Seeing is believing … is Enlightenment…

When Reality Strikes

For an ordinary reader of life the notion of Appearance and Reality is ingrained from birth through rituals and mythologies. Believing in the aim and purpose of life and Cosmos sets us apart from other animals that do not seem to bother about an afterlife. This simple statement raises many uncomfortable questions for an average reader. Are we animals? Oh, Yes. What is appearance? It is the common sense world around us. What is reality? Reality is the intellectual black hole where imagination and reasoning break down.

While the religions are rigid about Reality based on faith alone, the philosophies are hyperbolic- Reality is the energy behind the Appearance. How did god or energy come into being? Honestly there cannot be any answer to this inquiry. So, let us get on with what happens when Reality strikes.

It is generally accepted that Reality can only be experienced through a mystical experience or enlightenment. It is no wonder, then, that all religions are based on their founder’s enlightenment. Unfortunately for the human species, these enlightenments did not produce a single doctrine satisfying everybody. Moreover, religion, which was intended as a starting point in the spiritual journey, was turned into a finished wall. There may be one god but many religions fighting in his name cannot be credited to god. It is a blot on the wisdom of the wise animal.

It is also agreed that mysticism begins where religions end, that is one enters the realm of mysticism without the baggage of preconceived notions. Fortunately for us some enlightened souls did not found a new religion. Kabir and Nanak stand out as the two most distinguished members of this exclusive club.

Since most of us have neither the time nor the inclination for the rigors and rewards of enlightenment, we must confine this discussion to the post enlightenment ordeal of a seeker of our times. The readers in a hurry for instant sensual gratification are recommended to watch the movie “Oh, God” where god selects a store manager to spread his message. Those not interested in fiction are still advised to watch it to prepare them selves for its stranger version- the real thing. For a starter the neo-enlightened has no support of god. To bring the words straight from her mouth the Q/A format is used.

Q: Are you enlightened?
A: Depends on what is meant by enlightenment. If it means knowing all the secrets of the universe my reply is an emphatic no. If it means removal of doubt about reality then it is yes.

Q: What is reality?
A: It still remains a big mystery. All I am entitled to say is that an enchanting beauty appears to pervade the universe.

Q: Please tell us in a little detail about your enlightenment.
A: Enlightenment is a personal experience, which cannot be shared or copied. Therefore going into its details will be misleading. Suffice it to say that you see things, which ordinarily you cannot even think of seeing. It is an extraordinary sensory experience, which cannot be described in words.

Q: What does it change?
A: It changes the perspective. A holistic certainty replaces the doubts and dilemmas.

Q: Has enlightenment given you any supernatural powers?
A: None.

Q: Did it make you wise?
A: Only the little bit of wisdom about reality that it really exists. For the rest study and meditation helped.

Q: What is your view about god now?
A: The old man has taken a lot of abuses in the last ten thousand years of human Civilizations. He urgently needs a decent burial for our own good.

Q: Are you advising us to abandon god and rejoin the animal world?
A: Precisely. Instead of thinking like a banished citizen of paradise we must start thinking like a most evolved animal- the wise animal.

Q: How does this attitude help us?
A: It will arrest fundamentalism and the fundamentalists and stop the religious strife and the clashes of races and civilizations.

Q: How does it help in spiritual development?
A: It frees us from the religious deadwood (the dogmas), which impedes spiritual development. It will transform us into innocent and inquisitive children once again.

Q: Our civilization is rooted in materialism and pseudo spiritualism. This animalism will find few takers. Will you please comment?
A: Unless this hi-tech civilization of ours mends its ways, it is certain to follow other civilizations into oblivion.

Q: Do you mean to say that without animalism/humanism all civilizations are doomed to perish?
A: Why should nature favor this particular civilization? There is absolutely no reason to sustain this hope. Millions of species are extinct. One more addition of the Homo sapiens should hardly cause a ripple in the universe. Wise animalism/humanism has a sobering effect on our thought processes; binding us to mother earth and this unique life. It makes us realize that we swim or sink together with other animals and plants.

