When you breathe in smoke that comes from the end of a lit cigarette, cigar, or pipe ( often described as ‘sidestream smoke‘ ), or when you breathe in smoke that is exhaled by a smoker(often described as ‘mainstream smoke’ ), you are exposed to the risk of secondhand smoke. You will be inhaling almost the same amount of chemicals as the smoker breathes in. Tobbaco smoke contains more than 4,000 different chemical compounds, and more than 50 of them are known to cause Cancer. Some of these known carcinogens are Hydrogen Cyanide, Benzene, Formaldehyde, and Carbon monoxide. Involuntary or passive smoking can kill. There is no amount of exposure to secondhand smoke that is considered as a safe level of exposure. The more secondhand smoke that you breathe in, the more your health risk increases. Secondhand smoke exposure causes nearly 50,000 deaths per year in adult nonsmokers in the United States. 3,000 deaths are from Lung Cancer, and 46,000 deaths are from heart disease. Nonsmokers increase their risk of developing Lung Cancer by 20% to 30%, and heart disease by 25% to 30% when they are exposed to secondhand smoke. The risks of Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer and other types of Cancer are also higher. Women who are exposed to secondhand smoke face a 69% higher risk of heart disease and a 56% higher risk of Stroke than those who are not exposed to smoke. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke because of their bodies are still growing and they breathe at a faster rate than adults. The effects of smoking can be very significant especially for those who live or work with a smoker. In reality, most of the smoke from a burning cigarette doesn’t get sucked down into smoker’s lungs- it simply escapes into the air where it can be inhaled by anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. Living under the shadow of a great person may give some benefits, protection, and a sense of security. But, life under the shadow of secondhand smoke is a prescription for death. There was such an unfortunate victim who had lived under the shadow of a great leader known as Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Qaid-e-Azam, the great leader and founder of Pakistan. What is the risk of Living under the Shadow of a great leader?
Jinnah, Indian Muslim politician was the founder and first Governor General of Pakistan (1947-1948). His parents arranged for an early marriage for him before he left for England at the age of 16. While in London, Jinnah suffered the loss of his wife and mother. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was called o the Bar on completion of his formal studies to become a barrister. He had supported the election of Dadabhai Naoroji, a Parsi leader, a leading Indian nationalist who ran for the English Parliamnet. Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the British House of Commons. In 1896, Jinnah returned to Karachi and then moved to Bombay to start his legal practice. He met Ruttenbai, the daughter of Dinshaw Petit, a Bombay Parsi millionaire. Jinnah had married this young and beautiful lady over tremendous opposition from her parents and others. The great love and the marriage withered and proved to be an unhappy union. The stress imposed by exposure to secondhand smoke was not known and was not recognized those days. Jinnah’s addiction to Tobacco and the price paid by his wife describe the other side of Jinnah which many people in Pakistan and India tend to ignore.
The Other side of Mohammed Ali Jinnah :
Jinnah, a great leader with a simple addiction to Tobacco.
This young and beautiful lady had great feelings of love for Jinnah and those tender feelings withered while she had lived under the Shadow of Secondhand Smoke.
I would like to share the very interesting and powerful story about the life of Ruttenbai who had lived under the shadow of Mohammed Ali Jinnah . Unfortunatley, this story posted below my post fails to mention the nature of cancer that had killed this beautiful lady at such an young age. I am very sure about the nature of her illness. She died of Lung Cancer. She developed Cancer because of inhaling tobacco smoke and it is a very well recognized risk factor now. Secondhand Tobacco smoke kills people and even now the chances of survival are not good. I had personally witnessed a similar case and had narrated that story at my Home page of BhavanaJagat and the story is titled ‘Living Under the Shadow – A Prescription for Death’. A young, beautiful lady, the first wife of Chief of Army Staff (under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi), General K S Sundarji ( who is well-known for Operation Blue Star ) died of Lung Cancer in Army Hospital, New Delhi during 1978. The connection between smoking and Lung Cancer was well understood but at that time the risk of Lung Cancer due to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke was not properly recognized.
The Chief of Army Staff, General Krishnaswamy Sundarrajan, PVSM - I had served under his Command while he was the General Officer Commanding of the First Armoured Division during 1976 to 1978. His first wife, Padma Sundarji had lived her life under the shadow of Secondhand Smoke.
More than 61 years have passed since the death of founder of Pakistan , Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. But even today, nothing about Jinnah seems ordinary —not his legal career, politics, personal life, his legacy and even the property he left behind.
The great South Asian intellectual Eqbal Ahmed once described Jinnah as an enigma of modern history. His aristocratic English lifestyle, Victorian manners, and secular outlook rendered him a most unlikely leader of India ’s Muslims. Yet, he led them to separate statehood, creating history, and in Saad R. Khairi’s apt phrase, “altering geography”.
Much has been written about Jinnah’s legal career, politics, his role as a founder of Pakistan and his vision, but even today, very little is known about Jinnah’s personal life. This was probably because Jinnah never had time to write a diary or an autobiography and whatever little he wrote was formal and matter of fact. For most of his life, he remained reserved, taciturn and secretive. He wrote his will in May, 1939, but it was only after his death that Liaquat Ali Khan, his close associate and the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, came to know that he was its trustee and executor.
His only child, Dina Wadia, has hardly ever spoken about her father in public. So furious was Jinnah with Dina that he disowned her after she married a Parsi man against his wishes, and yet he left two lacs for her in his will. Akbar Ahmed’s movie Jinnah had just ten to fifteen minutes on Jinnah’s personal life, which are nowhere near enough.
Life Under The Shadow – Ruttie in Jinnah’s Shadow
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Jinnah’s first wife, fourteen year old Emibai from Paneli village, died just eight months after he left for London at age sixteen in 1892, to join Graham’s Shipping and Trading Company, which conducted business with his father in Karachi. It was a forced marriage, as Jinnah’s mother was afraid that if he went to England , he might end up marrying an English girl. He barely knew Emibai.
Jinnah’s second marriage with the most beautiful girl of Bombay – Ruttie: The Flower of Bombay – was like a fairy tale. It began in the summer of 1916 in Darjeeling or “Town of the Thunderbolt” (how appropriate considering what was to happen there).
Jinnah had established himself as a lawyer and a politician by then and had become friends with Sir Dinshaw Maneckjee Petit, the son of one of the richest and most devoutly orthodox Parsis of the 19th century.
The Petit`s chateau overlooked Mount Everest and it was there Jinnah met his only daughter Ruttenbai Petit or Ruttie as she was popularly called. Merely sixteen at that time, Ruttie was a charming young girl. Stanley Wolpert writes in Jinnah of Pakistan :“Precociously bright, gifted in every art, beautiful in every way. As she matured, all of her talents, gifts and beauty were magnified in so delightful and unaffected a manner that she seemed a fairy princess”.
A dazzling beauty and full of life, Ruttie had exquisite taste and affable manners. Quick-witted, she was easily one of the best dressed and most popular women among the elitist circles of Bombay . She was intellectually far more mature than other girls of her age, with diverse interests ranging from poetry (Oscar Wilde being her favorite, whom she often recited) to politics. Her large collection of books, which remained in Jinnah’s possession after her death, reflected her deep interest in poetry, literature, history, occultism, mysticism and sorcery. She was an excellent horse-rider. She attended all public meetings and was inspired by Annie Besant’s Home Rule League.
A fierce supporter of India for Indians, Ruttie was once asked about rumors of Jinnah’s possible knighthood and whether she would like to be Lady Jinnah. She snapped that she would rather be separated from her husband than take on an English title.
Jinnah on the other hand also had a special interest in acting and in Shakespeare’s dramas. While in London , he had acted in some Shakespearean plays and even considered seriously taking up acting as a profession. It was his dream to play Romeo at The Globe in London . Khwaja Razi Haider thinks it was probably Jinnah’s deep interest in Shakespeare that gave him insight into the intricacies of the human character, which he was to use for grasping the essentials of Indian politics. Jinnah was thirty-nine and Ruttie sixteen, but the age difference proved no obstacle in their love. Love has no logic.
He was enamored by her beauty and charm and she was awe- struck by “Jay”, as she called him. Jinnah asked Sir Dinshaw for Ruttie’s hand in marriage, who became furious and refused. Jinnah repeatedly pleaded his case but Dinshaw never gave in, as Jinnah had a different faith and he was more than twice Ruttie’s age. Their friendship ended and Dinshaw forbade Ruttie from meeting Jinnah while she lived in his house. He even got a court injunction restraining Jinnah from meeting her (a pity no biographer has yet traced the court papers).
The couple continued to meet secretly, and patiently waited for two years until February 1918 when Ruttie turned eighteen, and was free to marry. She walked out of her parental home to which she was never to return, and converted to Islam at Bombay ’s Jamia Mosque, under the Muslim Shiite doctrine, on April 18, 1918.
The very next day, Jinnah and Ruttie got married in a quiet ceremony at Jinnah’s Malabar Hill house in Bombay . Located in a most highly-priced area today, with Maharashtra’s Chief Minister as its next-door neighbor, Jinnah House remains a dispute between India , Pakistan and Dina Wadia. Jinnah owned another house at 10 Aurangzeb Road , Delhi , which he sold just before Partition for Rs 3 lacs. The Dutch Ambassador to India lives there now. The Raja Sahib of Mahmudabad, who signed as Jinnah’s witness, and a few other friends, attended the wedding. Maulana Muhammad Hasan Najafi was Ruttie’s witness. Jinnah presented the wedding ring to Ruttie, a gift from Raja Sahab, and paid Rs 125,000 as haq mehr . Nobody from Ruttie’s family attended the wedding. Interestingly, the Nikah Nama stated “Ruttenbai” as the bride’s name instead of Marium, her Islamic name. The honeymoon was first at Raja Sahab’s Nainitaal mansion, and then at the Maidens Hotel, a magnificent property just beyond the Red Fort.
Quaid’s Nikahnama
Quaid’s house in Bombay
Gandhi’s grandson Raj Mohan Gandhi writes about the wedding in his book Understanding the Muslim Mind: “For the first time in his life, a girl had absorbed Jinnah’s emotions. Living for sometime now in a large but somber Malabar Hill house, bowing to ladies (on occasional parties) and praising their sarees but otherwise keeping a distance from them, (he) fell in love with Ruttenbai. Joy and laughter entered Jinnah’s life. The Malabar Hill house became brighter.’ She presented him with a daughter, Dina. But, ‘Alas the happiness was not destined to last; Sarojni’s veiled prediction of trouble came true”.
Sarojni Naidu was a huge admirer of Jinnah, wrote several poems and prose pieces on him, and many historians believe she was in love with him.
She wrote this about the wedding in a letter to Sir Syed’s son, Syed Mahmud: “So Jinnah has at last plucked the Blue Flower of his desire. It was all very sudden and caused terrible agitation and anger among the Parsis; but I think the child has made far bigger sacrifices than she yet realises. Jinnah is worth it all – he loves her; the one really human and genuine emotion of his reserved and self-centred nature. And he will make her happy.”
The first few years of the marriage were a dream for Ruttie and Jinnah, the happiest time of their lives. They traveled across India , Europe and North America together. Ruttie watched with a great sense of pride the feverish political activity of her husband. She would be seen in the visitors’ gallery when Jinnah was due to speak, accompanied him to the High Court, and even attended the Nagpur session of the Congress in December 1920.
According to Wolpert: “They were a head- turning couple; he in his elegant suits, stitched in London , she with her long, flowing hair decked in flowers. There was no limit to their joy and satisfaction at that time. Their only woe was Ruttie’s complete isolation and ostracism from her family.”
Kanji Dwarkadas, a veteran leader of Congress and a close friend of the couple, who looked after Ruttie during her last days, wrote in his book Ruttie Jinnah: The story of a great friendship: “For Jinnah, who was not generous in many matters, no expense was too great to satisfy the extravagant claims of the baronet’s spoilt child. During a visit to Kashmir , she spent Rs 50,000 in refurnishing the boathouse and Jinnah gladly paid all the bills. He treated her wonderfully well, and paid without a murmur all the bills necessitated by the luxurious life she led.Ruttie’s fabulous beauty, spontaneous wit, and immense charm have been praised to the neglect of her serious interests.”
Even though Ruttie was much younger than Jinnah, she made him a very happy man. They had no separate existence and Jinnah found her a great source of inspiration.
He resigned from the Orient Club where he used to play chess and billiards. He was so deeply in love with Ruttie that he would return from the law courts on time each day and talk to her for hours on end.
Unfortunately, their happiness was short- lived and the marriage started to crack after 1922-3. What caused the ruination of the Jinnah-Ruttie marriage? Was it Jinnah’s busy political life and his inability to give enough time to Ruttie, their age difference, or their incompatibility of temperaments? He was cold, introverted and domineering. She was young, extroverted, glamorous. There is no clear answer but the fact remains that Ruttie and Jinnah still loved each other despite the rift in their marriage.
It is evident in every letter Ruttie wrote during that period, and every book written on their relationship. She moved to London with Dina in 1922 and from there too, her heart was still set on her life with Jinnah.
She wrote in a letter to Kanji in India :“And just one thing more – go and see Jinnah and tell me how he is – he has a habit of overworking himself and now that I am not there to tease and bother him, he will be worse than ever.”
After her return, the couple tried one more time to save their failing marriage and took a five-month tour to Europe and North America together. But the rift grew and by January 1928 they were virtually separated, when Ruttie became seriously ill with cancer. Shortly before her death, she wrote a letter to Jinnah from Marseilles , France where she had gone for treatment. It turned out to be her last letter to him (larger view of original hand-written letter with typed text here
Life Under The Shadow – Ruttie’s Letter to Jinnah
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S. S. Rajputana,
Marseilles 5 Oct 1928 Darling – thank you for all you have done. If ever in my bearing your once tuned senses found any irritability or unkindness – be assured that in my heart there was place only for a great tenderness and a greater pain – a pain my love without hurt. When one has been as near to the reality of Life (which after all is Death) as I have been dearest, one only remembers the beautiful and tender moments and all the rest becomes a half veiled mist of unrealities. Try and remember me beloved as the flower you plucked and not the flower you tread upon.
I have suffered much sweetheart because I have loved much. The measure of my agony has been in accord to the measure of my love. Darling I love you – I love you – and had I loved you just a little less I might have remained with you – only after one has created a very beautiful blossom one does not drag it through the mire. The higher you set your ideal the lower it falls.
I have loved you my darling as it is given to few men to be loved. I only beseech you that the tragedy which commenced in love should also end with it.
Darling Goodnight and Goodbye Ruttie
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It is a pity that none of the letters that Jinnah wrote to Ruttie have ever been made public. M.C. Chagla, a former Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and a diplomat at the UN, has described the last days of Ruttie and Jinnah’s marriage in his book “Roses in December”. Chagla knew the couple very well, as he assisted Jinnah at his chambers during that time. He idealized Jinnah but severed all ties when he began working on the idea of an independent state for the Muslims of India. He writes: By 1927, Ruttie and Jinnah had virtually separated. Ruttie’s health deteriorated rapidly in the years after they returned from their final trip together. Ruttie lived at the Taj Hotel in Bombay, almost a recluse as she became more and more bed-ridden. Kanji continued to be her constant companion. By February 18, 1929 she had become so weak that all she could manage to say to him was a request to look after her cats.Two days later, Ruttie Petit Jinnah died. It was her 29th birthday. She was buried on February 22 in Bombay according to Muslim rites. Jinnah sat like a statue throughout the funeral but when asked to throw earth on the grave, he broke down and wept. That was the only time when I found Jinnah betraying some shadow of human weakness. It’s not a well publicised fact that as a young student in England it had been one of Jinnah’s dreams to play Romeo at The Globe. It is a strange twist of fate that a love story that started like a fairy tale ended as a haunting tragedy to rival any of Shakespeare’s dramas.”
The second time Jinnah ever broke down was in August 1947 when he visited Ruttie’s grave one last time before leaving for Pakistan . The architect of Pakistan paid a high price for Partition by leaving two of his most beloved possessions on ‘the other’ side of the border, the Jinnah House on Malabar Hill where he had the happiest moments of his life, and his beloved wife Ruttie who remains buried in Bombay. Jinnah left India in August 1947, never to return again, but he left behind a piece of his heart in a little grave in a cemetery in Bombay .
The Truth about Self, The Inquiry about Self, Who am I?
