Letter # 47: “The Dance of The Universe”
A patient of mine said that he’s not going to get depressed this Christmas; he’s determined to keep his dark mood at bay. Even though his psychotherapy had worked well enough, I decided to push it to the next level. As he has no computer, he doesn’t get my Spiritual Letters. So, I read to him Letters 43 and 45, “Candle In The Dark” and the “Secret Gift Giver”. On hearing them, an astonishing smile broke across his face. He said that he felt like dancing! Such is the wonderful effect of narrations relating to the Lord.
Dancing, eh? I remember my physics at class at school, when we studied Brownian motion. In this experiment, you can see tiny particles dancing around. This Brownian dance of particles is due to the forces exerted on them by the surrounding atoms or molecules, causing the particles to bounce around. Named after botanist Robert Brown, who described the phenomenon in 1827, it was not a new observation. In 60 BCE, the Roman scientist-poet Lucretius had already documented it in his poem “On the Nature of Things.” Lucretius proposed it as proof of the existence of atoms. Do atoms dance? I say, "Yes, they do." And you know, subatomic particles dance even more amazingly. They can even exist in several places simultaneously. This magical dance is depicted beautifully in the controversial movie “What The Bleep Do We Know”, directed by William Amtz. Amtz makes a heroic attempt to integrate science, metaphysics, philosophy, and spirituality i.e. all of creation.
I love creation stories and I’m most partial to those in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. Written in the ancient language, Sanskrit, the Vedas upon being translated into English have enabled every English speaker, including philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) to appreciate Vedic holistic wisdom. Thoreau wrote: “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”
In the Vedic creation story, the Original Creative Principle (the Lord) breathes out innumerable universes, like a child might play at blowing bubbles. The Lord’s Play is to breathe out universes; and when he breathes in He takes them back in. It is a recycling dance on the grandest scale imaginable. The Vedas stipulate that apart from the creation of matter and energy there is another, superior force, that dances through all of this - life itself: Lord Krishna explains: “Besides these (material energies) O mighty armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature. All created beings have their source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and dissolution.” BG 7:5-6 Krishna is describing the cosmic playground and its dance; and it’s a dance that is present in the biggest of the big, and smallest of the small.
In Judeo-Christian traditions, David danced to honour the Lord cf. “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might…” 2 Samuel 6:14. Sufi dervishes whirl in order to simulate the twirling of atoms, planets and galaxies. Indeed all is a Dance of the Lord, and the Lord, as Natraj, (Nat or nach – dance, raj Lord), is the Lord of the Dance. He’s depicted above.
If you can't dance just move around a bit, but dance if you can, it’s good for the body, mind and soul.
God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.
Dancing, eh? I remember my physics at class at school, when we studied Brownian motion. In this experiment, you can see tiny particles dancing around. This Brownian dance of particles is due to the forces exerted on them by the surrounding atoms or molecules, causing the particles to bounce around. Named after botanist Robert Brown, who described the phenomenon in 1827, it was not a new observation. In 60 BCE, the Roman scientist-poet Lucretius had already documented it in his poem “On the Nature of Things.” Lucretius proposed it as proof of the existence of atoms. Do atoms dance? I say, "Yes, they do." And you know, subatomic particles dance even more amazingly. They can even exist in several places simultaneously. This magical dance is depicted beautifully in the controversial movie “What The Bleep Do We Know”, directed by William Amtz. Amtz makes a heroic attempt to integrate science, metaphysics, philosophy, and spirituality i.e. all of creation.
I love creation stories and I’m most partial to those in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. Written in the ancient language, Sanskrit, the Vedas upon being translated into English have enabled every English speaker, including philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) to appreciate Vedic holistic wisdom. Thoreau wrote: “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”
In the Vedic creation story, the Original Creative Principle (the Lord) breathes out innumerable universes, like a child might play at blowing bubbles. The Lord’s Play is to breathe out universes; and when he breathes in He takes them back in. It is a recycling dance on the grandest scale imaginable. The Vedas stipulate that apart from the creation of matter and energy there is another, superior force, that dances through all of this - life itself: Lord Krishna explains: “Besides these (material energies) O mighty armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature. All created beings have their source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and dissolution.” BG 7:5-6 Krishna is describing the cosmic playground and its dance; and it’s a dance that is present in the biggest of the big, and smallest of the small.
In Judeo-Christian traditions, David danced to honour the Lord cf. “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might…” 2 Samuel 6:14. Sufi dervishes whirl in order to simulate the twirling of atoms, planets and galaxies. Indeed all is a Dance of the Lord, and the Lord, as Natraj, (Nat or nach – dance, raj Lord), is the Lord of the Dance. He’s depicted above.
If you can't dance just move around a bit, but dance if you can, it’s good for the body, mind and soul.
God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.
I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.
Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2008"
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)
References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.
posted by Dr. Jas Bhopal @ 4:04 PM
1 Comments
Links to this post
1 Comments:
A reader wrote, "Amazing stuff, Jas".
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home