Q: How does spirituality enter the animal world?
A: Spirituality in some of the wise animals is the evolution of higher consciousness. From the single cell organisms to trillion cells homo sapiens what really evolved is the brain, the mind and the consciousness.

Q: What is the position of earth in the humanist cosmology?
A: it is far off the center of our galaxy, but it is the nursery of life and consciousness in this corner of the Milky Way.

Q: What could the purpose be behind the development of consciousness?
A: I can offer an educated guess. Consciousness prepares us for the primary school beyond this nursery.

Q: Aren’t you hinting at the soul and its transmigration?
A: Yes, but with a distinction that the next world is not the last world. At no point in this eternal journey do I expect to dissolve into god or attain static blessedness.
Q: Where does the soul come from?
A: It must have evolved with life. Only the wise animals possessing souls is ridiculous as there isn’t any ground for this differentiation in nature.

Q: Do you accept the karma theory of Indian philosophy?
A: The karmic theory is the only workable theory about the soul. But as an ancient science it has its limitations.



Q: Such as?
A: It only talks about individual karma although we suffer others’ karma too. Moreover, freedom from the cycle of birth and death is not the dead end, but the beginning of yet another exciting life in a more enchanting world.

Q: What could be the basic difference between this world and the next one?
A: Here we have bodies, which need servicing throughout life. The body weight impedes the free movement of the soul residing in it. Now imagine a world where the souls are free from the cage of a body.


Q: How did you arrive at such a fantastic conclusion?
A: It is a simple, logical extension of the transmigration of souls, which begins with microorganisms. It sheds its bodies by dying again and again and rises up the evolutionary ladder by being born into a higher species. After millions of these cycles, it attains the highest rung of Homo sapiens. It is, then, very natural that it should transcend this species too.

Q: Most of us, humans, are not ready for this great leap. Why?
A: Human evolution has three stages. The biological evolution comes first which we share with other animals. Given proper food and care a child matures into an adult. The other two stages are peculiar to Homo sapiens due to its much-developed brain. They are intellectual and spiritual developments. Acquiring and imparting knowledge and skills, science and technology, arts and crafts etc. are intellectual activities. Last but not the least is the spiritual development when a wise animal becomes one in thought, speech and action. Most of us are passing through stage two.

Q: All children are one in thought, speech and action. Will you call that spirituality?
A: Why not? It is nature’s hint at our goal. Actually the unity of thought, speech and action prepares the mind for detached and rational thinking.

Q: How can one be so sure about the soul and its transmigration?
A: Circumstantial evidences support it. No rebirth means no equitable moral law, hence no aim or purpose for this grand cosmos. Life is reduced to the body it animates for a little while.



Q: Does the soul have any gender?
A: Male or female is the attribute of the body necessary for sexual reproduction for variety in life.

Q: Don’t you find anything wrong in nature?
A: No. Pain and suffering, too, are helpful.

Q: How can pain and suffering help somebody?
A: It helps us by forcing introspection and soul searching. It humbles; it sobers.

Q: How about those who inflict pain and suffering?
A: Life is itself loaded with pain and suffering. Inflicting it deliberately is a crime. Ignorant souls do that and invite retribution of the same kind.

Q: What is the relationship between body and soul?
A: The soul needs a living body to experience this world of Appearance again and again. Going through these cycles of birth, desire, dismay and death, it develops its mind and consciousness. The body is, therefore, merely a vehicle for the soul.

Q: When does a soul enter a body?
A: Or when does it leave a body? These are the details life sciences must investigate.

Q: How can a physical science investigate a non-material soul?
A: the soul resides in the body, it must, therefore, leave many tell tale marks on it such as fingerprints, frequency of voice etc.

