Surya Siddanta: Emergence of Empirical Reality (Ancient Philosophy)

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Empirical reality has been the focus of most scientific studies. But, humans have always been curious about how awareness, consciousness, sub-consciousness, or how the mind works. How are thoughts formed? Am I the mind? Is the brain responsible for consciousness? Are thoughts consciousness? Are there sub-conscious thoughts? Is the observable universe the truth? Is there a truth beyond reality? What is difference between a living being and a non-living being? What is the soul? If it is not about consciousness, the next curiosity has been about space, time and matter. Is space finite or infinite? If space is expanding, where is it expanding into? What is time? Are there extra dimensions to space? Is time the 4th dimension? How many dimensions are present? How does space and time relate to consciousness? If consciousness was not present, would there be space and time? Is this whole universe just a thought? Is there a consolidated thought that ties all living beings together?. Surya Siddanta, the ancient Sanskrit literature, when translated in the context of "emergence of reality", answers just these questions. The concepts presented are surprisingly different and highly thought provoking, making us question our own science which we hold as undisputable. The Surya Siddanta describes the various steps involved the formation of reality, as it traverses from that incomprehensible, unmanifested qualityless truth to the formation of an Individual. This book explores the ideas, the principles and concepts presented in Surya Siddanta, and explains the steps presented.

The specialty of humans is the capacity for scientific enquiry into many aspects of reality. Humans consider themselves to be highly intelligent because they have the capability to study and propose various theones for the existence of sentient beings. Humans have the ability to apply various scientific concepts proposed to modify the environment around them to create "technology" that improve human life style. This type of study is a study of the evident or the observable and changing the observable to suit our purposes.

For example: We study the observable gravitational pull and use it to create a pendulum. We study the observable rotation and revolution of the earth around the sun and use it to divide our awareness into day and night or divide our life into years to simplify description or communication. We study the observable reaction between materials and create new materials such as steel to bend it according to our requirements. We study the observable play of light and use it to create telescopes, binoculars etc., to enhance observation. We study observable electrical charges and use it to create various devices using observable modified materials to enhance comfort of human life.

Mathematics is claimed to be the universal language. Yet, we need to note that "language" is also just an expression of some form of description of the observables around us. We may solve a number of equations, define a whole number of models, but every one of those equations and models represent the observable world around us. We can model the progression of a hurricane, a twister, model the forces on a pillar that is supporting a bridge, the wind flow, the weather change and many such things. Yet, all of these falls in the observable reality around us.