A different math

Raghav's quoting "1 -The only member in the Advaita’s number system" brought back many a memories from my satsanga earlier. I was prompted to think that this 1 as Rags calls it, actually means infinity in advaitic math, if I may call it so. Why it is so is that any number, any formula, be it addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or any complex equation, in advaita, the result equals one. The only way this can happen is if this One is complete. And so it is. Its pUrNamadaH. Its infinite. It includes everything that there is. Consider numbers 1 and 2. Between these two integer numbers, there's a whole lot of infinite decimals that can occur. Actually, these too are a part of the One in advaita since that one is infinite.

There's further shUnya look to this math as I recall from my satsanga. Ghabri-ji had a very interesting viewpoint: shUnya can't be described inasmuch as infinity can't be! Any increase or decrease of shUnya leads to a value thats non-shUnya. It tends to be 1 or -1 then. Lets analyze this: if one tries to assess and understand shUnya, it ceases to be shUnya. When mind starts off its rest, thats shUnya, it ceases to be the Self that it is. It slips from its infinite position that sees shUnya and then rolls off into tending to be 1 or -1 and then there's creation! Ah, the beauty of the complexity made simple.

I understand that shUnya actually could be infinity, except for missing an identity of purNa! I mean that shUnya is the viewpoint of infinity. What nirguNa brahmaN witnesses must be shUnya since there's nothing that there is apart from it, that which is infinite/ purNa!

2 comments:

anandanubhava said...

Shunya or zero is always present in addition to any signal or number, without necessarily changing the number or participating in any equation. A parallel can be Brahman, always as the adhisthana to creation, without participating in creation, too simple & obvious for the mind to even understand it!

I had a similar post on numbers compared to creation - (http://anandanubhava.blogspot.com/2004_09_01_anandanubhava_archive.html)

We are all numbers:

The infinite creation is comparable to the infinite number line. We the finite body/mind units are like sets of numbers - modulo sets. Say I am a set mod 5. Everything that I do is comparable to any operation on this set. Ultimately the result is always a mod 5 number - this being the law of karma. This limitation of mod 5, mod 6, mod X is self imposed - just like in the number line there is no real or permanent criteria creating this subset. Once this limitation or ignorance is removed, any operation on any number is again a number - and this number already exists as part of the infinite number line. Proceeding along the same analogy, every number already exists - it is just a matter of time in we knowing the result of any operation. Thus, everything already exists, meaning there is no real invention or creation anew by humans - only discovery of one finite aspect by another finite aspect !
The question to ponder here is about different kinds of infinities. Say there is a real number set between 0 to 5. This is infinite, but does not include all numbers..or so we think. Perhaps at infinity it goes beyond the limits of 0 and 5 ? What is the relation between different types of infinities ?
There is another interesting analogy I read in a book : the number 0 is like a circle that is the universe we see and experience. Like a circle that expands from a dimensionless point, this has taken birth from the dimensionless consciousness. The universe like the 0 has no value. Put a 1 to have 01 or 10 and there is value - similarly, the universe without the underlying reality has no value apart from it. Just like all natural numbers can be got from 1, everything is a manifestation in different forms of Brahman.
Let me know what you think about all this :)

Advaitavedanti said...

Thanks for dropping by. Agreed, zero's presence is guaranteed always, but this I equate to the mAyA that is there always but owes its existence to brahmaN without brahmaN being involved. So I read your entry to summarize so: zero is always present but owes its existence to infinity that always is. Shankara spent quite a lot of his argumentative time in refuting the buddhism aspect of shUnya and proving the existence of pUrNa that is brahmaN.