Is there a living connection between us and the Universe? Deepak Chopra discusses this question from both an ancient and a contemporary perspective.* The rhythms and movement of the planets are mirrored in the rhythms of nature, as well as those within our own bodies. We are, indeed, the totality of the Universe, in motion.
ASK DEEPAK is a daily show featuring reflections, thoughts, and inspirations on big questions and current events from writer and philosopher Deepak Chopra. What would you like to Ask Deepak? Leave your question in the comments below or upload a response video.
THE CHOPRA WELL is a new Youtube channel created to encourage people to live healthier, fuller lives, and to be more aware. Deepak, Mallika and Gotham Chopra, along with other friends and experts, join together in this inspiring project for personal and global transformation. The channel features daily shows about spirituality, wellness, healthy living, humor, and much more.
As above so below. Thanks Deepak.
do you have scientifical evidence about what you’re saying? I haven’t watched the video yet, just talking about your speech in general
sir you are god
? 05. THE PHENOMENAL UNIVERSE:
The fact that the external, phenomenal universe of names and forms (“nāmarūpa”, in Sanskrit/Pali) exists solely within personal consciousness (and by extension, Universal Consciousness), is superlatively logical. If this material world actually existed as a separate reality, then obviously, it would have limits, because the nature of matter is that it has a measurable, three-dimensional finity. Therefore, if one were to travel to the edge of the universe, there would need to be something WITHOUT the boundary of the universe (some other ’’universe’’, which contains this universe). This contradicts the very concept of a universe (literally, “turned into one”).
The late, great Professor Dr. Alan Watts’ response to the question: “where is the universe located?”, was: “nowhere and everywhere”.
This phenomenal manifestation is composed of eight elemental groups – the five GROSS elements (“mahābhūta”, in Sanskrit), which are perceivable by at least one of the five senses, and the three SUBTLE elements (“tanmātra” or “atisūkṣma mātra”, in Sanskrit), which are symptomatic of localized consciousness.
The five gross material elements and three subtle material elements are (from most gross to most subtle):
Solids (AKA earth – “bhūmiḥ” or “pṛthivī”, in Sanskrit) are made of densely-packed atoms and molecules of a steady shape at room temperature.
Liquid (AKA water – “jala” or “āpaḥ”, in Sanskrit) is composed of moderately dense molecules (usually including at least some water) of no fixed shape.
Gas (AKA air – “vāyuḥ” or “marut”, in Sanskrit) consists of rarefied atomic particles of no fixed shape.
Heat (AKA fire – “analaḥ” or “tejas”, in Sanskrit) is made of kinetic energy (which may or may not appear visibly as fire, or at least heat waves).
Ether (AKA space – “ākāśa” or “khaṃ”, in Sanskrit) is a vacuum consisting of three-dimensional space (length, breadth, and width), or at least filled with virtual particles (matter and antimatter) according to quantum field theory.
The mind (“manaḥ”, in Sanskrit) is composed of sensual perceptions, instinctual thoughts, abstract images (including memories and fantasies), and emotions.
Intellect (“buddhiḥ”, in Sanskrit) consists of conceptual thoughts.
Ego (“ahaṃkāraḥ”, in Sanskrit) is comprised of the “I” thought (almost always the illusory, temporal self-identity). Read Chapter 10 for a full explanation.
Each of the FIVE gross material elements corresponds to one of the senses of the body. E.g. in outer space where there is a vacuum (ether), one can detect sounds via the ear, whereas solid matter can be seen with the eyes, felt with the sense of touch, tasted with the tongue, smelt with the nose, and heard with the ear (when physically vibrated).
Beyond these eight material elements is the TRUE self – which pervades the entire body, and indeed, which is the Universal Self (“ayam ātmā brahma”, in Sanskrit). That explains why we say: “This is my hand”, “This is my mind”. Who is the owner of the body? It is us, the anti-matter, the inextinguishable authentic self/Self (“ātmana/Paramātmana”, in Sanskrit).
HOWEVER, all eight elements are in fact “made” of Consciousness, since, as demonstrated previously, naught but Consciousness exists. Consciousness is the ultimate reality. Just as a wedding ring depends on gold for its very existence, so too does the phenomenal universe depend entirely on ”Beingness” or “Isness”, Consciousness, and Blissful Awareness.
Although The Absolute cannot be verbally-described, (otherwise, it would be an OBJECT), as a concession to materialists, Infinite Consciousness has said to exhibit three innate qualities, known as “sacchidānanda”, a compounded Sanskrit epithet, consisting of the three words “sat”, “cit” and “ānanda” – Eternal Being(ness), Existence, or Truth; Conscious Knowledge; and Perfect Peace (often translated as “bliss”).
