“This whole universe is Brahman.
In Tranquility, let one worship It,
As that from which he came forth,
As that into which he will be dissolved,
As that in which he breathes.”
– Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1
Introduction
Everything in the world is made from smaller pieces. For example, a car is made from metal pieces that are fitted together based on its design. A mountain is made from layers of rocks. A building is made from brick, wood and mortar… Now, suppose an inquisitive child comes to you and asks the question ‘What are people made of?’, the conversation might run as follows:
Child: What are people made of?
You: People are made of muscles, bones, and organs.
Child: What are the organs made of?
You: Organs are made of cells.
Child: What are cells made of?
You: Cells are made of organelles.
Child: What are organelles made of?
You: Organelles are made of proteins.
Child: What are proteins made of?
You: Proteins are made of amino acids.
Child: What are amino acids made of?
You: Amino acids are made of atoms.
Child: What are atoms made of?
You: Atoms are made of protons, neutron, and electrons.
Child: What are electrons made of?
You: Electrons are made from the electron field.
Child: What is the electron field made of?*
You: People are made of muscles, bones, and organs.
Child: What are the organs made of?
You: Organs are made of cells.
Child: What are cells made of?
You: Cells are made of organelles.
Child: What are organelles made of?
You: Organelles are made of proteins.
Child: What are proteins made of?
You: Proteins are made of amino acids.
Child: What are amino acids made of?
You: Amino acids are made of atoms.
Child: What are atoms made of?
You: Atoms are made of protons, neutron, and electrons.
Child: What are electrons made of?
You: Electrons are made from the electron field.
Child: What is the electron field made of?*
The session would end here. It ends because as of now, science can only say that the universe is made from fields and nothing else. These fields are not made from any smaller components. These fields operate by obeying certain rules. The rules are known as the quantum rules. According to quantum theory, quantum is the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess. It is surrounded by a field. The field is the quantum field. The field cannot be separated from the particle (quantum). Everything that we can know comes out of the quantum field.
If we translate this understanding of modern science into the language of ancient Eastern philosophy, we might say that the Original Nature of everything is ‘field’. Everything arises out of the field. Everything exists in the field. Eventually everything dissolves into the field. So, field is the Ultimate Reality. The lines from the Upanishads quoted in the beginning say more or less this. It says Brahman is the ultimate reality that modern science seeks to represent by the term field. This post seeks to explore this idea a bit further.
The Ancient Eastern Philosophy
Vedas are the oldest scriptures of Hinduism that was created between 1500–1000 BCE. The Upanishads are part of Vedanta meaning the last part of the Vedas. In the view of the ancient Eastern mystics, the reality underlying everything is beyond all forms and defies all descriptions and specifications. So, they portrayed this ultimate reality, which is the original nature of everything in this universe, as Void or Emptiness.
According to Hinduism, the source of all life is Brahman. The Upanishads say:
“Brahman is life, Brahman is joy, Brahman is the Void…Joy, verily, that is the same as the Void. The Void, verily, that is the same as the joy” (Chandogya Upanishad 4.10.4).
Buddhism also subscribes to the same idea about the original nature of phenomena (things that we can know through our five senses and consciousness). It says that the original nature of every phenomenon is Emptiness or Void. In the terminology of Buddhism, this Emptiness is ‘Sunyata’.
The teachings of Taoism on the ultimate reality are also more or less on the same lines. Tao, the infinite and endless creativity of Taoism, is also conceived as emptiness. Tao is like a hollow valley or an empty vessel, which is forever empty, and thus has the potential of containing an infinity of things.
Chandogya Upanishad describes a debate between three men about the origins of all empirical existence. The debaters summarize their discussion as follows:
“What is the origin of this world? Space, said he. Verily, all things here arise out of space. They disappear back into space, for space alone is greater than these, space is the final goal” (Chandogya Upanishad 1.9.1).
