Such was my father,an eternal energy that could at best only mutate it's manifestation and be indiscernible to the uninitiated.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tribute to my dad
The river was hurtling down the acutely descending slope. She was vibrant and alive as she cascaded joyfully. She had a sense of abandon and seemed unperturbed by what the variegated terrain held in store for her. The rapids smashed into a boulder and instantaneously, there was a shower of million little droplets that endeavoured to reach the inviting skies. In the process they scattered the light into it's spectral constituents lending a surreality to her existence. The very next moment she seemed to assimilate again resuming the unending journey as if nothing happened. She breathed life into the banks that showered their gratitude by breaking into a riot of violet and yellow blooms. Further on as she negotiated a bend, she appeared agitated forming eddy currents swirling into a whirlpool with a force that could destroy. This momentary self indulgence soon mutated to a schizophrenic serenity as she calmed down on more even ground. The Self effacing serenity reflected the clear blue skies with high fidelity. The onward movement continued but with a subtlety that mimicked stillness. She could never be still. Stillness in dynamism was her existential philosophy. She was a picture of "joie de vivre" in myriad forms sprouting and sustaining a plethora of life forms. Her life was moving on, imparting a velocity to all that crossed her path. The exuberance was infectious , the velocity making her buoyant and on occasions demonstrating scant regard to any force pulling her downwards. She definitely knew where she finally was headed but made no fuss about minor detours mandated by the unyielding geography. The occasional hurrying was not to reach the destination but rather a sense of urgency to live the moment to it's fullest. The opposing banks at times conspired to get close enough to snuff the life out of her . But after squeezing herself into obscurity she reappeared unfazed as a rivulet with an air of indomitability to resume her relentless journey. The banks could only momentarily obstruct the form but never the ideology of moving on. She appeared formidable and deep in certain stretches where it seemed impossible to know how deep the waters flowed. Here, she seemed to be very introspective and thoughtful, casually unflinching. In shallower stretches, the waters appeared turbid retaining an earthiness about herself . This turbidity became a sediment after a while and she again regained her pristine form about which she never ever had a doubt . As the journey continued, she seemed to be getting larger and more assertive of her presence. The terrain was more level and less undulating. This part saw her develop so much character to be able to absorb all the effluent and impurities that her subjects emptied into her. She was being used by so many rather indiscriminately but she never showed any dissent. Instead, she swallowed all the effulgent ingratitude stoically whilst never for a moment forgetting her inherent nature of moving on. She could not do otherwise. She was programmed to dilute all the toxic additions to her and yet retain the angelic ability to sprout and sustain life. She now seemed to slow down one last time and looked a bit fatigued as she navigated the deposits of sand in the delta. She effaced herself gradually as she merged into the ocean. Her form became imperceptible but she could still be flowing silently, formlessly as a current, true to her nature.
Such was my father,an eternal energy that could at best only mutate it's manifestation and be indiscernible to the uninitiated.
Such was my father,an eternal energy that could at best only mutate it's manifestation and be indiscernible to the uninitiated.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The complete seeking the complete
Science has relentlessly diversified into various established and emerging modalities to seek answers for the hows whats whens and wheres of this phenomenal creation.These questions are yielding answers, which keep evolving and refining as do our investigative tools The answers paradoxically seem to generate further questions and the plot keeps thickening. Scientific researchand technological progress amplify the range of our sensory perception to investigate the realm of the micro, and also open a window into the vast universe. These advances give the impression of getting tantalisingly close to the truth .
This euphoria is aborted by realising that what seemed like the ultimate answer is actually a new set of questions. " Fractals" discovered by Mandelbrot, are similar patterns repeating themselves at higher orders of dimension. If you magnify a fine area of fractal structure, you get increased information in proportion to the new scale. Thus, the world not only looks different to the observers at different scales, it also measures differently. In every day language, this means that the deeper your understanding of a complex picture, the more meaningful nuances you can notice in it.
Science has sharpened the tools of reductionism and permitted deeper access into the microcosm. It is hyper fractioning the tangible to the point of intangibility.
