Madhyasth Darshan – Philosophy Introduction

 

Background

Driven by an intense enquiry to know the nature of existence and human purpose in it, A.Nagraj spent 20 years performing meditative 'sadhana'* (mental discipline) . He did not find answers to his enquiry even in the ultimate state of awareness of samadhi*. He then further improvised his approach. As a result, he had ‘realization’ of entire existence (all that exists). He understood the fundamental nature of material, conscious & spatial realities and their inter-relationships.

This entire period was from 1950 to 1975 & performed in the then dense forests of Amarkantak. He has presented this understanding in the Hindi Language in the form of a new ‘Darsana’ (philosophy or body of knowledge) called Madhyasth Darshan – Sah-Astitva-vad (Realistic-view of Mediation ; Coexistentialism) in the Hindi Language published as a core-set of 12 books. This is to inform you that:

  • “Co-existence" (reality) has now become study-able.
  • The human-being has been understood as being the combined form of a conscious unit and a physiochemical body.
  • The ‘Human purpose’ in existence has been understood and man’s ‘being’ and ‘living’ has become clear.

 

Findings

His 'findings' are summarised as follows:

The Nature of Existence, the Universe

Nagraj realized, experienced that Existence is Coexistence, stability and harmony is innate to Existence.  Every unit or 'thing' in Existence is in self-organization & participates in the whole organization. There is a definite, natural direction and purpose in evolution – and this is manifested as the intricate & astonishing web of Matter, Plants, Animals and Humans on this planet. The Human being alone creates problems due to his ignorance and delusion. This is communicated via the following 5 aphorisms or truth-statements:

1. Existence is Coexistence: 

Existence is as material and conscious activities present in Space. This is Coexistence. There is no 'chaos' in Existence. Existence is stable. Progress and awakening in Existence are definite. 

This fundamentally changes the way in which we think of ourselves and the Universe.

2. There is 'evolution' (development progression) in Existence:

This development takes place fundamentally in the atom.  Atoms evolve to form planets via molecular association, then form plants, and the animal and human bodies.  There is a continuous formation and break-down of physical-chemical structures.

3. There is 'development' in Existence:

Evolution in the atom results in a 'constitutionally complete' atom that becomes conscious in nature and exhibits the 'will to live'. This is the conscious-Self, given the name 'jeevan'. It has the abilities of thinking, imagining, knowing, etc.

4. There is 'awakening progression' in Existence:

The conscious self or jeevan exists in various animals coexisting with their bodies. In humans, this is expressed as 'awakening progression' where we have partial awareness & understanding.

5. There is 'awakening' in Existence:

On having knowledge of the entire reality of Coexistence, humans become awakened to a state of 'developed consciousness', or 'human consciousness' and live with it. This itself is happiness, peace, satisfaction & bliss. (sukh, shanti, santosh, anand)

The Nature of the Human

He realized that the human-being is the combined form of a conscious unit and a physio-chemical body. The conscious unit, given the name 'jeevan' consists of 10 activities (5 ‘potentials’ and 5 ‘forces’). Humans exhibit the ability for 'freedom of imagination' (kalpana-sheelta) and 'freedom of action' (karma-svatantrata).

He 'saw' that Humans on this planet have so far lived in an undeveloped state of consciousness called ‘animal-consciousness’, due to which their cognition/understanding of themselves, of reality/existence and human purpose is incomplete and delusionary. We currently only use partial (4.5 of 10) faculties in the conscious Self. This un-awakened state of living, or ‘animal consciousness’ is the root cause for all our problems. Based on our 'awakening' various humans can be seen to be assuming/ understanding the same reality differently, and behaving in contrasting different manners - which has resulted in our state of chaos.

The fundamental need of the human being is knowledge, as a result of which the human is ‘awakened’ and lives in ‘developed-consciousness’ as human-consciousness. This happens when we use all 10 faculties in the conscious Self.

The irreversible transformation from animal to human consciousness requires the following knowledge:

  • Knowledge of Existence (reality) as Coexistence
  • Knowledge of Conscious Self (jeevan) & all its 10 activities
  • Knowledge of perfect Humane conduct/living

On having knowledge, we know the ultimate truth about ourselves & the world, of humane conduct & living. We live with this humane conduct. This itself is happiness. This is our ultimate goal.

 

The Nature of Human Living

He 'saw' that the environmental problem, the problem of economics, social conflict, in relationships, and in the Self,  together called ‘unhappiness’ are due to a lack of understanding in man himself. This philosophy proposes definite humane conduct and universal laws and model of living in family, society and with nature that lead to harmony. Based on this laws of living as: intellectual law, social law and natural law can be understood can all be understood in a universal manner leading to:

  • Intellectual resolution in Individual   = Happiness
  • Prosperity in Family                               = Peace
  • Trust in Society                                        = Satisfaction
  • Coexistence with Nature                        = Bliss

This proposal provides a new 'alternative' in the fields of Education, Health, Socio-political structure, Judicial systems, Production & Economic models. It proposes Universal human education, values, religion, world constitution and organization.

