Principles Behind Spirituality

An Intellectual Exercise To Discover Truth and Universal Intelligence

Let us define spirituality as an art and science that appreciates , approaches and
realizes the universal intelligence through veneration and worship..It appreciates the
Universe itself as a being ,with consciousness and power or energy.
Recognising western philosophy to be clarification of thought,or as Wittgenstein would
have said, a clarification of language, we also see the eastern philosophy of the edas
and Upanishads about clarification of mind or in its e!tre"e ,as practiced by #atan$alists
,as the dissolution of the mind itself into the Absolute Truth%..

The following imaginary dialogue between a modern day guru and sishya may help
us:
&'ishya, a young boy of () years "eet his *uru$i ,an acco"plished +odern ,ogi-
'ishya . /h *uru$i 0 #rana"s 0
*uru$i. #rana" 0 1e seated. What is it in your sachet 2
'ishya. &#uts the scachet at *urus feet- It is for you *uru$i,few ripe "angoes, a bottle of
honey, and then so"e ghee for poo$a and 3avan that "y parents sent with "e as a gift to
you.
*uru$i. ery 4ice 0*od be with you .What is the discussion we can ta5e up for todays
discourse 2
'ishya . *uru$i 0 6oday, I would li5e to 5now whether there is an 7bsolute ,Unchanging
6ruth in the Universe ,about who" you often 8uote fro" Upanishads as 'at9:hit9
7nanda , 1rah"an and so on, and about which all religions, 1uddhis", ;ainis",
;ewis", :hristianity and Isla" refer to as the 7bsolute 2
*uru$i. 4ice0 4ice0 Let "e ta5e this 8uestion straight away to you bac5. can you answer
"e, Is there an <7bsolute 6ruth% in this Universe 2
'ishya. *uru$i it depends on what we call as 6ruth,doesn,t it 2
*uru$i.6hen let us ta5e that 8uestion first . what is 6ruth in the conte!t of our
discourse 2
'ishya. *uru$i, I re"e"ber you telling once that 6ruth is consistency between ones
inner and outer e!periences
*uru$i ,ou have a good "e"ory, blessed you are 0:an you then try answering your first
8uestion 2, that is Is there 7n <7bsolute 6ruth% in this Universe 2
'ishya . *uru$i, if I a" not being irrelevant, that again depends on what I call Universe2
*uru$i. Right 0 1ut what is that Universe 2
'ishya. 7ll those #hysical,+ental, 'ocial,'piritual entities in +e and /utside together
:onstitute the Universe, right 2 .
*uru$i . ,ou are right, now what is your answer to your own 8uestion
Is there 7n <7bsolute 6ruth% in this Universe 2
'ishya . +y answer is a definite 4/,that is there is no <7bsolute 6ruth% in the
Universe ,by 7bsolute is "eant every where, anyti"e.
*uru$i. 'o ,ou "ean to say that 6ruth is relative 2
'ishya. ,es .
*uru$i. 7nd you "ean to say that there is no entity in the Universe that is consistent
every where for all the ti"e till eternity ,right 2
'ishya. ,es .
*uru$i . 'o you say that 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in the Universe 2
'ishya. ,es .
*uru$i. 'o you say that the state"ent 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in the Universe is
6rue 2
'ishya. ,es *uru$i .
*uru$i. 7nd ,ou believe it is 6rue today at this place 2
'ishya. Indeed so, *uru$i 0
*uru$i. 7nd ,ou believe it will be true, to"orrow in another place 2
'ishya. ,es *uru$i 0
*uru$i. 7nd ,ou believe it will be true, for ne!t year in yet another place 2
'ishya. Indeed *uru$i 0
*uru$i. 7nd ,ou believe it will be true, for all the years in all the places 2
'ishya. why not *uru$i 2
*uru$i. Will you then ob$ect if I say that your state"ent 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in
the Universe is 6rue forever and in all places 2
'ishya.4o . ,ou can go ahead 0
*uru$i . Will ,ou then ob$ect if I say that your state"ent 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in
the Universe is an <7bsolute 6ruth% 2=
'ishya. 7 What 2 ,*uru$i , I didnt get you
*uru$i . I say, your state"ent, 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in the Universe is an
<7bsolute 6ruth% .
'ishya . <7bsolute 6ruth% 2 ..why 2
*uru$i .1ecause we started with the assu"ption that a state"ent that is 6rue for ever and
everywhere is <7bsolute 6ruth%
'ishya. ,eah 0 I re"e"ber..
*uru$i .7nd ,ou will agree that your state"ent 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth% in the
Universe is an <7bsolute 6ruth% ,contradicting itself 2
'ishya. ,eas *uru$i,now as you e!plain, I find there is a contradiction.
*uru$i. 'o, the contradiction shows that ,your state"ent 6here is 4o <7bsolute 6ruth%
in the Universe is untrue.
'ishya. +ay be guru$i. I didnt thin5 that deeply. 1ut what is the i"plication 2
*uru$i . #lainly, it i"plies that There is An Absolute Truth in the Universe
is not untrue.
'ishya. 'o you say There is An Absolute Truth in the Universe is True
*uru$i. ,es,partially.
'ishya. Why partially 2
*uru$i. /nly <7bsolute 6ruth% can say !t is Absolute 0
'ishya. 7nd, we are not 7bsolute, is that *uru$i 2
*uru$i. I didnt say that
'ishya. If so"ething is an <7bsolute 6ruth% ,why we cannot tal5 about it 2
*uru$i. 1eing tal5ed about, being directly seen, heard or sensed etc are not the attributes
of the <7bsolute 6ruth%
'ishya. Why *uru$i 2 "hy we dont #ense the Absolute Truth
*uru$i. Let us do an e!peri"ent. Loo5 at the following . #late 7 is e"pty,#late 1
contains sugar, #late : has word sugar written using sugar.
