Elusive Consciousness

Author(s): Narendra Bhandari, Surendrasingh Pokharana, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 85

species may be physically different but are existing in the world from the past which does not have any beginning. It is due to their attachment with material particles known as karma that they continuously take birth in the world again and again. Also it is these karmas who obstruct these intrinsic qualities of the pure soul. Hence it is stated that the direction of evolution should be towards a goal of liberalizing the soul from all material attachment that is all karmas. A process of selection by oneself is involved in spiritual evolution as certain rules and principles have to be followed described separately for ordinary humans and for enlightened souls like acharyas and sadhu sadhvies etc. It appears that practices like chanting of mantras, doing mediation (samayik), fasts (upwas, aaymbil, varshi tap, mas khaman, updhan, siddhi tap, nanayanu yatras), and other several practices lead to very stable life, increase in self-confidence, recognition of inner strength of soul, and ultimately evolution of one's soul. This model is quite similar to the quantum field theory like models used to study say superfluity and superconductivity [4]. In case of QFT, we have a highly ordered vacuum state with elementary excitations on this, whose number increases as temperature increases. In Jainism, there is a pure soul with infinite knowledge and other three infinities with karmas who obstruct these qualities of the pure soul.
It is found that during the higher stages of consciousness, a person shows remarkable memory like that of Swamy Vivekanand [5]. There is a phenomenon called Shatavadhan [4] which has been found in one Jain monk these days and so he can remember one hundred questions (Appendix 2) asked by say 100 different persons in a continuous sequence and can answer them all together in same sequence or reverse sequence and random sequence in the end. Similarly a table for measurement of length is mentioned in Appendix 3, which starts from the smallest particles of matter (for all practical purposes). One finds that the size estimated by them is quite comparable to the size estimated in the modern science [4]. These examples all show existence of higher stages of consciousness which ae accompanied by large increase in memory of the brain and also different mechanisms might exist to acquire knowledge. These states have less elementary excitations like entities (known as karmas in the brain.
85