- SWAMI SWAROOPANAND ( PAWAS)-
A COSMIC CITIZEN.(1)
After an interval of nearly two years, i felt a strong urge to write about my master, Sadguru Swami Swaroopanand, a COSMIC CITIZEN, in the true sense of the word. I intend to elaborate taking one of his Abhangs,in one article, from “Sanjivani-Gatha”, (a collection of Swamijee’s 261 verses) in the light of quantum physics and quantum consciousness, as understood by me, in a series of four articles. It is not just because it may appeal to the present day readers that i am mentioning about quantum physics. I am doing so because, now, I feel convinced about what Swamijee has written. I must admit, that, till date, i had taken it as Gospel truth, coming as it were, from the master’s pen, and due to similar such experience; writing by Sant Tukaram.
(Tukaram Gatha- देव झाले अवघे जन || 3122/1, अंगीं
भरले देवाचे वारे। देव जगचि दिसे सारे || 4168/2- etc.)
Having read a number of books, and having gone through a number of articles on the internet, which explain quantum physics,quantum mechanics, quantum consciousness etc. in the context of “God”,“Mysticism”,“ Mystic experiences”, my rational belief about some of Swamijee’s verses, (particularly, Verse numbers-74,91,109,186 and 199 from Sanjeevani Gatha) about which i will be writing subsequently, or Saint Tukaram’s writing in the above mentioned Abhangas,has changed into empirical one. I sincerely feel that, his experience can be explained scientifically. In this article, i will dwell on Verse number 199.
Verse Number 199 reads as under-
असो कोणी चोर असो कोणी साव ।
तोचि दिसे देव मजलागीं ॥ १॥
उंच-नीच सान-थोर सुष्ट-दुष्ट ।
ऐसा झाला नष्ट भेदभाव ॥२॥
नाम रूप वर्ण हारपलीं पूर्ण ।
राहिलों लक्षून आत्म-रूप ॥ ३॥
स्वामी म्हणे आतां कैचें जगद्भान ।
रंगलेंसे मन आत्म।रामीं॥४॥
(Meaning - Thief (from the common man’s/
general point of view) or a gentleman, both appear God to me. Discrimination between rich or poor, young or elderly, pious or wicked ceases to exist. Name, appearance, colour does not matter, as i see all these pluralities as manifestation of that all pervading consciousness, “Atman”. The ecstasy of merging in the undivided whole, has rendered the material world based on mundane distinctions obsolete.) There are many related references by Nobel laureate R.Tagore in Gitanjali and elsewhere. Before proceeding further, I would like to say, that when i use the word “GOD”, simply put, i am only referring to that single supreme power, infinite energy, which---
Grants Our Days/Grants Our Death to us. Interestingly, the last piece of the current theory of matter, called “Higgs boson”, is also popularly known as “GOD” particle. We may call it, “Rama”, “Krishna” ,“Allah”, “Mohammed”, “Jesus”, or by any other name. It does not matter. No one can deny, that, birth or death is neither in the hands nor under the control of any human being, and is therefore UNCERTAIN.
Truly speaking i would call this, a “Principle of
uncertainty”. For ordinary human intelligence the world may appear to be full of paradoxes and utter confusion. No one will still deny that there is an unknown implicit order (call it an encoded or implicate order, as mentioned by David Bohm) to the entire existence, whose controller is not seen. He is however surely felt, every instant, as we breathe in and
breathe out.
Ancient Hindu Scriptures, primarily Vedas as well as Upanishads,have no doubt, unequivocally, affirmed that the real “Self/Atman” ( द्रष्टा), is distinctly, different than the observer and the observed. All animate/inanimate objects that are visible, is a manifestation of that all pervading, unmanifest “Atmaroop”.(ईशा वास्यम जगत सर्वम).
The phenomenal world is the world as it appears to our senses. The noumenal world is the world as it actually is, a transcendent unity. It is not discernible ordinarily, however, an evolved, realised person can have a transcendent understanding of a unified reality. We may call this, categories or levels of understanding. Question is, can this be scientifically explained, and are we aware of any such human being, in our memory who has experienced it.
I would affirm,that, not only have i known/ seen such a savant, but have been lucky enough to have been blessed and initiated by him. What we have to understand and appreciate, is the level/state in which realised/ enlightened human beings like Swamijee, exist. Their experience, comprehension acts non-spatially and non temporally. The waves of their enlightenment are animated waves of “KNOWLEDGE”.
There are two forces working in our sub-holistic being; intensified consciousness as our “Self” and its complementary rarefied consciousness as energy or material field. The interaction and inter-penetrations of these two fields, give rise, not only to one’s biological form but to his entire surroundings or say environs.
The comprehension or better say perception of evolved souls like Swamijee therefore differ from that of a common man, whose understanding is based on the observer and the observed relationship. All human beings ordinarily, (blindly) accept, what he sees/what meets the eye, simply because we are conditioned, in such a way, that, seeing is believing. We may call this collective unconscious (Call it Avidya or Maya?) but the fact remains, that, our observations have a Universal consensus.
The enlightened person, however, is impervious, to distinction of form as well as its characteristics. The state of choiceless awareness that he is in, is on a different plane altogether. His awareness is no longer fragmented but holistic. Here, i am reminded of the words of Swami Vivekanand, who said, “ Every soul is potentially DIVINE. The goal is to manifest this divinity within”. Here we must remember, that, we are considering potentialities of consciousness, which are infinite.