Which of plates 7,1 or : is "ore consistent 2
'ishya. 7 has na"e sugar,but it is untrue. 1 has na"e sugar and it is only partially true
since the na"e and ob$ect are separated. : is the "ost self consistent ,hence "ost true
*uru$i. >!cellent 0
'ishya. 1ut what is the learning point 2
*uru$i. 6he lesson for us is that we do not see or e!perience truth "any ti"es because
we refer to the ob$ect, separating it fro" its na"e, hence losing consistency.
In our case we can only live the 6ruth in us , but this 6ruth cannot be referred outside us,
we being the <sub$ect and ob$ect%.
'ishya. 'o nice *uru$i. 1ut it is true for all people all the ti"e ,right.2
*uru$i. It is true that any living or non9living entity cannot evidence the Internal 6ruth of
>!istence e!cept to Itself.
'ishya. 1ut the e!istential truth "anifests in different ways as te"poral truths,right2
*uru$i. ,es indeed. We can classify the "anifest 6ruth as follows.
(- +aterial or #hysical 6ruth . 6hese follow "aterial laws of nature &Laws of #hysics
?:he"istry?'ciences?>ngineering -
)- Logical?Intellectual?'cientific 6ruth. 6hese follow logic or <nyaya% &#hilosophy,
6heology, +aths, 6heoretical 'ciences-
@- >"otional 6ruth. 6hese bind or bend the "ind through attach"ent or hatred
&7rts?Literature?Ail"s-
B- 'ocial 6ruth. 6hese follow the laws of ethics, righteousness and dhar"a
&>thics?Laws?>ti8uettes?#rotocols?'yste"s?#rocedures?3istory-
C- 'piritual 6ruth .6he Universal Intelligence which controls all for"s of 6ruth.
&Religion?,oga?Worship-
'ishya . What is the i"plication2
*uru$i. 6hese partial 6ruths and their co"binations have given rise to all the professions
we see,
'ishya: Is 6he Universal 6ruth intelligent ,as you often say2
*uru$i. What is intelligence 2
'ishya. 7bility to co"prehend or create higher levels of &#+''- values ,order or
organization.
*uru$i 7re we hu"an beings intelligent 2
'ishya .,es 0
*uru$i. Is the Universe Intelligent 2
'ishya. ,es,indeed *uru$i 0
*uru$i. Why 2
'ishya. If the Universe is not intelligent,how co"e, we as a product of the Universe is
intelligent2 It will appear as if we got the intelligence fro" outside the Universe.
*uru$i. Is the Universe :onscious 2
'ishya. I did not understand your 8uery ,*uru$i 0
*uru$i. We said the Universe is intelligent, now the 8uestion is can an entity be
intelligent in its processes without being consciousof it..
'ishya. 4o 0
*uru$i.Why 2
'ishya. 1eing intelligent is a property of being conscious as unconscious entities
cannot be intelligent.
*uru$i. ery nice thought. 'o ,ou agree that Universe is :onscious and Intelligent.2
'ishya. Indeed *uru$i.
*uru$i. What is thought 2
'ishya. /rdered pattern of &state?energy- changes, in "e or outside which can interrupt
or guide itself.
*uru$i. 6hat is a very good generalization. 4ow what is an intelligent thought 2
'ishya. 7n intelligent thought is one that creates higher and higher levels of orderliness.
*uru$i. 'o if I as5 ,ou, Is the Universe Intelligent, :onscious and thin5ing 2 what will be
your answer 2
'ishya. It is see"ingly correct *uru$i, but you can you elaborate it 2
*uru$i. :onsider the following eco syste".
#ri"ary food producers are plants
#ri"ary :onsu"ers are wor"s and ver"ins
'econdary :onsu"ers li5e birds consu"e the wor"s and ver"ins
6ertiary :onsu"ers li5e fo! consu"e the birds
Aungii and bacteria live on dead tissues of ani"als and plants here and clean up
everything.
Is this ecosyste" intelligent 2
'ishya . /bviously, because ,it needs intelligence to understand it in the first place.
'econd the players in the ecosyste", display local or e!tensive intelligence for
identifying their food and habitats ,as coded through their genes, which itself shows the
intelligence of nature in even trans"itting and acting on the local intelligence.
*uru$i. 6hen they also display behavior of clustering to save energy.
6hus at appropriate te"peratures, 8uar5s cluster to for" ato"s, ato"s to for" gaseous,
li8uid or solid phase clustering,
6he pri"itive "olecules show clustering in for"ation and growth, viruses and bacteria
stay in clusters and it is true with various "e"bers of the ecosyste".
:lustering and super clustering for"s social organizations, corporates and nations
'a"e clustering and super clustering principles are seen to for" galactic clusters and
super clusters. 4ow can you guess what is the universe "ade of ,re"e"bering that the
universe is conscious and intelligent at every level 2
'ishya. It is not ato"s, not 8uar5s, at still deeper levels it "ust be a for" of conscious
energy
*uru$i. 6here you are. 4ow can you su""arise what we learnt today 2
'ishya. Aine 0 I will list it as below.
(.6he funda"ental entity which constitutes the Universe is :onscious >nergy ,which is
intelligent too.
).It is an eternal constant and hence the <7bsolute 6ruth%
@.It is the cause of the creation and "aintenance of itself as well as its evolution into the
Universe
B.It is also the controller of the Universe,being intelligent.
C. It cannot be sensed ,but can be lved
D. 6he science of living this 6ruth is 'pirituality or Religion
$%#: The reader would have noticed how the discourse glosses through
a &ussels %arado'
&>!cerpts fro" :hapter I, <'5ill 'cale and 'peed% &draft- .I.*.+enon-