Genesis of Reality: A Tattva Perspective

      Part-1

The tattvas

It’s easy to forget that English, despite its global reach today, is a relatively modern tongue when set beside ancient languages like Tamil and Sanskrit. This difference in age sometimes creates a curious bias: we tend to readily label anything written in English as ‘scientific,’ while works in other languages risk being dismissed as purely ‘religious’ or even ‘superstitious.’ Yet, the underlying ideas can be profoundly insightful, regardless of the language they’re expressed in. Take Shakti. In English, we might translate it as ‘energy,’ a term readily accepted in science. But when the word ‘Shakti’ itself appears, it’s often immediately associated with a deity and deemed religious, not scientific. As we’ve discussed, these ancient Indian languages are incredibly old, and their vocabulary, though not English, can certainly articulate profound scientific or proto-scientific understandings of the universe.”

A random YouTube suggestion about tattva popped up. As I listened, my interest grew, and I began reading about it. Actually, it's less of a religious thing and more of a way of seeing the universe itself. It's something everyone should understand. I’ll try to explain it based on how I see and understand it. The first five tattvas are known as the pure or Supreme tattvas, and they’re all about how the cosmos came to be.

Shiva tattvas

"Think of Shiva tattva as the very beginning, the ultimate reality before anything was separate. It’s pure awareness, the single foundation of absolutely everything. It’s like the supreme truth that only one thing has ever truly existed. This is like imagining the stage before the Big Bang, that single point of everything.”

Shakti tattva

Like I mentioned before, Shiva is everything, but it's in a still and unchanging state, not wanting to get involved in any action. Well, Shiva's 'everything-ness' also is Shakti. "Think of Shakti Tattva as the active power, the energy within everything. There are all sorts of energies that have the potential to change or become anything. Simply put, Shakti is the doing part, the ability to make things happen. Interestingly, up until this stage, space and time haven't even come into being yet. And the reason I always say 'space and time' together is that even though they seem separate, they're totally intertwined. You can only really measure time through changes that happen in space."

“It’s interesting to consider how the philosophical idea of Para Shakti, a fundamental source of all energy, might relate to our scientific understanding. One way to think about it is that Para Shakti could be seen as the ultimate potential from which everything arises. Within this vast potential, we can identify different facets that seem to echo our scientific observations."

 * Iccha Shakti, the potential for manifestation, could be likened to the concept of potential energy in science – the stored capacity for something to happen, a state of readiness before action.

 * Kriya Shakti, the potential for physical work, strongly resonates with the scientific understanding of energy in its active forms, such as kinetic, electrical, thermal, and radiant energy. These are the energies that drive change and perform work in the physical world.

 * Jnana Shakti, the potential to create knowledge and new forms, is perhaps the most abstract to connect scientifically. However, one could tentatively link it to the energy involved in creating and processing information, though this is more of a metaphorical bridge between these different ways of understanding reality.

"Considering Jnana Shakti as the very power of knowledge and understanding that permeates the cosmos, we can observe fascinating echoes of this principle even in the realm of physics. Take the photon, the fundamental particle of light. In a very real sense, photons act as carriers of the universe's knowledge, traversing vast distances to deliver information about celestial bodies and cosmic events to our senses and instruments. Just as 'Jnana' can imply an arising or manifestation, photons themselves are 'born' from energetic processes like the nuclear fusion at the heart of stars – a cosmic genesis that fuels the light we see. Indeed, the very process of stellar fusion, where hydrogen atoms combine to create helium and release the energy that becomes photons, can be seen as a fundamental 'birth' of light and knowledge. Furthermore, the light carried by photons is essential for the delicate balance of life on our planet, providing the energy that sustains ecosystems. In this crucial role, photons could be interpreted as embodying a certain inherent 'wisdom' within the universe's functioning. Finally, it's no accident that light has long been a universal symbol for knowledge and clarity, a symbolic resonance that further connects the tangible reality of photons to the abstract concept of Jnana Shakti."

"Ultimately, while the concept of Para Shakti and its classifications offer a profound philosophical framework, the scientific categories of energy provide a detailed and measurable understanding of the physical forces at play in the universe. Seeing potential parallels can be a thought-provoking exercise in bridging these different perspectives.”

Sadashiva tattva

“Now we come to Sadashiva tattva, which you could think of as the third step in this unfolding process. Here, the balanced ‘I’ – that’s Shiva – along with the initial stirring of Shakti, specifically Iccha Shakti (that desire to manifest something), brings forth a kind of blueprint. This blueprint, this first formation, isn’t yet a full creation, but it’s the initial design, we call it Sadashiva. This inherent tension, this desire to become, is what ultimately triggers the Big Bang expansion.”

Ishwara Tattva:

“Then we move to Ishwara tattva. After the blueprint stage, the formless Shiva starts to get a sense of ‘I am this.’ Now, even though Shiva is everything, when it begins to take on a specific shape, that shape has to be connected to everything else, not separate. So, instead of saying ‘it’s this one thing,’ it’s more like ‘it’s all these things’ – the formless Shiva brings forth a particular form. Imagine the supreme consciousness as an architect, designing the universe using fundamental particles. It’s at this point that the Big Bang expansion really takes off, leading to the creation of these basic building blocks of matter. These particles have the potential to become anything because, as we discussed, this is the first glimpse of form coming out of pure formlessness. Interestingly, it’s also at this stage that space and universal time come into being. Shiva keeps expanding his consciousness rapidly, driven by a desire for something more, until he feels it’s enough.”

Shuddhavidya Tattva:

“The quantum realm and the behavior of particles are in chaos and really hard to wrap our heads around – it’s just a dream world of the universe. But it’s not just in the quantum world; the same kind of unbound potential exists in the physical world too. So, to bring order and control to all this, knowledge is needed, and that knowledge is what we call Shuddhavidya. At this stage, every form of Shiva possesses knowledge and is also bound by rules – the rules of the Supreme Consciousness.”

Conclusion

“So, these are the first five tattvas, the pure tattvas, which delve into the very genesis of our universe. These concepts are incredibly profound and, in a way, deeply personal. It’s like looking into a mirror – whoever sees the mirror, their reflection appears. Similarly, as you read about these tattvas, your own perceptions and understanding will naturally color your interpretation. I can’t guarantee that your understanding will perfectly align with mine, and honestly, maybe your understanding is clearer than mine! I’ve simply tried to articulate these ideas according to my observation and understanding. As explored above…”

To the initial stirrings of form, the pure tattvas offer a glimpse into the cosmic dawn. But the question of ‘who am I?’ remains. In our next exploration, we’ll move beyond creation to examine the tattvas that illuminate the emergence of the individual self within this grand cosmic tapestry. Join me as we unravel the mysteries of individuality.

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