Apparently, the ‘space’ appearing in the lines above is the Sunyata of Buddhism, the Tao of Taoism and the Brahman of Hinduism.
The question is, How could anything come out of Emptiness? We have to understand that the Emptiness or Void that Eastern mystics propose is not nothingness. It is the essence of all forms and the source of all life. It is the ‘Emptiness’ or ‘Void’ or ‘Space’ that is continuously quivering with creative energies. Perhaps, it is the emptiness of the quantum field of modern particle Physics that Albert Einstein attempted to define.
It is the view of Eastern philosophy that Void, Emptiness, Brahman or Sunyata are the only reality. Yet these cannot be known through our senses. That makes the idea of ultimate reality extremely fuzzy for us. We obviously wonder how everything could arise out of the void and everything could dissolve into void. Besides, we would never know that original nature of things since it is formless. If Sunyata is the only reality and Sunyata has no form to give us the understanding of it, how do we know that the whole idea of ultimate reality is not merely a figment of the imagination of the Eastern mystics?
Buddhism explains Sunyata through the concept of ‘Dependent Origination’ or ‘Dependent Arising’.
Dependent Origination
Most religions have a teaching on life after death. Predominant among such teachings are the ‘one-life’ theory and the ‘multi-life’ theory. The view of Multi-life theory is that birth and death of a being is only one segment in a chain of its infinite lives. Life as a human being is just one of the five major kinds of existence in this chain. The other four are heaven-dweller, animal, ghost and hell-dweller. A human being after death might reincarnate into another life in the form of any one of those five major kinds of existence depending up on his/her Karma.
Hinduism and Buddhism teach multi-life theory although there is a major difference in their views on the breaking of the chain of infinite lives. According to Hinduism, the chain breaks when the human soul is merged with the Brahman (Moksha). Buddhism says that the chain breaks on achieving enlightenment (Nirvana).
According to multi-life theory, birth and death are merely the impermanent changes of form around the permanent original nature that might be called the ‘soul’. Buddhism terms this unchangeable original nature as Sunyata. As already mentioned, other Eastern religions have used other terms to represent more or less the same idea.
Buddhism does not have a creator god. It considers all creations as a product of nature entirely governed by the laws of nature such as the laws of gravitation and the laws of motion. Human beings too are just another product of nature governed by all the natural laws. The Buddhist explains the formation of everything in the universe by means of the concept he terms ‘Dependent Origination’. Simply stated, Dependent Origination means that everything we perceives and experiences (phenomena) arises because of the interaction and the integration of causes and conditions. We might say it is essentially the idea of evolution.
In a lecture delivered on 14 June 1986 in New York, Buddhist thinker and speaker Dr C T Shen had explained birth, death and multi-life theory using the analogy of the various forms that water takes depending up on ‘causes and conditions’ influencing it. I summarize below what I have understood from reading a transcript of that talk, along with other material on Buddhism.
We all know through our senses that water is a liquid. We also know that when the external temperature falls to zero degrees Celsius, water turns into ice. Now it is no more a liquid but a solid. If the temperature rises to a hundred degrees Celsius, water turns into a vapour. When water vapour ascends into the sky and when it encounters a sudden chill at a certain height, it condenses itself into tiny crystalline flakes that tumble down onto earth. Water now has a new shape and a new name – snow. The water vapour might also freeze into solid pieces of ice and fall down on to the earth as hailstorm.
Interestingly, what our senses detect as water, ice, vapour, snow, hailstorm, cloud, fog, dew, frost and so on are phenomena that are prone to change depending upon the changes taking place in its external conditions. We also realize that none of the forms that water takes is permanent. Similarly, all phenomena in the universe keep changing its forms depending up on the changes taking place in the conditions surrounding it. Buddha, therefore, says that all phenomena are ‘Dependent Originations’. In the language of modern science we might perhaps say that all phenomena arises out of evolution.