The term Truth suggests confirmity with facts, experience, or with Reality, either as an idealized abstraction or in actual application to statements, ideas, acts, etc., Truth signifies an established or verified fact, or principle. Truth is related to the validity of what we mean. Plato defined the nature of Truth as correspondence between thought and reality. Dr. William Jones in his book, ‘The Principles of Psychology’ states : “True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify.”
The universe is vast and man’s role in it is insignificant. Man’s great need is not only to know the world around him but also know himself better. Man has to know the Truth about himself.
The Three Dimensions of Truth:
1. Truth is correspondence between a statement and the reality of external world.
2. Truth is correspondence between the observer and the reality of the observed fact. Here, we need to recognize the method used for the observation such as intuition, sense experience, or revelation.
3. Truth is correspondence between man and his true nature.
Lord Jesus Christ – Truth as Prophecy:
The Truth of Jesus, The Book of John, Chapter 20, verse 29: Jesus said to him (Thomas), “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Truth – Is it a matter of sight or sense experience, or is it a matter of faith and belief?
The Truth about Lord Jesus Christ had come to a very critical scrutiny while he got arrested and stood before Pilate, the Roman Governor. The Book of John, Chapter 18, verses 37 and 38 record the conversation between Jesus and Pilate: So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Jesus did not answer the question as the truth must have correspondence with reality in external world. The truth of Jesus is about establishment of Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. It was a prophetic truth and the truth would be evident only when the Prophecy comes true.
Lord Gautama Buddha – Truth as Experience:
Lord Gautama Buddha c. 563 to c. 483 B.C. also known as Prince Siddhartha (he who will accomplish) witnessed irremediable human suffering in the form of physical disability, sickness, oldage, and death. Acting under the uplifting Power of Compassion, he left the royal palace in search of Truth.
Lord Gautama Buddha known as Siddhartha (He who will accomplish), c. 563 B.C to c. 483 B.C., left the palace at the age of 29 leaving behind his young wife and infant son. After six years of ascetic life, while meditating under a Pipal tree (later called Bodhi or Enlightenment Tree ), he became Supreme Buddha (c. 528 B.C.) at the age of 35. He preached his first sermon at Sarnath. He outlined his Doctrine of Four Noble Truths and the First Noble Truth is that of suffering, the experience of pain and sorrow called DUKHA is implicit in human existence. Buddha’s truth is related to man’s experience of the nature of his existence in the world.
I maintain that man exists at any stage of his existence, at any given age, under any given circumstance, in either good health or ill health, in pain and suffering or that of joy and happiness due to the operation of a Fundamental Force/Power/Energy that delivers Mercy/Grace/Compassion. If suffering describes one face of the coin called human existence, Compassion describes the second face of the same coin. Compassion is implicit in human existence and that of all living things.
Lord Rama – Truth in Action:
“WHO AM I? WHY I AM LIKE THIS?” were the questions asked by Lord Rama and these are the questions that we need to ask ourselves to know the Truth about Self.
In the epic poem known as Ramayana, Indian poet Valmiki describes Lord Rama’s life journey. Rama spends 14 years in the forest to help fulfilment of the word or promise made by his father. In the final Chapter, Book Six, Yuddha Kanda, Chapter (Sarga) 117, verse 11, he asks the following question:
so aHaM yasya yatashchaahaM bhagavaMstadbraviitu me.”
“I think of myself to be a human being, by name Rama, the son of Dasaratha. You, as a gracious Divintiy tell me who I am and why I am like this?”
In the story of Ramayana, the Creator Lord Brahma responds to the questions asked by Lord Rama. These are the questions that we need to ask ourselves. To know Truth about Self, man must begin his inquiry with the question of Who am I?
The Inquiry about Self – Who am I?
Socrates before taking poison that would end his life had stated: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” “Know thyself” is a virtue and to defend that virtue, Socrates made no attempt to save his life.
The tradition of knowing oneself is a longer tradition than any other Science. This is a study in which the Knower and the Known are one. The object of scientific inquiry is the nature of the scientist.
How to discover the Truth about Self?
Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud: “No knowledge can be obtained from revelation, intuition, or inspiration.”
Religion, Philosophy, and Science may represent three distinct fields of learning about Truth and Reality. Each tries to answer fundamental questions about human life. All three differ from each other in the selection of method and subject matter. Auguste Comte, the 19th century French philosopher, the founder of Sociology had described Positive Science as the study of natural, mental, and social phenomena by empirical methods. In his view, Philosophy is mere speculation and Religion is superstition or irrational belief. Speculation represents a futile attempt to go behind the phenomena in order to discover ultimate causes or substances and such speculative methods may result in guess work or conjecture and not in knowledge. Philosophy may use Logic and system and yet its conclusions may lack the validity or objectivity of Science.The philosophical inquiry does not involve investigation by experiment. Science not only provides the knowledge that something is true, but also the reasons why it is true. The famous Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud had categorically claimed that no knowledge can be obtained from revelation, intuition, or inspiration. There is a tendency in modern times to reject the methods used by Religion and Philosophy. Philosophy may use intuitive generalization or induction from ordinary sense experience. The scientific method involves induction from an inference from experiments which involve testing and verifying a hypothesis. The observations of scientist go beyond the experiences which ordinary men have in the course of daily life. The instruments that are invented and used by scientists have immense abilities to collect numerous kinds of empirical data with precision, accuracy, and consistency. However, it may not be easy to conclude that Science alone can arrive at correspondence with Truth and Reality. Could we extend scientific methodology of investigation to every field of Inquiry? Could we obtain clarity and certainity in all matters using scientific methods? Could Science be the only avenue to Truth? Could we find Truth and Reality as an external experience? Could man use scientific information to experience Truth and Reality?
Sir Issac Newton demonstrated the properties of Light rays using experimets. Science explains this optical illusion. Could Science remove the optical illusion and give man a chance to experience the reality of this Pencil. The Reality of this Pencil would be known when the Pencil is removed from water and man has no ability to change the properties of Light rays.
When a object exists in a conditioned state, like this Pencil in water, Science may explain the illusion generated. Science and scientific information may not provide the direct experience of Truth and Reality. Man is the observer, and the reality or truth of Earth’s Angular Speed, or Linear Speed is not an observed fact obtained by direct human sense experience. Scientific information can not provide the experience that could be generated by the truth and reality of Earth’s Motion.
The Purpose of Science: The Knowledge about Self:
The purpose of Science is to describe observation and experience and provide accepted body of information and arrange it into a meaningful pattern to explain truth and reality.
The purpose of Science is to describe and codify observation and experiences. Natural Sciences such as Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Medical Sciences provide accepted body of information about the world and human body. We need to arrange this information into a meaningful pattern and interpret it to describe the Reality or Truth about man. We need to apply a reasoning process which involves analysis of basic concepts to determine their consistency. Something could be said to be true if, and only if it could be verified by logical or scientific procedures. We need to use a reasoning process, a philosophical analysis to clarify statements, to verify or refute a theoretical claim by demonstrating relation between the theoretical claim and the observational evidence.
The Self and the Knowing-Self:
I divide man into two categories; 1. The Self: it represents the man as a physical, mental, and social being. The Self represents the thinking person or the person having thoughts, and feelings. 2. The Knowing-Self: it represents man as a moral, and spiritual being. The Knowing-Self is aware or Conscious of the thoughts and feelings of The Self.
Thinking vs Consciousness:
Dr Florian Mormann & Dr Christof Koch have defined Neural Correlates of Consciousness as the minimal neuronal mechanism jointly sufficient for any one specific Conscious percept. This definition basically makes no distinction between Thinking and Consciousness. The NCC definition is not based on correct understanding of the function known as Consciousness. It fails to speak about the role of Reticular Formation, and Brain Stem Nuclei that have the Capacity of Consciousness. The Capacity of Consciousness is an essential precondition of the Content of Consciousness. The Reticular Formation filters incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli and composes the Content of Consciousness before relaying the information to the Cerebral hemispheres to cause Cortical awareness.
The Self may think about the nature of consciousness, but Thinking and Consciousness are two distinct functions. Thinking and Consciousness are not one and the same. Consciousness functions to provide Awareness and it is not involved in mental activities such as Thinking. The conscious individual is aware of his thoughts. The Reticular Formation supports functions such as AROUSAL and it maintains wakefulness, alertness, and sleep. In the absence of this Brain Stem function, the Individual is not capable of generating thoughts, and feelings and would not be aware of what goes on inside the Individual, and what goes on outside the Individual.
In Clinical Medicine, the medical practitioner evaluates the Level of Arousal or Alertness of his patient.
The Individual – Identity and Individuality – The Two Sides of the same Coin:
The Self has two aspects- External Reality describes the Identity of the Individual; Internal Reality establishes the Individuality of the Individual.
If man is viewed as a living thing, the thing is made of Matter and Form. The Form establishes the morphological appearance in the external world. The Matter establishes the Individuality of the Individual. The external appearance or Phenotype of man undergoes constant change and is not the same at all times. The Individuality is related to the Genotype which remains constant while man goes through various stages of his existence from conception to old age. As per The Law of Individuality and Creation, man is a created being who would always exist as an Individual with Individuality and man has no choice other than that of existing as an Individual. The Truth about Self is not about the Identity of the Individual in terms of his anthropometric measurements, biometric information, name, gender, race, ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, education, social occupation, social status or social ranking, and affiliations. This external reality has a degree of correspondence in the external world as it is often confirmed and is recognized by others who can observe the Individual. But this knowledge is subject to change and the information it provides is not experienced in a constant, and objective manner. The Truth about Self is the Truth about the human organism which is multicellular. We need to know as to who or what is the subject who lives because of the functions of the trillions of cells that comprise the human organism.
Who am I? – “I am Consciousness”:
WHO AM I? This question must be answered by applying a reasoning process to Inferential Knowledge about Cell Structure (ANATOMY) and Cell Functions (PHYSIOLOGY). Life is defined as “Knowledge in Action.”
All living organisms use similar building units called cells. Basically, the cell has a membrane, a nucleus, and a living substance known as Protoplasm. The nucleus has nucleic acids like DNA/RNA which have no independent existence of their own. The genome functions when it is associated with Protoplasm which has the exclusive ability to obtain energy (food) from its environment. Consciousness is a natural principle that describes the condition of an Individual; the condition of knowing, awareness, or recognizing the fact, the state, and the act of biological existence in a given environment. The term environment refers to all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding, and affecting the existence of a given Individual, or a group of Individuals. Who is this Individual who has the ability to know and be aware of its external, and internal environment? The Individual is a living organism and the organism could be unicellular or multicellular. The most fundamental aspect of Consciousness as a living function that establishes biological existence is that of acquiring energy from environment. The living cell is a thermodynamically unstable system. This means that without continuous input of energy, a cell will degrade spontaneously into a non living collection of molecules.
“I am Consciousness” – The Verification of the Proposition:
The proposition that “I am Consciousness” could be subjected to a reasoning process in two manners: 1. The Coherence Theory of Truth, and 2. The Correspondence Theory of Truth.
1. “I am Consciousness” – The Coherence Theory of Truth: The standard of Truth is the logical consistency of a proposition with a large system of propositions. “I am Consciousness” is the proposition. The propositions to support my proposition are :
a. Consciousness is a mental experience.
b. Consciousness is a sense experience.
c. Consciousness is a physical or body experience.
d. Consciousness is a social experience.
e. Consciousness is a moral experience.
f. Consciousness is a spiritual experience.
g. Consciousness is a cellular experience.
The Subject “I am” of the proposition could be defined as a physical, mental, social, moral, and spiritual being based upon the contents of the ‘Total Consciousness’ experience of that Individual.
2. “I am Consciousness” – The Correspondence Theory of Truth: Truth is viewed as a relation between an idea or proposition and its object. “I am Consciousness” is the proposition. The Subject known as “I am” is related to an idea or object described as “Consciousness.” We need to verify the Truth or Reality of a relation between the Subject and its Object. The Subject is the whole or entire human organism comprising of trillions of individual cells which function as organs and tissues of the body. The Subject “I am” can not be defined merely as a single individual,specific organ like brain or mind. The body organ called brain has no independent existence of its own. Brain and its cells (neurons, axons, and connective tissue) need energy to sustain its metabolic activities. The functional relationship between the Subject and the Object operates and involves the activity of the entire organism and is not limited to the activities of brain or mind. The purpose of Consciousness at cellular level is to foster functional unity of the multicellular organism and establish it as an Individual. A living thing maintains it Individuality while being a member of a given social group. The process by which a living cell acquires energy to perform its living functions is called ‘Nutrition’. Consciousness is the awareness of energy dependent existence in a given environment and it is the characteristic of all living cells irrespective of their differentiation, functional subordination, and identification as the constituent parts of specific organs, tissues, and organ systems. The idea or Object called “Consciousness” is fundamentally related to the Subject called “I am” both at the level of the entire organism and at the level of individual cells.
Human Knowledge and Self-Knowledge:
WHO AM I? Lord Krishna described Himself in The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter X, The Opulence of the Absolute, verse 22:”Of the Vedas, I am the Sama Veda; of the demigods, I am Indra; of the senses, I am the Mind; and in Living Beings, I AM CONSCIOUSNESS.”
Human Knowledge is of two kinds; 1. Acquired Knowledge that is dependent upon sense experience, and reason, and 2. Innate or Intuitive Knowledge, the genetic information, the biological information that all living cells and organisms use to perform living functions and to exhibit biological behavior and instincts. Knowledge about Self, or Self-Knowledge begins with the implantation of Consciousness in Matter and not as Sense experience, and not on account of rational thinking with application of reason.
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: A Pound of Foolishness is better than a Penny of Wisdom. Irrational Belief in Flat Earth is better than Rational Belief in Earth’s Shape and Real Motions in Space.
A Pound of Foolishness is better than a Penny of Wisdom:
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: What is Reality? The Golden Gate Bridge is real, Pacific Ocean is real, Sun is real. The Sunset is not real. Can man experience the Reality? How would Reality impact man’s existence?
The social scientist Bruno Latour, from France’s “Institut d’ Etudes Politiques de Paris” was in New Delhi, India and spoke about what it means to be modern with Deep K Datta-Ray of Times of India. In essence, I support his view and there is a need for a new approach; the use of irrational belief and not that of scientific rational belief.
Can Science provide the Experience of Reality?
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Pencil in Water Illusion. Can Science influence the nature of Perception? The Perception of bent Pencil is caused by the properties of Light rays. Science can only explain the reason for this Optical Illusion. Science has no Power to eliminate the Illusion. The only way man can experience the Reality of this Pencil would be that of changing the State of Pencil’s Conditioned Existence. It is easy to remove the Pencil from Water and experience the Reality. But, can Man remove himself from his State of Conditioned Existence and experience Reality?
It would be totally irrational to believe that Science could provide the experience called Reality. Science is not Power/Force/Energy which operates in the natural world. Science provides information to understand things and it has no power or force to influence things. Science may reveal understanding of the nature of Reality and such revelation could be of no use in the context of human existence on planet Earth as man lives because of illusional experience of the world and the universe in which he exists.
The Reality of Earth’s Motion:
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Science can explain the Motions of planet Earth. Science can not provide the experience of the Speed of planet Earth’s Motions. The Reality of Earth’s Motions is known and is understood. But, man exists only if this Reality is not directly experienced. The physical and mental experience of the Speed of Earth, the Angular Speed, and the Linear Speed would not permit man’s physical existence on the surface of planet Earth.
The speed of earth’s motion can be described in two ways; 1. The Angular Speed: The earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours and the speed is 1,000miles/hour. 2. The Linear Speed: The distance earth travels is 584 million miles per year. The Linear Speed of earth is 66, 660 miles/hour.
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Science may explain the fact of the speed of a point on the surface of the earth but cannot force man to experience the Reality of that Speed.
Science may explain the fact of the speed of a point on the surface of the earth but can not force man to experience the Reality of that Speed. Man exists on the surface of the earth without ever experiencing the Reality. There is no physical experience of this basic Reality. There is no direct mental experience of this fundamental Reality.
Man may intellectually visualize this Reality by understanding the facts explained by Science. If the human brain and body is constantly engaged by the fact of earth’s motions, the Reality of earth’s Angular Speed and Linear Speed, man would immediately experience a mental breakdown and would not be able to function as a living organism. Just think about the sense of fear, anxiety generated by a brief event like earthquake.
