The ‘God particle’ and Vedantha!

The CERN experiment in kindling my interest as to explore

what Vedantha says about the ‘god particle’ or

about the probability of finding out the primary ‘tool’ of God to create the universe.

First of all let us see what this “God / Boson Particle” is.

It is believed to be that particle that bestowed mass on all other particles.

This particle is presently considered to be a reasonable explanation for the origin of mass.

It is supposed to be the complete theory of Everything.

Stephen Hawking who has given a clean chit to this CERN project on its safeties,
initially did not believe that such a particle does exist.
He once placed a $100 bet that the particle does not exist and continues to argue
that there are more interesting outcomes to be drawn from the LHC
than the discovery of the Higgs boson.

Professor Higgs,

who first postulated the existence of the particle 44 years ago, reacted,
"I have to confess I haven't read the paper in which Stephen Hawking makes this claim," he said.
"But I have read one he wrote, which I think is the basis for the kind of calculation he does.
And frankly I don’t think the way he does it is good enough.”

There are thus differences within the scientific community and
there is every possibility that what is now thought as the ultimate theory will some day
be found wanting or even be replaced by another theory, as human explorations advance.



In this context, I wish to look at Vedanta to know what it says.
Let us first take up the idea of God particle.
It is that which gives mass to other particles.
This has a corollary to Brhaman at creation in Vedantha.
It is called Brahman because it is ‘brih’ – huge and growing continuously. (1)


What made this grow?
It is the “Thought” or "Will" of that Brahman “May I become many”.

This God particle as per Veadntha is thus not a material,
not something contained in a material, and nor even an energy.
It is something intangible and non-measurable.
That “thought” of Him that He expands!
The Thought sprang up at a specific state of universe before creation
This state is explained in the Rik vedic Nasadeeya hymn (of Creation) (2)





The “It” in “It thought, may I become many” is known as the moola prakruthi.
What is moola prakruthi?

As per vedantha, there is a concept of ‘moola prakruthi’ –
the one without another – or the One absolute Brahman in which everything is sustained
and which is in everything.

It is about an Absolute state or a state that exists for ever –
only to be cycled and re-cycled into manifest, humanly perceivable universe
from un-manifest, non-perceivable Universe and vice versa.


We, at our present level of existence at the 51 st cycle of entire duration of Creation
with 10 the power of 17 more years to pass, before the complete dissolution
of the present state of universe takes place,
which is alternating between creation and dissolution -
are thinking that we will be able to find out the God particle
that unravels the theory of Everything!!



The Vedanthic version is that creation as scientists say did not commence 13 billion years ago.
It started (4,320,000,000 x2) 360 x 50 years ago.
What happened 13 billion years ago was a logical culmination of
what happened for 4,320, 000,000 years prior to that.
At that time the universe with all potentialities was in a fluid, undefined and un-manifest state.


But something must have kicked off to make this state become manifest.
This is theorized as ‘Big bang’ by scientists who wish to know
whether the God particle existed to make this happen.

Vedantha says that what existed before creation was moola prakruthi
that has everything in it and can become anything
but does not become until it ‘thought’ that it wants to ‘become’.
In other words, the moola prakruthi, known as the womb of Narayana,
the Brahman and the Absolute which has every potentiality
wanted to exhibit its potential.
This happened when “It thought, may I become many”.

Initially even this ‘thought’ was fused in it.
This ‘thought’ was undifferentiated in it.
This ‘thought’ existed as an un-manifest potentiality.



But once the thought “germinated” it started expanding
as Prakruthi coupled with Purusha – or as matter coupled with energy.
(Thus moola prakruthi and prakruthi are different.
The Moola Prakruthi is the Absolute, ever existent entity
whereas Prakruthi is a created entity – created from the womb of Moola prakruthi.)


This energy gives mass to the matter as it expanded.
This energy came from the Thought.
So if we are to define the “God particle” as per Vedantha, it is the ‘Thought’ of Brahman!


One may say that even thought is an energy and can be measured or detected
as an electronic impulse. It can be detected for its presence
but can not dissected as to what it is or what it thinks and what its components are.


