The Depths of Our Comprehension...

Every thing has a limit in one way or the other. So, does your comprehension. Whatever is unknown, never heard of, may become hard to fathom. After all, brain is an organ enclosed in a bone skull with imagination that goes very far. But, how far depends on this organ's past experience, exposures and quality of its matter. As we grow old, we get exposed to different objects, technologies, incidents and stories that shape up the comprehending power. When people use the word incomprehensible, they usually mean a surprise or a shock. This use of the word is in reaction state where the incident or exposure occurs before the reaction. The other side of this is the meditative state where one can imagine the incident or the exposure before it actually happens. This second state would mean a deep imagination out of the ordinary that has not been experienced before.

All people come with a conditioned state of mind from the past and they move forward with time and gradually shape their comprehending power accordingly. Just like a Mogul emperor from fourteenth century would surprise himself at the look of a machine as complex as a refrigerator, even though he had other ways of cooling at his time. Or, just turn it completely upside down and think, could it be your comprehension that thought of the emperor as being backward in technology to what we have today. You may be right or wrong here. But, there is definitely only one answer in your mind between right or wrong.

Let's see how we reach at this conclusion of right vs wrong. When we judge any thing or situation, we use anchors. There is such an importance of anchors in our life that these anchors keep our comprehension tied to a reference point. Let's imagine the technologies of the past. It's very hard to make people believe that something like a pushpak vimaan ever existed in Ramayan. But, why would many people try to dispel such thoughts? This story is believed to be at least five thousand years old. Now, this period is nothing when compared to the existence of life on the earth. Evolution science says that humans have been on this earth as late as the last hour on the 24-hour clock. If humans have existed on earth for thousands of years, how is that we think of the current generation as its brightest ever? Can you figure out an anchor that makes you feel this way and deny the existence of such superior technology in the past? Yes, one of it could be as simple as the calendar system. Anything dated BC seems old and unsophisticated. We usually relate the use of sophisticated technology to only a few hundred years back. That is a general perception because that has been taught, shown and repeated in history books over and over. Such repetition conditions the brain and chisels your depths of thinking. The repetition is what makes the practice of learning. When the exposures repeat, you develop your thinking accordingly. Now, let's take an example of someone who did extensive study into anything ancient such as pyramids, ancient mechanics, human evolution and even the evolution of today's mindset and technology. There have been great inventors, scientists and thinkers who have created wonders of this world. Unfortunately, written record of evidence is only what we want to believe in today because we cannot logically accept the facts that are quite incomprehensible.

Talk about intellectual curiosity. People have even analyzed the religious books and claimed some of their incidents as false. It's not their fault, but their ignorance which prevents them to comprehend that something like that could happen at all. Anything out of the ordinary surprises them. They attribute most of the sophistication to only the recent inventions. They may be wrong even with their own beliefs of them as being otherwise. Come to say about Leonardo's lion, Egypt's pyramids or the Pushpak vimaan. By the way, Leonardo's lion was a non-power operated woodden lion that came out of the castle to greet people with flowers centuries back. Such was the excellence of mechanics back then. These today's minds find them hard to figure out, especially since their blueprints now belong to history. Theories develop accordingly about history with individual and collective comprehensions and are later believed widely. It would be very difficult to make an ordinary mind even believe that ancient technology was far superior than what it is believed to be. At least a person watching Ancient Discoveries on history channel might be somewhat willing to believe. The civilizations of the east were far more sophisticated at times way before thousands of years ago. Such discoveries have been made in ancient Mesopotamia and at the lost treasures found in the ocean bottoms that change our perceptions completely in awe. The point of discussion is to understand that our thinking has its own limits, regardless of our admittance. That's one of the main reasons why most of the people are consumers of idea rather than inventors.

On the other hand, sometimes reason stands opposite of faith. A curious mind always finds ways to go beyond the limits of comprehension. But, there are always limits on the reason. Guru Nanak ji once said...One cannot comprehend Him through reason, even if one reasoned for ages. Of course, word Him refers here to God. We can never understand god by reasoning our daily lives or god's actions or existence. In today's world, even people who pray to god assume that it's a business deal. Once they pray, they must receive the fruit of their prayers. However, the fruit belongs to the one who really deserves it. The one who can show his patience. The one who can really devote himself. The one who doesn't ask for it. In his lectures, shree Kripaluji Maharaj says...There are two kinds of absolute: Material Absolute (Maya) and Divine Absolute. And, that human mind, being substantially conditioned to the laws of cosmic manifestation, co-relates only to material creations and existences. Practically it cannot understand the Divine matters, because unperceived things cannot be imagined and unimagined things cannot be understood. So, the Divine love matters should be taken with faith. Even though Material or cosmic power 'maya' has many inherent qualities such as in 'self-euphoric' feeling attained through sensual gratification. But, such happiness is far from spiritual, as said in bhagwad geeta. Every material existence is related to 'time' and 'space' that have physical limitations whereas faith in divine realm is not limited to such factors. When you cannot find logic to go further than your reasoning, have faith and expand your horizons to be able to accomodate the unknown.

Taking into account such limitations, you must not haste into your preconditioned perception of each situation that you encounter everyday because the decisions that you will make may not teach you anything. Sometimes people say that they didn't know that they had a particular quality until they faced a circumstance that opened up hidden dimensions of their personality. That new feeling is one window into a different kind of world that you should not miss. You can always see this situation positively to learn and get exposed to a new universe. Therefore, it should be considered that there are always dimensions that either you have not visualized or you are afraid to experience. Now, if you accept the depths of your comprehension, you should develop the faculties of your mind accordingly. That requires tremendous effort as it is not easy when you are fighting your own inertia (inclination for status quo). A great way to prepare towards that path is to focus your energies and open up your channels of thought because unless you make yourself vulnerable and try these 'new' ways of thinking, you would not succeed. Just like lord Buddha said...In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. Therefore, it's only when you limit your ways of thinking and create your dimensions that the dimensions do actually appear. Otherwise the world of wisdom is unlimited and omnipresent. All we need to do is realize that we can be ignorant and choose a path while many other paths were waiting to be picked. One of the ways to bring such vision is through the meditation as quoted by the lord Buddha...Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance [inside you]. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. Only then would you comprehend the realities that are unseen, unwritten or only told over the generations. And, that will make you realize what was incomprehensible till this day.