Let us now take this analogy forward. We know that the Chemical expression of water is H2O. We also know that the Chemical expression of ice, vapour, snow, hailstorm, cloud, fog, dew, frost etc. is also H2O. This means, even though the forms are different, their essence does not change. For all the above forms of water, the essence is H2O. In Buddhism, the unchanging essence underlying the various forms of phenomena is called its Original Nature. It is the ultimate reality of Eastern mysticism. The view is that no matter how forms change, its underlying original nature never changes.This is a very significant truth.
Put in terms of death and birth, we may say that at the temperature of hundred degrees Celsius, water dies and vapour takes birth. Similarly when ice melts into water, from the stand point of ice, it dies. But from point of view of water, it is born. Thus, births and deaths are just dependent originations that change the form of the reality in which our existence is rooted. We might now say that the various phenomena that we experience through our senses and consciousness are all ultimate reality in its myriad forms (that originate depending upon the changes in the surrounding conditions).
All Dependent Originations are impermanent. They have births and deaths. However, the original nature of those impermanent forms have no birth or death. It stays permanently unchanged like an empty space (‘Sunyata’). Thus, the first conclusion based on what we have discussed so far is that the Original Nature of phenomena is not subject to Dependent Arising. Forms change. But the essence, the original nature, the Sunyata, of all phenomena remains unchanged forever.
Now, what is ‘Sunyata’, Void, Emptiness or Brahman that Eastern mysticism claims to be the original nature of all phenomena? Let us try to understand that.
The Original Nature of Phenomena
Let us once again return to the analogy of water. We know that water, steam, ice, snow etc. are all various forms of H2O. But none of us have ever seen, heard or touched H2O. What we have seen, heard and touched are the various forms of H2O. Forms are like actors on a stage appearing in their various roles. We might argue that form alone exists and the ultimate reality is just a philosophical concept. That is as good as saying that water, ice and steam exist but H2O does not. But such a view is, no doubt, a fallacy. We know that there can be no water, ice or steam without H2O. This understanding takes us to a second conclusion.
The second conclusion is that all phenomena have some common original nature, which is invisible, inaudible and intangible like an empty space. It is unchangeable and indestructible. It co-exists with everything visible, audible and tangible. No form exists without it. When Buddhism says that the original nature of all phenomena is emptiness (Sunyata), it only says the original nature of phenomena has no form. Yet, there could be no phenomena (form) without that emptiness.
For the Eastern mystic, nothingness and emptiness do not represent the same thing. His emptiness is not the emptiness of an empty room. His emptiness is the essence of all phenomena. Thus Emptiness (Sunyata) and Form are simultaneously in existence. For instance, when there is water (Form) there is H2O (Sunyata/Emptiness). The same way, when there is H2O, there is some form of it like water, ice or vapour. Every form arises out of ‘Sunyata’. Every form survives in Sunyata. Every form dissolves into Sunyata. And the Upanishads say, worship it “As that from which he came forth, As that into which he will be dissolved, As that in which he breathes”.
Everything is ‘Sunyata’
Let us now try to take this discussion to a still higher level. In our discussions so far, we have been considering H2O as the Original Nature of phenomena. But we know that it is not. Although close to three fourths of the surface of earth is covered with water, it is scientifically wrong to claim that the common Original Nature of everything in the universe is H2O. Many things (phenomena) in this world have nothing to do with H2O. Besides, H2O does not have the qualities of the ultimate reality.
We understand that Sunyata is permanent and unchangeable. It does not undergo death or birth. But H2O does undergo changes. We know that H2O can be dissociated into two Hydrogen and one Oxygen atoms. This means that H2O is neither permanent nor immutable. Obviously, H2O is not the original nature of phenomena. It is not the ultimate reality. It is not Sunyata or Void. It is not Brahman.