The Subjective Reality of man’s Physical Existence on the surface of earth is sustained, is supported, and is protected by a Fundamental Force called Gravitation. Because of the operation of Gravitational Force man is virtually saved from any experience of Earth’s motions. Man only experiences the environmental changes caused by Earth’s motions. Further, this Subjective Reality of man’s Physical Existence is governed by a Force/Power/Energy that causes an illusionary experience of Sun’s movement across the sky. Science would explain the Reality of Sun’s motion at a speed of 155 miles/second. But, man exists on the surface of earth with no physical or mental experience of Sun’s true or real motion. What man experiences is the apparent motion of Sun and experiences Sunrise and Sunset. Science may explain the Reality and teach us the fact of Sun shining with brightness all the time. Man has invented stories and has created folk tales about Sun’s Journey in the Sky. The Reality described by Science does not govern human existence. The biological activities, the Biological Rhythms (Circadian/Diurnal/Solar Rhythms) are synchronized with the experience of illusion which helps in the measurement of time and not that of Scientific Reality of true or real motions of this restless universe.
Whole Dude – Whole Spin: Biological Clock and Man’s Life Journey:
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Man’s existence on the surface of planet Earth and the duration of his life’s journey is measured by the internal Biological Clock. The time duration is measured by the alternating periods of Light and Darkness, the experience of Day and Night, the experience of Sunrise and Sunset which drives the Biological Rhythm. In Reality, the Sun is shining with brightness at all times during the entire length of man’s life journey. Man gets no chance to experience that Reality and the Biological Clock is not influenced by that Reality of Sun shining at all the hours of man’s earthly existence.
Biological Clocks time the Solar Day, the period of Earth’s spin or rotation relative to the Sun. While Earth spins or rotates, man experiences the illusion of Sun’s apparent motion across the path called Ecliptic and exists on the surface of Earth in a state of blissful ignorance of Earth’s Angular Speed, or Linear Velocity. The daily rhythm of about 24 hours’ duration makes it appear as though the organism is keeping track of each day and behaves as if it is a Living Clock.
Light appears to be the dominant Phase Setter or Synchronizer of activity pattern during the 24-hour cycles. The 24-hour rhythms are called Solar Day, Circadian, Diel, Daily, Diurnal (day-active), and Night-Active rhythms. Plants show their daily rhythm in sleep movements such as the daytime raising and nighttime lowering of their leaves, and the timing of flowering activity. In man, the daily alternation of sleep and wakefulness is accompanied by many chemical and physiological changes that include the activities of the nervous, endocrine systems, and the liver and kidneys. Daily variations occur in body temperature, in heart and respiratory rates, and in blood pressure and composition of blood. There are daily variations in chemical syntheses and in cell divisions.
Living systems display a timing capacity and behave as if they contain a highly dependable clock. The specialized properties of this clock suggest that it involves some unique biological mechanism indissociable from life itself.
Man can not exist on the surface of physical earth if he has direct body or mental experience of the Reality explained by rational Scientific Belief.
The very nature of human existence in this vast universe can not be rationally understood. There is no evidence to suggest that Life could be discovered in other parts of our universe.
There is no chance that man could find an opportunity to leave the Solar System and find a Home in a different part of the universe. Man has no control over the structure and organization of the universe. Man has no choice other than that of accepting the conditioned nature of his energy dependent existence with no other place to call as Home.
Rational beliefs have no role and do not define the status of man in nature and in the universe.
Man’s existence can get support by an irrational belief in Ultimate Reality, which operates the Power/Force/Energy which delivers Mercy/Grace/Compassion/Providence to spread a veil of Grand Illusion to defend man from the direct physical or mental experience of Reality of the Universe in which man lives.
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Man can only exist in this Universe if he does not directly experience the Reality of this Universe. Man’s earthly existence is defended by ILLUSION and Science has no Power to provide man a chance to experience Reality which is hidden by the ILLUSION.
The social scientist Bruno Latour , from France’s Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), was in New Delhi and spoke about what it means to be modern with Deep K Datta-Ray .
Why do you argue that Western Europe has never been modern?
The only shibboleth the West has is science. It is the premise of modernity and it defines itself as a rationality capable of, indeed requiring separation from politics, religion and really, society. Modernisation is to work towards this.
A move away from the pre-modern, which is a period of embroilment and entanglement of everything but when one looks at the practice of science in a laboratory, as I did, this division is revealed as false.
Scientists are very much entangled in their culture and this culture is not pristine, untouched by other cultures and practices. The real history of Europe therefore is one of a constant interaction, a mixing of peoples, various cultures and the material.
What does this mean for our understanding of what the modern world actually is, how institutions thought of as quintessentially modern function?
There’s very little on how today’s world actually functions. Instead there is the official story of modernisation. Meanwhile, there is a prominent discourse in India about modernisation.
My argument is that the baseline for understanding modernity requires interrogation, which destabilises expectations of what a modernising society should do.
Traditionally, the moderns criticised the supposedly archaic, symbolised by the East. Everyone wanted to become modern – but my work demonstrates that being modern was never as clear as presumed. So, when India begins to modernise what happens?
There is a double instability – of an uncertain baseline and then what happens when that is implemented in a society far away and especially in an institutional setting and in an area so close to the state such as governance. So there has to be more work on this.
This is especially important because there are so many more people here, it is possible to have institutions of a different complexion altogether, of alternative ways instituted here. India is a reservoir of alternative interpretations of what the global is and these ways of viewing the world need to be exposed.
Could it also be said that the idea of a universalising ‘modern’ rationality is not necessarily European but became dominant in Europe?
For that there has to be more work on the non-western world. Regardless of place, there have to be thicker descriptions of practice, of what the modern world actually is, how do banks work for instance, because all we have is utopian description of how modernity functions. The dream of utopia killed descriptive work because the focus was on a universalising rationality, not how rationality actually plays out in practice. It should be clear that i’m not saying the East is somehow different, exotic. If one looks at the works of Newton to Einstein they were never scientists in the way modernity understands the term.
What are the implications of this type of work on politics?
Well, politics cannot keep to the scientific ideal quite simply because science in practice meant our moving from the country to the city and getting progressively disconnected from nature. But now one cannot discuss anything without thinking of the whole. Science was supposed to take us out of the cosmos and into a universalising rationality but that has produced all sorts of problems which are being corrected today by new approaches which are reminiscent of the non-modern, such as the politics of nature. This is a cosmological approach, one that ties in everything to make a decision.
Whole Dude – Whole Rational: Man can exist in this universe only if he cannot experience the realities of the universe revealed by Science
Whole Dude – Whole Science: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Dean of the Harvard Medical School 1847-1882. “To live is to function and that is all there is in living.” Life is defined by the nature of its living functions. Consciousness is the absolute characteristic of all living functions and so I define Life as “Knowledge in Action.”
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Dean of the Harvard Medical School 1847-1882, says, “To live is to function and that is all there is in living.” Life is defined by the nature of its living functions. Consciousness is the absolute characteristic of all living functions and so I define Life as “Knowledge in Action.”
What is Consciousness?
Whole Dude-Whole Science: Why is this baby crying? Is it hunger? Is it thirst? Is it a wet diaper? Is it earache? Is it fever? Is it too hot? Is it too cold? Is it gripes or colic? Is it to get attention? Is it Consciousness? The baby is aware of something. The baby is aware of its existence in an environment and is also aware of its internal condition.
Consciousness is described as a state of knowing, or awareness, or recognizing the existence, truth, or fact of ‘something’. What is that ‘something’ that is known or recognized by Consciousness? I propose to explore the contents of Consciousness to answer the question of what is Consciousness?
Consciousness is a Sense Experience:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: What is Consciousness? Is it awareness of Sense Perception? Is it awareness of Thought? Is it awareness of Mood and Feeling? Is it awareness of Existence? Can there be any Perception without Existence? What is that Exists and Knows that it Exists?Whole Dude-Whole Science: The Neural Correlates of Consciousness defined by Mormann & Koch explores Consciousness as a sense experience. It fails to understand the Totality of Consciousness.
Consciousness is generally viewed as a form of relationship or act of the mind towards objects in nature. Consciousness has been described as a continuous field or stream of mental sense-data. Some biologists and neurophysiologists view Consciousness as a brain function and describe it as an exclusive function of the nerve cells; neuronal and axonal function. Dr. Florian Mormann and Dr. ChristofKoch have defined Neural Correlates of Consciousness (Florian Mormann & Christof Koch (2007) NCC, Scholarpedia 2(12):1740 ) as the minimal neuronal mechanisms jointly sufficient for any one specific conscious percept. Further, Mormann & Koch state that, “Consciousness is a puzzling, state-dependent property of certain types of complex, biological, adaptive, and highly connected systems. A Science of Consciousness must strive to explain the exact relationship between phenomenal, mental states and brain states.” They have posed the question: ” What is the nature of the relationship between the immaterial, conscious mind and its physical basis in the electro-chemical interactions in the body?
The answer to the above question is very simple. Consciousness is related to a material substance that is called Protoplasm and electro-chemical interactions in the body describe the properties of this living substance or material. The brain cells and all other cells have the same basic features; they are constituted by Protoplasm which has a Biological Membrane to define the limits of the Cell. Mormann & Koch also erroneously suggest that, “Only a few particular systems can experience anything, why they are Conscious and other systems such as the enteric nervous system or the immune system are not Conscious.” The enteric nervous system does in fact provide a wide range of Conscious experiences. A baby would respond with a cry when it experiences gripes or colic. In the practice of Clinical Medicine, the evaluation of pain as a symptom and as a diagnostic clinical sign plays a very significant role. The pain experienced by an individual with gastrointestinal, or genitourinary problems, or from inflammation of tissues and organs, and from problems with skeleton and musculature is registered by Consciousness. The immune system behaves in a Conscious manner and displays specificity, selectivity, and memory. A Living Cell is a highly complex, biological, adaptive, and highly connected system known in Natural Science. A simple understanding of various cell functions would explain this issue. For example, mitochondria are organelles found within most cells which provide the cells with energy. Extensive protein translocation occurs in mitochondria where about one thousand different polypeptides are imported from the cytosol. This event is orchestrated by distinct translocation machineries in the outer and the inner mitochondrial membranes. Mitochondria display functional awareness and perform the task of oxidising sugars and fats in a deliberate, and sequential manner that involves the use of different enzymes to facilitate each chemical reaction.
Consciousness is a Physical or Body Experience – The Concept of Homeostasis:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – WHOLE DYNAMICS – WHOLE EQUILIBRIUM: IN MAN, HEALTH IS RELATIVE EQUILIBRIUM OF BODY FORM AND FUNCTION WHICH RESULTS FROM ITS SUCCESSFUL DYNAMIC ADJUSTMENT TO FORCES TENDING TO DISTURB IT.
Apart from thoughts, intellect, feelings, moods, and perception of various sensory information, man is aware of the fact of and the state or condition of his physical existence. Man is aware or Conscious of hunger, thirst, and sexual drive. Man is aware of vital functions like respiration, and circulation. Man is alerted and often reacts with a sense of fear when these vital functions are disturbed or threatened in a significant manner. Consciousness or awareness includes awareness of bodily functions such as appetite, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting sensation, deglutition (the act of swallowing food and drink), satiation, and the functions of excretion and the associated sensations like the fullness of the bladder, and rectum. The human organism has awareness of its internal condition such as the state of hydration, water and electrolyte balance, and acid/base balance. The chemical events collectively called “metabolism” require the concentration of hydrogen ions and electrolytes to remain within narrow limits in the tissue cells and in the fluids which bathes them. Body responds to both volume changes and changes in the osmotic pressure of the body fluids. Life is possible only if the hydrogen ion concentration of bodyfluid is kept within a narrow range. In health, a blood hydrogen ion concentration of 36-44 nmol/liter or pH 7.37 – 7.45 is maintained by several closely integrated but widely differing mechanisms.
Whole Dude-Whole Science: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – WHOLE DYNAMICS – WHOLE EQUILIBRIUM: TO DESCRIBE EQUILIBRIUM AS APPLIED TO MAN, THE FACT OF BEING AT PHYSICAL REST OR IN A STATE OF MOTION IN THE GIVEN EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ARE LESS RELEVANT COMPARED TO THE REQUIREMENT OF “HOMEOSTASIS” AS DEFINED BY FRENCH PHYSICIAN CLAUDE BERNARD.
19th century French physiologist Claude Bernard had defined “Homeostasis” as “all the vital mechanisms, varied as they are, have only one object; that of preserving constant the conditions of life.” All living things maintain a constant internal environment or Internal Milieu. Living cells and organisms are aware or Conscious of the environment in which they exist as well as the state of their own internal environment making possible to witness this phenomenon of Homeostasis.
Consciousness is a Cellular Experience:
All the solid tissues in the human body consist of cells that are essentially similar to an Ovum.
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the former Dean of Harvard Medical School had defined Life by stating that, “To live is to function and that is all there is in living.” Who or what is the subject who lives because of its living functions? Consciousness is a cellular experience of the cells of the brain and the body. It is an experience shared by the Whole Organism. It is an experience shared by all the living cells. The living functions of cells include uptake and conversion of nutrients, synthesis of new molecules, production of energy, and regulation and coordination of metabolic sequences apart from the function of reproduction by asexual cell division. All the solid tissues in the human body can be shown to consist largely of similar cells, differing it is true, but that are essentially similar to an ovum. The most significant feature of similarity between the cells is the presence of a soft, gelatinous, semi-fluid, granular material inside the cell. This substance known as Protoplasm is similar to that found in the ovum or the egg cell. This viscous, translucent, colloidal substance is enclosed in a membrane called Plasma Membrane or Biological Membrane. A small, spherical body called nucleus is embedded in the protoplasm. The protoplasm could be differentiated into cytoplasm/cytosol, and nucleoplasm based upon its location. Cytoplasm refers to protoplasm located outside the nucleus. Nucleoplasm refers to the protoplasm located inside the nucleus. The two essential features of any living cell in the human body are that of the presence of protoplasm and the nucleus. The most striking characteristics of protoplasm are its vital properties of “Motion”, and “Nutrition.” Protoplasm has the intrinsic power to change its shape and position and the motion is described as amoeboid movement as the motion is similar to the motion that is observed in Amoeba proteus. Nutrition is the power which protoplasm has of attracting or drawing the materials that are necessary for its growth and maintenance from surrounding matter/environment. Nutrition is not a passive, unguided, and physical event. The Biological Membrane or the Plasma Membrane allows a highly controlled exchange of matter across the barrier it poses; some compounds are able to pass through the Membrane easily, others are completely blocked. The Biological Membrane helps to maintain cell’s internal environment or constant interior milieu in which intracellular reactions occur. To maintain life, the cell not only repairs or replaces, (or both) its structures by continual synthesis of new organic molecules. This is characteristic of functional awareness or Consciousness that is at work at the cellular level. The human organism uses a repair process and it is described as Inflammation and Repair. Wound healing, and hemostasis (or blood leakage or bleeding from an injured blood vessel is controlled) are natural mechanisms operated by Cellular Consciousness. Human existence is possible because of this valuable and protective healing process which comes into immediate play after an injury or damage. Similarly, the human organism defines its identity and defends its existence by deploying unique protein molecules such as the antibodies. Antibodies recognize their antigens or foreign protein molecules with high affinity and extreme selectivity. The ability to develop specific immunity to infection is only one consequence of a wider capacity in the individual to recognize and to specifically respond to the foreignness of an extensive range of biological substances that are not normally present in the body of that individual. The adaptive immune system remembers that particular infectious agent and can prevent it causing disease later. The immune system consists of a variety of molecules and cells that are distributed throughout the body. They play an important role in inflammation, tissue damage and repair, the killing of bacteria, viruses, and tumor cells. Cellular Consciousness defends human existence.
Consciousness is a Social Experience:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE: THE DEFINITION OF WHOLE PERSON. 1. CONSCIOUS BEING, 2. PHYSICAL BEING, 3. MENTAL BEING, 4. SOCIAL BEING, 5. MORAL BEING, and 6. SPIRITUAL BEING. This entire Human Organism is derived from a Single, Fertilized Egg Cell.