Because Absolutely Nothing (“Brahman”, in Sanskrit) is Infinite Creative Potentiality, it “explodes” into Absolutely Everything.
Atributeless Consciousness at Rest (in Sanskrit, ”Nirguna Brahman”) manifests as this phenomenal universe (Consciousness in Action, or “Saguna Brahman”).
In REALITY there is no separation of anything at any time (assuming that Consciousness is a “thing”, and that time is an attribute of The Uncaused Absolute).
The phenomenal manifestation is eternally cyclical, because ‘coming into existence’ implies ‘going out of existence’, just as ‘black’ implies the existence of ‘white’, or as ‘rich’ implies ‘poor’. Is it possible to have something without nothing? Obviously not, because the two go together, as a dichotomy.
Similarly, despite what most believe, the outer-world is as much the Self as the inner-world. Where is the boundary of the human body? When we look at a person, we cannot see that person UNLESS we also see the background image. The two are inseparable, just as a flower and a bee cannot exist without the other.
You who are reading these words are that Totality of Existence, the Highest Universal Principle, the Essential Irreducible Self. In common parlance, you are God (IF you only knew it!).
Most of the greatest sages in history have spoken about either or both these concepts, such as the concept of “Nirvana” in Buddhism, or in Avatar Meher Baba’s book “The Everything and the Nothing”.
The planet on which we are residing consists of animate/organic life, as well as inanimate/inorganic matter.
The six stages of ORGANIC life are:
1. conception/birth
2. growth/development
3. maintenance
4. reproduction
5. aging/deterioration
6. death
There are other aspects of the universe (e.g. holographic universe principle, quantum superposition, wave function, the wave-particle duality, and quantum entanglement), as well as the possibility of life on other planets, the crop circle phenomenon, and the presence of the Fibonacci sequence in nature, which are beyond the scope of this document, and which do not directly relate to the most important thing in life (to find the unending peace/happiness which we humans are ULTIMATELY seeking).
“Find out who you REALLY are so that when death comes…there is no-one to kill, for while you are identified with your role, with your name, with your ego, there is someone to kill. But when you are identified with the whole universe, death finds you already annihilated and there’s no-one to kill”.
Professor Alan W. Watts,
British-American Philosopher.
”Who is the perceiver?
Universal Consciousness alone is the perceiver.
The body is merely the mechanism, through which perceiving takes place and from which the ego is inferred, as the perceiver of other objects.
Strictly speaking, there is neither the perceiver nor the perceived.
There is only perceiving, as the objective expression of the subjective functioning, of the one Universal Consciousness.”
*************
“You have considered yourself to be a separate “self”, only because of having regarded a “solid” object with a name, that is a body, as yourself. But in fact, the body itself is nothing, but an insignificant, vastly intricate complex of electrical wave-patterns, a series of rhythmic functions, a throbbing field of energy and emptiness. What you actually are, then, is what everybody else is: sentience itself. Therefore, instead of being a puny self by way of an object, you are indeed everything.”
*************
“The notion of individual volition has been referred to, as “the bite of the deadly serpent of ego”, because it is the very root of the concept of bondage or unhappiness and the only thing which can free man from its poison, is the abandonment of his identification as a ‘me’.”
Ramesh Balsekar,
Indian Spiritual Teacher.
abhishek sanghi
??? तत्त्वमसि ???
Energy Trail
? 05. THE PHENOMENAL UNIVERSE:
The fact that the external, phenomenal universe of names and forms (“nāmarūpa”, in Sanskrit/Pali) exists solely within personal consciousness (and by extension, Universal Consciousness), is superlatively logical. If this material world actually existed as a separate reality, then obviously, it would have limits, because the nature of matter is that it has a measurable, three-dimensional finity. Therefore, if one were to travel to the edge of the universe, there would need to be something WITHOUT the boundary of the universe (some other ’’universe’’, which contains this universe). This contradicts the very concept of a universe (literally, “turned into one”).
The late, great Professor Dr. Alan Watts’ response to the question: “where is the universe located?”, was: “nowhere and everywhere”.
This phenomenal manifestation is composed of eight elemental groups – the five GROSS elements (“mahābhūta”, in Sanskrit), which are perceivable by at least one of the five senses, and the three SUBTLE elements (“tanmātra” or “atisūkṣma mātra”, in Sanskrit), which are symptomatic of localized consciousness.
The five gross material elements and three subtle material elements are (from most gross to most subtle):
Solids (AKA earth – “bhūmiḥ” or “pṛthivī”, in Sanskrit) are made of densely-packed atoms and molecules of a steady shape at room temperature.
