[Advaita-l] Is the idea of 'anAditva' logical?

[V Subrahmanian]

On 7/2/12, Anand Hudli <anandhudli at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Where does this fit into Cosmology? There is an interesting theory called
> the Pulsating Universe or Oscillating Universe theory that corresponds to
> the Hindu concept as outlined above. According to this theory, as opposed
> to the Big Bang Theory, the universe is alternately expanding and
> contracting. The following links contain simple explanations of the three
> theories of creation:
>
> http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/02144/basics/univevol.htm
> http://www.thebigger.com/physics/universe/explain-the-various-theories-of-the-origin-of-universe/
>
> An interesting video featuring the explanation of some of the above
> concepts by the famous Astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) may be found here:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugyrzr5Ds8o
>
> In this video, Prof. Sagan explains how the Hindu concept of Time and large
> time scales makes sense to modern cosmology.  Here is a quote from the
> video:
>
> "Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to
> the idea that the cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite
> number of deaths and rebirths.

Thanks Shri Anand ji for an insightful post.  I am reminded of the
'unmeSha-nimiShotpanna-vipanna-bhuvanAvaLiH' of the Sri
LalitAsahasranAma.  [By Her opening and closing of eyes universes come
into being and disappear]


It is the only religion in which the time
> scales correspond, no doubt, by accident, to those of modern scientific
> cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and
> night of Brahma 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the earth
> or the sun and about half of the time since the big bang. And there are
> much longer time scales still."
>
> I had the good fortune of attending one of Prof. Sagan's lectures on
> Cosmology in the 1990s in the US. It was simply fascinating.
>
> I found this quote in the Wikipedia article.
>
> On atheism, Sagan commented in 1981: "An atheist is someone who is certain
> that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the
> existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be
> relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have
> to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that
> no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain
> of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a
> subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little
> confidence
> indeed"<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#cite_note-USCatholic-45>


Another example of 'indeterminism' (anirvachanIyatA) coming from a
scientist? How true are Swami Vidyaranya's words!!

nirUpayitum Arabdhe nikhilairapi paNDitaiH |
ajnAnam purataH teShAm bhAti kakShyAsu kAsuchit || Panchadashi 6.

143: // Even if all the learned people of the world try to determine the nature
of this world, they will find themselves confronted at *some stage or other* by
ignorance.//  _

Swami Paramarthananda said that there are some 20 plus creation
theories doing the rounds in Scientists' discourses.  That there is no
unanimity, finality, with regard to creation among scientists sounds
very 'Vedantic' indeed.

subrahmanian.v