Sociology lays claim to the whole of human life beyond the biological level because virtually all human activities possess a social aspect. Consciousness can be viewed as the capacity in an individual to form harmonious relations with others and to participate in or contribute constructively to changes in the social environment. Man is a social being and he is aware of the social structures and the social organization that he is part of. Parental instincts and social instincts describe an aspect of social behavior exhibited by all animals. Animals exhibit social behaviors and form parental societies to care for their offspring. Bacteria come together to live as colonies. At cellular level, the social aspect of Consciousness is reflected by the cell’s abilities such as association, cooperation, communication using signaling molecules, recognition, and functional subordination in its interactions with other living cells present in its environment. In an Ecological System, the Consciousness plays the role to establish the interrelatedness, the interdependence, and the interconnectedness.
Consciousness is a Moral Experience:
Consciousness is the attribute of a conscientious person. Conscious behavior is often described as conscientious action that is scrupulous, characterized by or done with careful attention. Conscience describes awareness of one’s own acts and the application of knowledge to discern an act as right or wrong, good or evil, selfish or altruistic. Man has the intrinsic ability to recognize his acts of transgression or sinful conduct. Man is a creature with conscience and hence exists as a moral being.
Consciousness is a Spiritual Experience:
Whole Dude – Whole Science: The Consciousness begins at conception. THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN EMBRYO AND FETUS IS INFLUENCED BY TIME AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE MECHANISMS THAT OPERATE AND CONTROL THE AGING PHENOMENON. HUMAN EMBRYO, SIX DAYS ATER CONCEPTION IS READY FOR IMPLANTATION IN ITS MOTHER’S WOMB.
The word spiritual is often used to describe the fact of having a relationship based on sympathy of thought or feeling. Consciousness has a spiritual function as it establishes a relationship between the energy dependent living cell and its energy provider. The living cell is a thermodynamically unstable system. This means that without continuous input of energy, a cell will degrade spontaneously into a nonliving collection of molecules. The life’s journey of the human organism begins as a single cell, that of a fertilized egg cell. This single fertilized egg cell is Conscious of its existence, is Conscious of its energy dependence and it promptly connects itself to its energy provider. Human life begins to move forward when this egg cell implants itself into the maternal tissue and the biological mother has no cortical awareness of this implantation. Cortical awareness does not describe the Totality of Consciousness. The Science of Consciousness must describe the mental, the sensory, the physical, the cellular, the social, the moral, and the spiritual aspects of Consciousness.
Consciousness is awareness of Existence in an Environment:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: Amoeba proteus – Is this organism aware of its own existence in an environment? Is it aware of what goes on around it and what goes on within it?
Consciousness describes the condition of an individual; the condition of knowing, awareness, or recognizing the fact, the state, and the act of existence or living in a given environment. Thus, Consciousness is a natural principle that could explain what an individual knows and experiences about the world around one and inside one. There are two aspects of Consciousness that is registered subjectively by an individual; 1. Consciousness is a state of knowing or awareness of what goes on around an individual, and 2. Consciousness is a state of knowing or awareness of what goes on within the individual. Who is this individual who has the ability to know and be aware of its external and internal environment? The term environment refers to all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding, and affecting the existence of a given individual, or group of individuals. The individual is a living organism and the organism could be unicellular or multicellular.
Consciousness and Material Substance:
Whole Dude – Whole Science: Consciousness is an absolute attribute of Life; it is the fundamental characteristic of living matter or living substance described as Protoplasm, Cytoplasm, Cytosol, Nucleoplasm, and etc.,
Consciousness is an absolute attribute of Life; it is the fundamental characteristic of living matter or living substance described as Protoplasm or Cytoplasm, the essential living matter or material substance of all animal, and plant cells. Wherever Protoplasm is found, irrespective of the size, shape, and form of the cell or of the living organism, the contents of its Consciousness could be discovered.
Consciousness – The Law of Individuality and Creation:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: Identity and Individuality are the two sides of the same Coin. The genome establishes the Identity, and Consciousness establishes the Individuality of a Living Cell or of a Living Organism.
The contents of Consciousness vary from individual to individual. There are individualistic variations in the contents of Consciousness. There can never be two identical living individuals. Even when the cells are cloned and have the same or identical genomes, the state, or condition of Protoplasm that is Conscious is never identical. With the same genome, or different genomes, the living cells can only exist or live as individuals and they have no other choice. The living substance is the same, and the nature of Consciousness is the same and yet the contents of Consciousness are not the same. This Individualistic variation of Consciousness is the characteristic of what I describe as ‘The Law of Individuality and Creation’.
The Principles of Consciousness:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: Consciousness is the natural, vital principle that moves and animates all Life. The Living Cell knows the fact of its existence, it knows as to where it exists, and knows as to how it is existing.
Consciousness is the natural principle, the vital principle that moves and animates all Life. It has a set of defining features; it is the principle by which a living cell or organism knows the fact of its own existence, it knows as to where it exists, and knows as to how it is existing. Cognition is described as the act of knowing. Cognitive Science involves the study of all human activities related to Knowledge. These activities include attention, creativity, memory, perception, problem solving, thinking, and the use of language. Cognition is the process involved in knowing, or the act of knowing which includes awareness and judgment. The nature of cognition, the relationship between the knowing mind and external reality, is applicable in the study of living functions that are characteristic of the living substance or material called Protoplasm. These functions at cellular level that require cognition include nutrition, reproduction, metabolism, and association with other living cells present in the immediate environment. The human brain is often viewed as the Seat of Knowledge. Human brain’s ability to acquire, process, store, and use of information is essentially a function of the cytoplasm of the brain cells. Cognitive functions like perception and memory would establish Protoplasm as the Seat of Knowledge.
Consciousness in the Human Multicellular Organism:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: The Human Organism is an association of trillions of individual living cells. Consciousness serves the purpose of Functional Unity and all the cells display adaptive functional subordination to serve the purpose of the Whole Organism or the Individual. There are two distinct aspects of human Consciousness;1. The Capacity for Consciousness, and 2. The Contents of Consciousness.
There are two distinct aspects of human Consciousness namely the Capacity for Consciousness and the Contents of Consciousness. When Consciousness is viewed as a psychological or strictly as a mental function, it is represented by the Contents of Consciousness which is a function of the Cerebral Cortex. When Consciousness is understood as a biological or living function, it is represented by the aspect of Capacity for Consciousness. The upper brain-stem, the neural structures like the Reticular Formation, and Thalamus function to compose the contents of Consciousness and project the contents to the cerebral hemispheres via the tracts of the Ascending Reticular Activating System. The integrity of these neurons and neural connections is important to maintain the alertness, and Arousal State of the Whole Organism in its relationship to its environment and internal maintenance of coordination of various living functions.
The grading of Consciousness in Clinical Medicine:
Whole Dude-Whole Science: The reaction of pupil to light beam is often tested in the neurological evaluation of Consciousness in the practice of Clinical Medicine.
Apart from philosophers, psychologists, psychics, theologians and others, the term Consciousness is frequently used by the practitioners of Clinical Medicine. It is a useful term with several practical applications in the management of individuals with a variety of conditions that impact the neural functions, particularly the Arousal. In medical practice, the assessment and grading of Consciousness serves the purpose of being good predictor of the eventual long-term outcome or prognosis of the underlying disease or medical condition.
Whole Dude-Whole Science: In Clinical Medicine, the medical practitioner evaluates the Level of Arousal or Alertness of his patient.
In Clinical Medicine, the medical practitioner evaluates the Level of Arousal or Alertness of his patient. The different levels of Consciousness are:
a. alert or awake, fully Conscious and fully Oriented to person, place, and time. This Orientation represents the normal operation of Higher Intellectual Functions. A person who is Conscious, but is under the influence of alcohol or other psychotropic drugs, neural stimulants or depressants may not be fully oriented.
b. phase of automatism – the person is not fully alert as in Sleep-walking, or recovering from the effects of anesthesia.
c. Lethargic – drowsy, sleepy, but easily arousable.
d. Delirium – a state of mental confusion, a toxic condition, altered physical, and mental state or condition.
e. Stupor – semiconscious, responsive only to painful stimuli.
f. Coma – Unconscious or not responsive to painful stimuli.
Similarly, the Edinburgh method of grading Consciousness is:
Grade 0 – Fully Conscious
Grade 1 – drowsy but responsive to vocal command.
Grade 2 – Unconscious but responsive to minimal painful stimuli.
Grade 3 – Unconscious but just responsive to strong painful stimuli.
Grade 4 – Unconscious with no response to verbal commands and all other painful stimuli.
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS ) is universally used in the assessment of the head injury victim. This Scale measures and provides a score that ranges from 3 to 15 points by evaluating three kinds of responses from the patient.
1. Eye Opening: Spontaneous eye opening=4; Eye opening in response to command=3; Eye opening in response to painful stimuli=2; and no response of eye opening=1.
2. Motor Response: Obeys commands=6; Localizes pain=5; Shows flexion( decorticate ) response to pain=3; Shows extension ( decerebrate ) response to pain=2; and no response( no reflex muscular activity )=1.
3. Vocal Response: Oriented to person, place, and time=5; Confused=4; Shows inappropriate speech=3; Makes incomprehensible sounds=2; and no vocal sounds=1.
Such neurological evaluations are repeated periodically to record significant changes in the medical condition of the patient. However, it must be noted that Clinical Medicine always evaluates the totality of all living functions and the medical usage of the terms Conscious and Unconscious represent a careful interpretation in the context of the medical condition of the patient.
The Totality of Consciousness:
The Science of Consciousness must explore and investigate the entire contents of Consciousness. By understanding the nature of experience provided by the Totality of Consciousness, the condition, the state, or the act of being Conscious could be explained.
Consciousness is a Mental Experience:
Whole Dude – Whole Science. What is Consciousness? It is not a mental function but includes the experience of mental activities.
The term consciousness is most widely used as meaning ” attention to the contents or workings of one’s own mind.” English philosopher John Locke defined Consciousness as a psychological condition; it is described as the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind. In Indian tradition, mental activities are of four kinds and collectively constitute what is named as “ANTAHKARANAM”; these are : 1. “MANAS”- the seat of thoughts, 2. “BUDDHI” or intellect and knowledge, 3. “CHITTA” or the seat of emotions such as Kindness and Love, and 4. “AHAMKARA” or self-ego. The mental experience or knowing of these activities of thoughts, intellect, moods, feelings, and self-ego describe Consciousness as a mental experience. Using this view, many philosophers, religious thinkers, and mystics have shared their experience of different levels of Consciousness and have given names to the higher levels or states of Consciousness. Terms such as Pure Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, and Super Consciousness may describe some kind of mental experience and such terms may not add any information to understand the Totality of Consciousness and its experience.
Whole Dude – Whole Science: The Neural Correlates of Consciousness defined by Mormann & Koch basically ignores the existence of specific Conscious percept like NUTRITION by which the Living Organism shows its awareness of Energy dependence for its existence or living.
I dedicate this blog post to the nuclear engineers of the Tokyo Electric Power Company who are currently serving at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant. I sincerely applaud their spirit, dedication, and courage to confront the challenge of averting an imminent nuclear meltdown at this Nuclear Plant where Plutonium is being used as fuel at Reactor #3. I would remember the people of Japan in my prayers as I firmly understand that man is a created being who exists in the physical world depending upon the Power/Force/Energy which bestows Mercy, Compassion, and Grace upon all of us. The naturaldisaster, a combination of a powerful earthquake and a massive tsunami on March 11, 2011 resulted in loss of life and property and yet there is Hope.
As per the Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy, matter is indestructible. I pray for renewal, regeneration, and regrowth in Japan. Man has no choice, and has no alternative as the Subjective Reality of his physical existence is conditioned. Man exists in the physical world depending upon energy provided to him by his Creator and this acquisition of energy for biological existence is sustained by God-Connection. Man’s dependence upon Nuclear Energy and the consequences of Radiation exposure and injury should be fully understood.
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: A very powerful Earthquake and a devastating Tsunami initiated the Japanese Nuclear Disaster on March 11, 2011.
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Nature’s Fury- Tsunami hitting Natori, Japan. The Disaster that followed this tsunami is more frightening.
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Man’s dependence upon Nuclear Energy is the real issue to be faced by Japan, and the rest of the World.Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Japan’s Nuclear Disaster – Explosions and Fire at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: The explosions at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant has caused a breach in all the three containment structures and the risk of radiation escaping into the environment has become real and the consequences would be inescapable.Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: We need to earnestly ask ourselves: Is this Safe? Is this Cheap? Is this Green? In human history, the Japanese Nuclear Disaster on March 11, 2011 will be the most unforgettable Moment. Nuclear Power is more frightening than the Earthquake and the Tsunami that initiated this Nuclear Crisis. It also speaks about the effects of human activities on their environment and on the survival of other species.Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: The Safety of Nuclear Power is exposed by this image. The containment structures have failed and could not prevent the escape of radiation from the Reactor Core.
Ecological Awareness or Consciousness:
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: We understand the term Evacuation, Exclusion, or Danger Zone only in terms of its significance to human beings. We need to always think of the entire Ecological Community and man simply belongs to the greater Ecological Community.
The nuclear disaster in Japan will give us a reason to reflect upon the fragile nature of human existence. The Earthquake and the devastating Tsunami are understandable natural calamities and man has no control on geological events and Plate Tectonics. Man has no control over the tidal waves unleashed by the earthquake. However, man has to come to terms with his dependence upon Nuclear Power. This tragedy would also give us a chance to understand the interconnectedness, interrelatedness, and the interdependence of all forms of life. Consciousness is the awareness of something; the awareness of one’s own state of existence and the awareness of the existence of other conscious entities present in the environment. A living organism’s ability to detect the presence of other living organisms in its environment is the characteristic of the biological function known as consciousness. A living cell is conscious as it displays awareness of other living cells present in its environment. The relationship between the organism and all the factors including other organisms that make up its environment is described as Ecology. Consciousness establishes the interconnectedness, the interrelatedness, and the interdependence of a diverse population of living organisms that constitute a continuous ecological chain. This disaster speaks about the effects of human made radiation; the effects on the environment, the effects on other members of human community, and the effects on the Ecological Community in the areas affected by the disaster.
Man and Nature – What is the Relationship?
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: The Science known as Ecology, Bioecology, Bionomics, and Environmental Biology study the relationships between organisms and all factors including other organisms, that make up their environment. I derive Knowledge from Spirituality Science to understand as to how the relationship between man, and other organisms gets established.
Ecology considers organisms at the levels of individuals, populations, and communities. It will be easy to visualize the human toll in terms of sickness, death, and forced displacement of a large population of human beings. The loss, the pain, and the suffering that is endured by each human individual reveals only a part of this disaster of epic proportions. While we humans try to escape from a disaster zone or area, we need to recognize that our evacuation plans during an emergency fail to include the plant, and animal life with which we share our living environment. We need to take into account the land and water that exist in the area affected by a disaster. The problem is not that of simple relocation of human beings. The human costs are further aggravated by the lack of gasoline, the damage done to the roads and the lack of transportation to move a large number of people quickly and efficiently. The lack of food, safe drinking water, the lack of housing is often understood as a problem just affecting the human victims of the disaster. We have to give attention to the impact upon the Ecological Community as a whole. We need to understand the costs of nuclear industry, the risks it poses to life, and environment, and the long-term consequences imposed by nuclear plant shutdowns. Nuclear accidents get very dramatic attention. There is a fundamental problem with Nuclear energy it is not clean, it is not cheap, and it is not safe. It is very frightening when we face the uncertainties this disaster has imposed on us.
The Biological Effects of Radiation:
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: The Biological effects of Radiation are well understood. The human risks from exposure to Ionizing Radiation are known. We need to realistically assess the safety levels for the entire Ecological Community.
