Vedanta teaches us that the universe ‘out there’ is the projection of the mind. This is completely contradictory to what science teaches us. Science teaches us that there is already a universe ‘out there’ made up of unlimited number of objects. To perceive this universe, light travels from these objects and hits the retina of our eyes. The image in the retina is upside down, this image is reversed and the optical signal from the retina is transmitted to the brain. What happens in the brain is still unknown, but somehow, we perceive the image of the universe out there.

Vedanta teaches that the ‘inside’ subtle objects in the mind comes first and this becomes the ‘outside’ gross objects. Science teaches that the ‘outside’ gross objects becomes the ‘inside’ subtle objects in the brain. Both are completely opposite. Only one of them can be true? Which one? Projection of the universe by the mind is the only truth. We will now analyze this issue from different angles to show this hypothesis as correct.

1. By using Science
2. By using logic
3. By using Math’s
4. By using Quantum Physics
5. By using Neuroscience

 

1. By using Science – Theory of Special Relativity

Einstein’s theory of special relativity was a major discovery in science, it discovered a connection between motion and time. The underlying theme of this discovery was that speed of light is fixed at 186,000 miles per second irrespective of the frame of reference. To understand this, let us say a person is traveling in a car at 40% of the speed of light and this person takes a measurement of light from the car. This person would expect that the speed of light to travel at 60% of its original speed. This person will be surprised to learn that the speed of the light is still 186,000 miles per sec. How does this happen? The only way to explain this is that the ‘time’ of the person travelling in the car has slowed down. His clock will move slower as compared to people outside the car. His space or ruler will also be more compressed. Since time has slowed down and space has been compressed, his measurement of the speed of light will still be 186,000 miles per second. So, the main conclusion from this discovery is that if you have motion (in fact any motion), time slows down. Even if you are walking or traveling at 40% of the speed of light, time slows down. How much time will slow down will depend on speed. Higher the speed, more the slowing of time. At the speed of light, time does not move, it remains stationary. Higher the speed, space gets more compressed. We do not realize this, but the connection between motion and time has tremendous implications in our daily life. Do we see motion in this universe? Of course, there is motion everywhere. We see an ant crawling, we see a person walking and someone else is cycling or going in a car. Some are going faster while others are slower. If you apply the principles of Einstein theory, it would mean that the time clock for each person is beating differently. If two people are stationary, their clocks will beat at the same rate, the moment one of them starts walking, the clock for that person walking will slow down.

If the time clocks are different, the space compression is also different for each person. If the clocks are beating differently for each person, that would mean that the atoms are vibrating differently. If you are stationary and I am walking, my clock is different, my atoms are vibrating differently, so all my objects are completely different from your objects. What does this mean? It means, that I project my own objects and universe, and you project your objects and universe. In the same way, every living being creates their own universe.

The only correct conclusion from this discussion is that each person is projecting a different universe based on their internal clock. Einstein’s theory of relativity therefore supports what Vedanta is teaching us about the projection of the universe.

2. By using Logical Reasoning

Let us study the external objects ‘out there’. If we can see a faraway star, say 5 million light years away, it will take light from that star 5 million years to reach us. Now, we see the sun, the light from the sun takes 8 min to reach us. We look at the moon; its light will take 3 seconds to reach us. We look at the plane flying in the sky, at 30,000 feet; its light will take about 300 milliseconds to reach us. As the distance of the object being viewed is reduced, the time taken for light to reach us or for us to see it is much smaller. I now look at the tree outside the window; the time taken for light to reach me is 10 microseconds (10^-6). I am looking at the computer screen 1 ft away typing this article, light will take about 1 nanosecond (10^-9). As the distance reduces the time taken for light also reduces. If you extrapolate this backward, the only logical place for t to be equal to 0 is the Observer, who is watching all these objects. This means that the observer within you is the starting point of space. This starting point of the universe is t = 0.

