the speaking tree - The Eternal Poetry Of Consciousness
Deepak Hiranandani
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Jug Suraiya, in `An Inclusive Reinterpretation of Reincarnation,' (Speaking Tree column, September 1, 2015) arrives at the well-articulated idea of an “eternal consciousness“. He asks how could there be new souls for a growing human population since souls are said to be eternal. Let me add that in many schools of thought and faiths, souls are thought to be not only human.The tiniest insect or single celled animal or jiva is thought to possess a soul, or jivatma. Traditionally accepted Hindu, Buddhist and Jain theories of karma clearly state this.Popularly , good conduct and actions (karmas) would lead to our soul being reborn in a human being. The souls of wise persons theoretically would escape the birth-death cycle by attaining moksha or nirvana, merging with the eternal universal soul or Paramatma.
Therefore not just humans, all living beings have souls. I had an interesting experience in this regard with a Tibetan Buddhist monk at Sera University near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, Karnataka, in 2002. It was sometime in the monsoon season, and the maroon robed monk d informed me that they were not supposed to walk or move much in the rainy season because many small insects could be trampled underfoot. Then why do you eat meat, i asked the monk. He re plied that it was worth thinking about. He also said that one large animal like a bull could feed 40 people whereas many small insects would have to be killed to feed one person. Clearly, to him, an animal soul was a soul, equally precious regardless of which body it was currently inhabiting.
If the souls of more and more creatures are being reborn as humans, and if humans are consid ered as a `higher' and `more evolved' type of creature, somehow one step closer to merging with the universal soul than are other animals, does it imply that we are in deed constantly evolving to a higher state?
Interestingly , in cultures across the globe plants have been revered, even worshipped; yet, classical theories of karma and of jivatma-paramatma do not seem to have been overtly applied to plants. A jiva is popularly conceived as a creature, or member of the animal kingdom, however tiny or immense a creature it may be. In a globalised world, inclusive and holistic ideas are gaining more acceptance among the people. As Suraiya concludes in his penultimate sentence, “There is only an eternal consciousness in which we participate and which participates in us.“
He concludes by saying, “The rest is just pretty poetry.“
This opens up new vistas of thought: poetry is a human creation, it is an art, one of the aims of which could be the search for beauty, that which is pretty.But `poetry' also brings us right back to the human being, the one who observes, conceives and creates beauty and who articulates ideas about the universe.
For Svetaketu, Albert Einstein, Fritjof Capra and for each of us who are reading this: the universe is, in some sense, meaningless without each of us. There is, or there must be, the world, but ultimately, when we speak of deep philosophical thoughts, they are just that: thoughts that question reality, cosmic consciousness, `apara aadi ananta Brahmn', the Universal Soul, Supreme Consciousness ... As always, our answers are tentative, alluding finally to a Supreme Power. But question we must, and always have. We dimly perceive that all the answers will never be found, yet we question on.And we continue to study , think, write articles and research papers, and pretty poetry . Is it not?
Therefore not just humans, all living beings have souls. I had an interesting experience in this regard with a Tibetan Buddhist monk at Sera University near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, Karnataka, in 2002. It was sometime in the monsoon season, and the maroon robed monk d informed me that they were not supposed to walk or move much in the rainy season because many small insects could be trampled underfoot. Then why do you eat meat, i asked the monk. He re plied that it was worth thinking about. He also said that one large animal like a bull could feed 40 people whereas many small insects would have to be killed to feed one person. Clearly, to him, an animal soul was a soul, equally precious regardless of which body it was currently inhabiting.
If the souls of more and more creatures are being reborn as humans, and if humans are consid ered as a `higher' and `more evolved' type of creature, somehow one step closer to merging with the universal soul than are other animals, does it imply that we are in deed constantly evolving to a higher state?
Interestingly , in cultures across the globe plants have been revered, even worshipped; yet, classical theories of karma and of jivatma-paramatma do not seem to have been overtly applied to plants. A jiva is popularly conceived as a creature, or member of the animal kingdom, however tiny or immense a creature it may be. In a globalised world, inclusive and holistic ideas are gaining more acceptance among the people. As Suraiya concludes in his penultimate sentence, “There is only an eternal consciousness in which we participate and which participates in us.“
He concludes by saying, “The rest is just pretty poetry.“
This opens up new vistas of thought: poetry is a human creation, it is an art, one of the aims of which could be the search for beauty, that which is pretty.But `poetry' also brings us right back to the human being, the one who observes, conceives and creates beauty and who articulates ideas about the universe.
For Svetaketu, Albert Einstein, Fritjof Capra and for each of us who are reading this: the universe is, in some sense, meaningless without each of us. There is, or there must be, the world, but ultimately, when we speak of deep philosophical thoughts, they are just that: thoughts that question reality, cosmic consciousness, `apara aadi ananta Brahmn', the Universal Soul, Supreme Consciousness ... As always, our answers are tentative, alluding finally to a Supreme Power. But question we must, and always have. We dimly perceive that all the answers will never be found, yet we question on.And we continue to study , think, write articles and research papers, and pretty poetry . Is it not?
