Towards A Mathematical Theory of Spirituality Based on Advaita (MTS-1)

[Guest guest]

Namaste Satsanghis:

 

First, I want to congratulate Sri Raju Chidambaram for taking his

time developing this logically well structured paper on Advaita

Philosophy. Since many of you may not know Rajuji, it is my

pleasure to say a few words about him. I know him for more than 15

years and I found him a trust worthy friend and quite serious in the

pursuit of Vedanta. Rajuji and his wife Srimathi Shoba are both

serious Truth seekers and devotees of Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji.

They are both doctors, Rajuji is Ph.D. in Statistics and Shobaji is

a medical doctor. I always used to wonder how these two doctors find

time to attend all available Vedanta and Gita classes in Washington

area.

 

As a matter of fact, they both are instrumental in the establishment

of the Chinmaya Mission Washington Regional Center (CMWRC) during

early 80s. Rajuji and Shoba have been active in the Chinmaya Mission

activities and they have been supporting the spread of Vedanta and

Bhagavad Gita in the Washington area. They have provided their

residence as a meeting place for the weekly Viveka Choodamani

discourses in Northern Virginia. Rajuji is also the editor for the

CMWRC magazine `Smriti.' Rajuji has strong background in Vedantic

philosophy and Bhagavad Gita and he has never missed Swami

Chinmayananda's discourses or camps that were held in Washington and

surrounding (up to 200 miles radius) areas. Rajuji's background in

Statistics may explain why he wanted to present advaita using

analytical geometry and other graphical means.

 

In conclusion, I request you the Satsanghis to provide feedbacks to

Rajuji's postings on this important subject thread.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, aiyers@c... wrote:

>

> Today is the Saraswathi Puja day. As a student, I seek Devi

Saraswathi's grace and blessings.

[Guest guest]

Hello Raju-ji,

 

I appreciate your introduction here to the paper. It actually might be

of help to someone knowledgeable in mathematics who has spiritual

yearnings. For example, a lonely math or science grad student, doing TA

work by day and by night, trying to finish the dissertation. I know in

the life of "this BMI" (In Sw. Chinmayananda's terms) the

dissertation-time was lonely, and spiritual yearnings came to the fore!

It might help such a person feel that spirituality is legitimate when it

is presented in terms that the person is already involved with.

 

Having merely skimmed through your paper, I have comments only on the

superficial things! Just the graphics!

 

1. Not all the graphics or figures are labeled consistently. For

example, the second figure in the essay (on p. 6) has no figure number.

Yet down on page 48 there's one referrring to the interplay of vasanas

and it carries the caption "Figure 2."

 

2. There are several graphics with shadowed text. Including the one on

p. 6, as well as the ones on pp. 48 and 49. The shadow is offset too

far from the text and the text itself is not dark enough to warrant a

shadow. This looks confusing, hard to read. Can you (i) darken the

lettering and either (ii) remove the shadow-effect or (iii) make its

offset much smaller? A good rule of thimb is to offset by 1/4 to 1/3 a

character width. You might even be able to slightly blur the shadow as

well.

 

Wishing you well on the paper,

 

--Greg

[Guest guest]

Hi Raju,

 

I just remembered that you were having a series

of lectures on this list about your paper. (I am

the one hosting his paper on my site.) I see that

there is not much discussion yet, but that is

because you have not started explaining anything.

I do see threads like 'Advaita and Einstein', so you

are already influencing the kinds of topics people

are thinking about! I will join in when you have

provided something to chew on.

 

Ben

 

 

 

advaitin, aiyers@c... wrote:

>

> Today is the Saraswathi Puja day. As a student, I seek Devi Saraswathi's

grace and

blessings.

>

> Following a suggestion by Ram Chandran-ji, I propose to review the contents of

a paper

available to you at the following link:

> http://sunyaprajna.com/Advaita/Advaita_Math.pdf

>

> As an introduction, I should say a few words on what this paper is about and

what it is

not and what I hope to accomplish by presenting it to this elite forum of

Advaitins. Talk of

a mathematical theory of spirituality might sound outlandish and in fact that is

how I also

would have felt a year ago. But with the work done in the last few months, such

a theory

does appear both possible and useful. The paper presents the first elements of a

possible

theory based on Advaitic principles, noting that it is not "the" theory but only

"a" theory.