If you or anyone else looks at the universe, they will reach the same conclusion. Everyone has their own t=0, which is within themselves. This will apply to every living being in the universe. It would seem; therefore, I have my own t=0, you have your own t=0 and every living being in the universe has their own t=0. The only way to understand this, is that every living being creates their own universe and this universe starts with t=0.

This logical reasoning does show that each individual living being projects their own universe and the space of this universe starts with the observer within you.

3. By using Mathematical calculation – Hubble Constant

Does the universe expand? Science tells us that the universe is expanding. Why is the universe expanding? How fast is the universe expanding? Science is not very sure about these questions. Using powerful telescopes, they have watched the movement of different planets and galaxies and noticed that the expansion is uneven. At some places the expansion is faster and at other places the expansion is slower. There is no explanation about this uneven expansion. Looking at some far away planets and looking at their rate of expansion, they have come up with a Hubble constant. The Hubble constant states that the rate of expansion is about 71 kilometers per second per megaparsec. A megaparsec is a million parsecs, or about 3.3 million light-years. It means objects 3.3 million light years away are expanding at 71 kilometers per second. This is based on observation only. If you understand the fundamentals of the universe expansion, it is possible to calculate and prove the Hubble Constant.

So, what are the fundamentals of this expansion? Understanding the spacetime fabric is the key to understand this expansion. We have seen that the individual person or the observer location is the start point for the spacetime fabric. We can call this the t = 0 for the spacetime fabric.

What is the maximum size of the spacetime fabric?  Science tells us that the age of the universe is 13.7 billion years old. This is the big bang moment. Light reaching us from the big bang moment would be the outer edge of the spacetime fabric. Light will take 13.7 billion light years to reach us from this big bang moment. This is the outer edge because there was no universe before the big bang. So, the size of the universe: 13.7 billion light years or 12.9 x 10²⁵ meters. One light year is the amount of distance light travels in one year, which is = 9.46 × 10¹⁵ meters

Is this spacetime fabric expanding? Definitely, yes. How much? Let us try and understand this. If you assume the universe is 13.7 billion years old ‘right now’. After one second, the age of the universe will be 13.7 billion years + 1 sec. Light must now travel an additional 186,000 miles to reach us, which means the size of the universe has grown by 186,000 miles. After 10 seconds, the size of the universe would increase by 186,000 x 10 = 1,860,000 miles. After one year from now, the size of the universe will increase by 1 light year. 1 light year is the distance light travels in one year.

From the above, we can conclude that the rate of expansion of the Universe = 1 light year per year.

If you can imagine the spacetime fabric as an elastic rubber band, starting from the start point t=0 (which means you) to the edge of the universe. The observer’s side is fixed, it is always t = 0; the other end which is the outer edge of the universe is being pulled outwards. This elastic space time fabric is expanding by 186,000 miles every second. As time flows, the expansion of the spacetime fabric will continue at the speed of light.

It must be understood that only the edge of the universe is expanding at the speed of light, anything in between will not expand at the same speed, it will be proportional to the distance from the observer. Using the rubber band example, if you pull the outer edge by a certain distance, the inner parts will not be stretched by the same amount. The stretching will be more at the outer edges and it will be much less as you move inwards to the other side. This means that the rate of outward expansion of galaxies, stars, etc., would really depend upon how far these galaxies are from the observer. The observer is t=0. Stars close by will expand more slowly, as compared to stars which are further away. This is because the space time fabric for the stars nearby will stretch less as compared to the stars which are further away.

Based on our understanding of the stretching of the space time fabric, let us try and calculate the Hubble Constant

• The size of the universe is 13.7 billion light years and it expands by 1 light year every year.