Swamijee through his relentless meditation had achieved this goal. Having totally shed his individual ego, having erased from his mind, his name & form related identity, he experienced the “dark night of the soul” (effacement of the individual ego), on 21 July 1934.This metamorphosis bestowed him with divine vision. (Divya Drishti). Eyesight sees the form, whereas such vision, transcends the form to perceive the formless, omnipotent, all pervading infinite energy, which sustains all forms. Here, it is essential to explain the term “ FORMLESS”. It does not merely mean which does not have form. It goes far beyond this negative assertion to indicate that supreme eternal being which cannot be reduced to any one or all forms put together.
In this state, ordinary awareness takes a quantum and qualitative leap and transcends to that self aware undivided/unfragmented being.( अविभक्तम, विभक्तेषू ) He believed in Chidvilaswad, Poornawad, (ॐ पूर्णम अद: पूर्णम ईदम।---)( A shade of Monism) like his mentor Saint Dnyaneshwar. He believed that, the Holistic Essence can not
be divided into parts and is interconnected through all existence.
On 20 March 1935, Swamijee wrote, “Nourished by the Nectar of Thy Knowledge, Clad in the robe of Thy love, Before Thee I dance, O Mother, In the Temple of Eternity.” He had become one with the eternal being, the creator. Experience of mystics are beyond sensory organs, and truly speaking, these can never be understood through words.These are to be perceived. We should accept, these being Universally true.
Here it will be quite interesting to know remarks of legendary Scientist, Dr.Einstein, who said, “It is dangerous to say that one should only speak about observable quantities. Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed”. These remarks proved very useful to Werner Heisenberg, pioneer of the “Uncertainty principle”, as mentioned by him in his research. He stated that quantum possibilities, reside in a domain outside space and time.
However, as remarked by Einstein, “ The most incomprehensible thing about nature is it is comprehensible”.
Mystics & Scientists apart even an ordinary person’s identity/reference horizon widens as one moves farther/higher from his earlier place/state.
Let us take the example of our Indian Cosmonaut Wg Comdr Rakesh Sharma and his two other Russian companions, aboard Soyuz T-11, who were in the orbit. If they were to be asked, by an alien, where did they belong to, they would all say in one voice, that, they come from planet Earth, instead of saying from India or Russia. Be it material or spiritual, progress/ evolution brings about a cognitive shift, making our vision, perspective broader. Scientific approach, is based on the hypothesis, that, everything consists of matter, energy and their interactions.
Scientists can now describe behaviour of even subatomic particles. What started with micro, with passage of time, now, holds true even for macro.( As per Upanishadic thought micro is macro and vice versa.(सूक्श्म तेचि व्यापक) Classical Physics studies each part of the universe as separate, and holds that nothing travels faster than light. Quantum physics, however, suggests, that, instantaneous communication between entangled particles, is possible. (As hypothesised and subsequently proven by the “EPR experiment” ) The other idea at the heart of quantum physics is, connectedness. Everything connects with everything else. Quantum physics, has proved that, matter exhibits properties of particles as well as waves, known as wave-particle duality. This concept also shows that waves of quantum
objects are waves of possibilities.
There are many conflicting approaches and interpretations. I intend to refer to certain accepted premises of Quantum Physics, only to indicate that experience of Swamijee and that of others like him may not be dismissed as airy fiction or metaphysics and relegated to “mysticism”.
With the advent of quantum physics, concept of consciousness, as an epiphenomenon ( a secondary phenomenon, considering it to be a brain function as many neurophysiologists feel) is almost outdated. It was compatible with classical physics where observer & the observed were treated as separate. Quantum Physics has altered this position. It is accepted that, consciousness, is an integral part of the universal reality. When once we accept primacy of consciousness then it is easy to understand, that, quantum possibilities are truly speaking, possibilities of consciousness.
Now let us take a gestalt picture depicting, “A young lady as well as an elderly woman”. When your eyes see the young woman the old woman disappears from your eyesight and vice-versa. You will realise that a choice in your perspective makes switch in perception. You are looking at the same picture and both the possibilities are present in you. Your eyes see what they choose to see to Last year when we were with our daughter practicing & settled in USA, we were suggesting to her, that, they should apply for dual citizenship being PIO ( People of Indian
Origin). In retrospect, now i feel, that, having merged with PIO(Place of Infinite/Intelligent Origin) ( What Swamijee has ref to as Temple of Eternity), Swami Swaroopanand is a Cosmic Citizen in real sense. The union automatically abandoned DUALITY, generated due to bodily, individual identity.
In the second line of stanza number 43 of Sanjeevani Gatha Swamijee has written--
( नाम रूप कुळ सांडॊनि सकळ, झालो मी केवळ आत्मरूप।)
He viewed only the underlying “DIVINITY” in everything that he saw. Swamijee’s Consciousness turned Cosmic, resulting in, his seeing reflection of his eternal being, in everything that he saw. Quantum state of his mind resonated with the cosmic potentiality of consciousness. The OBSEVER became the OBSERVED. I can’t help reproducing line numbers, 159 and 170 from Swamijee’s Abhang Dnyaneshwari Chapter- 5
"आपुले स्वरूप ।ब्रह्मरुप जैसे। देखती ते तैसे।विश्वाचेहि।
जरी अहंभाव।तरी दिसे भेद। समूळ उच्छेद झाला। त्याचा।"
Therefore Swamijee says-
असो कोणी चोर असो कोणी साव ।
तोचि दिसे देव मजलागीं ॥ १॥
स्वामी म्हणे आतां कैचें जगद्भान ।
रंगलेंसे मन आत्म।रामीं॥४॥
