“The Cosmic Operative Principle, or Cosmic Creative Principle, or Causal Matrix, is sheltered in the Transcendental Entity, the Supreme Cognition” — Shrii Shrii Anandamurti [1]
Many years ago, during a heated discussion in a dormitory room in college, I realized that there is no way I can win debates against physicalists. If the ultimate reality is beyond words then there is nothing to discuss, is there? Since then I have been fully cognizant of the fact that I cannot convince any materialist about the relevance of spiritual philosophy. But, I have always been hopeful that a unique blend of physics, metaphysics and spiritual philosophy would be useful to scientists. The implication here is that scientists are open minded people.
Despite atheist propaganda, majority of scientists are not atheists. A great majority of scientists are deists or agnostics. There are many theist scientists as well. The truth is that the atheist physicalists are in minority among the scientists. Again, the implication being that the majority of scientists are open minded people.
Unspeakable
Godhead is not only beyond words, Godhead is beyond mind as well. We cannot comprehend Godhead in quiet contemplation either. If that’s the case why do we invent terms like ‘Godhead’ and its synonyms ‘Absolute Being’ or ‘Nirguna Brahma’ ?These are terms that express our awe, that’s all. There is not much we can say about Godhead.
Speakable
Godhead is beyond words but Cosmic Consciousness is approachable with words such as the ‘source’. Cosmic Consciousness is a special perspective where there is no distinction between manifested and unmanifested. ‘Source’ is the first word that comes to mind to describe such a perspective. Plotinus referred to Cosmic Consciousness as ‘The One’. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti’s Sanskrit term for Cosmic Consciousness is ‘Parama Purusha’ which translates to English as ‘Cosmic Soul’.
In the quote that opens this article the term “Supreme Cognition’’ refers to Cosmic Consciousness. In many discourses Shrii Shrii Anandamurti clarified that Prakrti (Cosmic Operative Principle, Causal Matrix) is sheltered in Cosmic Consciousness.
Transformation
Soul is dimensionless by definition. We would not call it the soul if it had dimensions and attributes. Cosmic Soul is necessarily dimensionless and attribute free. Causal Matrix — from which the dimensions and attributes emerge — is sheltered in the dimensionless Cosmic Soul. As any physicalist would surely point out, this sounds like a major contradiction.
Earlier we mentioned that Cosmic Consciousness is a special perspective on Godhead. Since Godhead is the infinite ocean of possibilities it is useful to think of Cosmic Consciousness as an infinite ocean as well.
We can possibly resolve the contradiction mentioned above if we consider the possibility that a tiny drop of the infinite ocean of Cosmic Consciousness can transform into a phase where two aspects appear within the transformed portion. What are those two aspects? Spiritual philosophy describes them as the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness.
Causal Matrix must be sheltered in the transformed portion of Cosmic Consciousness. The transformed portion has the cognitive and the creative aspects in a tight embrace. If we insist on the ‘dimension’ terminology we could interpret this phase as having 2 dimensions: cognitive and creative. Instead of saying ‘two aspects’ we could say ‘two dimensions’. But, I would rather describe this phase as neither dimensional nor dimensionless and reserve the term ‘dimension’ to the degrees-of-freedom that manifest in later stages.
Soul — whether it is the unit soul or the cosmic soul — is a special perspective on Godhead. Perspective requires cognition. The special perspective where distinctions between manifested and unmanifested disappear requires Supreme Cognition.
Spiritual philosophy teaches that the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness are inseparable. This means that cognition cannot take place without creation. Supreme Cognition cannot take place without Cosmic Creation.
Life
I define Life as the interplay between the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness. We can add ‘Cosmic’ in front of Life and Consciousness and re-state: Cosmic Life is the interplay between the cognitive and the creative aspects of Cosmic Consciousness.
Since the interplay between the cognitive and the creative aspects is never ending it is natural to refer to Cosmic Life as Eternal Life. But unfortunately, the term ‘Eternal Life’ may have multiple meanings. In Christian theology ‘Eternal Life’ usually refers to the continued existence of the individual soul. Confusion is removed once we realize that the individual souls are mysterious reflections of the singular Cosmic Soul.
It is important to remember that life cannot start without the soul. It may be better to say that life takes place within the soul. Similarly, Cosmic Life takes place within the Cosmic Soul.
By introducing the concept of transformation that manifests the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness we tried to transcend the paradox of dimensions emerging from the dimensionless source. Dimensions and attributes can only manifest when the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness are present. Since the interplay between the cognitive and the creative aspects of Consciousness is called Life by definition it is logical to conclude that the source of dimensions and attributes — Causal Matrix — can only arise in Cosmic Life.
More Terminology
We mentioned earlier that God has infinite number of names, attributes and dimensions. We also understand that an infinite number of dimensions and attributes manifest within Cosmic Life. So, why don’t we say God is Cosmic Life? Some religions actually say it. For example, the concept of “Living God’’ as used in Christianity and Judaism is very similar to the concept of Cosmic Life.
In philosophical discussions, I prefer the terms Cosmic Soul, Cosmic Mind and Cosmos. Cosmic Mind is an aspect of Cosmic Life. Cosmos which is a living entity consisting of physical, mental and spiritual realms is another name for Cosmic Mind.
Absolute Being (Godhead, Nirguna Brahma) → Cosmic Consciousness (Cosmic Soul, Parama Purusha) → Cosmic Life (Saguna Brahma, Reality) → Cosmic Mind (Cosmos).
The term “God’’ (‘G’ is capitalized) can refer to any or all of the terms mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The most important point to note is the singular nature of God. There may be multiple physical universes or multiple mental universes within Cosmos but all of those universes have a common source. Cosmic Consciousness (Cosmic Soul, Parama Purusha) is the source of all manifestations while being fully rooted in Absolute Being (Godhead).
Trying to understand the vastness of Godhead in intellectual terms will eventually drive anyone to insanity. This is why sages of all traditions have said that absorption in Divine Love is the only means of God realization.
Nothing compares to total absorption in Divine Love, I suppose, but there is hope for intellectuals too. My sincere hope is that we can develop models of the whole-connectedness of Cosmos without risking insanity.
References
[1] Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, “Supreme Cognition”, Subhasita Samgraha Part 24, Ananda Marga Publications
Suresh Emre
Renaissance Universal 