The Wheel is Useless as a Stand-alone Invention

Dr. Deepak Ranade wrote one of his best essays, which was published in the TOI speaking tree of Pune today.

The Wheel is Useless as a Stand-alone Invention

The wheel was a path-breaking invention. The wheel, however, might not have been as useful if not for the invention of brakes and gears that help us control movement. The wheel made locomotion plausible but brakes regulated this motion.

The defining quality of any system is probably based on the degree of control one can exercise on it. In karate, up to the black belt stage, the discipline and regimen is for strengthening the body and speeding up reflexes. Thereafter, all subsequent degrees are attained by perfecting self-control and restraint.

In evolution, life forms have been empowered incrementally as they progress through stages. Human beings have the power of control, of temperance and restraint, and the ability to think beyond the self. Physiologically, higher centers in the brain have been given the responsibility of inhibition to maintain restrictive control on lower centers of the brain and spine. In spinal injuries, when the lower motor neurons are disconnected from the higher centers and they fire without control, it leads to reflex movements of the limbs, spasm of the muscles and so on. Though movement occurs, it is involuntary, uncontrolled and purposeless.

The ability to rise above reflex behavior seems to be the summit of the evolutionary pyramid. Olympian Carl Lewis once explained the reason for his spectacular achievement: “I have mastered the art of self-denial”. Behavior that rises above the primitive reflexes forms the essence of culture and sophistication. All religions have a set of behavioral restrictions like fasting, celibacy and observing silence. These restrictions help the individual increase his will power, temperance, self-control and discipline.

Some religions talk about renunciation.But renunciation eliminates choice. So it is probably indulgence in abstinence. The swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction charged with the potential energy to swing back to indulgence. It may also reflect a subconscious fear of lack of self-control. Like the instance of the guru, who was invited for a meal by his disciple. Whilst the other devotees were served on plantain leaves, the guru was served on silverware as a mark of reverence. The guru however was offended and walked off as he was a renunciate. He may as well have eaten in the silverware. If he was no longer in any mundane bondage, there ought to have been no distinction between silver and leaves.

In reproductive behavior, too, human beings have the freedom to choose. Any control is self-imposed. This self control is the evolutionary upgrade. It is as if the remote control which operates all other animals has been substituted by a sharp discriminatory ability which bestows free will. In Hindu culture, it is called vivek buddhi. The intellect of discrimination. Free will reflects the ability to restrain rather than indulge. If indulgence was the purpose, all actions would have been reflexive, with scarce regard to volition.

Exercising restraint requires a higher form of intelligence. Indulgence required neither skill nor intellect. And renunciation relied more on extremism.

Obesity, alcoholism, hypertension and diabetes, when they are lifestyle-related, point to the diminishing self-regulatory process. Affluence has given man the opportunity to indulge like never before. Austerity is facing extinction. Patience, contentment are no longer virtues but are relegated to mere words. All catastrophes like global warming, nuclear threat and poverty are merely a reflection of our ever-increasing inclination for indulgence.

The Democratic Nature of All Creation

Dr. Deepak Ranade's another elusive article was published in the Times of India's Speaking Tree:

The original undivided pluripotent being had the option of remaining unmanifest. Manifestation was one of the limitless options available to this source.

For awareness to experience itself, a state of duality had to be induced. It needed to cleave itself and induce a pseudo-dichotomy of perceiver and perceived. This process is similar to the process of a developing embryo. The single cell replicates itself rapidly and metamorphoses into this complex and differentiated multiorgan form. In reality, we all are just one cell that has differentiated itself into specified functional units. When i touch my hair it actually is the manifestation of a single cell touching another expression of itself and the same cell also has the capability to comprehend this “touch” phenomenon.

All creation is an induced illusion of duality to enable the source to experience itself. The process of creation is in itself a gratifying experience. All artists, when they create a work of art, experience ecstasy on giving birth to a new idea, new thought. The sheer joy of manifesting in such diversity may be the objective of this exercise by the source. He not only created multiple loci of consciousness but also ensured that His creation was made oblivious to the source of its origins.

Time and space were introduced as illusory media to ensure the delusion of separateness of creation. This being was programmed with the ability to discover his origins, and provided the means to enjoy the rest of creation as well. Since the being was just a manifestation of the source, he also had all the attributes of the source. The resolve and ability to achieve anything he desires, the capacity to experience total bliss, and above all the freedom to exercise choice.
Selfless creation mandated that the being was given an illusion of being the ‘doer’. The self-effacement of the source could be a precondition for nourishing the identity of His creation. This illusion of being the doer and the center of the universe manifests as ego. Ego served initially as a tool for self-preservation but as it crystallizes further it totally envelops the consciousness and impedes realization of its true nature.

The ego constantly reaffirms this illusionary duality. The more the ego hardens the farther it moves the being away from the knowledge of his true identity. It then embarks on a game wherein the being gets an illusion of having control and the ability to manipulate the environment for its own happiness.

Awareness when focused outward gets entangled in a web of duality. Then there is no limit to its indulgence. This kaleidoscopic creation has a potent arsenal to engage this awareness into its diverse forms. Indulgence is addictive and it keeps drawing this awareness into its throes, distancing itself from its true identity. Obsession with the materialistic world is actually as ludicrous as my hand being obsessed with my nose.

The ultimate objective is for consciousness to be able to perceive itself. This could be attained by various means and paths. This knowledge is already there within. The illusion is to look for it ‘without’. All other knowledge is duality-based and may at best help in providing analogies. However, analogy is a cheap substitute for experience. The purpose of creation was for the source to experience itself. Creation is like democracy. Made of the source, by the source and for the source. Self-awareness or unperceived is self-realization.