The Jiiva Sutras

By Om Kant Jha

"Science of Spirituality"—there is no worse mockery of either science or spirituality than what goes in its
name. As of now, there isn't any scientific approach to spirituality; what is generally perceived as such
is just technobabble misappropriating science to communicate incorrect ideas about spirituality. But
science is capable of studying anything that has an inherent order to it. If it is, why cannot spirituality
be understood scientifically?

Most spiritual teachings lack an inherent order. If you examine, for example, the famous four noble truths
or Vedanta, it becomes very apparent why they cannot be true as they are generally understood. Before
attempting to approach spirituality scientifically, one must know exactly what the principles of spirituality
are. Many human beings who have spiritual feelings, but understanding spirituality is a different thing
altogether. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the correct articulation of spiritual principles is
possible. The first condition is, thus, met.

But a question persists: "Can they be subjected to scientific scrutiny?" These principles are not physical
properties, so they cannot be tested in laboratory settings. But whether they are self-consistent can
be tested theoretically only if some aspect of spirituality is amenable to mathematical characterization.
Furthermore, spiritual principles must be rooted in our life experience because the fundamental truths
about our lives cannot be devoid of our experience of it. We now have two more conditions to satisfy for
spiritual principles to be scientific.

The science of spirituality, if it exists, must have these three qualities: clearly articulated principles, a
mathematical characterization of at least some aspect of it, and firm basis in our own life experience.
Doing science correctly is an art! The purpose of life, the nature of this existence, perennial fulfillment,
the ultimate discovery, the greatest wisdom, unbridled bliss and limitless joy, the elixir of immortality,
and the end of all pursuits—the only thread (Sutra), made of science and not of belief or delusion, that
weaves all of these pearls precious to a living being (Jiiva), into one, are The Jiiva Sutras.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shakuntala - Uday
• Release date: Feb 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987201916

Book preview

Introduction

Spirituality is a very general and multilayered term. It means different things to different people. This book is not at all an attempt to combine all faiths, beliefs, and ideas about spirituality. I neither have the knowledge nor the right to comment on the idea of spirituality based on other religions or value systems. Spirituality, or religion, in this book refers to Dharma, but as you will see, these are general observations and deductions that are pertinent to all life. First things first, can spirituality actually have general principles? It should, if it has any inherent order to it. Spirituality, unlike beliefs and faiths, is not a figment of our imagination and therefore cannot be baseless; it must have some fundamental principles. What are they? That’s the heart of this exposition—The Jiiva Sutras. Sutra means the thread which holds things together. Jiiva means a living being, so Jiiva Sutras are the underlying framework or the foundational principles of life upon which all (correct) spiritual teachings are built. There seems to be a plethora of spiritual teachings. Do we need one more? Well, a correct articulation of spirituality is more or less non-existent, and there cannot be many spiritual teachings, simply because life as a phenomenon is just one, and there is only one ultimate truth about it!

What authority do I have? Am I an expert in the scriptures? No, the last time I read a scripture in any detail whatsoever was when I was a teenager. I have come across some stuff here and there but never sought any spiritual knowledge, as such. How can I then be sure I am representing the essence of the whole of Vedanta? (Vedanta are the end of Vedas; they include the Upanishads—a type of scripture—which make a direct attempt at articulating spiritual truths.) Well, to learn some classical mechanics, you won’t go and study all the physics books you can find. One is enough, if you are capable of understanding the content. Once you understand what is being said, soon you can begin to see it’s the same thing being said with minor differences here and there. If you really understand it and can offer a new perspective on it, you can even write your own book! It worked in the favor of religious scholars, so it has been advertised that you need to learn a lot of stuff to understand spirituality. That’s not so. Spirituality is in your liveliness and not in the scriptures. I gain my authority not from any scripture or even science; my authority is my seeking and scientificity. Science and scriptures, both are my aids for the message that I intend to deliver, and believe me, nobody has ever put the concoction of science and scripture to a better use. Am I enlightened? No. Am I spiritual? Yes, very much. The best thing about being spiritual and having a training in theoretical physics is the power of inference, even in matters pertaining to spirituality. This is the beginning of a new age when spirituality, too, has to be explored scientifically. I am not at all asking you to believe something. Please critically assess all that is presented to you and see if you can naturally, by yourself, arrive at the Jiiva Sutras.

