Multiverse is a stupid idea!

As a science student we all suffer from one foremost question. "What was before Big Bang and how did it all start"?
Idea of Multiverse, that there is a sea of universes and new ones like ours keep getting born, explains big bang perfectly and we all get settled. But we do not realize that the Multiverse did not answer the original question but changes it. Multiverse shifts the goalpost. Now the question becomes, what was before multiverse or how did multiverse begin?
We can again answer it by adding one more dimension, but you know there should be a limit to stupidity!
As an individual we also suffer from one foremost question. How did we begin, what was before birth and what after death? All these questions are identical. An existing entity wants to know what was before its existence or what will come after. Question arises as the entity becomes insecure about its existence!
Our individual existence is more of a Illusion/Maya. As the reality is that we are all one entity, we humans, animals, earth and the universe, all are made of same stuff, the one stuff. So, the answer is we always existed, our individual existence dissolves to nothing. Humanity came up with idea of zero/nothing thousands of years ago. But truth is we still do not understand the concept.
This one thing or universe beginning from nothing, we can not comprehend this. Until we do not apprehend the idea of nothingness, we will never be able to answer these existential questions. Answer lies within, in the depths of our nothingness.

Early Warning Signs of Mental Health Distress

Following are examples of early warning signs and symptoms of mental health problems. Early warning signs are subtle signs of change that indicate that action needs to be taken to prevent full blown symptoms of mental illness.

Changes in feelings:

• Feeling helpless or useless
• Feeling anxious or worried; confused or puzzled
• Feeling unable to cope with everyday tasks
• Feeling tense or restless
• Feeling irritable or quick to become aggressive
• Feeling depressed or unhappy
• Feeling isolated or in another world
• Feeling unsafe or threatened
• Feeling paranoid (thinking that others are watch or talking about you) and that you cannot trust other people

Changes in thinking:

• Difficulty concentrating or remembering things
• Difficulty making decisions
• Thoughts racing, slowing down or jumbled/ confused
• Dwelling on past events
• Thinking very negative, pessimistic thoughts
• Thinking and seeing bizarre things and experiencing strange sensations
• Hearing voices or seeing visions or things that other people cannot see
• Thinking you have special powers, such as reading other peoples minds.
• Thinking about harming yourself

Changes in behaviour:

• Isolating from others, not wanting to go outside
• Increased or decreased appetite
• Increased or decreased sleep
• Increased risk taking/ dangerous behaviour (eg – alcohol or illicit drug use)
• Increase in emotional outbursts (eg – crying, laughing or yelling)
• Reduced energy levels & motivation to participate in activities & interests
• Difficulty looking after personal appearance & living environment
• Difficulty in speaking – jumbling words ; using odd language or words
• Acting suspiciously, as if being watched; or behaving oddly for no reason

Unhelpful Thinking Styles

• Mental Filter:

a "filtering in" and "filtering out" process, or a sort of "tunnel vision" of focusing on only one part of a situation and ignoring the rest. Generally the focus is on the negative parts of a situation and disregarding the positive parts. This results in the whole

picture being labelled as negative by what may have been only one single negative detail.

 

• Jumping to Conclusions:

We often jump to conclusions when we assume that we know what someone else is thinking, also known as mind reading. We can also engage in predictive thinking when we make predictions about what is going to happen in the future.

 

• Personalisation:

Involves blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong or could go wrong, even when you are not responsible or may only be partly responsible. This may result in you taking 100% responsibility for the occurrence of external events. 

 

• Catastrophising:

occurs when we blow things out of proportion and view the situation as terrible, awful, dreadful, and horrible, when in reality the problem is quite small.

 

• Black & White Thinking:

involves seeing only one extreme or the other. You are either right or wrong or good

or bad. There are no inbetweens or shades of gray.

 

• Shoulding and Musting:

by saying “I should...” or “I must...” can put unreasonable demands or pressure on yourself and others. Although these statements may not be always unhelpful they can at times create unrealistic expectations.

 

• Overgeneralisation:

occurs when we take one instance in the past or present, and impose it on all current or future situations. If we say “You always...” or “Everyone...” you are likely to

be overgeneralising.

 

• Labelling:

We label ourselves and others when we make global statements based on behaviour in specific situations. We may continue to use a certain label even when it is not

100% accurate.

 

• Emotional Reasoning:

involves making judgments about yourself or a situation based on your feelings. For example, the only evidence that something bad is going to happen is that you feel like something bad is going to happen.

