Self-Discovery from First Principles

Copyright © 2013 by Krishna Kumar.

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Contents

Preface

Introduction

13.8: The Story Of Life

The Origins

The Necessities

The Nature

1: The Human Organism

The Form

The Faculties

The Impressions

∞: The Organisation Of The Self And Society

The Self

The Society

Self And Society

0: The Quest For Realisation

The Seeking

The 3M

The Future Perfect

Dedicated To

The co-author who does not wish to reveal her name

PREFACE

The book fulfils a heartfelt desire to share my observations on self-discovery. In explaining this natural process, I do not lean on any schools of religion, philosophy or psychology. This book has been in the making for many years, and this venture became possible only through my collaboration with the co-author. Since she and I live in different places now, ours was mainly an epistolary relationship in developing this work. Earlier, our disquisitions on almost everything under the Sun have enabled us to link self-discovery with everyday experiences.

The quest for self-realisation took us on many paths to quench our angst. Right from meditating in the mountains and sea shore or in contemplating the essence of various spiritual texts, our tenacity took the better part of our lives in this labile journey. Temples and mantras, sojourns with masters, and discussions on reality made us seek the unknown. It has enriched both our lives remarkably well. We can now remember our immature and often insane lives before this change of heart happened. The world around us has not changed much, but there is indescribable peace and satisfaction within.

Meenama was an inspiration to many who had come in contact with her. She is my mother and through her sacrifice and wishes the quest for knowledge found fruition. Carnatic Music too had a special part which gave me scope for introspection. I wish to thank KM, who encouraged me to be in awareness and made my life delectable in the pursuit of self-discovery. EndarO mahAnubhAvu-landariki vandanamu. This is a popular composition by the legendary Sri Thyagaraja, which means, salutation to all the great ones.

In fact, the whole cosmos has acted as a trigger, for self-discovery. After years of haggling with various ideas, my bloated ego burst. The umbilical cord connecting the unknown with my conditioning got severed. What remains is the freedom to observe without any constraints. There is witnessing of the constant flow of phantasmagoria of events, things, people and culture in the world. In focusing attention on the known one can celebrate existence and, there is immediacy in sharing this with everyone.

I disclaim any divine proximity or esoteric wisdom spurting out from me that can elevate the readers to a higher level of spiritual intoxication. I do not delineate a path for the seekers who work toward a goal. There are of course, pointers that may trigger urgency in the readers to look at everything, including, their own selves objectively. The book caters to serious seekers of enlightenment, as well as, for those who want to bring out the best in them.

I welcome you wholeheartedly to go through the book and celebrate your presence in the world. All living and non-living things are expression and part of the universe. Everyone has a choice for self-discovery. By doing so, each of us can lead a tranquil and purposeful life in understanding. It will bring to the fore our innate potential, and remove any blocks within us. Finally, freedom has wings. It reaches out to everything everywhere and everyone with whom one comes across. The process of sharing this awareness to others will be effortless.

INTRODUCTION

The book traces the origin and organisation of life on earth. The story extends right from the Big bang to the present world of humans. In this history, several species have evolved and disappeared. The universe itself provides all the ingredients to create any life form. There are bare necessities that are required to evolve certain traits in all living beings. Even a slight change in the natural parameters could upset the continuation of life on earth.

The human organism is the body housing the consciousness with its many mental faculties. The word organism is just to emphasise the similarity of humans with other animals. In terms of manifesting life using elements in nature, there is equality in the process of creation. Humans have self-awareness and uniqueness. They also have their impressions, which are knowledge, experience and conditioning to interact in the world. Discovering one’s physical and mental faculties is aligning with the known.

The collective wisdom immanent in society has a strong influence on individuals. The individuals integrate with society, and form institutions that power the world. The dynamic between an individual and society is complex. People can see their conditioning by introspecting on the ties with society, as well. When people chase an unknown figment of their imagination, their behaviour is but the conditioning in a reactionary mode. Embracing the known brings clarity and equanimity. Engagement with the world will then be an objective response in any situation.

For many millennia, people have believed that god-realisation is a means to touch upon the source of creation itself. Godmen have made a profound influence in the world by declaring their proximity to the unknown. Self-discovery is also in understanding the conditioning that make a person anchor on to such claims. The declaration of such realisation is only an idea which has, however, become part of human conditioning. Each and every person in the world has a choice to a life in discovery and joy. Self-discovery is not an esoteric idea like a mirage in the desert. On the contrary, it is a dynamic and expressible function, totally in tune with the known.