The most striking feature of traditional spiritual wisdom has been how objective and reductive the sages and seers were. They always used the best possible tools of articulation available, although they never had options other than using allegories. Fast-forward thousands of years to the present time, when the super-dedicated people who believe they are protecting the Dharma still use the same analogies and have formed philosophies around the words and concepts that were used in the past! All they do is play around with the language. When there was no notion of physics, the sages had to take great trouble to communicate the idea of the nonphysical, but now most of the properties of whatever it was they were trying to communicate can simply be encoded by saying that the source of existence is nonphysical (nonphysical meaning it has no interactions knowable to physics). And those who pretend to present spirituality in a new light are mostly misguided as they resort to technobabble for validating their invalid ideas. Both groups have vague ideas and even more hazy assumptions to support their ideas. We have evolved drastically in our intelligence and knowledge, but our cerebral need to comprehend spirituality has never been catered to, at least not sufficiently enough for a reasonably thinking mind. There have been concepts and words floating around with no cogency and integrity whatsoever. That’s why spirituality has never been relatable or acceptable to most. This fact, too, is interpreted by the academicians on Vedanta as spirituality being difficult to comprehend—this makes them feel intelligent. Spirituality is very simple. It’s not only the most natural human feeling but is now comprehensible too!

The panacea for all problems that face us is spirituality. Humanity, as a collective whole, is more capable than ever before to manipulate and control nature, but we are not commensurately closer to happiness or fulfillment. Spirituality needs to reach all life. There are all sorts of people who have deluded themselves and want to include the rest of the world in their delusions. They want a particular interpretation of their favorite scripture to be adopted by the whole world. There is nothing inherently wrong with that ambition, and they have every right to preach what they believe is true, but they want people to do so based on faith. There is something very ugly about asking people to believe in stuff if the belief pertains to the very essentials of their lives. We should be able to arrive at our own truths. Truth and faith should be based on what is verifiable. But is that possible? Is there a scientific approach to spirituality? Nothing that is real should be left out of science.

But, given that spirituality, and what it stands for, is itself misunderstood, how can science be used to explain spirituality? I never said it’s an easy task, and there is a reason why it does not exist yet. But there is enormous pressure on the religious-spiritual leaders to sound scientific. I am not just talking about the shams, but even the genuine ones. For example, look at some of the statements made by religious-spiritual leaders who have millions of followers: with spirituality, a human being moves to a higher frequency; meditation is explained by quantum physics; Vedanta has always said that this universe is a vibration; we always knew of the multiverse; and many more ridiculous statements. Now, I am not obscuring their messages by providing limited information. The statements made before and after these were equally ridiculous. Frequency of what? Really, you always knew that there was a multiverse and science is showing it now? This is all utter nonsense. I don’t go about listening to these people, but I have come across them while researching how spirituality is currently understood. I realized that all you need to do is to pick a few words—energy, vibration, quantum, pineal gland, left brain, and so on—and add them on to your babble: this is what is said in the name of the science of spirituality. My intention is not to ridicule them but to point out that they, too, have felt a need to present their ideas with some semblance of structure. They seek validation from science because their spirituality does not stem from experience either. But they don’t want to admit that they are innocent of either the experience or science, hence, the vagueness in articulation. It’s part of the spiritual tradition itself to explore and articulate spirituality in novel and pertinent ways. The religious-spiritual leaders themselves internally want a scientific perspective on their faith. But there is a cost to it: all unfounded and illogical beliefs and the misrepresentations of spirituality will have to be called out. This is precisely what the Jiiva Sutras does.

