TALK "Quantum Reality and Theory of Shunya" at Auditorium, Azad Bhavan, I.P. Estate > 10th & 11th December 2016

Time : 
9th December : 10:00 am Add to Calendar 09/12/2016 10:00 09/12/2016 17:45 Asia/Kolkata TALK "Quantum Reality and Theory of Shunya" Day 1 Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2016/12/talk-quantum-reality-and-theory-of.html Auditorium, Azad Bhavan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002 DD/MM/YYYY
10th December : 9:30 am Add to Calendar 10/12/2016 09:30 10/12/2016 17:45 Asia/Kolkata TALK "Quantum Reality and Theory of Shunya" Day 2 Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2016/12/talk-quantum-reality-and-theory-of.html Auditorium, Azad Bhavan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002 DD/MM/YYYY

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)

Venue : Auditorium, Azad Bhavan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002
Venue Info : About | Events | Map | Nearest Metro Stations - ITO (Violet Line) Exit Gate - 6 & 'Indraprastha' & 'Pragati Maidan (Blue Line)'

Event Description : TALK "Quantum Reality and Theory of Shunya". 

The multifaceted concept of Shunya has been an ingenious thought of fertile and innovative Indian mind. It has been a unique contribution of India to world culture and civilization. This seminal and pivotal concept has its ramifications in various fields like Metaphysics, Cosmology and Cosmogony, Physics. Mathematics, Religion, Yoga etc. In different contexts it has different meaning. It would be a worthwhile and rewarding exercise if it's different facets are attended to and analyzed. They are all correlated and only a holistic and integral approach can bring out their significance and value.
The concept of Shunya has a profound metaphysical connotation which stands for the totality of Reality. In this sense it is equated with “Purna” (completeness, infinitude and boundlessness). The Reality is a Whole which comprehends all iota of the universe as its intrinsic parts. But each part( kosha or khanda)is also a whole (pinda) within this Whole (brahmanda). It is represented as a Supreme Circle and in the cosmos there are circles within circles presenting a picture of concentric wholes. The Ultimate Reality is full circle, an overarching circle. The invocation of Isha Upanishad remarkably puts forth this intuitive vision. It states that the Reality is a whole or totality comprising all that was, that is and that will be, an idea available in the Purusha Sukta of the Rigveda. From this whole only whole can spring forth even though we may not be aware of it. This whole is infinite. Infinite cannot be finitized and therefore the Advaita Vedanta regards all differentiations as finite appearances which are in ultimate analysis infinite only. Bhaskracharya, a later mathematician also avers the same. He opines that no change takes place in the infinite and immutable Brahman when worlds are created or destroyed even though in these processes numerous orders of beings are put forth and absorbed. The equation of 'shunya' and 'purna' was a wonderful feat of Indian logical acumen which could be apprehended only by a 'mantradrshta Rishi'. This concept of 'shunya' is not emptiness or void‐ness but 'devoid‐ness' in the sense that in its proto nature the Reality is devoid of all differentiations. In itself it is emptied of all manifest diversity. It is a non‐dual realm, a quantum vacuum. In logical terms it is referred to as 'null set' but this null set is not devoid of membership but only devoid of manifest membership. It is not to be regarded as 'nothingness' as nothing can come out of nothing. The Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda begins with this intuitive realization. All quantum phenomena arise within it and get dissolved in it. The modern Quantum Physics endorses this understanding and it is struggling to explain how this cosmic event takes place. The Big Bang theory is only an indication of this. The search for 'God‐ particle' or 'Boson' seems to be a futile exercise of the western scientists. The impartite approach to Reality is a unique and ingenious gift of the Indian mind and western scientist should pay heed to it.
Deriving inspiration from this intuitive realization the Indian mathematicians like Bodhayana, Brahmagupta and many others have invented the idea of Zero ( cipher) and the decimal system . The mathematical zero has its obverse as infinity. All numbers or numerical signs act as tangible reference to finite but zero represents the non‐dual realm, the infinity. The western mind has adopted zero only functionally for practical utility, it could not grasp its deeper metaphysical meaning. The concept of zero did have tremendous impact on western science and mathematics in terms of 'decimal system' and 'quantum vacuum' but they could not reach to its metaphysical heights and depths because of the limitations of their empirical methodology. Only through ''ritambhara pragya', to use Indian terminology, this realization is possible in a state of 'samadhi'. 
Apart from metaphysics, physics and mathematics this concept of Shunya has been profitably utilized by schools of Shaivism wherein Lord Parama Shiva is referred to as Shunya' or 'Bindu'. The Shunya is described as Ashunya which means that it is beyond one and many but supreme source of one and many. The worship of Lord Jagannatha in Puri and the text Shunya Samhita followed by the Mahima school advocated by Panchasakhas of Orissa are the elaborations of this idea synthesizing it with the Buddhist concept of shunyata. Their concept of 'Shunya Brahma' or “Shunya Purusha” is a remarkable idea, the implications of which need to be brought out shorn of its religious connotation. Shunya Purusha is 'Anadi mandala', also described as ' 'Shunya Mandala' which is the source of all creation. It is proto cause as well as the effects. The Buddhist concepts of 'dependent origination' and 'interdependent existence' coupled with this idea of shunya can help in revealing the nature of empirical and trans‐ empirical Reality as Nagarjuna has pointed out. Nagarjuna avered that there are two levels of Reality. There is transcendental Reality underlying the world of phenomena. A depth analysis of this seminal concept of shunya can open up new horizons and intellectual vistas and help in enriching improvised western science and mathematics. Indian contributions in terms of place value decimal system, domestication of fire, invention of wheel and original gifts to science and mathematics are certainly recognized but they have not been adequately utilized. Now that Indian contributions are gradually appreciated and the saturated western mind is looking towards India for newer insights and fresh approaches in depth delineation of this concept will go a long way in spiritualizing science and making Indian spirituality more scientific. The initiative taken by Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the Presidentship of Prof. Lokesh Chandra is a welcome step in right direction. Hope it will lead to some positive results.

International Scholars : 
Alex Hankey
Anand Rangarajan
Bal Ram Singh
Devulapalli V. Rao
Geo Lyong Lee
Herbert J. Bernstein
Kashyap V. Vasavada
Michel Bitbol
S S Rama Rao Pappu

National Scholars
A.K. Mukhopadhyay
Aditya K. Gupta
Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Archan S. Majumdar
Bhakti Niskama Shanta
Bhakti Vijnana Muni
Debajyoti Gangopadhyay
Geshe Dorji Damdul
Geshe Ngawang Samten
Parameswaran Murthiyedath
Radhey Shyam Kaushal
R. Srikanth
Rajeshwar Mukherjee
Ram Nath Jha
Rana Purushottam Kumar Singh
Rashmi M. Shetkar
Rajendra Prasad Bajpai
S. Rammohan
Sangeetha Menon
Sisir Roy
Sreekala M. Nair
Surendra Singh Pokharna
Tabish Qureshi
Uttam Pati
V Ravishankar


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