BOOK REVIEW
LIBERATION
FROM THE TYRANNY OF TIME AND SPACE
BY P.V.
RAGHUNATHAN
BLURB
The book
deals with the eternal question: ‘What is the purpose of existence?’. It dwells
upon Man’s unceasing efforts to understand this universe and beyond, through
Scientific discoveries and evolutions of philosophies and knowledge of
psychology, psychoanalysis, and even parapsychology and how all those
relentless pursuits are unable to answer this question. This book goes on to
explain that because Man’s vision remains clogged by the finite material
manifestation making him look at everything from the point of view of a
beginning and an end, he is unable to see the dimensions not visible to him.
The moment Man is able to realize that there could be many more dimensions other
than those meeting his eyes and that everything is part of a single static
continuum, he is able to liberate himself from the limiting constraints of Time
and Space. At this stage, the Soul realizes at the ‘micro-level’ its
immortality: ’Aham Brahmasmi’, ‘I am the only Truth’
THE BOOK
I had earlier
reviewed Raghunathan’s ‘My Many Trysts with God’, an autobiography, which takes
us through the trials and tribulations that life had chalked out for him: an extraordinary
journey of courage, pathos, success, and finally towards enlightenment. In his
second book ‘Liberation from the Tyranny of Time and Space’ he takes forward
his inquiry, seeking and understanding the purpose of existence. In the very
beginning of the book, the author acknowledges and accepts that the ultimate
purpose of all of us is the search for the truth of understanding ‘Who am I’.
and very aptly the last chapter in the book is titled ‘Who am I’. He also says
that the book is a simple depiction of the thought process for those trying to
liberate themselves from the tyranny of Time and Space.
All of us are
caught up in the web of a beginning and an end. But at a point in time, we are
unable accept that there is an end to our existence. Our entire thought process
is conditioned to this eventuality. Breaking free from this conditioning is
what is referred to as ‘liberation’. It is only through transcending the
concepts of time and space, which we start realizing, serve to define only our
finite existence. Trying to understand the process from the basic structure of
the atom and the behavior of the subatomic particles through quantum theory
and relativity, the author is at ease putting forward his views leading to the
concept of Maya or illusion. The randomness that exists at the minutest level of
our existence is amplified by what Fritjof Capra says in his book ‘The Tao of
Physics’ - “Subatomic particles do not exist but rather show 'tendencies to
exist', and atomic events do not occur with certainty at definite times and in
definite ways, but rather show 'tendencies to occur'.” The author takes us
through the theories of Dalton and Rutherford on the structure and behavior at
the atomic level, Wave theory, and Max Planck’s Quantum Mechanics. It is not
within the scope of this review to talk about these, but a few sentences picked
from the book will serve to illustrate the author’s intimate understanding of
the relationship between Modern Physics and Eastern thought especially the Hindu
view of life –
The theory of Maya according to which the
thing in existence is an illusory perception, but in reality, it is nothing.
The Hindu theory of Nataraja’s dance subtly describes the oscillation between
the thing and nothing perceived as the wave theory and the
quantum theory going hand in hand or as matter and anti-matter! This
beginningless and endless dance is scientifically and logically described by
Gary Zukav in his book. The beginningless and endless cosmos baffles him since
he is unable to find and tag a point and another as its end.
The most
fascinating part of the book is where he writes about the magic and
significance of numbers and how they are indelibly connected with our existence
–
Since Man
had the need to measure and quantify acquisition and attainment, he had to
invent numbers. But he also knew that he has to strike a correct formula
to measure the finite by excluding the infinite which he could not
understand, within his finite domain the numbers should remain valid so
long as he could denote the unknown infinite by an appropriate
approximation.
Each of
the finite numbers 1 to 9 has its own uniqueness. Here he writes about the
significance of the Chakras and Kundalini. The hidden power of certain
constants of Pi and Planck’s Constant Alpha –
Two constants remain enigmatically important:
the first is Pi, the fraction 22/7. In measuring the area, circumference, and
volume of circles, globes, and cylindrical objects, this constant is a
prerequisite. And most celestial objects are globes! For him to understand the
expanse of the universe Pi is a sine qua non.
The second
is Planck’s constant Alpha 1/137 – intersection of key areas of physics
‘relativity, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics’, it has an extraordinary
importance in defining the material existence of the finite.
