Since a very long time ago, our ancestors have had a very clear idea that if man is to improve, he has to enlighten his consciousness. Transformation of the base survival instincts inherited from animal incarnations, such as ahara, hunger, nidra, sleep, bhaya, fear, and maithuna, procreation intended for self-preservation alone, cannot take place unless the gross consciousness becomes sublime. Of course, in today’s modern world we don’t think about enlightening our consciousness. We think about enlightening only up to the point of intellect, because in the present scenario, along with instincts, we also need the intellect to survive. To pass exams, to get a degree or to succeed at work, the intellect is of prime importance.
So we pay attention only to that because we have to survive. But is survival the only purpose of our existence? This is how limited we are today.
We ought to know that all our problems cannot be addressed by enlightenment of the intellect alone. After all, are you only the body, mind, emotions and intellect, or are you something more than that? On account of our obsessive involvement with the body and a little bit with what we know of the mind, the yoga we practise is confined to that. However, yoga goes far beyond that, and there are a large number of people who are spiritually minded by nature and want to know what is beyond the body and mind. They enquire into these things. Is this the ultimate or is there something more?
Apart from the possibility of our being something more than just the body and mind, there is another question. It is the doubt that anything exists outside us that is divine in nature. In other words, are there any divinities in existence anywhere in this world? These questions have been raised time and again, and have been argued and debated openly in India by those who lived for the evolution of the human race, the rishis and munis. In the end they came to only one conclusion; they said: “Know thyself.”
Their assertion is based on the premise that if you know yourself, then you can know everything else in the universe. Today scientists are making the very same claim. They say that man is a micro cosmic replica of the macrocosms. In other words, they mean that within each person there exists a miniature universe. Everything that is outside – the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the planets – exists within you in miniature form. Scientists speak of the unified field theory.
The unified field theory says that each and every thing which exists in the universe is linked or connected through unseen channels. Einstein said, “The idea that there is separateness is but an illusion. We are all one thing in this universe.
Our job is to widen our circle of compassion until it surrounds everything in the universe.” Everything in this universe, galaxies, life, you and me, is connected by some unseen force which exists in the universe. That unseen force is none other than the supreme atman.
You can say that a most sophisticated network exists in creation. A giant network of microbes, amoebas, plants, animals, humans, rivers, mountains, trees, stars, moons, suns, galaxies – the list is endless because it includes the entire creation. That is precisely what scientists are saying today. The funny part is that because scientists say it, we believe it. We dare not question what they say because we do not have the wit and intelligence to do so.
What we may or may not realize is that the rishis and munis of the vedic era said the same thing a long, long time ago and it is recorded in the Vedas and Upanishads. They said: ‘Anoraneeyan mahato maheeyan’. From the tiniest atom to the greatest galaxy, everything is pervaded by atman. But the irony lies in the fact that if a Vyasadev or Valmiki says that in reality each and every being is connected to the other through the atman or undying spirit, we have the audacity to disbelieve, doubt and question them. Each and every person becomes a great think-tank and a million questions are raised which have no basis at all.
But if an Einstein says ‘E is equal to mc2’, we immediately accept it and admire him for his intelligence and intellect. We proclaim whatever the scientists have said to be correct, although we have not seen any of the processes which they define in their equations. For example, the equation ‘E=mc2’ says that energy and matter are interconvertible. Einstein said this very recently in the twentieth century, but rishis and munis have been saying it for millions of years. They said that by knowing yourself you can know everything, because at one stage you are matter, at another stage you are energy and at still another stage you are consciousness. And that consciousness is universal.