Liquid (AKA water – “jala” or “āpaḥ”, in Sanskrit) is composed of moderately dense molecules (usually including at least some water) of no fixed shape.
Gas (AKA air – “vāyuḥ” or “marut”, in Sanskrit) consists of rarefied atomic particles of no fixed shape.
Heat (AKA fire – “analaḥ” or “tejas”, in Sanskrit) is made of kinetic energy (which may or may not appear visibly as fire, or at least heat waves).
Ether (AKA space – “ākāśa” or “khaṃ”, in Sanskrit) is a vacuum consisting of three-dimensional space (length, breadth, and width), or at least filled with virtual particles (matter and antimatter) according to quantum field theory.
The mind (“manaḥ”, in Sanskrit) is composed of sensual perceptions, instinctual thoughts, abstract images (including memories and fantasies), and emotions.
Intellect (“buddhiḥ”, in Sanskrit) consists of conceptual thoughts.
Ego (“ahaṃkāraḥ”, in Sanskrit) is comprised of the “I” thought (almost always the illusory, temporal self-identity). Read Chapter 10 for a full explanation.
Each of the FIVE gross material elements corresponds to one of the senses of the body. E.g. in outer space where there is a vacuum (ether), one can detect sounds via the ear, whereas solid matter can be seen with the eyes, felt with the sense of touch, tasted with the tongue, smelt with the nose, and heard with the ear (when physically vibrated).
Beyond these eight material elements is the TRUE self – which pervades the entire body, and indeed, which is the Universal Self (“ayam ātmā brahma”, in Sanskrit). That explains why we say: “This is my hand”, “This is my mind”. Who is the owner of the body? It is us, the anti-matter, the inextinguishable authentic self/Self (“ātmana/Paramātmana”, in Sanskrit).
HOWEVER, all eight elements are in fact “made” of Consciousness, since, as demonstrated previously, naught but Consciousness exists. Consciousness is the ultimate reality. Just as a wedding ring depends on gold for its very existence, so too does the phenomenal universe depend entirely on ”Beingness” or “Isness”, Consciousness, and Blissful Awareness.
Although The Absolute cannot be verbally-described, (otherwise, it would be an OBJECT), as a concession to materialists, Infinite Consciousness has said to exhibit three innate qualities, known as “sacchidānanda”, a compounded Sanskrit epithet, consisting of the three words “sat”, “cit” and “ānanda” – Eternal Being(ness), Existence, or Truth; Conscious Knowledge; and Perfect Peace (often translated as “bliss”).
Because Absolutely Nothing (“Brahman”, in Sanskrit) is Infinite Creative Potentiality, it “explodes” into Absolutely Everything.
Atributeless Consciousness at Rest (in Sanskrit, ”Nirguna Brahman”) manifests as this phenomenal universe (Consciousness in Action, or “Saguna Brahman”).
In REALITY there is no separation of anything at any time (assuming that Consciousness is a “thing”, and that time is an attribute of The Uncaused Absolute).
The phenomenal manifestation is eternally cyclical, because ‘coming into existence’ implies ‘going out of existence’, just as ‘black’ implies the existence of ‘white’, or as ‘rich’ implies ‘poor’. Is it possible to have something without nothing? Obviously not, because the two go together, as a dichotomy.
Similarly, despite what most believe, the outer-world is as much the Self as the inner-world. Where is the boundary of the human body? When we look at a person, we cannot see that person UNLESS we also see the background image. The two are inseparable, just as a flower and a bee cannot exist without the other.
You who are reading these words are that Totality of Existence, the Highest Universal Principle, the Essential Irreducible Self. In common parlance, you are God (IF you only knew it!).
Most of the greatest sages in history have spoken about either or both these concepts, such as the concept of “Nirvana” in Buddhism, or in Avatar Meher Baba’s book “The Everything and the Nothing”.
The planet on which we are residing consists of animate/organic life, as well as inanimate/inorganic matter.
The six stages of ORGANIC life are:
1. conception/birth
2. growth/development
3. maintenance
4. reproduction
5. aging/deterioration
6. death
There are other aspects of the universe (e.g. holographic universe principle, quantum superposition, wave function, the wave-particle duality, and quantum entanglement), as well as the possibility of life on other planets, the crop circle phenomenon, and the presence of the Fibonacci sequence in nature, which are beyond the scope of this document, and which do not directly relate to the most important thing in life (to find the unending peace/happiness which we humans are ULTIMATELY seeking).