13.8: THE STORY OF LIFE

Human lifespan is around hundred years. The latest scientific estimates suggest that the story of life began 13.8 billion years ago. There are connections between these two disparate events and time scales. One needs to acknowledge that the universe is the only home, and none can ever leave it. The angst is in wanting to return to an imaginary one. The elements of the universe are indispensable for the evolution of any life form; humans included. There has been a continuous link with the DNA or biological building blocks of many previous life forms that have manifested on earth. There are links both gross and subtle that one can never sever with anything at all in nature.

Life as people know it did not begin with humans and in all likelihood may not end with that species either. Human life is one of the wonders of existence in its many majestic forms. There is a mystery in the story which unfolds within an epic of the cosmos right alongside it. Humans straddle the trajectories of both the individual and the universal evolution unconsciously. Self-discovery jolts one up to the awareness that any individual story of life started 13.8 billion years ago.

THE ORIGINS

Children are fond of bed-time stories. The tales open up the doors of the young minds to a fantasy-land and softly lull them to sleep. There are many such narrations on human origins recounted by men in places far, far away and long, long ago. Grandmothers picked them up from their grandmothers and children all over the world grew up on hearing these fascinating accounts of creation. They are colourful and naturally fire the imagination of the listeners.

Humanity went to deep sleep with these schemes in mind and has been dreaming since then. Last century, someone woke up people and told something with a twist in the story-line. He said it all started with a big bang. The very mention of such a loud blast interrupted the sleep of some, and they began searching for the source again in their sleep. The others dozed off carrying yet another plot for animating their dreams.

This partly explains why a new tribe has emerged, which wants to cross both the streams and intelligently design a fresh form for their ideas. People will snooze, for there is no reason to be awake. The origin is waiting at dawn, in the morrow, when all of humanity will rise from this slumber.

Life begets observation. Knowledge arises from observation, and it helps us learn everything about life. Naturally, the proper study of life gravitates in knowing its own origin. This finds resonance in the research of scientists and the speculations of philosophers alike. Scratch a little on history and human ancestry becomes nebulous as one goes back in time. So many species preceded Homo sapiens in evolution. Perhaps unicellular organisms are the ones one needs to recognise as the progenitors of all life on earth. Well before the appearance of life on the planet only matter, energy and space-time materialised in the universe. Further back in time all claims of one’s origin could purely have been the potentiality of creation; beyond which one hits a wall.

Everything born is a mix and mash of its parents’ genes propelled by evolutionary impulses. It is natural to seek one’s roots to identify with one’s origin. In fact, everyone connects with one’s own parents, grandparents and so on to feel part of the family tree. Family faithfully creates lineage, cemented by culture and reinforced by religion. For all practical purposes, most people can trace their ancestry to only a few generations back. Nevertheless, the human mind seems to swear by an unshakeable identity with tribes, religions, race or nationality as if they were here since eternity.

Only with time did the things, one sees around evolve and develop into animate and inanimate entities. Does anyone inherit a chart of evolution? Even nature seems to be oblivious of any blueprint and works incessantly not revealing an inkling of the future. For her, there is no future or past. The present is only a state observable in this form. In quantum levels even observation could alter events. It is doubtful if observing the universe right now holds any bearing on its future.

Any observer perceives the observation as a true record of reality. One is only witness to situations and can in no way vouch for one’s future predicament or that of the universe. There have been countless life forms, including humans, dinosaurs, fish and cellular organisms that flourished on earth. No creature could have imagined that it is indeed evolving to become what is in the present. All are creatures of circumstances able to witness a slice of the universe with their faculties.

None is in the driver’s seat. There is no driver or map which one is aware of. There is no goal post to reach either. One has the capability to watch the drama of life flow every moment. One neither knows the origin nor any destination. In simple terms, this is the human experience. Let there be patience and knowledge to look at oneself and make the best out of one’s own strengths. It is imperative to wear clarity as one’s badge to create a sensible lifestyle for one and all. Both the environment and people count in this regard. There is nothing else one can do except to celebrate life in observation and action.

Humans are certainly curious by nature. It shows up in the way the ideas of creation have cropped up in all lands and peoples at all times. In modern times, science is hope for many to go to the root of how one belongs here. Even today both creation myths and Big bang theory coexist to fill the gaps to understand the origin of the universe. All these ideas are but a continual flow of human expression in the quest for the realisation of one’s place in the planet.

The Creation Myths

If an event were to occur in say, ten minutes or even ten years one can try to be part of the same. In the formation of the universe and its subsequent evolution though, no one can be a