An important
chapter in the book (which I will term as a treatise) is Chapter 7. Unknown
Dimensions and Coincidences. which covers the author’s own experiences with Telepathy,
Random Occurrences, Synchronicity. This has also been covered in his first
book, but here it flows along as a logical consequence of the author’s
understanding of scientific thought. Reinforcing his views, he says that Carl
Jung was not willing to accept ‘random occurrences. Coincidences were to him,
meaningful events that could not be explained only by cause and effect, but by
an additional force outside of causality, which he called ‘Synchronicity’; he
called it an ‘acausal connecting principle’.
The book then
slowly eases into Indian Philosophy – the concept of the Atma and the
Paramatma, Dvaita and Advaita philosophies, Individual and Total Consciousness.
There is a whole chapter covering Karma theory and the different paths to
liberation. I can only say that the way the author has woven modern physics,
mathematics and eastern philosophy towards understanding that our existence is
not restricted to the finite level and that there is an infinity merging with
which, will liberate us from the constraints imposed on us by Time and Space.
In his own words –
Those who
realize early the mirage of the ‘thingness’ and the reality of the ‘stillness’
of ‘nothingness’ the state of beginningless, endless single, all-encompassing
existence, there is no need for liberation. They are already outside the
tyranny of ‘time and space’, because they have consummated themselves with the
‘timeless, spaceless, ‘Tat tvam asi”.
I should
confess that it is after a very long time that I have come across a book that
has given me the satisfaction which I derived after reading Fritzof Capra, Gary
Zukav and Stephen Hawking.
“If
physics leads us today to a world view which is essentially mystical, it
returns, in a way, to its beginning, 2,500 years ago. ... This time, however,
it is not only based on intuition, but also on experiments of great precision
and sophistication, and on a rigorous and consistent mathematical formalism.” ― Fritjof Capra
This is a
book for the serious reader and thinker and I am sure it will ignite if not
refresh their own journey on this path of inquiry.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
P.V. Raghunathan,
also known as ‘Raghu’, is an Engineer by qualification and a Banker by
profession. After a distinguished career with the State Bank of India as a
Senior Executive for 24 years he moved to the National Bank of Oman in Muscat, Oman
where he served for nine more years before retiring before finally settling
down in Gurgaon, in the National Capital Region, Delhi.
His first
book ‘My Many Trysts with God’ published in October 2019 although
autobiographical in nature, his quest for God remains the underlying theme
throughout the book.
‘Liberation
from the Tyranny of Time and Space’ is, in a way, a continuation of the quest
for understanding the meaning for human existence, the manifestation of Cosmic
Expanse as an unending continuum and of the connection of the inner self to the
Total Consciousness.
He occasionally
contributes articles and poems to a few magazines on subjects of social
relevance. An avid reader, his reading encompasses a wide range of subjects.
Besides being proficient in English and Tamil, he speaks Hindi, Gujarati,
Telugu and Malayalam.
An intrepid traveler
he has traveled across Europe, the US, Egypt and Kenya, Nepal, Bhutan, and many
South Asian countries and also across the length and breadth of India. He is passionate
about trekking and mountain climbing.
FOOTNOTE
Mr.
Raghunathan’s book to say the least has rekindled my own inquiries into the
purpose of life. While reading the book, I recalled David Platt’s article on ‘David
Bohm and the Implicate Order’ which I have posted previously in my blog. I am
reproducing an extract here since I feel Raghunathan’s book seeks to convey a
similar trend of thought –
The
fundamental idea that beyond the visible, tangible world there lies a deeper,
implicate order of undivided wholeness. There is evidence to suggest that our
world and everything in it -- from snowflakes to maple trees to falling stars
and spinning electrons -- are also only ghostly images, projections from a
level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time”
Bohm gives
the analogy of a flowing stream:
“On this
stream, one may see an ever-changing pattern of vortices, ripples, waves,
splashes, etc., which evidently have no independent existence as such. Rather,
they are abstracted from the flowing movement, arising and vanishing in the total process of the flow. Such transitory subsistence as may be possessed by
these abstracted forms implies only a relative independence or autonomy of
behavior, rather than absolutely independent existence as ultimate
substances".
