Burst Thirty Five (For Youth):
Physics and Metaphysics – Part I
Physics studies forces in nature such as heat, light, gravity and sound. It goes into how these forces affect objects. It unravels the relationships between all the phenomenal forces. On the whole, physics examines the ‘observed world’.
Metaphysics begins where physics (usually) ends. It looks at the ‘observer’ and reveals wondrous possibilities in the (human) being that observes the world. The dictionary defines metaphysics as the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of existence, truth and knowledge.
Physics takes the question, “What is this?” and discovers volumes of knowledge. Metaphysics explores the query, “Who am I?” and shows unbelievable hidden powers and ways of transformation.
Physics believes in the reality of matter/energy duo. Everything in the (observed) world is either matter or energy. Matter, which has mass, may convert also to energy, which spreads as waves. Matter is localized and, as particle, is at one place only at a given moment of time. Energy on the other hand, as wave, is present at several places at the same time.
Metaphysics talks of consciousness as the ultimate reality. The observer, in essence, is consciousness. Mind, brain, sense organs and all objects that are perceived are products of consciousness. This is the stand of the Vedanta.
Shakti (Goddess Parvati in popular Hinduism) represents matter/energy. Shiva represents consciousness. While Shiva is held as supreme, he cannot move even an inch unless Shakti joins him. This is the content of the first verse of Adi Shankara’s Soundarya-Lahari (a hundred verses on the Goddess of beauty). So consciousness, along with matter/energy, accounts for all the phenomena of this universe.
Does the observer affect the observed? Some scientists (like Amit Goswami, Ph.D. of University of Oregon) have proposed that consciousness (essence of the observer) is the agency that focuses (the observed) waves to look like a localized particle. This, if true, resolves one of the riddles of quantum physics.
Your world may not be in your hands; possibly, your world is totally in your eyes!
( To be continued in Burst 36 )
Swami Chidananda