The big question, however, is, how can the postulates of spirituality and Dharma be subjected to scientific scrutiny? Spiritualists either have very general claims about the physicality of their existence (for example, the nature of this existence is cyclic, everything is one energy, etc.) or things so esoteric that science has no means of studying them (for example, there is one underlying superconsciousness, love and bliss is the core of this existence). The former, although it can be interpreted in many ways and can be shown to be compatible with physical science by being selective about the interpretation, serves no purpose toward actual spirituality in any way whatsoever. After figuring out exactly what the postulates of spirituality are, the biggest challenge is to examine their self-consistency. For that, we need some aspect of spiritual articulation to have an inherent physical or mathematical structure. Now, because mathematics is a self-consistent language, any internal contradictions in the spiritual principles can be easily detected. Can any aspect of spirituality be characterized mathematically? Indeed, it can be, and we shall see how it is so in chapter 7! The conclusions hence drawn beautifully explain the core propositions of Dharma and Yoga (or spirituality in general).

Generally, spirituality and religion distance themselves from scientific encroachment. They always base their fundamentals in realms far beyond where science is able to penetrate. But as you shall explore through this book, you are likely to be left after every chapter with a feeling of if only science knew more. The 11 Sutras, although they form a complete whole, are very different in what each of them elucidates. The final and the most important revelation of spirituality is untestable by known methods of science but can still be verified by every human being if they wish to do so. That revelation of Vedanta (and lineage of enlightened beings) is also the eleventh and the final Jiiva Sutra. The Jiiva Sutras is not a new form of spirituality; it’s the same as there can only be one spiritual articulation at the most fundamental level. But it’s articulated differently, updated to reflect our knowledge gained in the past few millennia. While this is a testimony and corroboration of the most ancient preserved knowledge, it is at the same time also how spirituality ought to be communicated to the future generations.

Traditionally, the most important concepts and keywords in spirituality have been Mukti, Moksha, and Nirvana. Spirituality, therefore, has for millennia been misinterpreted as something to inhibit life, mostly by those who see life as a problem—either with what they feel inside of them or because of something external. Hence, the narratives of spirituality, too, had been molded accordingly. In reality, however, spirituality is the unrestrained expression of life. The most important word in the Jiiva Sutras is Jijivisa (the desire to live, or the propensity of life for itself). I am neither coining this word nor am I defining it in any new sense; all I have done is give this word its due. This is at the core of all spirituality, Yoga, Dharma, or anything sacred that comes to your mind. If there is one word in Sanskrit which you must now, it’s Jijivisa—pronounced as G-G-we-sha (sha, as in sharp). I am not using this terminology because the traditional words have been corrupted, but spirituality is essentially about Jijivisa and nothing else. Many words and concepts will be reclaimed for their actual meanings and usages, simply because the articulation of spirituality since time immemorial has been so objective that even now it’s incredibly accurate and nothing better can be said. The few new additional terms, along with Jijivisa, have become necessary and possible because we can now fill in a lot of the gaps and connect the dots between various spiritual declarations and proclamations. Thanks to our scientific approach and achievements in the last two centuries, spirituality can now be communicated, just as it is and for exactly what it is. This is the best time for spirituality!

There is something very strange about human beings. No, it’s not our capability to control and manipulate nature, not even our ability to think and imagine, or our ideas of self-relevance. What is strange is how much we can desire, and what we actually desire for. This exposition is an exploration into the nature of human desires. For me, this alone is sacred and divine in this universe: the human desire. It’s very important that spirituality be rooted in the experience of life; otherwise, it will only attract people who are prone to fanciful ideas. For the amusement of people who are bored with their mundane lives and seek something mystical, there are many outlets, and I have no means to cater to them other than by lying or talking about something that I don’t know about from direct experience. My work is for a Jiiva to arrive at true spirituality through their own understanding. Am I reducing the beauty of devotion and surrender to mere factual statements or an intellectual pursuit? Not at all. I am myself a person who is more heart than mind. No thought can ever compete with the intensity of emotions. Correct understanding of spirituality does not inhibit faith and devotion but actually bases it on reality rather than self-deception. The pursuit of spirituality should be both objective and subjective. Without the fusion of both, its misappropriation is inevitable.

