swami viveknand

Swami Vivekananda's statement that the Universe is the Absolute seen through the screen of time, space and causation allows us to get some interesting information, albeit in negative terms, about what he calls the Absolute. Since it is not in time, it cannot be changing. Change takes place only in time. And since it is not in space, it must be undivided, because dividedness and separation occur only in space. And since it is therefore one and undivided, it must also be infinite, since there is no "other" to limit it. Now "changeless," "infinite," and "undivided" are negative statements, but they will suffice. We can trace the physics of our Universe from these three negative statements. If we don't see the Absolute as what it is, we'll see it as something else. If we don't see it as changeless, infinite, and undivided, we'll see it as changing, finite, and divided, since in this case there is no other else. There is no other way to mistake the changeless except as changing. So we see a Universe which is changing all the time, made of minuscule particles, and divided into atoms.

But because of the revealing power, the changelessness, the infinitude, and the undividedness show through. The changeless shows through in us as our yearning for peace and security and it shows in what we see as matter as its mass or inertia. The infinite shows in us as our yearning for freedom, and it shows in what we see as matter as the electrical charge on the minuscule particles. And the undivided shows in us as love, and it shows in what we see as matter as gravity and the attraction between opposites like positive and negative electrical charges. The Universe is "wound up" against gravity only because the undividedness shows through. And it is "wound up" against electricity only because the infinitude shows through. Gravity, electricity, and inertia are simply the nature of the underlying existence showing through, just as the length and diameter of the rope show through in the snake for which it has been mistaken. What we see as energy is simply the underlying existence showing through. Everything that happens, happens because of that.