Q: And DNA/RNA?
A: Sure. The identical twins from a single fertilized egg have identical genes yet their fingerprints are not identical. Their DNA sequence may also vary. It can be safely predicted that a clone’s fingerprints will not match with those of the donor.

Q: Is the fingerprint, then, the signature of the soul?
A: All the ten fingers of the wise animals carry ten different prints. Taken together they may be encoded with the genealogy and history of the soul.




Q: Why should a soul want to be born again and again into pain and suffering?
A: For the same reason that we do not want to die in spite of pain and suffering. Souls must be programmed that way as the body is programmed to multiply its genes.

Q: Who could the programmer be?
A: The program does not reveal the identity of the programmer. It is unsigned but brilliant in conception and execution.

Q: Does not this perfection in nature force us to admit a creator or god behind it all.
A: Not necessarily. Who created god presents the same difficulty.

Q: Must we stop at nature and life?
A: Any inquiry into an unknown and unknowable god is futile. Gautam Buddha realized this truth twenty-five centuries ago.

Q: Buddha also asked us to renounce this life. Why?
A: He rightly concluded that desire brings disappointment and unhappiness. He, therefore, advised us to renounce desire. He overlooked the fact that desire or Kama energizes the living world.

Q: How could an enlightened Buddha overlook that?
A: Since he had himself transcended the body and its desires, he tried to pull us all up to his level of bliss. Seriously though, Buddha preached dharma (religion) as he understood and practiced it.

Q: Do you intend to found a new religion?
A: Religions smack of god and blind faith in a finished doctrine. I support free inquiry through moral science.

Q: Should we abandon our religions?
A: Blind faith is no faith at all. According to Late Father Anthony de Mello, faith is the fearless search for truth. It is not lost when one questions one’s beliefs. But it takes a Galileo or a Darwin to embrace truth and discard blind faith.

Q: Can’t religion and science be reconciled?
A: No. Organized religions have a history of resisting science and free inquiry to safeguard their dogmas and mythologies from critical examinations. Blind faith and free inquiry are mutually exclusive.


Q: What are these dogmas and mythologies about?
A: They are mostly about what happened before birth and what will happen after death. At their best they represent a collective consciousness of a geocentric era gone by.

Q: What about the mind-body problem?
A: First the mind and the body are two separate problems as we know very little about them. Cell differentiation is a big mystery as is the working of the mind. What we know with certainty is that they influence each other.

Q: How about matter and mind?
A: The proper sequence is matter, body (living matter) and mind (no matter). These three entities will keep us occupied for a very, very long time.

Q: What will happen in case of our extinction?
A: A new variety of wise animals will evolve and begin from the very beginning.

Q: If the earth, our nursery, is destroyed tomorrow. Where would the souls go?
A: They will seek or be led to another nursery nearby. In the billions of galaxies in the universe there must be trillions of earths. Seeing the grandiose cosmos one is tempted to add that infinity appears to be the first alphabet of nature.

Q: How is that?
A: Nature is made up of infinitely big as well as infinitely small; infinitely hot to infinitely cold; infinitely slow to infinitely fast.

Q: Big Bang or steady state?
A: The black holes suggest infinite bangs- a black hole exploding after reaching a critical mass. The Big Bang does not explain the collision of galaxies.

Q: Yes, the Big Bang predicts galaxies moving away from each other. They actually do so. But there are reports of collision of galaxies too. Could exploding black holes be responsible for both?
A: The universe as a whole is largely unknown. We have surveyed only a little part with our optical and radio telescopes. This data is insufficient for a definite conclusion. Still, exploding black holes appears to be a more reasonable explanation right now.

Q: What could be the usefulness of a fathomless universe?
A: Physicists now speculate about many universes. The infinity of the universe corresponds well with the eternal adventures of the souls through different worlds or universes.

Q: What is the second most important feature of nature?
A: Perpetual dynamism without loss. Imagine an infinitely large sphere of space-time-gravity filled with billions of galaxies, but not a single particle at absolute rest. In spite of the gigantic motions and commotions, not a particle is wasted.

