According

sarily statistical in nature. The result of a scientific
analysis is expressed as a certain number, say x, with
an associated error, Δx, and an associated confidence
level, expressed as a percentage, so that any
future experiment will reveal a result in the range ‘x
± Δx’. Such a result is inherently imprecise, and yet
this method is universally used as proof of the truth
or falsity of scientific assertions. This is the best one
can hope to do on the physical and mental levels.
Truth, on these levels, comes to us shrouded in
such vagueness and uncertainty; though of course,
on the average, it works out admirably and great
progress is made through it.
But the farther we go, the farther we have to
go. There is no end in sight anywhere. Nothing
is conclusive. Each experiment leads to a further
experiment; each refinement of technique to a further
refinement. As the accuracy of measurement
increases, new effects, previously hidden by the inaccuracy
of the measurement, are discovered. There
is no end in sight. It was thought that sending a
telescope out beyond the earth’s atmosphere would
reveal, perhaps, a thinning out of the number of
visible galaxies, or some indication of the nature
of the totality of the cosmos—but no such situation
was found. As far as one can detect, the universe
stretches on. It seems limitless, and even if
a limit were found, it and all its parts are purely
mechanistic. There is nothing new there. You can
add to it all the myriads of details such as black
holes, vibrating strings, additional dimensions, big
bangs, and the like, but the quality of the totality
is not changed. It deals only with the physical and
the psychological. No new element is added, no
matter how quantum mechanical and relativistic
it becomes.
Accessing the Spiritual Level
On the spiritual level we are also faced, at the
lower reaches, with similar uncertainties in our
verification of truth. For a long time we find very
little—if any—progress. We see only partially and
dimly. We are obliged to assume a great deal. The
quest for truth on the spiritual level, however, has
PB August 2009
The Yoga of Same-sightedness 23
certain distinct features that elevate it above the
ordinary. First, it starts with the assumption of infinity
in all dimensions of experience. Suppose we
think of ourselves as being helplessly confronted
by a universe that is impersonal and frightful because
of its unimaginable vastness. Not a problem.
Who perceives this universe? I am the perceiver.
The universe is reflected in my mind. Where are
the limits of my mind? I cannot find any limits to
it. My mind is as infinite as the universe because
the whole of what can be observed or thought or
imagined can be reflected in it. Even physically, I
am infinite. Why? Because I cannot find an end
to even my physical being. Where does the body
end? If one looks at the surface of any substance
sub-microscopically, one does not find a distinct
boundary. There is instead a region of decreasing
intensity of molecules. Every material has a
‘vapour pressure’ caused by some molecules that
escape from, and are reabsorbed into, the surface
of the material. Where exactly does the ‘I’ end,
and where does the ‘not I’ begin? And in what
sense are even those molecules just within the
surface related to the entity that I call ‘I’? And
then, within every few months or years, virtually
every molecule of that ‘I’ has been replaced and
has gone somewhere else. In that sense, my own
physical being of some years ago is now spread
over much of the globe—spread by air currents,
spread by the flow of rivers. In that same sense,
every body of water must now contain some water
from one or more of the holy rivers—the Ganga
or the Kaveri or the Jordan! The universe is one in
every respect. There are no clearly defined boundaries
anywhere.
On the mental level also, there is palpably only
one reality. Certainly, at this level, all human beings
are similar in easily understandable ways. All we
need to do is to divest ourselves of the film of partiality
that clouds our vision and we will then see that
what we find fundamental and necessary for our
peace, joy, and fulfilment, is echoed and re-echoed
around the world in spite of the apparently wide
divergences existing on the surface. Animals also
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