The General Electric Company designed Boiling water reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant had posed safety concerns when they went into operation during 1972. These reactors have about 1000 MW capacity per year and are similar to the Chernobyl 4 Reactor that exploded in 1986. However, in Japan, the reactors have better safety features. This type of Nuclear Crisis is an inherent risk that could happen at any time during the life of the reactor for a variety of reasons. The containment structures have faced a stress and sustained damage. The explosions on March 12 have demonstrated that the danger of radiation leak is not fully contained. These nuclear reactors built-in 1972 have an average lifespan of about 40 years and they are at the end of their operational life. We can never ignore the problem of aging that is an inseparable characteristic of the operation of nuclear plants. We have to recognize the risks imposed by the Suppression Pools that are designed to cool and trap the radioactive particles of Iodine, Cesium, and Strontium. It has been reported that levels of 400 millisieverts per hour had been recorded near the No.4 reactor at Fukushima. At that level of radiation exposure, the operators would be at a high risk of getting radiation sickness after two and half hours of continued stay. According to the World Nuclear Association, radiation exposure to over 100 millisieverts a year can lead to cancer. It has been stated that 1,000 millisieverts of radiation exposure causes immediate or Acute Radiation Sickness. The fatal dose of radiation exposure is about 5,000 millisieverts. The biological effects of radiation are determined by the amount of energy absorbed. Energy dissipation must be quantified to determine the exposure levels. The amount of exposure, the duration of exposure, and the area of the body surface that is exposed are the important factors that determine the nature of radiation injury or illness. The radiation enters the body either as waves or as particles that are electrically charged. Radiation enters body like minute bullets that cause localized injuries in the cells affected. Whether the cell dies immediately or shows molecular changes depends upon the number of sites in the cell that are bombarded and upon how critical these locations are. In the chromosomes, the molecular DNA structure could be damaged. High radiation doses cause rapid cell death. If the cell changes are more subtle, the damage to DNA would unable the cell to reproduce, or the new cells produced could be abnormal and not viable. The tissues most affected by radiation are those that undergo rapid replacement, such as bone marrow, intestinal tract, and skin. Some of the direct effects of radiation exposure include cell depletion, inability to produce new tissue, lowered resistance to infections, decreased number of Red Blood Cells, bleeding from disrupted blood vessels, effects of toxins released by tissue breakdown, and slower blood clotting time. The indirect effects of radiation exposure include tumor growths, a shortened life span, recurrent bacterial infections, anemia, and body ulcers. The explosions at Fukushima Nuclear Plant have exposed the highly radioactive material to environment and radiation levels have increased in the surroundings and in distant areas. It is not known as to how long the population would remain exposed to radiation risk as the population could not be fully evacuated. People in the Danger Zone have been warned to stay indoors. The longer-term exposure to radiation can raise the risk of Thyroid, and Bone cancers, and Leukemia. The incidence of birth defects and deformities would increase. People would become more vulnerable because of suppression of immunological functions. Children, pregnant women, women of child-bearing age would face the brunt of this nuclear disaster while the environment takes its time to recover. There can never be a happy ending to a very tragic story of this kind. There is no Winner and we are all Losers.
The Two Faces of the Nuclear Industry:
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Nuclear Energy – Is there a Winner? Are we all not the Losers?
The civilian uses of Nuclear Power often conceals the use of Nukes as weapons of warfare. The radioactive waste from both civilian and military use remains toxic for thousands of years. The waste is disposed by concentration and storage in casks. This disaster would reveal more information about the fate of highly radioactive waste that is often stored at the nuclear plant on a permanent basis.
Blessings to People of Japan:
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: In theIndian tradition, the epic story of Samudra Manthan or Churning of the Ocean, glorifies Lord Shiva who protected humanity from utter destruction by holding a deadly poison in His throat. We need a Savior to protect humanity from deadly toxins like Plutonium.
I seek the Blessings of Lord Shiva to protect and defend the existence of the people of Japan and wish them a success in their efforts to contain the problem of radiation leaking into the environment.
Time’s Divine Power of Healing:
On March 11, 2012, I am pleased to share the following photographs from Japan that display Time’s Divine Power of Healing. I continue to seek the well-being of people of Japan and the full recovery of its Land and all of its inhabitants.
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Time’s Power of Healing. March 11, 2012 vs March 11, 2011Whole Dude – Whole Calamity. Time’s Power of Healing. March 11, 2011 vs March 11, 2012
“Sarvesham Swastir Bhavatu”: This is a statement expressed in the Sanskrit language and it seeks the well-being of all people, of all nations, of all religions, of all races and of all living entities in their environment and community.
After the Japanese Disaster, A Reappraisal of Nuclear and the LNG Option
by Kent Moors Ph.D. | published March 14th, 2011
After the triple blow of a massive earthquake, aftershocks, and a tsunami, much of the infrastructure in northeast Japan is reeling, and the energy sector is descending into a significant crisis.
Already, a casualty has emerged: The resurgence of nuclear power as an alternative energy source worldwide has taken a direct hit.
Japan has now introduced electricity rationing, as more and more nuclear-generated power comes off-line.
As of Sunday morning, four of the six nuclear power plants in the district suffered damage from the natural disasters, while technicians lost the ability to cool six nuclear reactors at two of those plants.
Three of those units are at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco, TYO:9501) Fukishima Dai-ichi power complex, where a hydrogen explosion occurred Saturday at Unit 1 and a separate explosion was feared likely at Unit 3.
Such explosions are in the outer building – not in the one surrounding the reactor core itself. The Japanese facilities have two complete structures separating the core from the outside world, unlike the 1986 Chernobyl disaster (where the plant had only a single encasement). Nonetheless, the overriding concern in Japan is to prevent a meltdown at each facility.
If a full meltdown occurs, a huge, molten, radioactive mass would burn through both containments and all supporting structures, destroy the buildings, and release a mixture of highly radioactive particles to be spread by wind and rain.
How bad the aftermath would be depends on two things – how much radiation is released and the weather.
At least through Wednesday (March 16), the wind is blowing out to sea, rather than inland, toward population centers. That’s good.
However, reports yesterday about the detection of highly radioactive cesium-137 and iodine-131 outside the Dai-ichi complex means a small amount of dangerous radioactivity has escaped. Experts believe that the radiation problem is thus far localized and minor. Nonetheless, upwards of 200,000 people have been evacuated from the area surrounding the Dai-ichi complex.
To prevent the meltdowns – the worst scenario reminiscent of the cinematic treatment in “The China Syndrome” (1979) – operators have been pumping in seawater in a last-ditch effort to cool down the reactor core. Absent another significant tremor de-stabilizing the plants even further, most specialists believe this will be successful.
But there will be some major costs.For one thing, seawater corrodes the reactors, making them unusable. There will be significant downtime for other reactors, as detailed technical examinations take place, to say nothing of the massive cleanup required at a number of plants. The largest damage, however, is to the credibility of nuclear power in general.
Nuclear Expansion Plans Are Likely to Be Delayed
This calamity is not about inadequate company oversight or technical deficiencies.
This is all about how Mother Nature can undermine even the best-laid plans of mere mortals.
As the larger Asian region begins to ascertain the damage done to the nuclear-as-remedy approach, major nuclear expansion plans in China, India, throughout East Asia, and in Australia are likely to be delayed. The same goes for the two new reactors under construction in Japan and the 12 more currently in the planning stage.
The real impact, however, is likely to be felt well beyond Asia.According to London’s World Nuclear Association, there are at present 442 reactors worldwide providing around 15% of global electricity. Plans are already announced to build more than 155 additional reactors, most of them in Asia, with 65 reactors currently under construction.
Back at the epicenter of the present disaster, the impact upon Japanese electricity volume is already wreaking havoc on factories attempting to jumpstart production.
In trading today throughout Asia, shares were tumbling on concerns that major companies would be unable to return to any normal level of production anytime soon.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange also suspended any trading in Tepco. The company is facing an avalanche of sell orders that would greatly exceed the exchange’s 24% limit in the decline of share price.
Yet, despite the current sourcing problems, energy needs will certainly not abate.
LNG Is the Immediate Alternative
Prior to the earthquake, 54 nuclear reactors at 17 plants nationwide produced more than 30% of Japan’s power. Japan has already requested additional electricity from Russia, but the rolling blackouts introduced today will continue throughout the country.
The immediate alternative source of power will be an accelerated usage of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Japan had traditionally been one of the two primary users of LNG (the other being South Korea).
More recently, LNG has been increasing in transport volume throughout the world, even establishing a northern European spot market to challenge long-term conventional pipeline prices from Russia and prompting Canada to revise the terminal under construction at Kitimat on the British Columbia coast to move LNG to Asia.
In the U.S., a similar move to turn excess shale gas into LNG for export is also afoot (see “A Solution for North America’s Natural Gas Surplus,” November 2, 2010).
Closer to Japan, the Gorgon and other northwestern Australian projects, along with those in Papua New Guinea and on Sakhalin Island off of the Pacific coast of Russia, are gearing up a rising volume of LNG for export.
Much of that increase is bound for China, where five receiving terminals are right now at various stages of completion, and three additional ones are in planning. Still, there is more volume that can be brought to market, and Japanese utilities have been actively locking in additional LNG consignments governed by multi-year contract agreements.
Japanese energy needs are tailor-made for a transition to LNG as a rising fuel source for power generation. The country had already embarked on a robust project to expand existing LNG terminals and build new ones well before the earthquake occurred.
These are not coming on-line in short order… But neither are the problems with the Japanese nuclear network going away anytime soon.
Sincerely, Kent
Whole Dude – Whole Calamity: Time’s Power of Healing. March 11, 2011 vs March 11, 2012.
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION: ARISTOTLE, THE FATHER OF SCIENCE – “THERE IS A SCIENCE WHICH INVESTIGATES BEING AS BEING AND THE ATTRIBUTES WHICH BELONG TO BEING IN VIRTUE OF ITS OWN NATURE.”
Aristotle – The Father of Highest Science, First Philosophy, and Theology:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: ARISTOTLE- born 384 BC and died 322 BC. His Metaphysics brings about the convergence of Philosophy, Religion, and Science.
It gives me a great pleasure to dedicate this blog post to the memory of Aristotle. He surveyed the whole field of human knowledge as it was known in his day. He was at the Athenian Academy of Plato for 20 years. In 335 BC, he opened the Lyceum in Athens, a Center for speculation and research in every department of human inquiry. He became an authority for all philosophers, especially in Logic and in Natural Sciences. Logic, the theory of formal truth and validity originated in reflections on the practice of Dialectic introduced by Plato. For scientific knowledge, we need to know the governing principles of a subject and deduction from these principles provides not only the knowledge that something is true, but also the reason as to why it is true. Aristotle is recognized as the Father of Science and he defined Science as a deductive system based on evident axioms.
Aristotle’s Metaphysics – First Philosophy, Highest Science, and Theology:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: What a great Scene in the history of Man? If Plato and Aristotle come together, Reason and Faith also come together. The Scene at the Athenian Academy of Plato depicts the confluence of Religion, Philosophy, and Science.
Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and Plato’s Dialectic describe a method or inquiry that deals with the nature and relation of things – What each is, how it differs from others, what common qualities all have, to what kind each belongs, and in what rank each stands in its kind and whether its being is real-being, and how many beings there are, and how many non-beings to be distinguished from beings.
Metaphysics is concerned with the primary axioms, the universal principles applicable to all existence, and the transcendental properties of being. Aristotle claimed, “There is a Science which investigates being as being and the attributes which belong to being in virtue of its own nature.”
The First Philosophy described by Aristotle speculates about being and its subject matter includes all existing things as existing, and involves not only the question how anything which exists, exists (i.e., the properties of being), but also the question whether certain things, whose existence can be questioned, do in fact exist. In the words of Francis Bacon we can make a distinction between Physics and Metaphysics. Bacon stated that Physics inquires into efficient and material causes; Metaphysics inquires into formal and final causes. For Aristotle, Science means the demonstration of universal and necessary conclusions from self-evident principles. The modern conception of Science is that it represents knowledge founded upon experiment and extended observation. For example, Issac Newton in his book ‘OPTICS’ proposed to explain the properties of Light by using reason and experiments.
Man’s Essence – ‘Know thyself’:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: Know thyself.
The tradition of knowing oneself is the oldest established tradition in the history of man and it is a longer tradition than any other science. “Know thyself” describes a study in which the Knower and the Known are One; the object of the Science is the Nature of the Scientist. In the Indian tradition, “PURUSHA” is the Man or the Knower, and his body or “KSHETRA” is the object of Inquiry, and the Knowledge that is discovered is known as “Kshetra Jnana.”
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: What is Man’s Essence? This tradition of Knowing Oneself is a longer tradition than any other Science. Socrates tells his friends gathered in the prison cell where he is to drink the hemlock, “True phlosophers are ever seeking to release the SOUL and are always occupied in the practice of dying.”
Aristotle – Natural Science and The Science of Soul:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: What is Soul? Can Science investiagte or inquire about the existence of Soul? Does this organism known as Amoeba proteus has a Soul? What is its animating Principle?
Soul is the vital principle which moves and animates all life. Aristotle describes corporeal substances are composite of two principles; form and matter. What is called matter is potentiality, what is called form is actuality. In the above image of Amoeba proteus, its matter is constituted by its protoplasm, the living substance, and its actuality is recognized by the scientist when he observes its form. The existence of Amoeba proteus is known to man as it is made of two principles, the form, and the matter. The Natural Sciences are concerned with natural objects that are characterized by the fact that they are subject to change. Change is therefore the basic phenomenon. Matter and Forms are the Material and the Formal Cause respectively, of what comes to be.
Aristotle distinguishes four kinds of Causes. For example, a Building or a Thing comes into being because of the Builder, or the Creator known as Efficient Cause. Formal Cause describes the Structure by virtue of which it is the Building or the Thing. Material Cause describes the matter such as stones or wood that has received the Structure. The end or purpose for which the structure, the Building or the Thing exists is known as the Final Cause. A building or a house provides a place of safety for the man who lives there. The purpose or the end of a life form is to sustain its state of living.
Aristotle calls the forms of living things as “Souls”. “The soul is in some sense the principle of animal life.” As per Aristotle, “the study of the Soul falls within the Science of Nature.” The Greek inquiry into the soul extends beyond man, to all living things. So, it is relevant to investigate or inquire about the Soul that describes the Form known to us as Amoeba proteus.
Aristotle’s Treatise – “On the Soul”: The establishment of Spirituality Science: The Confluence of Inspired Knowledge, Speculative Knowledge, and Inferential Knowledge:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: Lord Rama and Spirituality Science. The Lord provides inspired knowledge, philosophy provides the speculative knowledge and Medical Science and other Natural Sciences provide the inferential knowledge to explore and investigate the connection between man and his Creator.
For Aristotle, the Soul rather than Man is the object of Science. He described three kinds of Souls: 1. Vegetative (plants), 2. Sensitive (animals), and 3. Rational (human beings). He believed that the Soul is merely a set of defining features. He did not regard the Body and the Soul as two separate things that mysteriously combine to form an organism.
If Soul is defined as the Immortal part of Man as distinguished from his Body, that kind of definition would suggest that Man is composed of two kinds of substances; a corporeal substance, and a non-corporeal substance. In my discussion on this subject, I tend to agree with Aristotle and suggest that Man is composed of one kind of substance and Man may not be divided into Body and Soul. However, I would like to discuss the issue of Man’s Essence, his Identity and Individuality in relation to Soul after this review of Aristotle’s ideas about material and immaterial substances. Aristotle tells us that to understand Substance, it would be necessary to consider immaterial substantial forms, like Soul and God. Only then can Man understand what it is to be a Substance, and what it is to Exist. He further described two parts of Man’s Soul; the intellectual virtue corresponds to the rational part of the Soul, and the moral virtues such as justice, courage, and generosity belong to the irrational part of the Soul which is subject to reason and has reasonable desires and feelings.
I divide Man into two categories and have described Man as the Self and the Knowing-Self.The first category describes Man as a Physical, Mental, and Social being, and the second category describes Man as a Moral, and Spiritual being. The study of Metaphysics eventually becomes the study of immaterial substance, immortality, and God.
Spirituality Science – The Convergence of Religion, Philosophy, and Science:
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence: The Bhagavad Gita is the source of Inspired Knowledge, my internal reflection is the source of Speculative Knowledge, and the Medical Science and Natural Science is the source of Inferential Knowledge to establish Spirituality Science as a method of Inquiry to investigate man’s relationship, partnership, association, and connection with his Creator.
Aristotle tried to define and establish a branch of Science which contributes Wisdom to deal with the first causes and the principles of all things. “There are other theoretical sciences, such as Physics and Mathematics which investigate causes or deal with principles, but they do not reach to the highest causes or first principles, nor do they take all things in their most universal aspect as the object of their inquiry. Physics deals with material things in motion; and the Mathematician investigates abstractions.” He claimed that Mathematics could be certain without telling us anything about Reality. He states that, “If there is something which is eternal and immovable and separated from matter, clearly the knowledge of it belongs to a theoretical science, not however to Physics nor to Mathematics, but to a science prior to both.” He gives two names to the highest of theoretical sciences. He denominated it both from the position it occupies in relation to all other disciplines and in terms of the kind of substance which it alone investigates. A substance which is formed by Nature will be explored by Natural Science. If there is an immovable, immutable, immaterial, or eternal substance, the Science of that substance is the highest Science and it deserves to be called “Theology” as well as “First Philosophy”.