The monochromatic reductionist approach of scientific enquiry may eventually have to metamorphose into a spectrum to throw light on the "why " of this phenomenal creation.The ultimate solution and understanding of the "what and how" make the "why "more pertinent and inevitable. The anthropic principle suggests that intelligent consciousness which could comprehend the universe was the objective of creation. Quantum physics underlined the importance of the observer to validate the observed. It has to widen it's scope to authenticate the observer in this game of hide and seek where any phenomenon ceases to exist in the absence of the observer. A strictly epistemological approach may explain the modus operandi of creation but it will fall despicably short of providing a rationale for creation. The "why" coerces scientific endeavour to introspect and realise the worthlessness of it's fangs of enquiry if the venom of how, what where and when is replaced by a hypnotic potion of why.
Science is too egoistic to question it's own existence. It is too preoccupied in preening it's feathers and marvelling at their splendour. It has the arrogance of " my way or the highway". The conceit of tangibility blinds scientific thought ; a veritable train of intelligence chugging along on the track of logic blissfully unaware why it began the journey in the very first place.
Often times, rationalist reductionism gives the illusion of uncovering the truth. But this truth is relative to the system attempting to uncover it. The absolute truth includes the seeker. This unbroken wholeness in which, and through which we exist was brillantly captured by Gödel in the proof of his celebrated Theorem: it is possible to make true statements within a particular system that cannot be proved by use of the elements and logic of that system. This is simply because the system under consideration is organically interconnected with some larger system, which by itself is dissolved into another greater than it, and so on.. The part can never understand the whole.The search for the elusive Higgs Boson is in effect the search for what gives matter its tangibility and this is perceived by the intangible consciousness. As the adage goes, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, tangibility may lie in perception and not be an apriori measurable attribute of the perceived.
Chaos and Complexity entirely deniy the idea of analyzability of the world into separated parts. Parts simply do not exist.the Whole consists of Wholes.
purnamadah purnamidam 'That is complete, this is complete'.
purnat purna mudachyate - 'From that completeness comes this completeness'
purnasya purnamadaya - If we take away this completeness from that completeness'
purnameva vashishyate: 'Only completeness remains.'
This is a quote from Upanishads.
The ultimate truth may be a state of oneness (Advaita - Nonduality) , an assimilative philosophy that realises the wholeness of the part while scientific enquiry will persist with reductionism of the whole into smaller wholes.
Dr Deepak M. Ranade
(The author a Consultant Neurosurgeon, is the co-organiser of the first national conference on Non-duality held by World Peace Center, Alandi, MAEER'S ,MIT Pune on the 30th and 31 Jan 2012.) Details on www.neuroconsciousness.blogspot.com
This euphoria is aborted by realising that what seemed like the ultimate answer is actually a new set of questions. " Fractals" discovered by Mandelbrot, are similar patterns repeating themselves at higher orders of dimension. If you magnify a fine area of fractal structure, you get increased information in proportion to the new scale. Thus, the world not only looks different to the observers at different scales, it also measures differently. In every day language, this means that the deeper your understanding of a complex picture, the more meaningful nuances you can notice in it.
Science has sharpened the tools of reductionism and permitted deeper access into the microcosm. It is hyper fractioning the tangible to the point of intangibility.
The monochromatic reductionist approach of scientific enquiry may eventually have to metamorphose into a spectrum to throw light on the "why " of this phenomenal creation.The ultimate solution and understanding of the "what and how" make the "why "more pertinent and inevitable. The anthropic principle suggests that intelligent consciousness which could comprehend the universe was the objective of creation. Quantum physics underlined the importance of the observer to validate the observed. It has to widen it's scope to authenticate the observer in this game of hide and seek where any phenomenon ceases to exist in the absence of the observer. A strictly epistemological approach may explain the modus operandi of creation but it will fall despicably short of providing a rationale for creation. The "why" coerces scientific endeavour to introspect and realise the worthlessness of it's fangs of enquiry if the venom of how, what where and when is replaced by a hypnotic potion of why.
Science is too egoistic to question it's own existence. It is too preoccupied in preening it's feathers and marvelling at their splendour. It has the arrogance of " my way or the highway". The conceit of tangibility blinds scientific thought ; a veritable train of intelligence chugging along on the track of logic blissfully unaware why it began the journey in the very first place.
