Know Thyself Before You Can Know Life

Scientists say the physical universe has no objective centre because the universe itself is expanding in all directions ... ,

Scientists say the physical universe has no objective centre because the universe itself is expanding in all directions as a four dimensional space-time continuum. Space-time itself is in the process of expansion! Therefore, there can be no fixed reference coordinate system to chart the ballooning cosmos and extrapolate even a hypothetical central point of origin.

Such may be the case from a technical point of view, but from a more pragmatic perspective, each and every living person is the centre of the universe, since for each person the universe exists only because he or she is there to observe it! This concept is so profound that even diehard scientists have conceded to two versions of it called the Strong Anthropic Principle [SAP] and the Participatory Anthropic Principle [PAP]. The telescopes turn away from the receding cosmos and the arrows of all time passed and all futurity to come, train themselves upon you, the observer! The spokes of the great cosmic cartwheel emerge from you and merge back into you. You are the centre - wherever you are, wherever you go.

But what are we at our very core? We are obviously much more than just our physical hands and legs, for if a person's limbs are amputated, his or her thinking ability will still remain whole. Above all his other activities, which are also common to other animals - sleeping, eating and mating - man is a thinking animal. And what a thinker! "The most powerful computer," say scientists John Barrow and Frank Tipler, "has a storage capacity and information processing rate between 10 and 1000 times less than that of a human being." Even the dimmest of human beings possess an information processing capacity 10 times greater than that of a Cray 2 computer. The IBM computer Deep Blue which defeated Gary Kasporov, regarded as probably the greatest chess player of all time, could perform an amazing 300 million computations a second. It's obvious that Mr. Kasparov was not using his whole brain! If even the dimmest human being was to use all his or her information processing capacity Deep Blue would be a long way from defeating him or her and light years from defeating the brightest of human beings. And even then, two milestone theorems - Godel's Theorem and Searle's 'Chinese Room' - prove that mere information processing is not enough to divine knowledge. Self-awareness or consciousness is a pre-requisite.

So where does this leave us? For purely survival and propagation purposes, not only are human beings over-endowed with information processing capacity, they also possesses consciousness. Why are we humans so over-endowed with intelligence? What is the purpose? The answer is clear and inevitable. The purpose of human life is the search for Truth. The Truth. The Ultimate Truth.

If we were to measure our success and prowess in terms of furthering our offspring, then animals and bacteria are far more successful than humans are. Then we would have to conclude that the human species is an inferior species compared to bacteria or that the goal of human life is different from that of animal life. The true purpose behind human life is not sensuality but spirituality. If we do not utilize this special and massive ability to contemplate and understand the Ultimate Truth, it means we have lived lives parallel to that of the other animals in the galaxy - oblivious of everything but the here and now. In his Vachanamrut sermons, Bhagwan Swaminarayan states that the human soul perpetually peers outwards towards objects of the senses, but the soul never looks inwards to see itself. Such souls are the most wretched of all.

Those who know this truth do not hanker after money nor do they drool over materialistic objects. Socrates was once in a market asking questions about various goods on sale. "I'm surprised to find you here," said a friend. "Have you turned into a materialist?" "I have not the least desire to buy anything," replied Socrates. "I'm just amazed to see how many things I don't need in life."