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence. The integration of Science, Philosophy, and Religion.
I propose to study and investigate the immaterial substance or principle and name the Science of that Substance/Principle as “Spirituality Science”. If Divine is present everywhere at the same time, the Divine is present in both material and immaterial substances.
Whole Dude – Whole Confluence. The integration of Science, Philosophy, and Religion.
Whole Concept: How does Time Flows? The illusion of Flat Earth is a must to experience the illusion of the Cyclical Flow of Time.
Yes indeed, Life is Complicated. The complexities of Life involve exploring the phenomenon of Life in which the events called Birth and Death occur during the Cyclical Flow of Time and Life whereas in reality Time moves forwards in a Straight Line like an Arrow. The Study of Life must include the concepts of Past Birth, Present Birth and Rebirth.
Understanding Time and the Concept of Unchanging Reality:
WHOLECONCEPT – TIME AND REALITY: Happy Sankranti Greetings. Man has no true ability to formulate mental concepts unless the reality of the World is modified by other forces on which man has no control or power. Even if man knows that the Sun does not rise in the East and does not set in the West, his mortal existence is governed by this singular event.
The word ‘Concept’ describes a thought or an idea about a thing or event. Man exists on the surface of planet Earth and formulates his ideas or concepts about the reality of his existence and the reality of the world in which he exists. These mental concepts will not be possible unless the reality of the world is modified by other forces on which man has no control or power. Even if man knows that the Sundoes not rise in the East, and the Sun does not set in the West, his mortal existence is governed by this singular event.
I use the term ‘WholeConcept’ to describe the relationship between man, world, Time, and Space that is established by an Unchanging Reality which is unaffected by the dimensions of Time and Space.
Earth’s Rotational Spin provides the experience of Time by causing changes in the environment which Man perceives as Day and Night. This cyclical change of alternating periods of Light and Darkness is synchronized with Man’s Biological Rhythms.
Time is defined as the period or interval between two events or during which something exists, happens, or acts; the duration is a measurable interval. Indian thinkers have described ‘Time’ or ‘KAALA’ as a Power or a Force that is eternal suggesting that ‘Time’ existed before the formation of this created universe, Time operates during the existence of this created universe, and Time remains after the total dissolution of this created universe.
‘Things in Nature change with Time’. Does Time exert a force entirely of its own to change things in Nature? If Time is viewed as a Power or Force, who controls this Force and what are the Laws that operate this Force?
The Subjective Reality of Man’s physical existence is operated by the Biological Clock which may have a plan for Dissolution.
Everything that is born, everything that has come into existence, and everything that is conditioned arrives with its own plan for dissolution. Whosoever had arrived on this planetEarth, is sure to depart. Time operates this plan for dissolution. Time has the power to cause dissolution of the animate as well as the inanimate world and the physicaluniverse.
Whole Dude – Whole Concept. Time has a plan for dissolution of both animate and inanimate world.
Whatever qualities, or attributes such as material wealth, social status, social position, and physical state of well-being that man cherishes and desires most would be dissolved and would be rendered useless by the effects of Time. Humans lack the material, and the biological abilities to transform their physical beings into sources of perpetual enjoyment.
Time with its Power of Dissolution would eventually compel us to investigate and to explore the concept of Absolute and Unchanging Reality. This Subjective Reality of Man’s existence on this planet Earth which is a member of the SolarSystem would be dissolved by the influence of Time. The dissolution of Sun and the Solar System would not result in the dissolution of this universe that we currently know and understand. When man has been dissolved, the conditioned reality of this physical universe will continue and remains as before as earth and sun do not describe the total reality of this conditioned universe.
The Perception of Change and Human concepts about Time:
The Moving Train and the Perception of changing landscape. Photo Credit:Indyeahforever.
Many of you who learned Physics understand the term Speed and Velocity. A person riding in a train or any other moving object could perceive a change that is caused by the motion. The nature of this perception depends upon the Speed or Velocity of that moving object. If the person jumps out of the train, the change that he has been perceiving immediately stops. There would be no changing landscape. If the speed of the train is increased, the perception of change also alters and at very high speeds man actually loses the ability of visualperception. The visual image becomes a blur. If man is viewing a Motion Picture, his visual ability to view the Picture could be destroyed by simply increasing the speed of the Projector. Any given point on the surface of the Earth moves with the Speed of the Earth. Earth is moving at a great speed and man has no ability to perceive this motion or the speed. Man perceives a change in his environment and calls it day and night. We run our lives by numbers on clocks and calendars. The clocks and calendars create the illusion that we live in a world of mathematically measured segments of time.
Whole Dude-Whole Reality : Stimulus Distortion Illusion. This visual, optical illusion is produced by the refraction or bending of light rays as it passes from one medium or substance to another medium in which the speed of light is significantly different. A ray of light passing from one transparent medium(Air) to another transparent medium(Water) is bent at the surface where Air and Water meet. The Pencil standing in water appears bent at the Air/Water interphase.
Time is looked upon as a flow like a river. Sir Issac Newton (1687) stated that the flow of Time is absolute; “It flows equably without relation to anything external.” In 1905 while postulating the Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein observed that Time is not absolute and the measurement of Time is affected by the motion of the observer. The Relativity of Time becomes significant only at great speeds. Gravity affects both Light and Time. Gravity bends both Space and Light. Time is affected by the gravitational field of each celestial body. Time is unique to any one spot in the universe. If you and me do not exist at the same spot in the universe, our experience of Time is conditioned by the place or the position of that particular spot in the universe. Thus, the experience of Time on this planet is an illusionary experience and is not an absolute experience.
Kaala Chakra or the Cyclical Flow of Time:
The Cyclical Flow of Time brings Cyclical Changes at expected Time intervals. Life exists because of the Cyclical Flow of Time.
Herman Minkowski, a mathematician, added Time as the Fourth Dimension of Three Dimensional Space. Time is seen as a Dimension as it gives meaning to events and the order in which they occur. Physicists describe Time and Space as the building blocks of this universe. Biologists see Time in the internal clocks that keep all living entities in sync with Nature. Human existence and the existence of all other living entities depend upon this illusionary experience of Time. Life exists and operates only if Time flows in a cyclical manner just like a wheel that moves, rotates on an axle or axis. Man needs this experience of day and night during his entire life journey. Man needs the changing Seasons with its cyclical regularity. Just imagine the consequences to human existence if Spring Season does not arrive at the Time it is expected. You have correctly pointed out that planet Earth is not at the same location or place in Space as Time flows. Last year, we had experienced the Spring Season while Earth existed at an entirely different location and we look forward for the arrival of a new Spring Season in spite of the Change in the position. In spite of Changes in location or position, in relative terms, the Spring Season is the Unchanging Reality of the Conditioned State of Human Existence. Because of the Conditioned nature of Human Existence, Man always looks forward, and hopes that Time would flow in a cyclical manner bringing cyclical changes. Biologists describe Life in terms of Life Cycles.
Whole Dude – Whole Concept: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE ART OF KNOWING: WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF LIFE? CAN MYSTICISM HELP TO KNOW THE HIDDEN TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE? WHAT IS THE MYSTICAL INFLUENCE OF TIME THAT DRIVES THE AGING PHENOMENON?
All living functions have a rhythmic or cyclical quality. The exchange of gases during a cycle called Respiration involves the cyclical events of Inspiration and Expiration. The vital functions sustained by Circulation demands cyclical flow of Blood. The Individual and his State or Condition of Individuality remains existing as an Unchanging Reality as long as he experiences the cyclical changes in his bodily functions and in the environment in which he exists.
Whole Dude – Whole Concept: SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE ART OF KNOWING: HOW DOES THE HUMAN ORGANISM KNOWS ABOUT ITS OWN LIFETIME? THE AGING PHENOMENON IS RELATED TO MAN’S PERCEPTION OF TIME. HOW IS TIME CONTROLLING OR OPERATING LIFE EXPERIENCE?
I am that Unchanging Reality, the Reality of my Identity and my Individuality remains unchanged as my physical body experiences cyclical changes in its substance and in the environment where it exists. My phenotype or morphological appearance or outward appearance undergoes a constant change and this change is synchronized with the cyclical change called alternating periods of Day and Night. The Biological Clock precisely measures this Time interval or duration of my existence relative to the illusionary change; in Reality, the Sun is shining with all His brightness at all times with no significant change that I can perceive.
The God Connection:
Face Recognition Technology helps in the identification of an Individual. Under the influence of Time, the outward appearance undergoes changes all the time during Life’s Journey and yet the Identity and the Individuality survives the Time’s Power of Dissolution.
My Identity and my Individuality is the Unchanging Reality of my conditioned state of human existence. I had explored the Nature of this Unchanging Identity and Individuality. This Unchanging Reality of Identity and Individuality exists during the Time interval or duration of my God Connection. I know that Time existed before my creation, Time is operating during my existence as a created being, and Time would continue to operate after my physical dissolution. Time with its great power of Dissolution could not change my perception about my Unchanging Identity and Individuality because of my God Connection. It is rational, it is logical, and it is reasonable to reflect upon Absolute and Unchanging Reality as long as I maintain my Identity and Individuality which can not be changed or altered by the flow of Time.
Lovely story and nice response. The story holds a great truth in it. The truth is that change is the law of nature. The universe, which means the aggregate of all things in it, is changing right from the moment of the Big Bang. I wouldnt say that change is constant. Even the rate of change may be varying. Swami Sivananda penned a beautiful poem titled:”Even This Shall Pass” and some other philosophical essays and poems. All these were contained in a book authored by him, which he sent to me free when I wrote a letter to him in my student days but told him that I cannot pay the cost.
I believe that death which is inevitable for everything is only a result of unavoidable change. As far as I can analyse, the only law governing the universe is the law of (maybe changing) change. Even though we think that the earth is returning to the same position in space year after year, astronomers tell us that its relative position is changing. We never go back to the same point.
In this light, I don’t think there is anything that can be called permanent. As we can easily see from a train when we travel, the near landscape recedes in the opposite direction, but it seems to move relative to the far landscape, which assumes the character of being permanent. But after some travel, we find that the farther landscape also has changed, as against landscape which is even farther away. After some more travel the distant hills and dales at the farthest distance also vanish.
So we are changing, everything is changing, but we falsely hypothesise that it is all against the background of something that does not change. I believe that all change is perceived vis-a-vis something that changes in a slower manner, not vis-a-vis something that remains permanent. To crave for something permanent is madness and a wild exercise of a feverish imagination.
My own definition of civilisation is the construction of something which is less impermanent with the help of things which are more impermanent. All civilisations will eventually crumble. There is nothing permanent.
In this context, imagining a permanent god who will receive us into his kingdom permanently after our cycle of births and deaths is also illusory. With a person’s death, nothing more is heard from him. He has existed only once in the universe and it is just not true that his mind (as Buddhists propound) or his soul (as Hindus propound) will go on to take up another body, until finally God receives the mind and soul.
When a man dies, … THE END!
On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 8:30 AM, Dr. Rajaram Bojji wrote:
Truth, simple but so difficult to assimilate because, the question, “So, what next ?” arises. The King could have been captured and beheaded too. Yes that too will pass. Bit it gives a chance to the chance of the saying that may be, even the improbable horse may fly after all!
More often than not our own fear defeats us by painting bleak pictures of failure much before actual occurrence.
While doing tunneling, after making all the pep talk to workers and engineers facing repeated collapses, I used to sleep the night in frustration and depression, which you can share with no one. Get up in the morning and with a gusto start with the saying ” don’t worry , the horse will fly” ( reminding one self of another story when a man promises a King to save own beheading for a few days, that he would make King’s horse fly and before he was required to fly the horse some enemy King beheads the King and releases him from prison)… wear a smile and go back to the job.
Yes, as another American writer has said, the only thing you learn from living and observing life is that life goes on.
Story of a King
Once a King called upon all of his wise men and asked them “Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstance, in every place and in every time. Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me is there any mantra?” All wise men got puzzled by King’s question. One answer for all questions? Something that works everywhere, in every situation? In every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? They thought and thought.
After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on paper. But the condition was that king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no way, only then he’ll have to see it. The King put the papers under his diamond ring.
After a few days, the neighbors attacked the kingdom. It was a collective surprise attack of the King’s enemies. King and his army fought bravely but lost the battle. King had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him. His horse took him far away in the jungle. He could hear many troops of horses following him and the noise was coming closer and closer. Suddenly the King found himself standing at the end of the road – that road was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a rocky valley a thousand feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished. And he could not return because it was a small road. The sound of enemy’s horses was approaching fast. King became restless. There seemed to be no way…
Then suddenly he saw the diamond in his ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message. The message was very small but very great. The message was – “This too will pass.”
The King read it. Again read it. Suddenly something struck him; Yes! It too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the Kings. Yet today, the Kingdom and all his pleasures have gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies. However when those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass. Calm come on his face. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty. He had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of his Kingdom. The revelation of the message had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about those following him.
After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and were not on that path. The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fan fare at the door. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Everyone was in a festive mood. Flowers were being thrown on the King from every house, from every corner. People were dancing and singing. For a moment King said to himself, “I am one of the bravest and greatest Kings. It is not easy to defeat me..”
With all the reception and celebration he saw an ego emerging in him. Suddenly the diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again: “This too will pass”. He became silent. His face went through a total change – from the egoist he moved to a state of utter humbleness.
If this too is going to pass, it is not yours. The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours. You are just a watcher. Everything passes by. We are witness of all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.
Now as you have read this story, just sit silently and evaluate your own life… Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moment of sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent? They all come and pass away. Life just passes away. There were friends in the past. They have gone. There are friends today. They too will go. There will be new friends tomorrow. They too will go. There were enemies in the past. They have gone. There may be enemies in the present. They too will go. There will be new enemies tomorrow and they too will go.
There is nothing permanent in this world. Everything changes except the law of change. Think over it from your own perspective.
You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. Because nothing remains forever. Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will pass away.
Who are you in reality? Know your real face. Your face is not your true face. It will change with the time. However, there is something in you, which will not change… It will remain unchanged. What is that unchangeable? It is nothing but your true self. You are just a witness of change.
HAPPY NEW YEAR – THE PERCEPTION OF TIME: Astronomers use Universal Time, this can be taken as the Mean Solar Time on the Greenwich Meridian. The world is divided up into about 24 Time Zones
“The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking – A fundamentally flawed Argument:
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design.Whole Dude – Whole Design: The word ‘DESIGN’ means making a preliminary plan for an intended purpose. Could a spontaneous event provide me with a place to live in this Universe? This Universe is designed as it serves me and other life forms a purpose.
Science is knowledge derived from verifiable evidence. An important characteristic of the scientific method is that if a claim is made, it must be verifiable by other people. The word ‘DESIGN’ means to make a plan, or to form a plan in the mind, a purpose, intention, aim for an outcome; a preliminary sketch to work from to produce a thing planned for. Any action, or activity which is spontaneous in nature cannot be a product of ‘Design’. The word ‘Creation’ means an act that is inspired by a creative thought or influence. Creation cannot be a spontaneous act. Creation is driven by inspiration. Stephen Hawking has not chosen his words carefully and his claims would only add confusion and could be misinterpreted. As a Physicist, and to present a scientific thought or concept, he must present his views not as a matter of faith or belief but that of reason supported by accepted body of information that can withstand verification.
Whole Dude – Whole Design:Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design
The concept of ‘Logical Positivism’ states that, “Something could be said to be true if and only if it could be verified by logical or scientific procedures.” If a ‘Designer’ described as ‘God’ is not known by scientific methods or procedures, it may not mean that the ‘Designer’ or ‘God’ does not exist. Science may provide some understanding of natural principles and Physical Laws that could explain what individuals know and experience about the world around them and inside them. Could we extend scientific methodology of investigation into every field of inquiry? Could we find Truth and Reality as an external experience? Is it possible to visualize Truth and Reality if the Object of our inquiry is not dependent on us for its existence? If I am the subject identified as the ‘Knower’, I can know about the existence of an ‘Object’, if my existence is dependent upon the existence of that unknown ‘Object’. The ‘Designer’ called ‘God’ is not dependent upon me for His existence in the Universe. On the contrary, I recognize that my existence is not truly independent by its nature. I may not gain direct sensory experience of ‘God’ or the ‘Designer’, but the nature of my dependent existence points towards the direction of an entity that may sustain my existence. The Mechanistic Concept described by Dr. Stephen Hawking fails to account for the apparent purpose with which Universe exists and the function of Living systems that populate this Universe.