Often times, rationalist reductionism gives the illusion of uncovering the truth. But this truth is relative to the system attempting to uncover it. The absolute truth includes the seeker. This unbroken wholeness in which, and through which we exist was brillantly captured by Gödel in the proof of his celebrated Theorem: it is possible to make true statements within a particular system that cannot be proved by use of the elements and logic of that system. This is simply because the system under consideration is organically interconnected with some larger system, which by itself is dissolved into another greater than it, and so on.. The part can never understand the whole.The search for the elusive Higgs Boson is in effect the search for what gives matter its tangibility and this is perceived by the intangible consciousness. As the adage goes, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, tangibility may lie in perception and not be an apriori measurable attribute of the perceived.
Chaos and Complexity entirely deniy the idea of analyzability of the world into separated parts. Parts simply do not exist.the Whole consists of Wholes.
purnamadah purnamidam 'That is complete, this is complete'.
purnat purna mudachyate - 'From that completeness comes this completeness'
purnasya purnamadaya - If we take away this completeness from that completeness'
purnameva vashishyate: 'Only completeness remains.'
This is a quote from Upanishads.
The ultimate truth may be a state of oneness (Advaita - Nonduality) , an assimilative philosophy that realises the wholeness of the part while scientific enquiry will persist with reductionism of the whole into smaller wholes.
Dr Deepak M. Ranade
(The author a Consultant Neurosurgeon, is the co-organiser of the first national conference on Non-duality held by World Peace Center, Alandi, MAEER'S ,MIT Pune on the 30th and 31 Jan 2012.) Details on www.neuroconsciousness.blogspot.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The sine wave of human life
\“What goes up must come down and what goes down must come up.”This is a philosophical truth, that doubles up as a mnemonic aid to memorise the sine curve. The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It is a universal wave function that is applicable in pure mathematics,physics,signal processing and many other fields. The sine wave typically has a positive excursion followed by a reversal and negative excursion on the yaxis when time is plotted on the x axis. It very effectively defines the movement of a particle on a circular path when seen from the centre of the circle.
Waves can be viewed as a disturbance in the medium around an equilibrium state, which is generally at rest. The energy of this disturbance is what causes the wave motion. A pool of water is at equilibrium when there are no waves, but as soon as a stone is thrown in it, the equilibrium of the particles is disturbed and the wave motion begins. Personal consciousness (mind body organism) or manifest form could well be a mere disturbance in the impersonal consciousness ( unmanifest )
Schrodinger's equation demonstrates all of the wave like properties of matter and was one of greatest achievements of 20th century science. It is used in physics and most of chemistry to deal with problems about the atomic structure of matter. It is an extremely powerful mathematical tool that rebuilds the basis of wave mechanics.
The human form is consciousness that walks this planet over the period of his/her life span. It is the union of the intangible ‘consciousness’ with the tangible ‘form’. This consciousness generates an identity for the form and of the form.
If the (0,0) co-ordinates of a x-y axis were the starting point of this life form, and a graph were to be plotted , with identity on the y axis and time on the x-axis, it would make a fascinating sine curve. The value for this identity that is generated with relation to the outer world, a relative identity, (objective identity) is given a positive value, and the identity that is generated from within, or a subjective identity is given a negative value.
The first half of the upper half of the wave represents the gradual development of the identity of this form. Brahmacharyashram. It is in the positive deflection as it is in relation to the outer world. A clear cut demarcation of the self crystallises along with the trappings of insecurity, self-indulgence and selfishness. All these attributes are necessary for the self-preservation of the ‘form’. At this stage, the identity of the form is critical to ensure its survival, for, without this positive identity, the form would hardly be able to ensure its own survival. This self-importance of the ‘form’peaks to the point of a compulsion to replicate itself. . This ensures transmission of the blueprint and also the handing over of the baton of this identity to the next runner. To ensure the survival of this nascent form, the restrictive identification of the self itself decreases.
The downward trend indicates a shift toward self-effacement. However, this ‘self-effacement’ is contextual to ensuring the survival of the progeny. Grahasthashram.The selfless love of the parent is actually a modified nurturing for part of the self. But it does effect in shifting the focus of identity from the ‘self’ to beyond.
As this line intersects the x axis, it modulates the awareness this identity of the self yet again. It unleashes a sense of worthlessness in this contextual frame of relevance once the needs of the offspring and family have been settled. It marks the beginning of an inward journey that looks for a meaning within. Hence, it marks a negative deflection on the y axis of identity. Vanaprasthashram.