OK, finally, given diverse (in appearance) spiritual teachings, to have a science of spirituality, we need the following four conditions to be met:

All spiritual teachings should converge to a common denominator.

Spirituality should have some fundamental principles.

At least some aspects of these principles should be mathematically compliant.

These principles should be rooted in our experiences of life.

Now, a scientific approach to a particular subject is not unique. The same thing can be done in many ways, but there is generally one particular approach that is so fitting and elegant, that one is very easily convinced that this is how it was meant to be understood. Doing science is a matter of art! Is such an elegance possible in describing spirituality? Indeed it is, when we proceed in the reverse order. In the Jiiva Sutras, spirituality is based on our life experiences; then, a mathematical correspondence with its core proposition is analyzed. Subsequently, the fundamental principles of spirituality are stated, which are then used to shed light on the two most popular and potent spiritual teachings. Let’s begin!

Part I: Jiiva

The Being, The Creation

1 The Purpose

1.1 Yes, You’re Spiritual!

All I Know

I know not

By attainment or realization

The immutable source of all

Those who attain to this ultimate entity

For the erudite and philosophers

Comment on the Brahma Sutras

I know not

By attention or implementation

The mechanics of the life process

Those who realize how life manifests

For the seekers and doers

Interpret the Yoga Sutras

I know not

By ingenuity or vision

What laws characterize ideal living

Those who envision these noble paths

For the followers and believers

Elucidate the Dharma Sutras

I know not

By learning or research

What and how everything is

Those who decipher aspects of creation

For the curious and analytical

Postulate the Vigyana Sutras

All I know is

By inference and experience

The Proclivity and Purpose of life

Having known its worth and the need for it

For all life and living beings

I hereby explicate The Jiiva Sutras

With an unknown origin, this observable universe is a better vacuum, on average, than any that has ever been created on Earth, yet has at least hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars. Due to the sheer immensity in number, invariably billions of these stars have solar like systems, a sizable portion of which might contain planets like ours that are capable of supporting life. Also with unknown origins, life has manifested itself in incredibly diverse forms on this planet. Among the millions of species who call Earth their home are we—humans—able to perceive this existence and, better still, be aware and conscious of our perceptions. This might appear alarming, surprising, enthralling, humbling, or all of the above, but it is definitely the most contemplative and evocative fact by all standards. All fascinations, explorations, and curiosities are mere subsets of this underlying reality. Statistically, our existence may not be inexplicable, or for that matter, something to wonder about, as this universe is most certainly just one realization over all possibilities through which the so-called creation has manifested. However, as an experiential reality, it is still so incredibly intriguing that this I is aware of its perception of this magnificent universe, itself included.

The perception that confronts and bewilders this I is twofold: one is of its own being and the other is of everything else in this existence that is not its being, which I will refer to as simply this and that. This amusement manifests itself in the form of two fundamental questions that form the basis of all seeking in a human being: "What am I? and What is this existence?" What is it exactly that we want to know, and why? Well, anything and everything about this existence and ourselves. You might be able to come up with a bunch of reasons why the details of the black holes, the first few microseconds of the creation of our universe, what goes in the multiverse (if it indeed exists), the nature of extraterrestrial life outside of the observable universe, and the nature of God (that may or may not exist) are relevant to life on this planet, but a truthful admission is that we seek to know the essence of that and this, irrespective of any consequence and impervious to any cause. This desire to know is innate to life and is not an evolutionary artifact or a social construct. The intrinsic human disposition to seek to know is referred to as Jigyasa, which is the Sanskrit word for the desire to know or the propensity of life for experiential knowledge.