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. The State Tree of California, Sequoia sempervirens, Family Taxodiaceae, The Bald-Cypress Family, The Tallest tree in the world. Redwoods could be 385 feet tall. I am using the Redwoods as an example of a Living System to know if God created this Universe.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Is this God’s creation? A vacuum pump cannot pull water to a height of more than 33 feet or about 10 meters These trees pump water upwards using the process of Xylem Transport. During transpiration water is pulled up along a pressure gradient. A transpiring Sequoia would have a pressure in the Xylem of minus 14 atmospheres at the top if the atmospheric pressure at the base of the tree is one atmosphere.
The Redwoods represent the oldest living systems on planet Earth. Some trees have the estimated age of 3,500 years. The Mechanistic concept cannot explain the living functions like water transportation. The Laws of Physics and Chemistry are not adequate. The tree actively uses the chemical energy it generates and pumps up water to an amazing height. If the soil is dry and the atmospheric pressure drops at the base of the tree to a level like 10 atmospheres, this tree maintains the pressure gradient; the pressure at the top drops to minus 25 atmospheres. The tree is conscious of its own state of living and the environment in which it exists and has the ability to exploit Laws of Physics to sustain its own existence.
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Sequoiadendron giganteum – The Giant Redwoods represent the Most massive Living Thing on the face of planet Earth. The Giant Redwood could attain an immense height of about 325 feet and trunk diameter of 30 feet.
The Redwoods display the characteristics of intelligence, design, purpose, and ability to function in this Universe as a Living System. The shoot displays the phenomenon called ‘phototropism’ and literally grows towards heavens and the roots grow in a direction away from light and firmly establish the existence of the tree apart from nourishing its growth with water. Mechanistic Laws and principles cannot explain the Living Functions.
The Finite and the Infinite:
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. St Thomas Aquinas argues that the ‘finite’ points beyond itself to the ‘Infinite’ as its sustaining cause. I support this argument. Universe includes all matter, and energy that exists. To answer the question about the creation of this Universe and its purpose, we need to reflect upon the sustaining cause of Living Systems of this Universe.
St Thomas Aquinas suggests that we need to recognize the existence of things that might be objects of everyday experience. Reflection on everyday things and the everyday world reveals it as pointing beyond itself to God as its sustaining cause. Human beings are in process of constant change and the change is not the result of their own efforts, and even when it is, it does not depend on them exclusively. No object in the familiar world can fully account for its own act of existing, nor is it wholly self-sufficient; all are affected from without, operate in an environment that is not their own making. Living Organisms are Finite. The Finite points beyond itself to the Infinite. The system of limited beings, each dependent for its activity on something else of the same kind demands for its completion the existence of a ‘Unlimited Being’, one that is the source of change in other things but is not subject to change itself. Such a ‘Unlimited Being’ would be the ‘First Cause’ or ‘Ultimate Cause’ – it would be the ‘Unconditioned Condition’ of the existence of all other things. St Thomas Aquinas believes that human reason can produce the definitive proofs of the existence of an Infinite Being.
The Purpose of Universe:
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. What is the purpose of this Universe? If the Universe has no purpose, why does it provide me a place to live in it? Living Systems recognize and display awareness, responsiveness, and consciousness of the Beauty and Order of the Universe which provides them a Natural Habitat.
The Greek word for Universe is ‘Cosmos’ which stands for Beauty and Order. The Universe is everything that exists; all matter and energy; all living, nonliving matter, and all forms of energy including the chemical energy that living entities use to establish, and to sustain their existence in support of various living functions. The Universe is immense and could be of unknown proportions. Earth is nearly 13,000 km across, a tiny speck among myriads of larger and smaller specks in the Universe. I seek the Knowledge of the Universe as it exists with a purpose. The purpose of the Universe is to provide me and other life forms a place to live in it.
The Planets of the Solar System:
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Each planet of our Solar System exists as a unique, original, one of its own kind of object.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are known as the terrestrial planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are planets of the Outer Solar System. Pluto could be viewed as an Interplanetary Object if not as the ninth planet of Solar System. Earth is the only planet with vast expanses of liquid water. Earth has a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere filled with water vapor. Earth has a magnetic field indicative of a liquid metal core with electric currents in the metal.
The Rotational Spin of Planets:
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. The creation of Day and Night could be stated as a purpose of this Rotation.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. If a mechanism serves an apparent purpose, could it be the outcome of a ‘Design’?Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. A mechanical force is required to impart an initial momentum to spin an object. The force that initiated the rotational spin has also generated the “ILLUSION” of Sunrise and Sunset.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Moon is our nearest celestial object. Its rotation and revolution serves a purpose.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. The Strange Story of Mercury – There is a curious relationship between Mercury’s Rotation and its orbital Revolution around the Sun. Mercury has a 59 day period of Rotation and 88 day orbital Revolution period. This provides a striking contrast to appreciate Earth’s Rotation and Revolution.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Planet Mars has a Rotation period similar to Earth – 24 hours 37 minutes, but the seasons in Mars are twice long and the year in Mars is twice long as compared to Earth. Mars has very thin carbon Dioxide atmosphere and is also characterized by the paucity of organic molecules. The mechanical Laws of Physics are important and they provide interesting explanations to our observations of this Universe.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Venus is Earth-sized. Venus has a rotation unlike that of Mercury, Earth, and Mars which have ‘Prograde Rotation’-spin from west to east. Venus has ‘Retrograde’ Rotation-spin from east to west. Venus’ spin is also unusually very slow, taking 243 days to make a complete turn on its axis. Venus is very hot due to its Carbon Dioxide atmosphere and the Greenhouse Effect. Venus cannot support life.Whole Dude – Whole Planet: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Planet Uranus provides the contrast that I need to know about the planets of our Solar System. It is different from Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. What is the purpose? It tells me that Earth functions with a purpose.Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. Man can only exist in this Universe if he does not directly experience the Reality of this Universe. Man’s earthly existence is defended by ILLUSION and Science has no Power to provide man a chance to experience Reality which is hidden by the ILLUSION.
Different planets have different rates of rotation. We use Earth’s spin to define coordinate systems for locating objects both on the ground and the sky. The timekeeping system that we use is related to the rotation of the Earth. My human existence in this Universe is synchronized with the rotational spin of the Earth. The spin gives me alternating periods of light and darkness known as Day and Night while the Sun is shining all the time. The material energy that imparted the necessary momentum to initiate the rotational spin could be described as “MAYA”; a Fundamental Force that causes Illusion. The illusion of Sunrise and Sunset governs my Biological Rhythm which is named as Solar Rhythm, Diurnal Rhythm, and Circadian Rhythm. The Laws of Physics may give an explanation for the rotational spin of planet Earth. However, I claim that the rotational spin has a purpose. The purpose of the rotational spin of planet Earth is to transform my Future into Past and my Present is a mere instant in this Future-Past Continuum. My body experiences aging using an internal timing mechanism which measures the length of my days and nights that I spend on planet Earth. This timing mechanism known as ‘Biological Clock’ has a plan for my dissolution as an Individual at the end of a predetermined time. My life span is governed by the rotational spin of Earth, a product of ILLUSION called ‘MAYA’. If in Truth and Reality, I exist as an Eternal Entity; an Entity that is never born, Unborn, which has no Beginning, no Middle, and no End; the rotational spin generates the ILLUSION of my Dissolution. The methodologies used by Science may not have the ability to refute or establish the Truth and Reality of the Human Existence with a Past, Present, and a Future.
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design. The Biological Clock serves a purpose. It has a plan for my ‘Dissolution’. However, it is managed by a Fundamental Force called ‘MAYA’ which generates an ‘Illusion’; the ILLUSION of Sunrise and Sunset while the Sun is shining all the time. What is Reality?
London: British physicist Stephen Hawking has said that the creation of the universe was a result of the inevitable laws of physics and it did not need God’s help.
In his latest book titled “The Grand Design”, Hawking writes: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.”
He rejects Isaac Newton’s theory that the universe did not spontaneously begin to form but was set in motion by God. He wrote in the 1988 book: “If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we should know the mind of God.”
“It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch-paper and set the universe going,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Hawking as writing in his current book.
Hawking argues that the Big Bang which resulted in the creation of the Solar System and planets, including the earth, was the result of the inevitable laws of physics and God was nowhere in the picture. Earlier, a few scientists, including Hawking himself, had said that the spark plug that kick-started the universe through the Big Bang was probably provided by God.
Extracts of The Grand Design was published in Eureka magazine in The Times. And in that Hawking is quoted as saying: “It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch-paper and set the Universe going.”
Hawking had been putting forward the `no-God’ theory for quite some time. In June, he had told a Channel 4 series that a “personal” God did not exist.
“The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can’t understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science ‘God’, but it wouldn’t be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions.”
However, there are unexplained phenomena in astrophysics. For example, researchers are yet to identify the `dark matter’ that comprise over 75 per cent of the universe. Black holes, dark energy and God’s particle — phenomena that resulted either in the formation of the universe or in its death, have not been conclusively explained by science.
The Grand Design, co-written by American physicist Leonard Mlodinow, is published on September 9.
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design.
Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
Video Credit: NASA, Animation: James O’Donoghue (JAXA)
Explanation: How does your favorite planet spin? Does it spin rapidly around a nearly vertical axis, or horizontally, or backwards? The featured video animates NASA images of all eight planets in our Solar System to show them spinning side-by-side for an easy comparison. In the time-lapse video, a day on Earth — one Earth rotation — takes just a few seconds. Jupiter rotates the fastest, while Venus spins not only the slowest (can you see it?), but backwards. The inner rocky planets, across the top, most certainly underwent dramatic spin-altering collisions during the early days of the Solar System. The reasons why planets spin and tilt as they do remains a topic of research with much insight gained from modern computer modeling and the recent discovery and analysis of hundreds of exoplanets: planets orbiting other stars.
Whole Dude – Whole Design: Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design is a fundamentally flawed argument. The Universe is a created with a purpose. It is created to provide a home for my human existence. Stephen Hawking has to validate his argument and prove that there is no purpose and there is no design
Whole Dude – Whole Universe: A Designer Universe is described by a Greek word called ‘COSMOS’ which means Beauty and Order. The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.
If an object comes into existence as a new object, and if it is unique, distinctive, and one of its kind, I describe that object as a created object and it cannot be described as a manufactured object. The distinction between creating an object and manufacturing an object is that of inspiration; the action must be characterized by creative thought or influence. Astronomer John Gribbin in his article about the origin of Universe makes an attempt to discuss “Unknown” “Unknowns”. He considers that God is unknown and incomprehensible.
Instead of discussing “Unknown” ‘Unknowns”, we may rather try to understand known “Unknowns”. If the Universe is a “Multiverse” with unknown physical laws operating equally unknown universes, the discussion would be futile. We are not present at the time of the birth of this Universe in which we exist today.
The birth and the origin of this Universe is unknown. However, we know the Universe as it exists today and it is partly known and comprehensible. It is reasonable to reflect upon the known aspects of this known Universe.
Planet Earth is a created object:
Different planets have different rates of Rotation. Earth’s Rotational Spin makes it a unique Celestial Body. This Rotational Spin is a characteristic of its Design with purpose, and imagination.The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.This is the photo image of a new Exoplanet. It is not an Earth like object. This new planet has a different rate of rotation. The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.
There are good and valid reasons to believe that planet Earth is unique, distinctive, and one of its own kind. Man has not discovered any object in this Universe which could be comparable to planet Earth. Man is endowed with Sensory Perception, Mind, Intellect, and Consciousness. The sky that man visualizes while existing on Earth is BLUE in color and the color of the sky beyond planet Earth is BLACK. This Visual Sense Perception demands existence of special organs for Color perception and an appropriate physical medium that can scatter Light rays. Man has organs for Hearing, his environment has the natural ability to propagate Sound Waves, and several of the living entities have special organs to generate Sound. This ability to produce Sound, Propagate Sound Energy, and Perception of Sound is unique to our planet Earth. Unless demonstrated by evidence of Sound Recordings, this Auditory Sense Perception prevails only on planet Earth. Apart from the Soil of this Earth which has a unique fragrance of its own called ‘GEOSMIN’, Man exists in a fragrant world. This Olfactory Sense Perception is a unique experience and could exist only on planet Earth. For this Olfactory Sense function we need the simultaneous operation of physical, chemical, and biotic factors. The Fresh Water that supports Man’s Life has an original, and distinctive pure taste of its own. Man lives tasting unique organic molecules which produce the Gustatory experience. As the saying goes, ‘The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating’; we need acceptable proof about the existence of such unique organic molecules in the rest of the Universe. Today, planet Earth is the only place where Man can Dine and Wine. Man has the ability to actually experience the Power of Creation. The Tactile Sense Perception gives Man the ability to hold his own Baby in his arms and directly experience the New Product as a Created Object. Man always comes into existence as a new, distinctive, unique, and one of his own kind Object. The unique GENOME with which Man takes his birth and comes to Life has not existed before and would not exist again after his Death.
Whole Dude – Whole Universe: Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 Mission on Lunar Soil. Man has not yet discovered “BLUE SKY” in the rest of the Universe away from his Planetary Home.The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.
Intelligence and Consciousness:
Whole Dude – Whole Universe: The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.
Intelligence is the ability to acquire and to retain Knowledge. Hence, it may be stated that Intelligence is characterized by the presence of Knowledge. The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness. Knowledge means the Act of Knowing, the State of Knowing, and the Fact of Knowing a range of information. Man, and other living entities which are endowed with Intelligence can use and exploit the Natural Laws that operate in the material Universe to sustain their own existence. Physical Systems do not need Intelligence in their mechanical operations. I must also add that “Unintelligent Laws” that operate material Nature and Universe cannot give birth to “Intelligent” minds. Intelligence and Knowledge are Biological Functions and they characterize only Living Systems. Both Intelligence and Knowledge are revealed in the application of information in a function/action/activity of a living organism. This ability which gives a sense of ‘Awareness’ of the environment in which a living organism exists is called ‘Consciousness’. The Living Organism is a Conscious entity, and it demonstrates its intelligence and knowledge in its living functions. Man uses his intelligence to exploit the Laws of Nature to his advantage. Man harnesses energy from wind, sun, flowing water, and surf. He generates a new form of energy using these resources of energy. He uses intelligence to transform coal energy into fossil fuel, or to generate electrical power. If water flows only in the direction of a natural gradient, man installs a pump and makes the water flow in the opposite direction. Similarly, plants trap light energy and transform radiation energy into chemical energy and create organic molecules. Man oxidizes these organic molecules and converts oxidative energy into chemical energy which he further uses for all of his living functions. A stone could also get heated by Sun and trap some light energy. Stone has no Intelligence or Knowledge and it cannot convert the energy it gained into a different form of energy and use it to build molecules of its own kind. Metals, liquids, and gases do physically expand upon heating and such expansion is not associated with addition of new molecules of their own kind. Only living entities have the “ability” to exploit energy from material nature. The “Designer” who has Mind and Intelligence could be defined as a Living System as Life could be defined as “Knowledge in Action.”
Whole Dude – Whole Universe: The Mind and Intellect of the Designer is always imprinted on His Design. Man experiences his Life on planet Earth with the help of a ‘Biological Clock’ which acts as an internal timing mechanism.
The Indian Tradition offers a very simple and reasonable explanation to all this. Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VII (Knowledge of the Absolute ), verses 4 and 5 states that “Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego – altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies. (Material Nature is known as ‘Prakriti’). There is a superior energy of Mine; which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and who sustain the universe.” Further, verse 9 states that, “I am the life of all that lives.” Verse 10 states that, “I am the original seed of all existences.” Verse 8 affirms that, “I am …… ability in man.” If Mind, and Intelligence are viewed as forms of material energy, the embodied Soul has the “ABILITY” to exploit that energy apart from energies of material nature or Prakriti. The Knowledge of the Absolute describes Living entities as manifestations of Lord Krishna’s Superior Energy. Man is related to the Superior Energy and hence the Living Systems and the Absolute share the same characteristics like Knowledge, Intelligence, and Consciousness. The Bhagavad Gita in Chapter X (The Opulence of the Absolute), verse 22 states that “……… in living beings I am Consciousness.” The Status of Man in Nature and his conditioned Existence on planet Earth describes the Design and testifies about the Mind and Intellect of the Designer, a Creator God.