At this point, we have to seek the help of modern science to understand the idea of Sunyata advanced by ancient Eastern mysticism. Albert Einstein mathematically established that everything is a form of energy. His famous special-relativity equation says, E=mc2 (‘E’ stands for Energy, ‘m’ for mass or matter and ‘c’ is the velocity of light). This equation scientifically establishes the view of the Eastern mystics that every phenomenon in this universe has a common original nature. It also states that the common original nature of everything is ‘Energy’. Thus, every phenomenon in this universe is a form of ‘Energy’. (Please note that this is no more the view of Eastern philosophy. This is now the view of modern science.)
The term energy as used by the Einstein in his Relativity Theory covers everything in the universe. Substituting this scientific understanding in tothe concept of Sunyata or Emptiness, we might say that ‘Energy is the Original Nature of all phenomena’ (instead of ‘Emptiness is the Original Nature of all phenomena’.)
Energy is invisible, inaudible and intangible. It is permanent and immutable. It has no beginning and no end (as far as we know now). It remains changeless even while it takes various forms. We can see, hear or touch the various forms of energy. But we cannot know Energy except when it appears in its various forms, just as we can know H2O only in its various forms such as water, ice etc and electricity because it lights the bulb, turns the fan or gives us a shock. Everything in the universe is different forms of energy. Everything is sustained by energy. Everything ultimately dissipates into energy. This matches perfectly with the Buddhist/Upanishads view that the original nature of everything is ‘Void’.
Can we now say the Divine or Brahman is the intangible, immutable energy that creates, sustains and absorbs every phenomena? It is significant here that the ‘Mantra’ ‘OM’ has four parts representing Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahman i.e. Param Brahman, the ultimate reality of which the other three creating, sustaining, destructing forces are expressions. Those expressions are the three audible parts of ‘OM’ where as Brahman, the fourth part, is represented by silence. Brahman is void. Brahman is Sunyata..
Conclusion
According to quantum theory, a contribution of modern science, quantum is the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess. It is a subatomic particle. There is space around these particles, which is termed the quantum field. The particles and the field could never be separated (as far as science knows as of now). The particles can get lost in the quantum field and particles are formed out of the local condensations of the quantum field. There can be no existence of particle without the field and the field bereft of the particles. Therefore, Albert Einstein says, “There is no space in this new kind of Physics for both the field and the matter, for the field is the only reality.” In other words the creating, sustaining, absorbing Energy is the only reality, the ultimate reality, the original nature of all phenomena.
For the Buddhist, the field of Einstein is Sunyata. Buddha says, “Form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. That which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness form” (Buddhism, ‘The Heart Sutra’). For the Hindu, the field of Einstein is Brahman – Param Brahman. Upanishads say, Brahman is life, Brahman is joy, Brahman is the Void…” (Chandogya Upanishad 4.10.4).
Finally, Fritjof Capra, a theoretical physicist, says in his celebrated book ‘The Tao of Physics’ that when the Eastern sages use terms like Emptiness or Void, they do not mean ordinary emptiness. They mean an Emptiness or Void that holds an infinite creative potential. “Like the quantum field, it gives birth to an infinite variety of forms which it sustains and eventually absorbs”
Perhaps, what Vedanta propounded over three millennia ago and what Buddha put forth some 2,500 years ago in the language of Eastern mysticism was simply the quantum field theory of modern science! May be it is. May be it is not…
I conclude by reproducing the quote with which I started (which the reader might be able to better appreciate in the light of the discussions above):
“This whole universe is Brahman.
In Tranquility, let one worship It,
As that from which he came forth,
As that into which he will be dissolved,
As that in which he breathes”
—————
*Courtesy: nibbonfarms.com
god created everything out of sunyatha .ie something was preexisting.In course of time it was named as quantom theory.Nice thoughts.
@Saramma Thomas
Thanks for your comment. Everyone understands god in his/her own way. I believe that NO religious dogma can define god. Since each individual is unique he/she finds his own god irrespective of the religious faith to which the person is formally attached.
Regards,
VGKutty