One fundamental fact about us is our denial of ignorance; we choose not to admit that we do not know the fundamental nature of either this or that. This repression of ignorance is manifested in multiple ways, the two most common of which are science and religion. One generally gets an impression that believers do not have the same drive to know for themselves and are content with whatever they have been made to believe about the nature of their existence. However, that is only a partial truth. The very reason we believe and keep reminding ourselves of our beliefs is that not believing is confronting our ignorance and is a reminder of our Jigyasa, which seems like a predisposition that will consume us without yielding any return. Thus, we are better off keeping our Jigyasa repressed. Likewise, although a lot about our existence has been and will further be known through science, the fundamental nature of life and creation is yet unknown, and the tendency in some believers of science to deem the current scientific knowledge sufficient to explain this existence, too, is a denial of ignorance. Jigyasa is an innate tendency of life to know itself and all it experiences; all knowledge and beliefs are unconscious expressions to cater to it.

Life’s next innate tendency stems from the interaction between this and that. This wants to experience that; we want to experience the pleasure, joy, bliss, and happiness of the world around us. The desire to experience the sensations (the pleasant ones) that the existence other than us can cause or the propensity of life to experience itself through interaction with the external is in Sanskrit termed Bhubhuksha. The pleasure-seeking creatureliness was erroneously assumed to be the most basic characteristic of human beings in psychoanalysis. Surely, the mechanism through which we experience pleasure (or pain, for that matter) is an evolutionary adaptation and drives our behavior to a large extent, but we human beings seek pleasantness of experience regardless of any objective or mechanism, be it chemical or otherwise. This seeking is not a by-product of evolution but forms the basis for selection effects to play out. Our so-called pursuit of happiness is, too, a denial of dukha—lack of bliss, contentment, and happiness (to be defined more precisely in chapter 11.3). It’s not just the absolute knowledge; even the totality of experience of this and that seems unattainable, and the best we can do is pursue our happiness. Bhubhuksha is the most apparent and palpable innate tendency which no one can claim to be untouched by; even those who actually abstain from all sensual pleasures seek some experience which they believe to be of more significance.

The final and fundamental intrinsic tendency of life that underpins the other two (Jigyasa and Bhubhuksha) is life’s foremost propensity; this wants to be, to exist. Jijivisa is indeed the prime motivation for all we do. All we are and all we can be or will become is dictated by the propensity of life for itself. This desire for life is referred to as Jijivisa. The innate need for self-perpetuation and terror of death that psychodynamics eulogizes to be the supreme force behind all human behavior and the instincts for survival and self-preservation of evolutionary psychology are mere derivatives of Jijivisa (not the other way around). Propensity of life is also propensity for life, and it is as fundamental to existence as this creation itself is. Life is an expression of Jijivisa, and the Jiiva Sutras is an articulation of the same.

Jijivisa, Jigyasa, and Bhubhuksha are the three innate and intrinsic propensity of life. This is the central proposition of this exposition. These three longings are at the root of all that can be considered spiritual, sacred, and divine. These three properties of life are at the focal point of all that there is to our existence. Our lives are defined by unconscious expression, repression, denial, acceptance, conscious expression, and fulfillment of these alone and nothing else. Unfortunately, even in the Sanskrit language, these three words and what they represent are not considered to have particularly spiritual connotations; however, the whole of Dharma, Vedanta, and Yoga essentially stem from them. Any meaningful spiritual exposition hinges on these three innate tendencies. This book explores the origin, influence, consequence, and the end of these three proclivities that life appears to exhibit. Jijivisa, Jigyasa, and Bhubhuksha are not independent of one another, and their interrelation will become pronounced as this book unfolds. Because one can never be proven right or wrong if all they have is vague explanations for nebulous ideas, I will refrain from cluttering my proposition with jargon or being ambivalent about it. The Jiiva Sutras will be corroborated by Adi Shankara’s Yoga of intellect, seconded by Vedanta, and bolstered by Buddha’s noble truths. It shall be stated in absolutely simple, coherent, and unambiguous terms. That’s the purpose of this book. Now let’s turn our attention to perhaps the biggest open secret that a human mind grapples with: the purpose of life.

What is