Deep dive into the terms and concepts mentioned in Chapter 8

Bharat Ratna, Jewel of India, is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. There is no formal provision that recipients should be Indian citizens. It was awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa, in 1980, two non-Indians, Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan, in 1987, and the former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1990. As of 2024, 53 persons have been decorated with the Bharat Ratna.

Bible is a sacred text in Christianity. There are two parts. The Old Testament includes texts sacred in both Judaism and Christianity. It contains historical narratives, poetry, prophecies, and laws, with books such as Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Isaiah. The New Testament focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Christian church. There are four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—each presents the life and teachings of Jesus with unique perspectives and emphases. Matthew emphasises Jesus as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. Mark highlights the suffering of the Messiah, the urgency of Jesus’ mission, and the call to discipleship. Luke is for inclusiveness, mercy, joy, and the role of women. John is for the divinity of Christ, eternal life, love, and the relationship between the Father, Son, and believers.

Buddha refers to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who lived in the 5th to 4th century BCE. Buddha’s teaching is precise and succinct. There are Four Noble Truths – The truth of suffering (Dukkha), the cause of suffering (Samudaya), the cessation of suffering (Nirodh) and the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga). The path to enlightenment is the Eightfold –  Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. This is the most practical guide to ethical and mental development to free individuals from attachments and delusions that lead to understanding and enlightenment. 

Grandfather Paradox is a well-known thought experiment about the nature of time, causality, and the potential contradictions of altering the past. Imagine a person travelling back in time to a point before their grandfather had children. He now prevents his grandfather from meeting his grandmother or otherwise causing the grandfather’s death before he could have children. The paradox is that the time traveller could never have been born if the grandfather had never had children. If the time traveller had never been born, how could they have travelled back in time to create this situation? This principle suggests that any time traveller’s actions in the past must be self-consistent. Therefore, any attempt to change the past would fail or ultimately lead to events that ensure the time traveller’s existence.

Isaac Newton (1643–1727)is considered among the most influential scientists in history and a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. Newton proposed the law of universal gravitation, which states that every point mass attracts every other point mass with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centres. This theory helped explain both terrestrial phenomena and the motion of celestial bodies. His work has profoundly influenced various fields, including physics, mathematics, astronomy, and engineering.

Janam, human birth, in Hindu philosophy, is not a biological incident but a significant event caused by a complex interplay of various factors across time and space. The convergence of karma, destiny, free will, and astrological influences causes a child to be born to a particular parent in a certain family in a specific order. This emphasises the importance of spiritual evolution and the quest of the embodied soul for liberation through righteous living and self-realisation. The ultimate purpose of human life is to achieve dharma (righteousness, duty), artha (prosperity), kama (pleasure), and moksha (spiritual liberation). Each incarnation provides a new opportunity to fulfil these purposes, depending on the individual’s previous actions and choices. The high and low births are deterministic, and even God will not interfere in the process.(https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/13/)

Kurzweil, born in 1948 in New York City, is an inventor, entrepreneur, futurist, and author. He believes in Singularity, a future point when technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilisation. He predicts that by the 2040s, humans will merge with technology to the extent that they can significantly enhance their cognitive and physical skills. He advocates using biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology to extend human life. He believes that medical advancements will allow people to live significantly longer, healthier lives.

The Ocean of Milk, Kshirasagara, and the related story of the ocean’s churning (Samudra Manthan) are rich in symbolism and meaning. They reflect themes of cooperation, the dualities of existence, and the quest for immortality. Human enterprise is celebrated at one level, as different things emerge from the ‘churning effort’. On another level, the ocean of milk symbolises the depths of the unconscious mind and the potential for transformation. The churning can be interpreted as individuals’ struggles and efforts in their spiritual journey to attain self-realisation and liberation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p7D3PwZIOI)

In Hindu mythology, Shesha is a massive serpent that holds the entire universe on its hoods. He symbolises the infinite nature of the cosmos and the underlying support of existence. Shesha serves as Vishnu’s resting place and is often depicted as coiled around Vishnu while he reclines in the Kshirasagara (Ocean of Milk). Shesha represents the stability and balance required for creation and preservation in this imagery. Shesha’s other name, “Ananta”, translates to “endless” or “eternal,” which reflects his association with the infinite nature of the universe. Sesha’s vastness and hidden nature are analogous to dark matter, essential for the universe’s structure. Like Shesha is depicted as holding up the cosmos and providing stability, dark matter is crucial in forming galaxies and large-scale structures. It acts as a scaffolding around which visible matter clumps and forms celestial bodies.

Singularity in the technology world is a hypothetical future when technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseen changes to human civilisation. The idea is often linked to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) that surpass human intelligence, leading to rapid technological progress that could fundamentally change society at a time when humans and machines will merge. The concept can also be examined from a philosophical perspective, inquiring into the implications of a future where human and machine intelligence converge. Questions arise about identity, free will, ethics, and the essence of being human in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Vishnu is the manifested universe. As a God, Vishnu maintains the world’s balance of good and evil. He intervenes whenever there is a decline in righteousness (dharma). Vishnu’s consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Together, they represent the harmony of material and spiritual well-being—he movers on the divine bird Garuda, emphasising his role as a protector. At different points in the evolution of the human world, from the nomads wandering unprotected from natural forces and beasts to living through various stages of civilisation, Vishnu appears to see things right.  The ten primary avatars taken to restore cosmic order (dharma) when threatened are Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise), Varaha (the boar), Narasimha (the man-lion), Vamana (the dwarf), Parashurama (the warrior with an axe), Rama (the hero of the Ramayana), Krishna (the divine teacher and friend), Buddha (as an incarnation of compassion), and Kalki (the future warrior expected to appear at the end of the current age, Kali Yuga). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ZxNqEfmkQ)