The Bhagavad Gita reveals the Mind and Intellect of the Designer. The Design for this Universe and the Plan of Creation are Revealed in Chapter X ( The Opulence of the Absolute ), verse 8 states:”I am the source of everything; from Me the entire Creation flows.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter XVIII (The Perfection of Renunciation) in verses 13 and 14 explains that there are five “causes” in the accomplishment of any action, or any kind of work including that of creation and designing the Universe and the living entities that struggle and sustain this Universe. If there are no living entities, there would be no struggle with material nature, and there would be no purpose for the Universe to exist. The five factors of action are 1. the Place of Action, 2. The Doer, 3. the Senses, 4. the Endeavor, 5. and ultimately the Super Soul (which is often stated as the Prime Cause). The Absolute, or the Super Soul has functioning Sense Organs or a Sensory System, and has Intelligence, Mind, Knowledge, Ability, and Consciousness. Lord Krishna has described Himself as the “Consciousness in all the living entities.”
There are five factors of action; the place of action, the doer, the senses, the endeavor, and the Supersoul or Prime Cause. This Designer Universe in which Man exists reveals all the five causes that accomplished the Act of Creation.
The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
By JOHN GRIBBIN – THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Added: Tuesday, 31 August 2010 at 4:41 PM
The argument over whether the universe has a creator, and who that might be, is among the oldest in human history. But amid the raging arguments between believers and skeptics one possibility has been almost ignored – the idea that the universe around us was created by people very much like ourselves, using devices not too dissimilar to those available to scientists today.
As with much else in modern physics, the idea involves particle acceleration, the kind of thing that goes on in the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Before the LHC began operating, a few alarmists worried that it might create a black hole which would destroy the world. That was never on the cards: although it is just possible that the device could generate an artificial black hole, it would be too small to swallow an atom, let alone the Earth.
However, to create a new universe would require a machine only slightly more powerful than the LHC – and there is every chance that our own universe may have been manufactured in this way.
This is possible for two reasons. First, black holes may – as science fiction aficionados will be well aware – act as gateways to other regions of space and time. Second, because of the curious fact that gravity has negative energy, it takes no energy to make a universe. Despite the colossal amount of energy contained in every atom of matter, it is precisely balanced by the negativity of gravity.
Black holes, moreover, are relatively easy to make. For any object, there is a critical radius, called the Schwarzschild radius, at which its mass will form a black hole. The Schwarzschild radius for the Sun is about two miles, 1/200,000th of its current width; for the Earth to become a black hole, it would have to be squeezed into a ball with a radius of one centimetre.
The black holes that could be created in a particle accelerator would be far smaller: tiny masses squeezed into incredibly tiny volumes. But because of gravity’s negative energy, it doesn’t matter how small such holes are: they still have the potential to inflate and expand in their own dimensions (rather than gobbling up our own). Such expansion was precisely what our universe did in the Big Bang, when it suddenly exploded from a tiny clump of matter into a fully-fledged cosmos.
Alan Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first proposed the now widely accepted idea of cosmic inflation – that the starting point of the Big Bang was far smaller, and its expansion far more rapid, than had been assumed. He has investigated the technicalities of “the creation of universes in the laboratory”, and concluded that the laws of physics do, in principle, make it possible.
The big question is whether that has already happened – is our universe a designer universe? By this, I do not mean a God figure, an “intelligent designer” monitoring and shaping all aspects of life. Evolution by natural selection, and all the other processes that produced our planet and the life on it, are sufficient to explain how we got to be the way we are, given the laws of physics that operate in our universe.
However, there is still scope for an intelligent designer of universes as a whole. Modern physics suggest that our universe is one of many, part of a “multiverse” where different regions of space and time may have different properties (the strength of gravity may be stronger in some and weaker in others). If our universe was made by a technologically advanced civilization in another part of the multiverse, the designer may have been responsible for the Big Bang, but nothing more.
If such designers make universes by manufacturing black holes – the only way to do it that we are aware of – there are three levels at which they might operate. The first is just to manufacture black holes, without influencing the laws of physics in the new universe. Humanity is nearly at this level, which Gregory Benford’s novel Cosm puts in an entertaining context: an American researcher finds herself, after an explosion in a particle accelerator, with a new universe on her hands, the size of a baseball.
The second level, for a slightly more advanced civilization would involve nudging the properties of the baby universes in a certain direction. It might be possible to tweak the black holes in such a way that the force of gravity was a little stronger than in the parent universe, without the designers being able to say exactly how much stronger.
The third level, for a very advanced civilization would involve the ability to set precise parameters, thereby designing it in detail. An analogy would be with designer babies – instead of tinkering with DNA to get a perfect child, a scientists might tinker with the laws of physics to get a perfect universe. Crucially, though, it would not be possible in any of these cases – even at the most advanced level – for the designers to interfere with the baby universes once they had formed. From the moment of its own Big Bang, each universe would be on its own.
This might sound far-fetched, but the startling thing about this theory is how likely it is to happen – and to have happened already. All that is required is that evolution occurs naturally in the multiverse until, in at least one universe, intelligence reaches roughly our level. From that seed point, intelligent designers create enough universes suitable for evolution, which bud off their own universes, that universes like our own (in other words, suitable for intelligent life) proliferate rapidly, with “unintelligent” universes coming to represent a tiny fraction of the whole multiverse. It therefore becomes overwhelmingly likely that any given universe, our own included, would be designed rather than “natural”.
While the intelligence required to do the job may be (slightly) superior to ours, it is of a kind that is recognizably similar to our own, rather than that of an infinite and incomprehensible God. And the most likely reason for such an intelligence to make universes is the same for doing things like climbing mountains, or studying the nature of subatomic particles – because we can. A civilization that has the technology to make baby universes would surely find the temptation irresistible. And if the intelligences are anything like our own, there would be an overwhelming temptation at the higher levels of universe design to improve upon the results.
This idea provides the best resolution yet to the puzzle Albert Einstein used to raise, that “the most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible”. The universe is comprehensible to the human mind because it was designed, at least to some extent, by intelligent beings with minds similar to our own.
The great British astronomer Fred Hoyle suggested that the laws of physics were so uniquely conducive to human existence that the universe must be “a put-up job”. I believe he was right: the universe was indeed set up to provide a home for life, even if it evolved through a process of natural selection, with no need for outside interference. It isn’t that man was created in God’s image – rather that our universe was created, more or less, in the image of its designers.
Dr John Gribbin is a visiting fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex and author of ‘InSearch of theMultiverse’ (Penguin), available from Telegraph Books for £9.99 plus 99p p&p. Call 0844 8711515 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk
Whole Dude – Whole Universe: The Laws that operate in the material universe have no intelligence. Nonliving matter has no intelligence. Intelligence can only exist in living entities that have the abilities of Perception, Cognition, Awareness, and Consciousness.
TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS - DOES IT DESCRIBE THE POWER OF TIME?
THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES AND CONCEPTS ABOUT TIME :
The words of the Preacher, the son of King David, King in Jerusalem, Solomon the Wise.
King Solomon is believed to be the author of The Book of Ecclesiastes, The Old Testament Book of Holy Bible. These are his words from Chapter 3, verses 1-11 :
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under Heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
THE HEALING POWER OF TIME :
Human existence could be challenged by physical and psychological injuries. A physical injury could also cause a significant amount of psychological damage and to a similar extent, unhealed psychological wounds may impair physical health and wellbeing. A psychological insult or injury may impact the activities and the normal functioning of a person who is not otherwise physically diseased. Human body is naturally endowed with an ability to repair damage caused to body tissues by physical injuries and other insults. The Repair process by which body heals itself is described as Inflammation and Repair. Human existence is possible because of this valuable, and protective natural healing process. However, this healing process and mechanisms are not under man’s voluntary control. The inflammatory reaction and the repair process result in scars as remnants. Once inflammation has subsided, the body may heal by regeneration of original tissue or the original tissue could be replaced by fibrotic connective tissue leading to scarring; very often wounds heal by a combination of these two events. Different tissues in the human body have different regenerative capacities. Basing upon the ability of regeneration, three different types of cells make up the human body: 1. Labile Cells – have the ability to regenerate throughout life. The epithelial cells of skin surface are regenerated on a regular basis giving us the ability to sustain our physical appearance as long as we live. Several other cells particularly found in blood, lymph, and spleen have this ability. 2. Stable Cells – have the ability to multiply and proliferate throughout life but are dormant unless stimulated. The cells of liver, pancreas, kidney, smooth muscles such as found in the wall of intestines, and the cells of the inner lining of blood vessels belong to this category. If a part of liver is removed, the liver can regenerate new liver cells and the resected liver regains its original size. 3. Permanent Cells – these cells do not have the ability to replicate and when injured or damaged are always replaced by connective tissue that results in loss of function. Neurons, skeletal muscle cells, and cardiac muscle cells belong to this type. The injury of neurons may cause paralysis. The injury of cardiac muscle cells may cause heart failure or cardiac arrest.
The natural process of Wound Healing is Time related.
The human body’s ability to heal itself also depends upon the nature of the insult and the agent causing the injury. Several physical, chemical, and biological agents have a great potential to cause severe damage and result in structural and functional impairment of the body from which recovery is not possible. Wound healing and restoration of function represent a process critical to the practice of Surgery. Surgeons are able to provide curative and restorative services because of the human body’s natural ability to heal itself.
TYPES OF WOUND HEALING :
The Healing of Wounds takes Time and the Types of Wound Healing is also related to the Time Factor.
Wound Healing is the process in which a physical injury ( like a cut injury ) undergoes repair with restoration of intrinsic tissue strength and function and also with resistance to infection and other external influences. Wound Healing is affected by the type of the Wound. Clean, sterile wounds that are not at the risk of contamination by other body secretions from the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary tract, or the respiratory tract heal better. Infected wounds and contaminated wounds heal slowly. If a wound is suspected to be contaminated the wound is often left open to evaluate the problem and to control any infectious agent. There are three types of Wound Healing described.
1. Primary Intention or First Intention Wound Healing – Primary Union occurs when there has been little tissue damage, the wound is clean and is not contaminated by foreign matter, the wound is not infected, and the wound edges are closely approximated and are in proper contact. The edges of a wound should be approximated as early as possible after the injury. The surgical procedure known as Primary Wound Closure allows the wound to heal by First Intention. These wounds heal rapidly with minimal amount of scarring. A Surgeon while operating inflicts clean incised wounds and closes the wounds at the end of the surgical procedure. Nature takes over the process of Healing which proceeds in a timely fashion.
The Natural Wound Healing Process known as Inflammation and Repair involves several different kinds of body cells and chemical mediators. Macrophage is one such cell. It eats up dead tissue and devours harmful bacteria, and engulfs foreign matter present in the wound.
2. Second Intention Wound Healing – It will not be possible to close wounds immediately after an injury if the wound is large, and the two skin edges are not in contact; the wound contains a lot of dead tissue or foreign matter, or is infected. The wound could be intentionally left open until the surgeon could make it clean. Sometimes, the injured person arrives late after sustaining an injury. The time of injury is of critical importance in choosing a course of action for its healing. The surgical procedure known as Delayed or Secondary Closure brings about healing by Secondary Union. Apart from the delay in Wound Healing, the resulting scar tissue is also more extensive.
3. Third Intention Wound Healing – Sometimes, the wound is left open and is observed for several days because of low-grade bacterial contamination. Eventually, when the wound looks healthy and the wound edges are healthy, the Surgeon would close the wound allowing it to heal by Third Intention. Depending upon the amount of loss in skin surface, and the size of the wound, skin grafts may be needed for Wound Healing and the process is delayed until suitable graft material is procured and the grafting process concludes successfully.
Wound Healing is affected by several factors that affect human body. A healthy person recovers faster and better if he is injured. When the health is compromised, the recovery from the wounds would be unsatisfactory. Malnutrition, protein deficiency, iron deficiency, Vitamin-C ( Ascorbic acid ) deficiency, diseases of liver and kidneys delay the natural healing process. Conditions causing poor blood supply( Peripheral Arterial Disease ), diabetes, other severe systemic diseases and infections like Tuberculosis can affect wound healing. After Wound Healing, the tissue never regains its original strength that existed prior to the injury. An uncomplicated wound, six months after its healing has about 80 percent of its original strength. Most wounds continue to remodel for more than one year. First Intention healing would generally produce cosmetically acceptable scars. Some scars are unsightly with a raised surface but the scar lies entirely within the confines of the wound. These Hypertrophic scars eventually stabilize in about six months time and are amenable to further cosmetic surgical correction to improve the appearance and to restore the function of the affected body part. Scars known as ‘Keloids’ invade nearby normal tissue that was not previously involved in the wound. This type of scar continues to enlarge even after six months time and does not usually regress or soften. The Keloids cause cosmetic disfigurement which is not easily treatable. Time plays an important role in all the aspects of Wound Healing and Wound Management and exerts an unique influence of its own in the outcomes.
THE EXPERIENCE OF PAIN AND THE EXPRESSION OF GRIEF :
The disfigurement caused by Leprosy is known to humanity for several centuries. This disfigurement is caused by the involvement of nerves and the loss of sensory functions.
We seek help and medical attention for our physical injuries and wounds because of our ability to experience pain.The experience of the physical sensation of pain is of utmost importance in defending and in preserving human existence. If the neurological function of pain perception is blunted or impaired for any reason, the recovery from physical wounds would be delayed and the body sustains further physical damage. Pain is of utmost importance in Clinical Medicine, both for diagnosing an underlying medical condition, to watch the progress, and in treating the condition. The human body that can not express pain or experience pain is at a great risk of harming itself. Psychological insults and injuries also cause pain and grief. To experience mental pain or grief is a natural protective, and defensive mechanism. Such ability to perceive pain from psychological attacks and insults is important to preserve the integrity and existence of the entire organism. By expressing grief, body initiates the natural healing process. While physical wounds need to be closed to help them heal faster, psychological wounds need to be exposed to bring about their healing. Emotional pain and grief must not be concealed. By properly expressing mental grievances, mind gets a chance to purge the negative emotions generated by the psychological assault. The grievance must be reported to a friend, a relative, a therapist, a priest, or to the Law Enforcement and if no such avenue is available it must be submitted to the God the person believes. Psychological wounds when hidden, fail to heal.
Psychological Injuries and Insults Heal with passage of Time. The Pain is eased as the painful event becomes more distant and the memory of the event starts fading. Apart from memory function, Time may alter our perception of the Psychological Attack and the Injury.
Time exists even when there is no conscious entity with its awareness of past, present, and the future. Time exists not because of human memory of past events, awareness of present, and expectation of future. Time exerts an influence of its own which changes our perception of events and alters the course of consequences. A person with very good memory function would experience less pain with the passage of time after sustaining psychological trauma. The qualities of patience, tolerance, and forbearance increase our ability to withstand physical and mental pain. In the Sanskrit language, the qualities of patience, tolerance, and forbearance are described as ‘KSHAMA’. These qualities not only make the individual Stress Resistant and Resilient, they would also allow the Time’s Power of Healing to come into play. Indians seek the quality of KSHAMA to withstand the consequences of physical and psychological wounds and they believe in the concept of Time as a Healer of all Wounds.
THE DIVINE HEALING POWER OF TIME :
Susruta, Surgeon of Ancient India - Surgical Care and intervention is possible only because of the body's intrinsic ability to heal its wounds. Surgery would be impossible without this Natural Gift of Inflammation and Repair.
By simply repeating and remembering the two letters, "RA", "MA" serves like a Medicine while man confronts the problems of Healing and the consequences of physical and psychological wounds. Indian Culture offers RAMA as a Medicine to all the illnesses and injuries that may afflict human existence and survival. The Indian Concept of Time describes its Divine Healing Potential and Rama provides KSHAMA, the patience, tolerance, and forbearance that is needed for Time to exert its Divine Healing Power.
Human body exists with an ability to recognize its own wounds and initiates its well synchronized response almost simultaneously and this timely response could only be described as a Divine Gift, a gift which humans have no ability to invent on their own.
Please also view my blog post titled ‘Pain and Compassion – Philosophy of Medicine’
Whole Dude - Whole Concept 