It can be understood like this.
We are capable of ‘thought” and our thought can be detected as electric impulses.
But is it possible to say what that thought is unless we ourselves disclose it?
Again, as long as the thought is in thought form, no one can detect it.
It can be detected only when the thought is manifest as some action.
But once action comes out, only the action can be seen or noted, but not the thought.
The thought can only be inferred!




The same with Creation by That thing which ‘thought’ that it may become many.
Only the ‘many’ can be detected.
The seed of that ‘many’ namely the “thought” can only be inferred.
(The existence of God itself is inferred from this world / creation only)

How that thought gave a push to the action or the formation of ‘many’ can not be known.
Do we know how it happens with our thoughts and actions?
We may have many thoughts.
But not all thoughts get converted into action.
We don’t know what impulse triggers our thought to be manifest into action.
When we don’t know about the trigger of our own thoughts,
how can we know the trigger or impulse that germinated
the “thought’ of God into action?



But there is a way to know this.
It can be known from the scriptures!
We are being told that scriptures are the only source to know how it happened.
(Brahma sutras 1-1-2)
It can not be known by any other source nor by any experiment in science.
What they are experimenting is about ‘matter’.
Matter did not create this universe.
The Thought created this universe.



Again what we use for this experiment (CERN) are the by-products
or products that were formed as manifest.
They can tell us what happens with them but not what happened to them.
What happened to them, happened by that “thought”.
Scientists have not even hypothesized that Thought!


Again matter is not God and matter is not of God but is something that exists in him.
According to Vedantha, the coupling of Prakruthi with Purusha
(matter and energy /mind) herald the creation of the universe.
It went on like this without any differentiation initially.
That is when the four-faced Brahma brooded of winding off creation and starting afresh.
But his son Shiva,(born of Brhama) stepped in to make differentiation by de-coupling.
Vedantha tells of a sudden ‘wind’ that stirred up the expanding universe.
As a result, matter and energy de-coupled and started colliding with each other
giving rise to birth of particles and subsequently stars and galaxies.



(Chaos in Orion: Baby stars are creating chaos 1,500 light-years away in a cosmic cloud called the Orion nebula. Four massive stars make up the bright yellow area in the center of this false-color image from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes.

Green indicates hydrogen and sulfur gas in the nebula, which is a cocoon of gas and dust. Red and orange are carbon-rich molecules. Infant stars appear as orange-yellow dots embedded in the nebula. Image and caption by NASA.)


Science has recognized some unexplainable ‘ripple- effect’ at 5 billion years after creation –
coinciding with the ‘wind’ that stirred up the expanding universe then.
All the recognizable particles of today have come into existence after this time period only.
This ‘wind’ is inferred to be from Shiva’s power, while the initial state germinated from Thought.



What we are looking at now is probably Shiva’s hand in the cosmic stir-up.
The dance of Shiva at micro and macro level as well.
As ANima and Mahima!
At atoms and at the galaxies!

But the original Thought may never be known.
Ceratinly can not be known by material physics.
Since it is about Thought, only thought (of ours) can detect it.
When our thought expands to that Thought, we may come to know.
But then, that means reaching the level of God Himself.
When your thought is same as His Thought, that is the Ultimate state –
call moksha or Release!



While at His level, do you think that we can come down to human level to explain to humans?
Or will the fellow humans understand that Thought level which is not at their level?
Even now God my be trying to communicate His Thoughts to us.
But we are not picking them up!

That is why sastras and a vast body Vedanta have been created.

For us to know which can not be known solely by human efforts.

Related article:-
http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/05/cosmic-egg-nataraja-and-chakratthazhwar.html

Some inputs on creation from Vedas and upansihads.

* The Hymn of Creation (X.129) explains the origin of the world as the
evolution of existent from non-existent. Water came into being first;
from it was evolved intelligence by heat.
Darkness was in the beginning hidden by darkness. This all was water.


* The Aitareya Upanishad states:
In the beginning this was but the absolute self alone. There was
nothing else whatsoever. (I. 1.1)


* Shukla Yajurveda (V1.1.3)
In the beginning there was only the Creator. From him the 'water' was
formed; from the water heated, the 'foam' was formed.

