Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cannot be achieved without the Creator. Whether physics or
metaphysics, both refer ultimately to the source of Creation. This
world is thus a sourcebook for study.
The Sanskrit language is especially revealing:
para vidya
is mundane
knowledge;
apara vidya
is the knowledge of ultimate reality. One leads
to the other. Within the body are dimensions beyond scientific
understanding: how do the sensory organs and brain function, for
example, in the case of music? The outer world is viewed as a
reflection of the inner or absolute world. 'As above, so below' was
the way Hermes Trismegistus put it.
In the para vidya, the lower stages, the disciplines of knowledge
are distinct and separate. But what biology is not also physics? What
hearing is not also seeing? What knowing is not also feeling? And
the micro leads to the macro: in
apara vidya
, all disciplines merge
into one. The Vedas see this ultimate truth behind all ephemeral
truths. The Creation leads us to the Creator, to the highest
knowledge, which is integrated into one.
Some Vedic hymns paint the exquisite glories of the natural world:
the preternatural beauty of pre-dawn light, its rosy fingers holding
the iridescent steel-blue sky; some celebrate the welcome cool of
evening, the scented breezes of a calm and refreshing night, its basalt
dome studded with shimmering pearls and diamonds. Beauty
permeates them, a reflection of Truth.
Other hymns concentrate on different aspects of nature's wonder,
very specific in their knowledge of the great cycles that sustain life.
Vedic writings detail a scientific knowledge of the rain cycle that
startles with its accuracy.
The Vedic term for rain clouds is
vrittra
, and they are described
with a dozen or more names: demons, serpents, boars. Similarly,
the sun has many names. These verses delight in describing the
endless conflict between Indra, the sun, and the dark forces of the
'Shrouder,' the clouds that conceal light and warmth. Indra, of
course, is ultimately the victor, but the story is endlessly repeated,
the poet of the Vedas never tiring of it. The quintessential Indian
climate, and the way it absolutely dominates human life, are strong
arguments indeed regarding
where
the Vedas were composed. Just
as early Christian interior architecture was designed to resemble
