I consider myself not mature and arrived at all to be answering such a profound question..nonetheless!

Universe is an effect.
We make it.
It works basis a domino effect.
U reflect good, it comes back to u manifold.
Sooner or later.
And vice versa.

All it needs is everyone
To do one good deed everyday..
And soon
U can see the ripples forming.
Of goodness.
The universe reflects it.

But u don't need to fit in
If u're born to stand out!
Then u,
Become the contradiction.
The wronger right.

We are the CAUSE.
Universe is the EFFECT.

The mistake is that
We tie the whole world down
to our own plane of thought,
and make our mind
the measure of
the whole UNIVERSE.

I think we need to let go
more often than not..

Cuz once the game is over,
the king and the pawn
go back into the same box!

P.S. - I'm jus tryin to learn here :)

Your mind can never comprehend the universe. The more you try, the more you cry. However, unfortunately, sometimes the way to peace is through chaos. Start receding into yourself, towards birth and into the unborn.

'As we try to understand onself, we get to stage where one question almost gets solved and another quest starts.'

You have come to the right place when you are tired of those questions.For a while stop dealing with all such questions?Instead investigate to whom do these questions arise ? Who are you? Without you is there a universe?Allow for that question alone to work itself out. The rest will fall in line.

I have written an article on this topic sometime back. It can be found here

http://storiesofsourav.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/god-grand-old-dawn/

Deepak,

If this sees the light of day , given the weed's propensity for blocking my posts I have some words of comnfort for you.

Some think the universe is amoral - infact it shows that mental gymnastics and word jugglery pass for philosophy and thinking. if we really want the truth , we must be open to it - it being simple , unprofound or even boring .

We are always looking for excitement , something to inspire us - it is very conditional. Hence the indulgence of connecting illogical thoughts and asking impossible questions.

How can universe be moral or amoral ? It is a gross accumulation of matter , life and energy with a space for them to manifest and a capacity for evolving or devolving ..ie integrating or disintegrating..

We have clear vedic knowledge of creative process and what the nature of the universe is. Why hunt for an answer when you have one already ? Of course , as' developed' and 'educated' people ,we want the adventure and the thrill of groping in dark.

Its upto you buddy , if you are expecting truth and answers from SK , godspeed. On the otherhand , if you are open enough for answers , look for them in the Vedas.

Footnote : Vedic answer is : Universe is the neither cause nor effect. It is a continuum , biginningless and endless- it always was and will always be. Now, this doesnt make sense to a so called 'developed' or rational mind. But then there are inconcievable things beyond the mind , can you comprehend it ?

Hello Sir, I am a student of class XII and i just wanted to ask you a few questions. I will be very grateful to you if you answer any of them.
Q1) What is the role of creativity in a profession?
Q2) Do you think that out of the box ideas make a mark in the current scenario?
Q3) In wake of tremendous exposure to the youngsters, what are your views about the importance of value system?

what universe?

May I suggest that you ask your buddy Dr. Deepak Chopra to educate all of us on this tough to grasp topic!

It’s the universe in us that puzzles us, that is the riddle, the never ending cycle of self-doubt and elation, the stark moments of expansion and the depressive phases of contraction. The great philosophers, the masters of prose, they all have tried to fathom the depth of our inner universe, to make us see what they see, or better yet attempt to make us adapt their vernacular of the eternal thought process they proclaim to have mastered.

There is no such thing as a universal truth, there is an infinite number of truths as there is an almost unimaginable number of solar systems in the billions of galaxies in a space that is forever without limits, with this humongous interstellar matter. It is the universe in us that assigns morality or defers to the virtues of the spiritual. It is true that the human intellect has probed deeply into the physical universe, the one we live in as an infinitesimal variable, seemingly irrelevant to the point of absurdity without yet having found the tools to an understanding where the order is coming from upon which this incomprehensible vastness functions. Are the human spirit and intellect, in all their audaciousness, the center of the universe or are they only a sad and empty nothingness, an energy so insignificant as to be utterly inconsequential, to eventually disappear in the enormity of the time arc together with the cataclysm our earth will face? Will we ever know or will the dialogue with our inner universe consume our energies?

Morals are violent, like beheaded beasts.

Vibrations are sublime. Unending is a contradiction.
Universe is the cause of the effect that begins in everything and ends in nothing.

We are the affect.

A question is not when you put a question mark at the end of it. A question is what makes you see beyond the end of everything on the endless road to nothing.

Simply put, universe is a paradox to us.
Because we are the irony of it.

Great post this will really help me.

hi shekar,

hope you get to read this posting of mine.may be that i get chewed up by the blog administrators.
but then it was always my dream to showcase my art and design to you.
i have a blog running

http://noisefromfuture.blogspot.com/

i know you are too busy to comment but please do visit if your busy schedules permit oneday.
im a visual artist and belives in every story that i have to tell..

last but not the least..
looking forward to get associated with you one day..sooner.

all the best and kudos for sharing such a beautiful space

The so called universe is the outcome of your individual and collective karma. Your karma or action is the outcome of your thoughts,emotions and desires since many life times. This universe is within you and what you are seeing is only the refection of what is inside you individually and collectively (since many life time ).All of this is only the perception /illusion of your mind because what is real is beyond the dimension and understanding of the so called mind.....these are not just words but my personal experience as i have experienced the dimension within me where there are no thoughts ,emotions or desires ....also called the state of shoonya or nothingness . Everything is created and born and comes into existence from this nothingness or god or supreme consciousness....also called a state of nirvikalp samadhi or nirvana or moksha. You can also check my blog http://www.karma-mind-maya.blogspot.com

This is really getting very interesting.....and mind blowing. Thanks SK for the forum. This "nothingness' is like a black hole that sucks everything. We all create our "universe" and our "black holes". Wonder what Stephen Hawkins has to say on this regard.