“Find out who you REALLY are so that when death comes…there is no-one to kill, for while you are identified with your role, with your name, with your ego, there is someone to kill. But when you are identified with the whole universe, death finds you already annihilated and there’s no-one to kill”.
Professor Alan W. Watts,
British-American Philosopher.
”Who is the perceiver?
Universal Consciousness alone is the perceiver.
The body is merely the mechanism, through which perceiving takes place and from which the ego is inferred, as the perceiver of other objects.
Strictly speaking, there is neither the perceiver nor the perceived.
There is only perceiving, as the objective expression of the subjective functioning, of the one Universal Consciousness.”
*************
“You have considered yourself to be a separate “self”, only because of having regarded a “solid” object with a name, that is a body, as yourself. But in fact, the body itself is nothing, but an insignificant, vastly intricate complex of electrical wave-patterns, a series of rhythmic functions, a throbbing field of energy and emptiness. What you actually are, then, is what everybody else is: sentience itself. Therefore, instead of being a puny self by way of an object, you are indeed everything.”
*************
“The notion of individual volition has been referred to, as “the bite of the deadly serpent of ego”, because it is the very root of the concept of bondage or unhappiness and the only thing which can free man from its poison, is the abandonment of his identification as a ‘me’.”
Ramesh Balsekar,
Indian Spiritual Teacher.
Not all have scientific evidence right now, computers and internet are new new. There are no scientific evidence of the feelings, emotions, the soul or self esteem but we know that exists. I know love-synchrony exists because I experience it and saw it, impossible to get scientific evidence.
Fer Light
what is this “SOUL” of which you speak? ?
? 04. SCIENCE Vs RELIGION:
The English word “SCIENCE” originates from the Latin noun “scientia”, meaning “knowledge”.
Science is an empirical approach to knowledge. It relies on experimentation based on observation of the natural world. Observation is dependent on the senses, and the senses are dependent on mind.
The mind is a phenomenon arising in consciousness (even if one considers that mind is a function of the brain), and therefore, all empirical evidence is gathered and recorded in consciousness.
It is impossible to establish the existence of anything outside of consciousness.
How will one observe particles and their mechanics without the existence of consciousness?
Consciousness is axiomatic for any statement of knowledge.
All that can be said or known about the world is a phenomenal appearance in consciousness. Anything else is speculation that can NEVER be proven or demonstrated.
So, for example, when a person looks at a tree, he or she is not actually seeing the tree, but interpreting an inverse image projected onto the retina of the eyes. Therefore, there is no real evidence (or at least, no definite proof) for the external world, APART from consciousness. Likewise, there are no sounds in the external world but solely within the mind, since vibrations do not produce an audible sound until they hit one’s eardrums and the signal is conveyed to the brain. That explains the Zen koan: “If a tree falls in a forest, and there’s nobody present, does the falling tree produce a sound?”
As Lord Śri Krishna so rightly states in “Bhagavad-gītā, the King of All Knowledge (“rāja vidyā”, in Sanskrit) is the Science of the Self. At the time of writing, material scientists are beginning to explore the “hard problem” of consciousness. Assuming homo sapien society will survive for at least a few more centuries, there will come a time when the majority of professional scientists will acknowledge the primacy of CONSCIOUSNESS. Indeed, if humanity is to continue indefinitely, it is necessary for not only this concept to be imprinted on the human race but for it to be acted upon, that is to say, we humans must imbibe the precepts presented in teachings such as this Holy Scripture, and actively follow them to a very large extent. The alternative is the extinction of not only humanity but of most (if not all) biological life forms on Earth due to environmental degradation and immorality as a consequence of nihilism.
Some of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, including Neils Henrik David Bohr and John Stewart Bell, have hypothesized that quantum particles such as photons have no precise location in space (quantum nonlocality) until they are PERSONALLY observed. This phenomenon was later demonstrated to be a scientific fact. Whether this should be regarded as proving that the physical world itself is “nonlocal” is a topic of debate, but the terminology of “quantum nonlocality” is nowadays commonplace.
In summary, actual science and actual religion/mysticism are IDENTICAL, because Reality is singular. However, one deals in the realm of relativity, whilst the other (should) deal in the Absolute. To quote Austrian-American physicist Fritjof Capra, “Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science. But man needs both.”
“Consciousnesses is [defined as] that in which all experience appears, is that in which all experience is known, and that in which all experience is made.”
*************
”Everything that we know or experience is known by consciousness, appears in consciousness and is a play of consciousness;
just like the dream you have at night appears in your mind, is known by your mind and is a play of your mind.“
Rupert Spira,
English Spiritual Teacher.
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
Professor Albert Einstein,
German Physicist.