The Literature - a Study of:

  • Existence & evolution (reality)
  • Consciousness: its origins, development & awakening
  • The Human Being & Human Purpose
  • Humanness & Living - recognizing & fulfilling all relationships & values
  • Humane (Undivided) Society - culture & civility
  • Humane (Universal) Systems - education, health, justice, production & exchange

A study of every aspect of everything.

Alternative Dialectics (vaadas):

- 'Resolution-centric Materialism'

  • instead of Conflict-centric Materialism

- 'Realisation-centric Spiritualism'

  • instead of Mysticism-centric Spiritualism

- 'Behaviour-centric Humanism'

  • instead of Struggle-centric Humanism

Alternative Codes for Living (shastras):

'Cyclical Economics'

  • instead of Profit based Economics

- 'Behavioural Sociology'

  • instead of Consumption based Sociology

- 'Consciousness oriented Psychology'

  • instead of Desire based Psychology

Summary

  1. Madhyasth Darshan accepts the existence of matter: of atoms as the fundamental unit of order and 'evolution' as the formation of complex molecules , plant and animal life. This 'Nature' comprising of material, plants and animals is in intrinsic order. There is no 'external cause, creator or regulator'. 
  2. It postulates the 'Conscious entity' as an activity, a part of nature, an immortal, indestructible atom.
  3. It accepts the existence of an expansive, pervasive entity that is not activity itself, but the fundamental source of every material and conscious activity. This entity is energy in equilibrium (in matter) and as consciousness (in conscious Jeevan). This entity can also be called shunya, brahman.
  4. The progressive awakening in the various orbits in every individual jeevan-atom itself is mankinds journey towards reality/truth and humanness over the ages.
  5. Identifies 3 distinct grades of consciousness: (a) inhumane / animal consciousness, (b) human consciousness and (c) super-human consciousness based on the degree of 'awakening to reality' & fineness in behaviour/conduct in every individual  conscious-atom (jeevan).
  6. All human problems are due to living in under-developed consciousness or animal consciousness.
  7. 'Awakened Humankinds' living mimics the inherent coexistence & harmony found in nature.
  8. The purpose of education is to enable such awakening, humanness & order.
  9. This leads to happiness, peace, contentment & bliss. This also results in freedom from suffering, bondage, mukti & moksha.
  10. The existence and journey of 'consciousness' is thus not an antithesis to human life and experienced material reality in the here and now, on this planet.

Madhyasth Darshan has answers for, resolves the following ‘dimensions’ in every individual:

  • Experience, (अनुभव)
  • Thought / Intellect, (विचार)
  • Behavior  (व्यवहार)
  • Occupation / Material  (व्यवसाय)

across the 4 ‘levels of living’:

  • as Individuals  [व्यक्ति]
  • in Family   [परिवार]
  • in Society, Nation, Inter-nation   [समाज]
  • in Nature  [प्रकृति]

 

Presentation

This proposal is not tied to any existing or past belief or tradition. It is based on a direct cognition of Reality.  The entire work has been written ‘ground-up’ with a new set of definitions for the words used – it does not refer to any other texts.

The aims, content, process and outcomes (lifestyle) proposed by Madhyasth Darshan are different from that in Materialism (Science) & Spiritualism/Theism – it is hence presented as an Alternative. (भौतिकवाद और आध्यात्मवाद का विकल्प)

The activities in the conscious self, jeevan have been described in a great degree of detail. The difference between the apparent ’cause & effect’ world we can see, perceive & experiment with in physical science, and the form-less dimensions of reality that explain ‘ultimate-cause’ have also been clearly explained. This proposes ‘alternative’ thesis for Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Materialism, Spiritualism and knowledge systems (darsana) .

This philosophy is logically consistent and enables us to deal practically with the phenomena in nature, and verify it via direct experience and as proof in living – it is thus free of mysticism. This understanding & model of living is now available for study & practice. A diverse set of people are now seriously evaluating this proposal. Efforts to bring this into education are underway in India. You will find details on this website.

This is a call to the peoples & Universities on this planet to consider this proposal with their own good reason. This proposal is in the capacity of a human: from one human to the other.

This is a proposal for Universal Good.

* sadhana-samadhi-sanyam: 

  • ‘sadhana’ – taming the mind, intense mental practice.
  • ‘samadhi’ – penultimate state of meditation according to Indian thought in which the ‘unknown’ is said to become ‘known’.
  • ‘sanyam’ – a state of knowing beyond samadhi. Read note ‘The Alternative or Vikalp’  for his testimony
– shriram narasimhan | student | may 2016

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