SPACE TIME

In the Upanishads, Akasha (space) and Kala (time) are not just manifest dimensions but perspicacious philosophical concerns entwined with the unmanifest one, Brahman, or Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence. Space is the repository form of all of the phenomenal dimensions, the source of potential. The unmanifest is seen as eternal and infinite and the very fabric of consciousness, with time as movement within space, both ultimately transcended by the spaceless and timeless Atman (Self). Sage Yajnavalkya describes space as the void that surrounds all things. It is the emptiness that allows for movement and change. It is the source of all creation and the infinite potential from which all things arise.

Time is the sequence of events that unfolds in the universe. It is the measure of change and movement. Time is the underlying reality that imparts order to the universe. It is the fabric of the cosmos. The movement of time is cyclical and non-linear, as it constantly repeats itself in a unique cyclical process.  But each cycle is unique. Time is illusory, as it is a perception of the mind, and so remains relative to the perceiver. It is different in terms of speed, people, and situations. Time is a gift to be cherished and used appropriately. Sage Yajnavalkya elucidates space as the container of time and time as the unfolding sequence or movement within that space. He views space and time as interconnected aspects of Reality.  He suggests they are two aspects of one, indivisible, imperishable, and Ultimate Reality, beyond sense perception but knowable through Self-knowledge, or Self-realisation. Sage Yajnavalkya describes the cosmos through expanding concentric spheres, positing a non-static universe, and detailed cosmic measurements, linking time to motion and the cycle of the Sun and Moon. He emphasises that all physical phenomena, including possessions and events, are transient within this framework, pointing towards Brahman, or Unchanging Reality, as the true support beyond space and time. Space is the relation of the coexistence of ideas, and time is the relation of the succession of ideas, establishes sage philosopher Swami Krishnnananda.  Since existence and succession are themselves ideas, delineates Swami Krishnnananda, the world has no existence independent of the mind. Though Yoga-Vasishtha's mental theory of the creation of the world may appear to land one in the doctrine of extreme subjectivism, this predicament is avoided by a simultaneous pronouncement that the individual mind is essentially inseparable from the Cosmic Mind. Ultimately, the relativity of the cosmos is the manifestation of dreaming the world of Maya, or illusion, of Cosmic Mind. The universe is regarded as a cosmic dream of Cosmic Mind, distinguishable from the individual dreams only by way of the length of their durations. But even this difference in length is just a relative concept, as can be observed in the long years through which one can live in a dream, though the dream lasted for only a few minutes from the standard of the waking consciousness. As the dream world vanishes in waking, the waking world vanishes in the experience of Brahman, or Supreme Self, asserts Swami Krishnananda.

1. Outline 

Akasha, or space, is the most subtle of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space) of Prakriti, or nature. Earth is everything that is solid; similarly, water is liquid, air is gaseous, fire is transformative from one state to another, and space is the container that includes everything in its vacuity. Space is the infinite void and the container for all phenomena, linked to mind and pure consciousness. Kala, or Time, is often seen as movement or Vayu (energy) within Akasha (space), governing change, cycles, and the manifestation/dissolution of the universe.

The interconnectedness of Akasha, or space, in motion is Kala, or time; they are inseparable aspects of existence, like waves on a sea. Both unmodified space and time exist beyond our perception and senses but can be experienced in Turiya. Turiya is the deep meditative state of the fourth state, representing a state of pure consciousness, non-duality, and experiencing of peace, bliss, and Supreme-self beyond the three ordinary states of Jagrata (waking), Svapna (dreaming), and Sushupti (deep sleep). Both Akash (Space) and Kala (Time), with all their complexities like ages, or Yugas, or cosmic cycles, are ultimately manifestations of Maya, or illusion, within the eternal, uncaused, changeless, imperishable, spaceless, timeless Brahman, or Supreme Self, or the Absolute Existence, or the Ultimate Reality.  Sage Yajnavalkya in Brihadaranyak Upanishad teaches that space is the void that surrounds all things. It is the emptiness that allows for movement and change. It is the source of all creation. It is the infinite potential from which all things arise. Here is a quote from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that describes Yajnavalkya's concept of space. 