I’ve been part of an email thread related to a traveling exhibition on Gandhara Buddhism. Among those involved are Pakistan's Ministry of Culture the Peshawar Museum, Archaeology Dept. Of the Univ. of Peshawar – much of the exhibits are on loan from Pakistan which apparently houses the largest collection of Gandhara Buddhist art & sculptures (amazing!).

In the context of programming around this traveling exhibit for a museum in Paris, was the following message (in part):

“...any performance around the Buddhist Art should not be other than the palace
life before the great renunciation of Sidhartha (later on the Buddha)...”

To me this contradicts the focus of the exhibit’s collections, as well as the philosophy itself! Anybody seen Buddha or Buddhist art representations with exclusive focus on his royal life? Attempting to understand the intent behind the above remark – any views ?

Hello Shekhar & guests.. I confess i am not too knowledged in this; but i offer my humble thoughts regardless of risk of sounding quite "foolish & uninformed" (gentle smiles)
--------
It is the "encircling" unto ourselves; which causes the "perception" of contradiction perhaps? This means; that we are our own beginning and end; as such.. we experience the uncertainty of every step because fear and ego; prevent us from seeing the path through the forest; because we see only the trees... thus, the "questioning" when there should be silence and at the oppostive spectrum; the silence when their should be questioning; it is the "Circle" of our Self.. a spiral which from birth, we proceed towards the end; which leads us to a new beginning.. our human evolution of the soul. So to me, there is no need to question what seems out of perspective with learned-education; because ultimately it is the ancient-one in your spirit(You); which is the conductor(You) of your physical journey anyway.

Bless,
North

kavitha, let me take a stab at your comment from whatever I could glean of the context.

If the art showcases Buddha before his renunciation, I would actually find it very interesting. Having grown up with an idea of Buddha primarily being a realized soul, any depiction to showcase his ordinary existence would provide the impetus to investigate for anyone. To question further and say hold on -- is this what he was..why did anyone with the world's best comforts find it pointless at the end..it turns my attention possibly as a viewer onto our obsession with the material world and question it a little further. Art which showcases an enlightened Buddha I somewhere think takes him out of reach for many and places him on a pedestal making his life mission slightly other worldly. What do you say ?

Man is a product of the Universe.Man through many millenia evolved morals. A certain portion of mankind went beyond morals and reached Krishna consciousness(Universal consciousness in consonance with morals but above morals). With the advent of Kali age morals became secondary or for ostentation only. Thus Humanity evolved beyond Krishna consciousness to Kali consciousness(Law).Kali who dances even on the lying Shiva(third eye/pure consciousness) with her tounge out.

Post religious societies are also the societies well regulated by law.So one may act out of Krishna or Shiva consciousness but his/her actions should be in consonance with Law(Bhadra Kali).

Deepak,

It’s interesting that most ‘visual art’ (sculpture, painting) around Buddhism (at least as far as what I've been exposed to) tend to focus on post-renunciation depictions, while ‘performance/moving art’ has had a more holistic approach, telling the Buddha story from royalty to realization. I guess the pervasive representations are more a function of the medium (and its limitations).

I didn’t see an issue with depicting Buddha’s royal lifestyle -- in fact I do think more representation of the 'whole story' would be a lot more interesting, placing Buddha ‘within reach’ and less ‘other wordly’ – for how good is art if it cannot be made relevant or touch peoples lives in some way?

My questioning and attempt to understand was more about an uncompromising directive to showcase ONLY Buddha’s royal lifestyle (pre-renunciation) in the performance component around the exhibition (asking for a deductive experience) – this when the entire exhibit’s focus was architected around post-renunciation. And, how can you place it ‘within reach ‘ and provoke questioning/investigative pathways unless you tell the whole story (in this case) through the art? I wondered how much of the directive stemmed from a motivation rooted in political soil rather than artistic.

kavitha,

you mentioned that this was being organized by the pakistanis? well, then there's a possible answer..they may not want to propagate buddhism in any way, hence the fineprint clause of the pre-religious context.
but, in going with the deeper views here, all sages were whores, pimps and what not at some previous point..is why it is called evolution.

brahmastra,

it is not 'organized' by the Pakistanis, but they have a big say in it, since most of the collections are loaned by them. i have met some of the stakeholders at the opening of one of the earlier traveling exhibitions -- from the personal interactions, one would walk away impressed with their sense of 'culture' and 'cultural values' and an overwhelming desire to embrace them as our own. Which is why i found it even more intriguing. It is interesting how a book is not to be judged by its cover -- oh well, so much for the human face hiding behind the cloak of technology.

So at a broader level i ask myself, who is their 'real self' -- the one(s) i met in person, or their selves who speak from behind. still attempting to use 'soft power' to get to the root of it, at least for my own understanding :-)

Despite it all, I still continue to cherish my very dear Pakistani friends of years.

kavitha,

Here's a welcome greeting from the site http://www.bayareaindoamerican.com/ which one of the members here is linked to:

--
Namaste
I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you
which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace.
When you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
We are one
--

So, this is the real self for every being in existence. The feeling of separation exists for various reasons, one of the significant ones being the "cloaking" of this real self by fanatical thought patterns which could be logically assumed to be highest among islamic fundamentalist ideology.
I have myself had multitudes of Pakistani friends who were as close as brothers. But the ego overpowers the core because of strong conditioning. Islam, and most religions of today, have become the harvesters of ego rather than the true self. But still, the true self in all will continue its temporal journey to remove these veils.