Veda & Theory of Quantum Mechanism

Srivaishnavam  Parambaryam, Traditions &  The Culture that stands Class apart from othersEssence of Srivaishnavam Practices

QMT-QUANTUM MECHANIC’S THEORY AND THE VAISESIKA – PRAPATTI SIDDHI

From the scriptures we can understand that the life in Vedic Era was far more civilized and happier than at the present days of advanced ‘science era’, (this Kali Yuga, oh – in which WE also have to live). Unfortunately, the modern world and the scientists started to evaluate our Ancient Vedic scripts and principles most of the time undermining their values and teachings and so subtly influencing the people through media and education to give up their original spiritual culture, and become Americanized. Amazingly, some people are proud of becoming Americanized what however, according to our Vedic culture is nothing more then to become a mleccha.  Surprisingly however, just as some people like to give up Vedic spiritual culture – similarly some people are finding a great inspiration and treasure of knowledge in the Vedas. In other words, there are scientists who are studying and discovering amazing knowledge in Vedas describing things that are supporting their scientific discoveries. One of them is teleportation – or tele-transportation the process of moving objects from one place to another more or less instantaneously, without using conventional transportation. This art was known to all mystic yogis in Vedic times and some of them even nowadays are able to travel from one place to another in almost no time. For some people it is not a secret that the scientists are performing many experiments to achieve success in teleportation. Further, the scientists are also discovering that the ancient Vedas had very advanced knowledge of arithmetic, astronomy, healthy lifestyle, and healthcare or Ayurveda.  Ayurveda that is increasingly becoming popular in the west is known for its natural healing using medicines taken from natural resources. It is very appreciated that by Ayurvedic healing one can cure not only the symptom of the disease but also the cause of it without any bad side effects. 

In the following essay, compiled by Sri Sri Nitai Das Prabhu, there is a brief description of Newtonian physics, Quantum Mechanics (QM) and atomic theory of western science compared to the Vedic Nyaya and Vaisesika philosophies. We hope that you will find a new way to appreciate the ancient culture given by Srila Vyasadeva and other sages and thus begin to take more seriously their important spiritual knowledge for upliftment of consciousness.

For the practical experience and valuable ethos, the olden day scholars left a systematic menu for everything – right from tooth brushing to sleeping habits! The time table of day-to-day activity menu is thus very systematic spiritual practice that a faithful Srivaishnavas follow. The practice of daily rituals is known as ‘Nithya Karma Anushtanam’  that includes, Sandhya Vandanam – thrice a day, Bhagavat Aradhanam  – Ijjya – i.e. offering prayers to the Lord, reciting of Vedic hymns and notes, and following the Srivaishnavam Path as per the Srivaishnava Sadhachara Nirnaya.

TRS Iyengar

That the materialist really understands in detail the QMT, he have to study it for many years and even then he might not fully understand it. The reason for this is because the materialistic science is often obscure due to its scientific jargon and the incomplete knowledge. Interestingly however, the Vedas explain everything making the knowledge they give complete by combined material and spiritual understanding. For example, it is described that the material energy is composed of the smallest particles, paramanu’s. Because of the interplay of their qualities, modes or guna’s and the desires of the soul’s and the Super-soul the activities of the material energy take place.   

So, this essay is an attempt to present some of the similarities of QMT and the Vedic wisdom how I read and heard from other ISKCON devotees and gathered thus info from materialistic science and the Vedas.  

The first question is what is QM? The theory of QM gives description of the mechanics or workings of the different quantum or units of matter. It deals with the behavior of matter e.g. light on the atomic and subatomic scale. It attempts to describe and account for the properties of molecules and atoms and their constituents–electrons, protons, neutrons, and other more esoteric particles such as quarks and gluons.

NOTE: in the SB 3.11.1 Srila Prabhupada say that science has not yet found the ultimate smallest indivisible particle called paramanu (the atom). Gautama Muni’s definition of atom is similar to Bhagavata’s: param va truteh – the atom is that which is not capable of being divided.  

Here we would like to mention that during their research work, some scientists became attracted to the Vedic Sankhya and Vaisesika (analytical study of matter and the atomic theory) because they found in them things similar with QMT. Let see the opinion of a few recognized scholars. Physics Nobel prize winner Eugene Wigner said: “… the basic philosophical ideas of the Bhagavad-Gita, Gita on existence are virtually identical with those which quantum mechanics lead me to.” Further W. Heisenberg (German Physicist, 1901-1976) opined: “After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense”. 