 

• Magnification and Minimisation:

In this thinking style, you magnify the positive attributes of other people and minimise or in some cases cannot even see your own positive attributes.

Emptiness: true nectar of life By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

When Arjuna asked Krishna, “What is the nature of this truth you are talking about? I am not able to grasp it,” Krishna said, “The nature of the truth is such that if you drink what looks like amritam (nectar), it will become visham (poison). If you drink what looks like visham, it will become amritam.”
The one thing that you don’t want in your life is emptiness. All the trouble that you take on in your life in terms of education, family, profession, money and problems, is because somehow, you want to ensure that your life is not empty. That’s all you are trying to do, at any cost. But if you become empty consciously, that is the ultimate nectar of life. And yet in your normal perception, it is absolute poison. Nobody wants it. But if you drink it, it becomes your nectar.
At the same time, all the other things that you thought of as nectar—whether it was knowledge, money, power, love or whatever—you ran after them, but what is it that has happened to you? Little pleasures have come to you but ultimately, by the time you look around, your life is gone. In trying to run after the so-called nectar, you are robbed of life. And all the bitterness and suffering on this planet is only because people are running after these things, isn’t it? But if you go for that which looks like poison, your life will become nectar. That is the nature of the truth.
If the divine has to enter you and manifest itself within you, you need empty space. Otherwise, all that is there is just the devil of your mind. Only if emptiness happens, divineness will happen to you. You have known love, joy and peace only in moments of emptiness — all the beautiful things have happened to you only in moments of emptiness. But logically and mentally, you think emptiness is the one thing that you don’t want. It looks like poison, but it is nectar.
 If you run after fulfillment, it will be an endless run. You will never be fulfilled. There are three ways in which you try to fulfill yourself. You want your pocket to be full with wealth. You want your head to be full, you want to know everything. You want your heart to be full, you want to love and you want people to love you. These are the only three ways through which you are attempting fulfillment. Now suppose I give you all the money in the planet, will your pocket become full or can it take some more? It can take some more, isn’t it? So in the very nature of things, your pocket cannot become full. If I grind all the libraries on this planet and pour it into your head, will your head become full? No, it can take some more. So in the very nature of things, your head cannot become full. If you include the whole population as a part of yourself and love them, will your heart become full or can you include a newborn child also? You can, so this also cannot become full. So if you run after fulfillment, you will be on an endless run. You will never be fulfilled.
But emptiness is always full. That which is empty is absolutely empty. It is never half empty. There is no such thing as incomplete emptiness. To see this, it takes awareness and only then you recognise the nectar of life. Otherwise you mistake the poison as nectar and waste your life running after that. This is the fundamental of spiritual life. People think that someone on the spiritual path has given up everything. They have not given up anything. They have hit a goldmine.

Advaita Vedanta philosophy: Being meditative or practicing Yoga

First of all lets make it clear that you can not do mediation, you can only be meditative!

We consider every act as something which we can do, what I mean by doing is that after you complete the act you get an output/result. It is kind of a causal: cause and effect relationship in every act we do. We do everything in expectation of an output.

But meditation/yoga is a practice of connection to non-causality. Like music, where there is nothing to achieve at the end of the play, you just enjoy it as it plays, without any expectation of an outcome.

So, meditation is a practice of making your mind focused in this moment, without the continuous streams of thoughts going in our mind. It is a practice of just being aware, being conscious of what is.

Now, since our mind is habituated to the voice in our head, we need to employ methods to reach the state of being meditative.

"Pranayama" or focused breathing: In this you become aware to the involuntary process of inhaling and exhaling. Remember you just have to be aware of the breathing process and not do the forced breathing. This is an indirect way of focusing your mind in to now by shifting your attention to an involuntary process.

Power of now: As Eckhart tolle says, all you need to do is to become aware of now, and just be in the present moment. If a thoughts appear in your mind just be aware of it, do not try to stop/fight it.

Then there is comprehensive classical 4 paths of yoga (Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, Raja yoga):

Now a days when we here about Yoga, it is almost always about the physical postures of yoga being used to alleviate health problems, reduce stress, as a complete exercise program and physical therapy routine. While the truth is that these physical postures are just a means to be meditative and attain "Moksha" or "Enlightenment", so we are now forced to call it Moksha Yoga in order to distinguish it from usual physical exercise. The physical and mental benefits are more like side effects to Yoga practice that is not what we are trying to achieve by practicing Yoga.

