. Even if you are few millimeters apart, the version of the objects is different. As we have discussed earlier the object wavefunction keeps a history of all the wavefunctions since inception. Your friend’s subsection wavefunction will have a more current version of the trees. Your subsection wavefunction will have an older version of the tree. This way your wavefunction is different from your friends wavefunction.
• Same object distances: You could argue, you and your friend are standing at the same distance from the trees. The question then is: are you still looking at the same trees? The distance may be the same, but you are at different spots. This would mean the angular view to the trees will be different. You and your friend will see a different view of the trees. The difference maybe small, but still there is a difference. You will see the same view only if you and friend occupy the same spot. This is impossible. You cannot occupy the same spot in space. There must a difference. This not only applies to trees and other objects around us, but also to distant objects like the sun or stars. The angular view of these far away objects will never be the same unless and until you occupy the same space as your friend. This is not possible. So, we see that the subsection wavefunction for each person would be different. 

 So, two minds can never have the same subsection wavefunction. When these subsection wavefunctions collapse in the presence of the observer, each person will see different set of objects or different versions of the same objects. They can never be the same. This way each person creates and sees their own universe.  No two universes will be the same. This does make sense; we can only see what we see. We have no clue what other people perceive or see.

So, multiverses are a reality. This fits in very well with the Schrodinger wavefunction. The Schrodinger wavefunction states that a wavefunction has multiple possibilities and in the presence of the observer or measuring device, it collapses and only one of the possibilities takes root. The other possibilities could also take root, but it must happen in a parallel or alternative universe. This sounds mysterious, but having the read the above, it should make perfect sense!

To sum up, in our discussion we have seen that there are multiple observers – each living being is an observer. There are a gigantic number of observers. Each observer collapses one of the possibilities from the cosmic wavefunction. Each possibility is a subsection of the cosmic wavefunction. Each possibility is unique and different, it cannot be the same. Each possibility, or each observer creates a different universe. All these different or parallel universes are present right here. As long there are multiple observers, there will be multiple universes. It is not that mysterious as it sounds.