Episode 01 - About "Hrudhayam" being the abode of Paramatma.
ABOUT “HRUDHAYAM” BEING THE ABODE OF PARAMATMA
The Upanishads repeatedly assert the correlation between the human system – the gross body, the subtle body and the causal body (sthoola SarIram, sookShma SarIram, kAraNa SarIram), the atman, the mind, the buddhi, with the elements and through that correlation link these with the Brahman.
In several places, the Upanishads (indeed also some of the Sukthas which are part of the Vedas) refer to “hrudhayam” but proceed to disabuse us of any confusion between this ‘hrudhayam” and the anatomic heart. And, the most stunning of the assertions is the one that proclaims that this ‘hrudhayam” has dwelling in it a microcosmic replica of the entire Universe. Let us consider some of these thought-provoking assertions:
"Yathithim BrahmapurE thaharam pundarIkam,
vEsma thaharOsmin antharaakaasaha;
thaSmin yathawthaSthath anvEshtavyaam,
yaavaam vaa ayam aakaasaha;
thaavaan Esha andhar hridhaya Aakaasa upE
aSmin dhyaavaa prithvee awtharEva
SamaahithE upow agnishcha vaayusca
sUrya candhramaSaavupow vidyun
nakshathraaNi yachaaSyEhaaSnthi
yachcha Naasthi Sarvam thadhasmin Samaahitham ithi: - Chaandogya Upanishad.
There is in this city of Brahman (brahmapurE i.e. our body) the small lotus bud like heart; within this abode (hrudhayam), there is a complete and whole microcosmic replica of the whole Universe (Aakaasha) - the earth, the solar system, all the elements like agni, soorya, vaayu, etc. all the stars, the whole thing. The sadhaka should seek within to identify this space.
To the question: “what is there in it that is to be sought after and what is there that one should desire to understand?" The Teacher should say: "As far as this great (external) Akaasha extends, so far extends the akasa within the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained within it, both fire and air, both sun and moon, both lightning and stars.
(The "hrudhayam" that the Upanishads speak about is described differently fromthe heart in the human anatomy. It is believed to be more to the centre of the space one hand-spread (Jaan in Tamil – about 20 cms span for an average adult) above the belly button. )
Aavih Sanhitham guhaacharam naama
mahathpadham adhraidhat Samarppitham
Ejath praaNan nimishascha yadhEthath jaanatha SadhaSath varENyam
param vigjnaanaath yathvarishtam prajaanaam.
Manifest, near, moving in the cave (of the heart) is the great Being. In it everything is centred which you know as moving, breathing, and blinking, as being and not-being, as adorable, as the best, that is beyond the understanding of humans/creatures - with the human organs of perceptions and thought.
Anantham avyayam kaviSamudhrEntham viSwasambhuvam
Padma kOsa predheekaasa hrudhayam chaapyathOmukham (6)
athO nishtyA vidhaSyAnthE nAbhyAmupari thishtathi
jwAlamAlAkulam pAthi viSwASyAyathanam mahath.(7)
Sandhatha chilAbhisthu lambath yAkOSa sannibham
thaSyAnthE sushiram sUkshmam thaSmin Sarvam prathishtitham. – (8)
thaSya madhyE mahAnagnir viSwArchchir viSwathOmukhah:
Sokrabhuk vipajan thishttannAra majarah kavih: (9)
….Sri Narayana Suktham
The One that has no end (anantham), that never perishes (avyayam) and the One that knows all and everything, the One that is imbedded in the oceans, the One that blesses the entire Universe with auspiciousness, may I meditate upon that Sriman Narayana. The ‘hrudhayam’ shines (within me) like an inverted lotus bud.
(That “hrudhayam” is placed below the neck, about one extended span of the hand (“Jaan” in Tamil) – approximately 20 cms. -above the navel (nAbhyAm). The most exalted (mahath) dwelling place in the entire Universe shines here like it is engulfed in the brightest of flames (jwAlamAlAkulam).
Like (an inverted) lotus bud (padmakOSa pratIkASam) the ‘hrudhayam’ hangs entwined on all sides by a lot of nerves (lambathya kOSa sannibham). In that “hrudhayam” there is a very small hole (suSiram sUkShmam). Within that everything (the whole Universe, all its celestial bodies, the Brahmam Himself and everything else) (Sarvam) is established (prathiShtitham).
In the middle of this ‘hrudhayam’ shining throughout the Universe and beyond, manifested in the whole Universe and beyond, is a indescribably shining Fire (agni); in that exceptionally bright form Sri Bhagavan (agrabhuk) resides; receiving the food taken in and assimilating it, and witnessing everything and knowing everything, He is in here.
A Western Perspective on the Part Replicating the Whole
Michael Talbot, an American author who writes metaphysical fiction, puts this in a different perspective in his book “The Holographic Universe”: The "whole in every part" nature of a hologram, he says, provides us with an entirely new way of understanding organisation and order. A hologram teaches us that some things in the universe may not lend themselves to this approach. If we try to take apart something constructed holographically, we will not get the pieces of which it is made, we will only get smaller wholes.
Some people have used this argument to explain the curious quantum physics observation that under certain circumstances, so-called "entangled" subatomic particles which were once together at some point of time, are able to remain in intimate and instant contact with each other even if they happen to be light years apart later. The reason is not that they're sending some sort of faster than light signals back and forth between them but because their separateness is in itself a false impression. At a fundamental level each is only an extension of everything it's embedded or immersed in — or vice versa.
This leads to a startling but staring-us-in-the-face conclusion that in reality there are no pieces that make up a whole because nothing exists which is not comprehensive by itself. Parts of things — like carburettors of cars or pancreas of people — are not unfinished business. Meaning, just like the universe harbours every one, each of us harbours a universe within ourselves too.