One of the interesting points of QMT is the theory of many dimensions. This same knowledge about many dimensions we find also in the Vedas which explain that there are unlimited higher dimensions, what means more than four dimensions known to our conditioned nature (length, breadth, height and duration of time).

E.g.: Banasura used 1,000 arms to work 500 bows and shoot 2,000 arrows at a time at Krishna. In this case, we are dealing with a materially embodied being living on the earth. One might wonder how 500 material arms could be mounted on one shoulder without interfering with one another. Moreover, if this is possible, how could they aim 500 bows in the same direction at once? Did the bows pass through each other? In the book ‘Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy” Sadaputa Prabhu explains that this phenomena happening in one place was possible because of Banasura’s body existed in the higher dimensional space.

The Veic literature nowhere mentions that we can experience the higher dimension with our material blunt senses not even if we would look through microscopes and telescopes. IOW, like in the example of Arjun and mother Yasoda, they could see the higher dimensional universal form of Krishna in one place only because Krishna gave them the ability to see that higher dimensional existence. Another way to get the vision of the higher dimensions of existence is by developing higher sensory powers like that of the demigods and the sage’s. Of course, the highest spiritual sense perception (pratyakshavagamam dharmyam Bg.9.2) one can get only by the mercy of Krishna and thus e.g. see the spiritual dimensions of the holy places like Vrindavana and their eternal residents including Krishna.

There is one interesting point in connection with this. When the English missionaries in 19^th century were trying to convince the Indian intellectuals to give up the Vedic culture explaining the Vedas as only a mythology, they had a book compiled of very esoteric examples from the Vedic literature like the above mentioned Banasura’s; the description of Ravana with thousand heads; Brahma with four heads etc, etc.  Using the lower Newtonian physics that recognize only three dimensions, the English missionaries presented such examples as an absurdity, and they would ask the people, especially the intellectuals: “Do you really believe in this?”  Thus many Indians having insufficient knowledge and faith in the Vedas would reject their own culture, which is an interesting phenomena, even nowadays. However, presently even these esoteric descriptions can become acceptable by using the knowledge of higher dimensions explained by QM, which as we mentioned is also described in the Vedic literature.  So, the descriptions of this kind implicitly require higher-dimensional conceptions of space.

This and some other ideas of QM are quite mysterious some are possible to proof by experiment, and some not, still they continue to inspire the scientists to contemplate about them. Realizing that some of the theories cannot be adequately tested by experiment the Harvard physicist Howard Georgi characterized modern theoretical physics as ‘recreational mathematical theology’. I would like to describe few more interesting ideas of QM e.g. the quantum non-locality which in the Vedic literature is known as ‘prapti-siddhi’.

First of all this theory is superior than Einstein’s theory of relativity which imposes a limitation saying that events in the universe happen at a speed that does not exceed the speed of light. Things happen, in other words, always at the speed of light or less. This is called the “law of local causes”.

For example we would know that the sun exploded only after eight minutes after the explosion since this is the time needed for the light to reach the earth planet more precisely our vision.

However, already at the time of Einstein the theory of QM came up which claims that there are forces by which the information is spread rough out the universe quicker then the speed of light, actually instantly. At the birth of this theory there were no experiments to prove its validity but even then Einstein had a hard time to counteract it’s idea. Although Einstein was not the profounder of QMT, in 1935, he together with Nathan Rosen and Boris Podolsky proposed through flawless mathematical reasoning that if the quantum theory were correct, then a change in the motion of one twin particle (previously being one photon particle but then divided through a crystal) would affect its twin photon particle simultaneously, even if the two had been widely separated in the meantime’. The word ‘simultaneous’ is excluded in the theory of special relativity of Einstein, which forbids the transmission of any signal faster than the speed of light. Obviously, a signal telling the particle ‘what to do’ would have to travel faster than the speed of light if instantaneous changes were to occur between the two particles.

In 1964 Bell’s Theorem emerged as a proof that Einstein’s impossible proposition did in fact hold true: instantaneous changes in widely separated systems did occur.

In 1972, Clauser confirmed the statistical predictions of quantum mechanics, working with an elaborate system involving photons, calcite crystals, and photo multiplier tubes. The experiment has since been run several times with the same consistent results; Bell’s Theorem stands solid.

The Bell’s theorem is unthinkable to Newtonian physicists. Mathematics and experimentation have taken us where our logical mind cannot go. Just imagine once more, two photon particles once in contact, and then separated even if they travel to the opposite side of the universe will both change their directions  instantaneously when a change in one of them occurs! There are three answers why, by three type of people. The scientist would say that there is something what transfers the information from one photon particle to another quicker than the speed of light and actually simultaneously which means there is a connection between them on the higher dimensional level. The mayavadis or the advaitins would say it is because of the universal consciousness Brahman, or because ultimately everything is one. And the Krishna bhaktas would say it is the Paramatma who coordinates and directs everything including photon particles.     

