Using a Hypothesis to prove a point

Many people starting to read 'The God Concept' come up against statements early on in the book urging the reader to discard the idea of body/mind/intellect as one's real self; they are urged to think of themselves as the 'Atma' or 'Consciousness' as their true self.

Some people stop reading the book right there!

That would be pity! It is generally necessary to have loads of patience while trying to understand 'new' theories, in science as in philosophy (even when the 'new' theory has been in existence for a few thousand years!). When the Gods we pray daily to (be it Krishna or others) have spoken words that we hold as unquestionable, it will only be proper that we listen to these explanations that teach us why the God(s) said those words, in that manner.

Modern day minds demand explanations that mimic development of mathematical formulae! They want 'Facts! Facts! Facts! Logical facts, not religious beliefs!!' In 'The God Concept' an attempt has been made to provide just such convincing, and logical, arguments.

The arguments rely on a hypothesis for this purpose. This is how it goes:

An encounter is described between sage Sankaracharya and a Chandala, a person of low caste. The latter puts to shame the sage by presenting himself as a visionary and a fully realized soul, forcing Sankara to acknowledge the Chandala as his Guru! Lots of explanations are given in the early part of the book where it details this episode. These explanations seek to highlight the nature of various objects of the universe through the Theory of Reflections and Theory of Conditioning of Space. Even were one not fully subscribing to these concepts initially, yet it can be arguably considered as plausible at that stage.

Then, in the first stanza of the poem that follows, the Theory of Three States is described in some detail. Possibly this might be where the skeptical reader begins to stir with discomfort and disapproval!

The three states of existence are described as Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep. The Tri-State Theory seeks to convince us that the awareness in us in each of these states are temporary and does not pan into, or carry into, the other two states. This leaves one, according to the theory, believing that the awareness recognized in, say, the waking state is the only real awareness and the awareness in the other two states count for nothing. Likewise, the awareness in dream state does not acknowledge the awareness in the waking state and the sleep state as real. In deep sleep, both the awarenesses of waking and dreaming states are not recognized as existing. Being creatures of the waking state, we tend to not subscribe to the theory, holding that the awareness in the waking state is the only real awareness.

However, as inquirers after facts, the scientifically minded will not agree to limit themselves to the waking-state-is-all-there-is theory. They will want to look at the other two states also in some detail.

Here is where a hypothesis is introduced.

The hypothesis conceives of an over-arching Awareness that spans all the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep.

Hypotheses are generally useful to help us understand a missing element in science and mathematics. There is no proof of their validity in the initial stages of inquiry but the proof is expected to follow in due course if the assumptions are validated by the inquiry. After introducing a hypothesis, such as 'x' in mathes and the 'God Particle' in Quantum Physics, a 'vacant' (unknown) spot in the search is filled and new observations are made to verify whether the results obtained help confirm the hypotheses used.

In the present case of the Tri-State Theory, the hypothetical, overarching Awareness is declared to be present in all the three states of Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep. It is said to be acting as a 'Witness' in all the states. This Witness is not a temporary awareness like in the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. Its presence as Witness is most convincing in the dream sequence described in the book, but it is also said to be equally present in the other two states.

Sankara argues relentlessly that we are that overarching Awareness ourselves, not those temporary, limited awarenesses of waking, dreaming and sleeping states.

When one says, 'My body", it refers to the body being owned by another entity; I the Universal Awareness, is the owner of my body. Just as 'My house' is not me, 'My body' is not me either. I am its owner.

The hypothetical, overarching Awareness (the Witness) gets a further boost with the theory of 'Subject-Object Validation'. But more evidence is still to come to validate the assumptions that this Witness-Awareness is of infinite nature, and is beyond time and space. Objects situated in space are limited to the space they occupy; objects under influence of time experience decay with time and disappear after some time ("here now, not seen earlier, and not to be seen after some time!"). Our bodies are subject to space-time restrictions, and they appear, stay, and disappear with passage of time. But not our Awareness.

Establishing the fact of the Awareness (or Consciousness) as being beyond space and time is developed now in the pages that follow. That makes this Awareness as Infinite. The Sanskrit word for Infinite is 'Brahmam'.

It establishes the fact that this Awareness is Brahmam, the infinite. Since I am that Awareness myself, I too am Brahmam.

Even though the subject of the book deals with 5 short stanzas of philosophy, it reveals the highest secular ideals of those ancient times.

The hypothesis of the Overarching Awareness is validated as one delves deeper into the pages of the book. The narrative of the book is not mere translation from Sanskrit text to English prose. It takes individual words from the poem and squeezes out the most contemporary interpretation, stripping the original Sanskrit text of its mysterious allusions.

There is amazing logic in the book's arguments. The book doe not ask the reader to believe any super-human body like God of any particular image or of any religion.

One only needs an open mind to look at the logic presented. As stated in the book, acceptance or rejection of the ideas presented in the book is not important; facts stand on their own legs.

The earth is round regardless of our accepting or rejecting that idea. We are the Ultimate Universal Consciousness or Awareness, not the bodies we now identify with. Our beliefs, pro or anti, don't matter.

So says Sankara!