Kamal Ghorui
Most advanced as well as rudimentary minds in the contemporary world agree that the world is causative. If one sows a seed, it grows into a plant. If the seed is not sown, a tree cannot come into being. Someone makes a phone call, and only then does the phone ring on the other side; only then does someone pick it up. Further, without a cause, there cannot be a consequence. Thus, we agree that a cause precedes a consequence—one action leading to another, which in turn leads to another. If one answers a call, one must disconnect after the call and then put the phone down.
Now, if I put the phone down, will it cause me to pick it up again? Suppose, while putting the phone down, it falls and gets damaged. Will I answer using the same phone again? Or, if I plant a seed and a tree grows, will it lead me to plant another seed? The tree is most likely to generate seeds, but will I plant another one? In the process of connecting one cause to subsequent consequences, the same action may or may not be repeated. One cause may lead to different consequences, which may in turn become causes for many other consequences. If we continue to trace cause and consequence repeatedly over time, randomness appears to increase. Further, all consequences cannot be directly related to the initial cause. This is the nature of things—randomness increases over time. Let us examine this through science.
As time progresses, connecting cause and consequence becomes probabilistic, may be due to loss of information or increased randomness. This cause-and-consequence chain operates within a system or state, and our world itself is such a system. In our world, randomness increases as more activities are performed, as new activities emerge, and as more individuals engage in actions. Thus, randomness in our world increases over time. This brings us to entropy. Entropy may be defined as a lack of information about a state, or as disorder. Generally, entropy increases over time.
We know the past better than the future. The future becomes uncertain due to increasing randomness and disorder.
Let us consider these ideas in reverse. I pick up a phone call because I am free at that time, not otherwise engaged—neither with my boss nor in an intimate situation. There are numerous causes enabling me to pick up the phone. Similarly, a tree is not a tree merely because someone planted a seed; there are many contributing causes. While we can identify these causes, we cannot definitively say whether I will pick up a call from the same person in the future, or whether the tree will continue to exist. Why?
If the world is truly causal, as commonly accepted, we should be able to make accurate predictions about such future events. We cannot, simply because potential causes for future actions cannot be completely identified. We lack full information about all causes, we are uncertain about them. Because there are causal networks (many to many mapping). One cause leading to multiple effects and one effect having multiple causes.
We also do not understand how these independent causes and effects are interconnected or entangled. Quantum physics views entropy not merely as disorder, but also in terms of information, uncertainty, and entanglement. As time progresses, these aspects become increasingly disordered.
Even though we assert that the world is causal, an element of doubt remains. It is not entirely definitive. Recent scientific research has further complicated this understanding, suggesting that nature may not be strictly causal. The principle that nothing can move faster than light is central to the scientific explanation of a causal universe. Scientists, from Einstein to the present day, uphold this view. However, quantum entanglement suggests that entangled systems behave as a single entity regardless of distance, with properties defined only at the level of the whole.
This implies that even if two fundamental particles are separated by vast distances, a change in one appears to instantaneously affect the other. How does information traverse such distances instantaneously? This seems to suggest that something may travel faster than light. If that were the case, the conventional understanding of causality would be challenged. Contemporary science does not yet provide a definitive answer.
Let us now turn to the wisdom of ancient Indian Seers. Consider a thin, dried twig barely attached to a tree. A bird lands on the twig, and at that moment, the twig breaks. We would say that the bird’s landing caused the twig to break. The seers, however, would say no—these are two independent events, not causally related.
Consider another example. A man is promoted at work and receives a significant salary increase, making him extremely happy. Upon returning home, he finds that his wife has died. His emotional state may shift dramatically. We might assume that his wife’s death is the cause of his sadness. However, the seers would argue that these are independent events.
The explanation lies in the concept of Karma. In contemporary understanding, Karma is the doctrine that every action produces corresponding consequences that shape an individual’s present and future experiences. Karma does not operate through cancellation between good and bad actions; rather, it operates through accumulation, where each action yields its own independent result. In the second example, if the man experiences both happiness and sadness, it may be seen as the result of his one good karma and one bad karma unfolding independently. His wife’s death, therefore, is an independent event.
In part 9, it was noted that in certain mathematical formulations of gravitational fields, time does not explicitly appear as a variable and may seem to cancel out. Karma theory, however, asserts that nothing cancels out—not even time. Instead, a karma may produce its result immediately or at a later time. What, then, is the difference?
We say the world is causal; the seers agree but extend this causality across multiple lives. Time does not cancel out. When the subject is matter, as in quantum physics, time may appear to cancel out. Beyond matter, it does not. Beyond matter, time exists. This is crucial.
Much of Western thought, with its emphasis on material existence, does not subscribe to the idea of rebirth. Indian seers, however, assert that life and TIME extend beyond matter, and therefore rebirth exists.
Returning to the subject of time: does it really exist beyond birth and rebirth? In a non-dual state, it is said that the mirror image of time ceases to exist. Beyond birth and death, in this non-dual state, the mirror image of time is considered the greatest illusion.
All scientists, including Einstein, maintain that nothing travels faster than light—not even gravity—which led to the concept of the gravitational field. Yet, if we pause and reflect, we may observe that the mind or feelings seem to move instantaneously, beyond life and death. This movement, however, lies beyond matter!
Further, although entangled particles exhibit instantaneous correlations across vast distances, these correlations cannot be used for information transmission because measurement outcomes are intrinsically random and cannot be controlled to encode a signal.
If one goes to Pushkar one hears that Brahma performed the Puja and the entire creation was listening to his utterances. Or Sanjaya describing the battlefield to Dhritarastra. Or Krishana responding to Draupadi when she was being disrobed. Has Time anything to do with these? We will explore subsequently.
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