* Brihadharanyka Upanishad (I. 2.1)

In the beginning there was nothing. The universe was enveloped by
death alone. He produced mind. He moved about worshipping himself. As
he was worshipping himself, water was produced.
* Krishna Yajurveda (I.2.2)
Water verily is arka. What was there as froth of water hardened and it
became earth (the cosmic egg, embryonic state of the Universe).


* Taittriya Upanishad (II.vii.1)
In the beginning all this was unmanifested. From that emerged the
manifested. The Brahman created Itself by Itself. Therefore it is
called the self-creator.

* Kathopanishad (II. ii.15)
There the sun does not shine, neither do the moon and the stars; nor
do these flashes of lightning shine. How can fire? He shining all
these shine; through his lustre all these are variously illuminated.


* Atharva Veda (XIII. 6)
Rohita produced heaven and earth. The one footed goat, the sun made
firm the heavens and earth with his strength.


* Mundaka Upanishad (II.ii.10) reiterates the words of Kathopanishad (II.ii.15)

From him originate - vital force, mind, all senses, space, air, fire,
water and earth that support everything. (II.1.3)



* Prashna upanishad (III.8) equates the Sun with prana, Earth with
apana, Space with samana, Air with vyana and Luminosity with udana.
(VI.4.)
From prana, Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth were created.


* Mahabharatha
Water was formed from the space; from water, fire and wind, and from
their reaction the earth was formed (Shanti parva, 180.16)

The water produced in the sky by fire and wind attains solid state
owing to the reaction of fire and wind. The oily quality of the water
produced from the sky takes the form of the earth. (shantiparva, 180.15)



The cosmological ideas in Vedas can be summarised as:
1. In the beginning there was neither the non-existent nor the existent.

2. The Supreme cosmogonic force by the sheer Will (Thought) to produce the
universe first in the form of darkness enveloped in darkness.

3. The cosmological waters ambhas got manifested next in the form of
undifferentiated fluid in darkness where there was no light
whatsoever.

4. From the cosmic waters, combined with the motivation to move and
probably as a consequencce of the friction, fire called arka got
generated.

5. Due to the action of the fire and water, wind was produced and the
combination of wind, fire and water produced a froth which got
solidified subsequently to form the earth.

6. The Supreme Brahman who is like an uplifted thunderbolt, makes the
entire universe to emerge and to move. Thus the cosmic fluid
originates due to the motion induced by the Will (Thought) of the Supreme Soul
moves the undifferentiated atoms into an undifferentiated cloud of
dark fluid which because of the friction of motion attains heat and
gives rise to the cosmic earth (the cosmic egg or the embryonic state
of the universe), which is the protostar of the modern concept of
cosmogony. The further motion of the cosmic fluid along with the
cosmic earth produced the ekapada aja, the sun.


The specific contributions by Vedas to the cosmogony,
in superiority to the most modern cosmological concepts, thus include:

(a) The concept of non-existent and non-non-existent state simultaneously;
(b) The Supreme Will which motivated the non-differentiated atoms to
combine to get differentiated into various forms like the nebula -
ambhas; the frictional fire - arka; the protostar - cosmic earth
and finally the sun and the five elements.


Refer:-
(1) http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/06/difference-between-brahman-brahmam-and.html


(2)
The Hymn of Creation (Rig Veda)
”There was neither non-existence nor existence then.

There was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond.

What stirred?

Where?

In whose protection?

Was there water, bottlemlessly deep?

There was neither death nor immortality then.

There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day.

That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse.

Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning,
with no distinguishing sign, all this was water.

The life force that was covered with emptiness,
that One arose through the power of heat.

Desire came upon that One in the beginning,
that was the first seed of mind.

Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom
found the bond of existence and non-existence.

Their cord was extended across.

Was there below?

Was there above?

There were seed-placers, there were powers.

There was impulse beneath, there was giving forth above.

Who really knows?

Who will here proclaim it?

Whence was it produced?

Whence is this creation?

The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen
– perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not –

the One who looks down on it,

in the highest heaven, only He knows

or perhaps He does not know.”





Articles on CERN results:-

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/3468009.cms

http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/11/stories/2008091157960100.htm

http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20080910/736/tnl-smashing-big-bang-experiment-gets-tu_1.html