Yoga literally means realization in direct experience of the pre-existing union between the individual consciousness and the universal consciousness. This is expressed in Hinduism as the Atman is one with Brahman or "Aham Brahmasmi". It is not about the union of body and mind as generally perceived. 

There are four paths to practice yoga:

Jnana Yoga: Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge, wisdom, introspection and contemplation. It involves deep exploration of the nature our being by systematically exploring and setting aside false identities. You can relate this to Power of now from Eckhart tolle.

Bhakti Yoga: Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion, emotion, love, compassion, and service to God and others. All actions are done in the context of remembering the Divine. You can relate this to any religious practice (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism).

Karma Yoga: Karma Yoga is the path of action, service to others, mindfulness, and remembering the levels of our being while fulfilling our actions or karma in the world. Yes you can be meditative while doing your daily chorus or work.

Raja Yoga: Raja Yoga is a comprehensive method that emphasizes meditation, while encompassing the whole of Yoga. It directly deals with the encountering and transcending thoughts of the mind. 

While there are four paths to Yoga but they are not mutually exclusive and at some or other point in life we go through all of them. This also encompasses the usual Yoga practice which we know of as a physical exercise along with Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra Yoga. 

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Below are some of the most popular Blogs on the topic which will interest you:
Ramana Maharshi on Advaita with a 14 step self enquiry
Two fundamental concepts LILA ( the game ) and MAYA ( the illusion )

Advaita Vedanta - God and Soul (Isvara and Atman)

Atman its bondage and freedom - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Atman - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Realisation - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita

Advaita philosophy: illusion of reality!

Lets try to separate an illusion from reality?

If you observe a magic trick you will see that during an illusion objects appear and disappear, during the illusion and in between they change in forms.
From this I can list two properties of an illusion:
1) It has a start and an end.
2) Things change forms while the illusion is in place.

If we observe ourself or the world around us everything we know of had a start and will end at some point in time; it includes the earth, the sun and even our universe which had a start in the form of the Big bang.
In scienctific language we will consider anything which exist in space or time as an illusion, as it has a start and an end ( it is bound in time ), and it changes forms ( it is bound in space ).

So then, what is real, should be what remains when I get rid of everything qualifying above criteria.

Our spiritual texts talks about the true form of God to be Nirgun and Nirakar (virtueless and formless). One which is infinite, everywhere and timeless. That divine is Neti Neti ( neither this nor that). God we commonly know of is called Sakaar roop (God with form), as not everyone can fathom the depth of Nirakar, it is for masses.

But that still doesn't prove if there is such a thing called God or is everything just an illusion. Well, then an illusion cannot exist by itself in the same way as a magic trick can't exist without a magician. So, there should be the eternal or the God and rest all just Maya ( illusion ).

Again giving god a scientific touch:
In science everthing is made up of matter, every matter is made up of energy. In a nutshell everything which exists is a vibration in a field of energy. Every field has a source and sink.
But there is a field called Higgs field, which doesnot have a source, is unifrom thoughout the cosmos, making it a field not bound by space-time. We recently observed its smallest unit, Higgs boson (so called God particle).
Now you know why so, as it satisfy all the properties of God!

In spirituality or advaita philosophy, these properties are shared with Consciousness, now since everyone has that, it is better left to be explored inside you as no word can describe who I am.



Below are some of the most popular Blogs on the topic which will interest you:
Ramana Maharshi on Advaita with a 14 step self enquiry
Two fundamental concepts LILA ( the game ) and MAYA ( the illusion )

Advaita Vedanta - God and Soul (Isvara and Atman)

Atman its bondage and freedom - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Atman - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Realisation - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita

Ramana Maharshi on Advaita philosophy with a 14 step self enquiry

Below are the answers to 14 questions on consciousness ( Advaita philosophy, true self, Brahaman, nothingness, liberation or salvation ) asked by Sivaprakasam Pillai to Swami Ramana Maharshi:

1) Who am I? How is salvation attained?
Swami : By incessantly pursuing within yourself the inquiry 'Who am I', you will know your true self and thereby attain salvation.

2) Who am I?
Swami : The real 'I' or true self is not the body nor any of the five senses, nor the sense-objects, nor the organs of action, nor the Prana ( breath or vital force ), nor the mind, nor even the deep sleep state where there is no cognisance of these.

3)  If I am not any of these, what else am I?
Swami : After excluding each of the above, saying 'This is not I', that which remains alone is 'I'; and that is consciousness.