The first half of the downward wave shows a gradual tendency to being disillusioned with the relative identity. The identity looks for ‘self-actualisation’, the apex of Maslow’s motivational pyramid. The last upward surge of this curve represents a quest for an absolute identity- or, in other words, a search for the absolute. Sanyasashram. The absolute dispenses the outer and fixates on the inner. It does not require any extrinsic cognizing entity to be aware of itself. Cognizance, after all, is required for the sense of an identity
Its final intersection and merger with the x axis represents the stripping of all the identities and a realisation that all that remains is merely a sense of ‘amness’; the same ‘amness’ that life began with as a new-born.
The ‘peeling off’ of all the acquired identities after the outward former journey and the inner latter journey marks the end of all the excursions of identity. The end of the form as well as its identity is in reality, a merger with the infinite formless from where the form undertook this kaleidoscopic journey of assumed, imaginary identities.
Waves can be viewed as a disturbance in the medium around an equilibrium state, which is generally at rest. The energy of this disturbance is what causes the wave motion. A pool of water is at equilibrium when there are no waves, but as soon as a stone is thrown in it, the equilibrium of the particles is disturbed and the wave motion begins. Personal consciousness (mind body organism) or manifest form could well be a mere disturbance in the impersonal consciousness ( unmanifest )
Schrodinger's equation demonstrates all of the wave like properties of matter and was one of greatest achievements of 20th century science. It is used in physics and most of chemistry to deal with problems about the atomic structure of matter. It is an extremely powerful mathematical tool that rebuilds the basis of wave mechanics.
The human form is consciousness that walks this planet over the period of his/her life span. It is the union of the intangible ‘consciousness’ with the tangible ‘form’. This consciousness generates an identity for the form and of the form.
If the (0,0) co-ordinates of a x-y axis were the starting point of this life form, and a graph were to be plotted , with identity on the y axis and time on the x-axis, it would make a fascinating sine curve. The value for this identity that is generated with relation to the outer world, a relative identity, (objective identity) is given a positive value, and the identity that is generated from within, or a subjective identity is given a negative value.
The first half of the upper half of the wave represents the gradual development of the identity of this form. Brahmacharyashram. It is in the positive deflection as it is in relation to the outer world. A clear cut demarcation of the self crystallises along with the trappings of insecurity, self-indulgence and selfishness. All these attributes are necessary for the self-preservation of the ‘form’. At this stage, the identity of the form is critical to ensure its survival, for, without this positive identity, the form would hardly be able to ensure its own survival. This self-importance of the ‘form’peaks to the point of a compulsion to replicate itself. . This ensures transmission of the blueprint and also the handing over of the baton of this identity to the next runner. To ensure the survival of this nascent form, the restrictive identification of the self itself decreases.
The downward trend indicates a shift toward self-effacement. However, this ‘self-effacement’ is contextual to ensuring the survival of the progeny. Grahasthashram.The selfless love of the parent is actually a modified nurturing for part of the self. But it does effect in shifting the focus of identity from the ‘self’ to beyond.
As this line intersects the x axis, it modulates the awareness this identity of the self yet again. It unleashes a sense of worthlessness in this contextual frame of relevance once the needs of the offspring and family have been settled. It marks the beginning of an inward journey that looks for a meaning within. Hence, it marks a negative deflection on the y axis of identity. Vanaprasthashram.
The first half of the downward wave shows a gradual tendency to being disillusioned with the relative identity. The identity looks for ‘self-actualisation’, the apex of Maslow’s motivational pyramid. The last upward surge of this curve represents a quest for an absolute identity- or, in other words, a search for the absolute. Sanyasashram. The absolute dispenses the outer and fixates on the inner. It does not require any extrinsic cognizing entity to be aware of itself. Cognizance, after all, is required for the sense of an identity
Its final intersection and merger with the x axis represents the stripping of all the identities and a realisation that all that remains is merely a sense of ‘amness’; the same ‘amness’ that life began with as a new-born.
The ‘peeling off’ of all the acquired identities after the outward former journey and the inner latter journey marks the end of all the excursions of identity. The end of the form as well as its identity is in reality, a merger with the infinite formless from where the form undertook this kaleidoscopic journey of assumed, imaginary identities.
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