So, let see how the scientists and the Vedic wisdom explains this unbelievable phenomena.

Physicist Jack Sarfatti of the Physics/Consciousness Research Group proposes that no actual energy-requiring signal is transmitted between the distant objects, but ‘information’ is transmitted instead.

Nic Herbert, a physicist who heads the C-Life Institute, suggests that we have merely discovered an elemental oneness of the world. This oneness cannot be diminished by spatial separation. An invisible wholeness unites the objects that are given birth in the universe, and it is this wholeness that we have stumbled into through modern experimental methods.

I am sure that the impersonalists philosophers like these opinions of the scientists, because it confirms their theory of oneness: ‘sarva khalau idam brahma’ – everything is Brahman, and that’s why the two distant photon particles changes simultaneously their directions. However, we can authoritatively say that this controlling activity is only due to the universal super-consciousness, the Paramatma or the Super-soul since we never saw anything done under the ultimate control of impersonal force.

  Anyway, this theory predicts forces that travel with infinite speed what is not possible to measure in the laboratory, but numerous experiments at the best universities in the world have demonstrated the existence of forces that operate faster than the speed of light, thereby providing impressive empirical evidence for non-locality.

In the Vaisnava and other Vedic literatures there are descriptions of abilities like going to the other side of the universe or taking something from other planets e.g. an apple, in no time. This is called prapti-siddhi, one of the mystic powers of the yogis.  Nowadays some modern physicists seriously speculate about the use of quantum non-locality in communications and even teleportation, which is the same as prapti-siddhi.  But will they succeed?

It is an interesting fact, that great yogis, such as Kardama Muni, are unaware of the underlying processes that translate their desires into physical actions. When Kardama Muni created an entire flying city, as described in the third canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, he was amazed. So, if even Kardama Muni did not understand the wonderful working of material nature what to say about the scientists who have therefore even less chance for that.  Actually, it is said that only Krsna can fully understand His own energy. Moreover, if the scientist don’t understand the existence of the soul and after that the existence of God they are just wasting their time. Referring to the example of Srila Vyasadeva, when he became self realized he understood Krsna the living entities and the power of the material energy as well. Therefore, it would be better that the scientists understand Krsna by practice of self-realization and then they would fully understand the material energy as well.

Fortunately some of the scientists are realizing the need to understand more than only the material energy.  E.g. the Danish nuclear physicist Niels Bohr, also a Nobel laureate, stated, “All of us know that there is such a thing as consciousness, simply because we have it ourselves. Hence consciousness must be a part of nature, or, more generally, of reality, which means that quite apart from the laws of physics and chemistry, as laid down in quantum theory, we must consider laws of quite a different kind.” Such laws will include the laws of reincarnation, which govern the passage of consciousness from one physical body into another, the three modes of material nature (gunas), the 28 mystic perfections or yoga-siddhis (see Srimad Bhagavatam 11.15.3-9).

As mentioned in the beginning of this essay QM attempts to describe and account for the properties of molecules and atoms. Here at the end let see what the Vedas say about atoms (paramanus).

According to the Veda the paramanu’s are the components of the (6 kinds of) quarks (elementary subatomic particles), and 6 types of anti-quarks and the leptons (the electron, positron and neutron). These are the smallest particles known in the western science. Each of these particles is a little smaller then the 10^-18. The atom of the western materialistic science is 10^-10. The paramanu according to the Nyaya-Vaisesika is 0.79×10^-22. The radiations or energies, the modes or the guna’s of the paramanu’s are all different. They mix so that you get varieties of quarks (elementary subatomic particles) and leptons. If these assemble then we get e.g. mesons (elementary particle having a mess between that of an electron and proton called also a mesotron), protons, antiprotons, hadrons, baryons, neutrons. The atoms and molecules are composed of these particles. The further combination of these elements form the objects and unlimited varieties of qualities. The qualities, modes or guna’s means in relation to rupa, sparsa, sabda, rasa and gandha (form, touch, sound, taste and smell). The paramanus are the building blocks of the universe and the gunas are like the concrete that bind the paramanus.

The Paramatma controls the types of qualities and the qualities of intensities of these ultimately as e.g. the light is dimmed or adjusted.    

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So The Quantum Mechanism Theory is an unending search for other dimensions, unknown particles and more – that simply cannot be illustrated; one has to go through on his/her own experiments in oneness with the Lord God.

TRS Iyengar