The world around us as a figure of unknowns is indeed difficult to conceive and accept. The rational mind seldom accepts anything without the scientific proof. But to our ancestors in India this was no impossible feat. For they lived in the world of acceptance and spiritual surrender, never demanding proof.
While talking of the ancient accumulated knowledge in India, I remember my grandfather once explaining the beliefs that the astral bodies, those tiny pieces we see in the unending cosmic jigsaw puzzle, exert an influence on human life. He was talking of the moment I was born as a lone tiny cell in my mothers womb. And then also the moment when the tiny head came out of the womb to the first breath of the earthly air. My grandfather firmly believed that there was an external (cosmic) influence in these earthly moments. Fingers that left a mark!
This finger print is what our ancestors tried to capture in kundlis and jatakams of the new born. Take in the date, time and place of birth of an individual and generate an elaborate Astrological chart! One which defines the positions of the significant stars at the moment of birth. Someone had obviously done a study linking the planetary patterns to human life. But in typical Indian style, no documented proof or evidence.
Till date modern science could not prove this link, neither has astrology attempted to prove it.
During this week (Feb 2016) however, something happened. The scientists of the LIGO consortium made a surprise announcement to the world that
Hearing this announcement, the scientific world shuddered in disbelief! How can two black holes merging billions of light years away alter the distance between 2 mirrors placed somewhere in earth? That when we did not for a moment believe that 'distance' is something alterable!
But there he is... the absolute proof that the 'absolute' is as unreal as the rest of them! Just the way the scientific community always demanded to know. Rational, repeatable and perfectly fitting the theoretical model! Only that it took the focused mind five decades and a few million dollars to get us there.
People now talk of windows opening into a whole new world of science. And I am able to sense my grandfather smile from yonder, beyond the world that science has ever known. You wouldn't believe me when I said so earlier. Now patiently wait for the much bigger world of unknowns that are about to unfold!
Footnote: Here is what Prof Alberto Vecchio of University of Birmingham, one of the researchers at the LIGO, had to say about the surprise scientific discovery:
"We have observed the universe through light so far. But we can only see part of what happens in the universe. Gravitational waves carry completely different information about phenomena in the universe."
While talking of the ancient accumulated knowledge in India, I remember my grandfather once explaining the beliefs that the astral bodies, those tiny pieces we see in the unending cosmic jigsaw puzzle, exert an influence on human life. He was talking of the moment I was born as a lone tiny cell in my mothers womb. And then also the moment when the tiny head came out of the womb to the first breath of the earthly air. My grandfather firmly believed that there was an external (cosmic) influence in these earthly moments. Fingers that left a mark!
This finger print is what our ancestors tried to capture in kundlis and jatakams of the new born. Take in the date, time and place of birth of an individual and generate an elaborate Astrological chart! One which defines the positions of the significant stars at the moment of birth. Someone had obviously done a study linking the planetary patterns to human life. But in typical Indian style, no documented proof or evidence.
Till date modern science could not prove this link, neither has astrology attempted to prove it.
During this week (Feb 2016) however, something happened. The scientists of the LIGO consortium made a surprise announcement to the world that
Image Credit: The SXS Project, LIGO |
exist.
Hearing this announcement, the scientific world shuddered in disbelief! How can two black holes merging billions of light years away alter the distance between 2 mirrors placed somewhere in earth? That when we did not for a moment believe that 'distance' is something alterable!
But there he is... the absolute proof that the 'absolute' is as unreal as the rest of them! Just the way the scientific community always demanded to know. Rational, repeatable and perfectly fitting the theoretical model! Only that it took the focused mind five decades and a few million dollars to get us there.
People now talk of windows opening into a whole new world of science. And I am able to sense my grandfather smile from yonder, beyond the world that science has ever known. You wouldn't believe me when I said so earlier. Now patiently wait for the much bigger world of unknowns that are about to unfold!
Footnote: Here is what Prof Alberto Vecchio of University of Birmingham, one of the researchers at the LIGO, had to say about the surprise scientific discovery:
"We have observed the universe through light so far. But we can only see part of what happens in the universe. Gravitational waves carry completely different information about phenomena in the universe."