4) What is the nature of that consciousness?
Swami: It is Sat Chit Ananda ( i.e., reality-consciousness-bliss), where there is not even the slightest trace of the thought 'I' at all. This is also called Mouna (silence), Atman (Self). The only thing that exists is That. The three (the world, ego, and God personal, Iswara) if considered as separate entities, are mere illusions, like the appearance of silver in the mother-of-pearl. But God, the Jiva (ego) and the world as Sivaswarupa or Atma-swarupa are the Real one.

5) how are we to realise that Real ( or Siva swarupa )?
Swami: When the external objects (drisya) vanish, the true nature of the seer or subject is realised (to be the Real, the Absolute).

6) Can we not realise that while we see objects also?
Swami: No. Because, the seer ( the noumenon ) and the seen ( phenomena) are like the rope and the appearance of a serpent therein. Unless you get rid of the superimposed illusion of a serpent, you cannot believe that what exists is only the rope.

7) When will external objects vanish?
Swami: If the mind, which is the cause of all thoughts and activities, vanishes, the external objects will vanish.

8) What is the nature of the mind?
Swami: Mind is merely thoughts. It is a form of energy. It manifests itself as objects. When the mind sinks within the Self then the Self is realised. When the mind issues out, the world appears, and the Self is not realised.

9) How will the mind vanish?
Swami: Only by pursuing the inquiry "Who am I?". Though this enquiry is a mental operation only, it destroys all mental operations including itself just as the stick, with which the funerel pyre is kindled, is itself reduced to ashes after the pyre. Then we attain knowledge or realisation of the Self. Then the thought 'I' (personality) is dissolved; breathing and other activities of prana (vitality) are subdued. Both, personality and breathing have a common source. Whatever you do, do it without egoism, i. e. without feeling "I am doing this." In that state, even one's own wife is seen as the Mother of the universe. True Bhakti ( devotion ) is the surrender of the ego into the self.

10) Are there not other methods to make the mind disappear?
Swami: Except enquiry there is no other adequate method. If the mind is lulled by other means, it keeps quiet for a while, but again jumps up and returns to its former activity.

11) When will these instincts and innumerable self preserving and other latent tendencies be subdued?
Swami: The more you withdraw into the Self, the more they pale off, and finally leave you.

12) Is it indeed possible to root out all these tendencies, which have soaked into our minds in numerous births?
Swami: Never give room to such doubts. But with firm resolve dive into the Self. The mind constantly directed by the above inquiry, becomes dissolved, and transformed in the end into the Self. Whenever you feel any doubt, do not try to clear it; but try to know him who feels the doubt.

13) How long should one go on with this inquiry?
Swami: It is needed so long as there is the least trace of tendencies in the mind to create thouths. So long as your enemies occupy a citadel, they will be issuing out. If you kill each as he issues out, the citadel will be captured by you in the end. Similarly, each time thoughts rear their heads and issue out, crush them by the above inquiry. This process of crushing all thoughts at their birthplace is termed Vairagya ( dispassion). Hence inquiry is needed right up to Self-realisation. What is required is a continuous and uninterrupted "thought" of the real Self.

14) Is not all this universe, with what takes place therein, the result of God's will; and if so why should He will thus?
Swami: God has no purpose. He is not fettered by any action. The world's activities can not affect Him. As the sun rises without any desire, purpose, or effort, yet directly it rises numerous activities takes place on this earth: the lens placed in its rays produce fire in its focus; the bud of the lotus blossoms, water evaporates, and every living being enters upon, maintains, and finally drops its activity. But the sun is not affected by its activity, as it merely maintains its nature, acts by fixed laws, has no purpose, and is merely a witness. So it is with God. Again, take the case of space or ether. Earth, water, fire, and air, are all in it, and have their motions and modifications therein. Yet none of these affects ether or space. The same is the case with God. God has no desire or purpose in His acts of creation, maintenance, destruction, withdrawl, and salvation, to which the beings (Jivas) are subjected. As the beings (Jivas) reap the fruits of their acts in accordance with His laws ( the law of Karma, etc. ) the responsibility for such fruits is theirs, not God's. God is not affected or bound by any acts.


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Below are some of the most popular Blogs on the topic which will interest you:
Two fundamental concepts LILA ( the game ) and MAYA ( the illusion )

Advaita Vedanta - God and Soul (Isvara and Atman)

Atman its bondage and freedom - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Atman - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita
Realisation - Swami Vivekananda on Advaita