As it stands at this time, it is not a complete theory of everything spiritual,

but hopefully it

is a modest beginning towards one. Whether it does get developed further

towards a

more complete, full blown theory would depend much on the future contributions

others

may care to make. That in fact is the reason why I am presenting it to you in

this and the

following several postings. After reading the paper, it is my hope that many of

you in this

group, who undoubtedly possess the necessary skill to pursue work in similar

lines, will in

fact do so.

>

> I expect a very valid question at this juncture. Why bring mathematics now

into a field

which is millennia old? What useful purpose does it serve? Each of us must

answer these

questions independently, but let me state my present views. First of all, I do

not think a

mathematical theory should be expected to reveal any new spiritual truth that

has not

been intuited already by the Masters. But it may help visualize these truths in

a different

manner. Secondly, while insights gained through mathematics are helpful

intellectually,

they are no substitute for the rigorous sadhanas which alone can guarantee

spiritual

progress. Personally speaking, my faith in Vedanta, as I have understood it from

Gurudev

Swami Chinmayanandaji's teachings, is important to me as a guide to truth.

Therefore it

is a matter of great satisfaction that the results derived so far from the

mathematical

model are consistent with Vedanta and this I take as a validation of the model.

>

> Mathematics has been enormously successful in transforming everything it

touched, be

it physical sciences, engineering, or economics. The strength and appeal of

mathematics

is primarily due to the twin disciplines it enforces: precision of reasoning

and economy of

concepts. In building a mathematical model, one consciously tries to use the

minimum

number of concepts and assumptions necessary to make the model work. Each

concept is

to be defined as precisely as possible and every assumption explicitly stated.

Building the

model is often the most challenging and satisfying part of the exercise.

>

> Once the model is set up, there should be little need for depending on verbal

arguments

in order to reach conclusions; instead results are derived by analyzing the

model using

true and tried methods of mathematical reasoning, be it geometry, calculus or

whatever

else that is appropriate. The pay off is in being able to understand the

complex

relationships that exist among the concepts in a precise and even quantitative

way.

Relationships not suspected before also do surface from time to time. A notable

feature

of the model used in the paper is that the material and spiritual realms appear

to be

seamlessly integrated in the model, making it possible to move from one to the

other

rather with ease. A picture is worth a thousand words: the geometrical

visualization used

throughout the paper should prove useful in communicating Advaitic concepts,

especially

to young scientific minds.

>

> It will be necessary to refer to the paper frequently while reading the

postings, but with

its availability just one mouse click away, that should pose no logistical

problem to the

reader. In the next posting, I will start with an overview of the paper itself.

>

> Finally, a request. Please consider the paper as work in progress. Your

helpful

comments will be valued. If you intend to quote or use results from the paper in

any of

your own work, I would appreciate if I can be informed in advance.

>

> Hari Om!

>

> - Raju Chidambaram

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste dear Sri Ben:

 

Sri Raju is new to Cyber Satsangh format and that partly explains less

active participation. Since you are familiar with his paper, I suggest

that you post some key points for discussion.

 

I believe that Sri Raju is trying to use mathematical (specifically

graphics) methods to illustrate the practical aspects of advaita in

daily life. This is basically an expansion of the simple BMI framework

of Swami Chinmayanandaji. It is very important for Rajuji to state the

limitations of this framework with the traditional understanding of

advaita philosophy. Also it is important, that the reader should be

able to grasp the intended interpretation without ever looking into the

graphs. Vedanta philosophy can never be comprehended just by graphics

or by numbers or by equations. This fact needs to be substantiated

during the presentation and the subsequent discussions.

 

I am glad that you are willing to provide your cyber satsangh expertise

to dear Rajuji.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "Benjamin Orion" <orion777ben>

wrote:

>

> Hi Raju,

>

> I see that

> there is not much discussion yet, but that is

> because you have not started explaining anything.

> I do see threads like 'Advaita and Einstein', so you

> are already influencing the kinds of topics people

> are thinking about! I will join in when you have

> provided something to chew on.

>

> Ben

>