Q: Does conservation of matter lead to conservation of souls?
A: It was the other way round. Conviction about the immortality of souls led a scientist to discover the conservation of matter.

Q: How does one arrive at the immortality of souls?
A: A living body is a special organization of matter, which serves a non-material mind called soul. In other words, producing mind and its consciousness, although indirectly and very discreetly, appears to be the purpose of matter and, by extension, the purpose of the universe. Unless soul with its consciousness is preserved, the universe would not serve any meaningful purpose at all.

Q: Matter producing non-material consciousness is simply amazing. What is the role of a soul?
A: The soul is the individual mind, which absorbs the experiences of different lives and develops consciousness.

Q: Does matter produce the soul too?
A: It is not beyond the capabilities of the indestructible matter with a mind of its own. Maybe in the first association with life it produces the mind, which is enriched gradually.

Q: This material perspective of life and cosmos is interesting, as it does not utilize the props of god or metaphysics. Can you give us another example of such detachment?
A: Sure. All scientific research and advancement is founded on this detachment from the mythologies about creation.

Q: Are you trying to emulate this detachment of science in the realm of philosophy and spirituality?
A: Yes, undoubtedly. Galileo provided the solid experimental foundation for science and it started unraveling the mysteries of nature burying numerous pseudo sciences in the process and soon gained universal acceptance. The realm of philosophy and spirituality is awaiting this universal success for want of a good foundation.

Q: And what is that foundation?
A: Detached theorizing and experimentation on matter, mind and consciousness.

Q: How is it different from materialism?
A: Materialism does not recognize mind. It is, therefore, doomed as a philosophy. Wise animalism/humanism/moral science recognizes the importance of matter in relation to body, mind and consciousness.

Q: Religions have divided the animal kingdom into us (descended from heaven) and other animals of the earth whereas the philosophies are divided over mind and matter. Does humanism reconcile these contradictions?
A: Yes. Humanism must be an all-encompassing free inquiry into Appearance and Reality.

Q: Let us now test this humanism on human society. Why do humans behave so irrationally?
A: Because we are basically copycats living with borrowed wisdom. Remember the Dark Age in Europe. Though it came out of it through Renaissance its member nations continued to wage wars against each other then precipitated two world wars. Now, the European Union is the most rational political choice made in all these ages.

Q: Are all the divisions among men and nations irrational?
A: Yes, in a global village. Yes, on a space ship called earth. Nature appears to favor cross-fertilization.

Q: What is the most rational attitude in this regard?
A: Kalpna Chawla, the astronaut, has replied to it better than I can. She said that the whole universe was her native place. An ancient Indian maxim that the whole living world is one family also holds water.

Q: Why is there so much violence in human societies?
A: Because there is violence in homes and families.

Q: And what is the reason for so much violence in families?
A: There are many reasons for anger and violence in individuals and their family groups. Besides faulty genetics and environment, we still carry the reptilian brain with us. It is a very violent combination. When two such persons interact sparks are bound to fly sooner or later.

Q: Any remedy?
A: Love and care.

Q: How about violence in intimate relationships?
A: Ego clash. Male and female complement each other in the animal kingdom. But among the wise animals they compete with each other. The consequences are both comic and tragic- clean-shaven fathers and bottle-feeding mothers confusing the child as to who is who.

Q: How can this trend towards unisex be reversed?
A: May be its progression to nudism will shame our eves someday. But exhibitionism is a symptom of body worshipping. Once he/she realizes that he/she is not merely a perishable body but an immortal soul, he/she will begin to worship the mind.

Q: How is mind worshipping done?
A: By engaging one self in intellectual activities that develop mind.

Q: Can we neglect the body?
A: No. A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. But the body should not take up all the time and attention at our disposal. Simply put the mind has precedence over the body.