• The object 3.3 million light years away from us, it will expand by 3.3x 10⁶/13.7x 10⁹ = .240 x 10^-3 light year per year.
• 1 light year = 9.46 × 10¹² Km
• Therefore .240 x 10^-3 light year per year = 2.27 x 10⁹ Km per year.
• 1 year = 3.15 x 10⁷ sec
• 2.27 x 10⁹ Km per year = 71 km /sec

The above calculation shows that the Hubble constant is indeed 71 km/sec. We have just proven what has been observed by science. Since the calculation of the Hubble constant is accurate, it only shows that the expansion model explained in this section is correct and accurate.

This expansion model shows that the starting point of space is the observer within you. Since each one of us has their own observer, so each one projects their own universe full of objects. This does mean that the subtle objects come first and these subtle objects in the mind are projected out there as gross objects.

4. By using Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics was born when they discovered the wave/particle duality for light. They found that light sometimes behaved as a wave and sometimes it behaved like a particle. de Broglie, who got a noble prize in 1929, showed that not only light but all matter in the universe has the wave/particle duality. It means, you, me, the trees, the car, the planets, the house, every object in this universe has both wave and particle duality. We are both wave and particles.

To get a better understanding of this wave/particle duality, several experiments were conducted led by Schrodinger. Schrodinger’s famous equation represented the wave part of the wave/particle duality. Schrodinger’s equation represented a physical system and this physical system always consists of an observing system and the observed system. The observed system is the wave function, and this wave function is the wave component of the wave/particle duality as postulated by de Broglie.  When this observing system interacts with the observed system at any given time, the wave function of the observed system collapses to become a particle. This is how a particle is created from a wave.

The biggest takeaway from this is that the ‘wave part’ comes first. This wave collapses in the presence of the observer to become particle. This shows that the particle comes later. In some ways the wave is the cause and particle are the effect. The wave comes first, and the particle comes second. As we have discussed in my article ‘Quantum Physics and Vedanta’ that the wave is nothing but the mental waves in the mind and the particle is nothing but the world out there. The mental waves in the mind collapses in the presence of the observer (atma) to become the physical world out there made up of particles.

Thus, quantum physics also show that subtle world made up of mental waves comes first and then these mental waves are converted to particles as the world ‘out there’. The mind projects the mental wave as the world out there.

5. By using Neuroscience

Benjamin Libet, a well-known neuroscientist, conducted a wide variety of experiments over many years to show that something happens in the brain/mind complex first, before we are aware of it.

Experiment 1: A person touches a hot rod. The signal is transmitted to the brain in 100 milliseconds, the brain instructs the hand to remove it from the rod, this takes another 100 milliseconds. All this action takes place, but the person becomes aware of the pain caused by the hot rod only after 0.5 sec. So much is happening in the brain and we aware of it after the event has happened. This shows that there is fully functioning subtle universe in the mind which we are not aware of.

Experiment 2: A person’s brain is all wired up with electrodes and he is instructed to look at the clock and decide to press a button. When he decides to press the button, he makes a note of it on the clock. The experimenters found that it took 200 milliseconds to press the button after the person decided to press it. They also found that 300 milliseconds before this person took a decision to press the button; there was activity in the brain, the electrodes in the brain where lighting up. This suggests that in the subtle level the decision to press the button was made much earlier than the person’s awareness of having made the decision.

These experiments clearly show that activity takes place first in the mind and then in the physical world. What conclusion can we draw from this? The subtle universe in the mind comes first and then the physical universe. and not the other way around. Also, this subtle world controls and creates the physical world.

 Conclusion

We have just proven in different ways that there is no single universe ‘out there’. Each living being creates and projects their own universe. This may not be so easy to digest but this is the only truth. The only universe you know is what you project out there. It is impossible to know the universe other people are seeing. Everything is a projection from the mind. For this projection to work it is only correct that subtle objects come first, and this is converted to gross objects out there. Quantum physics and Libet’s experiments show that this what is happening. This clearly shows that what science has been teaching is inaccurate and incorrect and projection is the only truth.

Read my article ‘The Science behind the Projection of the Universe’ to see how the projection actually works.