Space is above, space is below, and space is between. Space is the past, space is the present, and space is the future. Space is all this. Swami Krishnananda, in his commentary on Brihadaranyak Upanishad, elucidates the cause of all causes, eternity, and ephemerality to elaborate on the relationship between Unchanging and transcendent Brahman and the changing phenomenal world of space and time. His elaboration rests on Sage Yājñavalkya's answer to various queries at King Janaka's Yajnashala (a sacrificial hall or pavilion where Vedic fire rituals are performed)

to the assembly of sages. Sage Yajnavalkya maintains that death can be overcome by those who are really subject to death, namely the performers of actions and the means of action, as well as the goal of action. All these are perishable in the world of space and time; anything that one does has an end, just as one oneself will have an end one day or the other. If everything is to be destroyed, is there a way of escape from this destructibility of things, or is everything doomed to failure in the end, and all will be wiped out of existence? What is the escape? What is the remedy? What is the means? Sage Yājñavalkya explains that the mortal becomes immortal the moment it returns to its cause. When the senses and the mind and the means of action and the performer himself—all get identified in their meditations with their deities from where they come and to which they actually belong and by which they are superintended; when the transcendent divinities, which are the realities behind the various functions and organs of the individual, are meditated upon as organically connected to oneself, then there is an internal relationship established between the individual and the universal. Then the mortal becomes immortal; otherwise every action is perishable, and everything that an action brings as a result also would be perishable. That was the point made out by Yājñavalkya in regard to the question of Aśvala (chief Hotṛ (Hotra) priest at the court of King Janaka). to how the mortal can become immortal in spite of the fact that everything is subject to mortality in this world.

2. Scriptures

Akasha, or Space, is the most subtle of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space) of  Prakriti, or nature. Earth is everything that is solid, similarly water is liquid, air is gaseous, fire is transformative from one state to another, and space is the container that includes everything in its vacuity. Space is the infinite void, and the container for all phenomena, linked to mind and pure consciousness. Kala, or Time, is often seen as movement or Vayu (energy) within Akasha (space), governing change, cycles, and the manifestation/dissolution of the universe.

Interconnectedness of Akasha, or space, in motion is Kala, or time; they are inseparable aspects of existence, like waves on a sea. Both unmodified space and time exist beyond our perception and senses but can be experienced in Turiya. Turiya is the deep meditative state of the fourth state, representing a state of pure consciousness, non-duality, experiencing of peace, bliss and Supreme-self beyond the three ordinary states of Jagrata (waking), Svapna (dreaming), and Sushupti (deep sleep). Both Akash (Space) and Kala (Time) with all their complexities like ages, or Yugas, or cosmic cycles, are ultimately manifestations of 4, or illusion, within the eternal, uncaused, changeless, imperishable, spaceless, timeless Brahman, or Supreme Self, or the Absolute Existence, or the Ultimate Reality.  Sage Yajnavalkya in Brihadaranyak Upanishad teaches that space is the void that surrounds all things. It is the emptiness that allows for movement and change. It is the source of all creation. It is the infinite potential from which all things arise. Here is a quote from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that describes Yajnavalkya's concept of space. 

Space is above, space is below, space is between. Space is the past, space is the present, space is the future. Space is all this. Swami Krishnananda in his commentary on Brihadaranyak Upanishad elucidates on cause of all causes, eternity and ephemerality to elaborate on the relationship between Unchanging and transcendent Brahman to the changing phenomenal world of space and time. His elaboration rests on Sage Yājñavalkya's answer to various queries at King Janaka's Yajnasala to the assembly of sages. Sage Yajnavalkya maintains that death can be overcome by those who are really subject to death, namely the performers of actions, the means of action, as well as the goal of action. All these are perishable in the world of space and time; anything that one does has an end, just as one oneself will have an end one day or the other. If everything is to be destroyed, is there a way of escape from this destructibility of things, or is everything doomed to failure in the end, and all will be wiped out of existence? What is the escape? What is the remedy? What is the means? Sage Yājñavalkya explains that the mortal becomes immortal the moment it returns to its cause. When the senses and the mind and the means of action and the performer himself—all get identified in their meditations with their deities from where they come and to which they actually belong and by which they are superintended; when the transcendent divinities which are the realities behind the various functions and organs of the individual are meditated upon as organically connected to oneself, then there is an internal relationship established between the individual and the universal. Then the mortal becomes immortal; otherwise every action is perishable and everything that an action brings as result, also, would be perishable. That was the point made out by Yājñavalkya in regard to the question of Aśvala, as to how the mortal can become immortal in spite of the fact that everything is subject to mortality in this world.

3. Remarks 

We belong to two realms of being, the phenomenal and the noumenal, as sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda teaches on space and time (Everything About Spiritual Life by Swami Krishnananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh). The phenomenality of life as a body-mind complex consists of limitations of space, time, and causation.  The noumenality is the changeless and constant one, our very Self, or Atman. He says that in every change there is one unchanging Brahman that remains as a witness to the change. That witness is Jivatma, or Self at individual level, and the Cosmic Self, Brahman, at the cosmic level. We think of everything in terms of length, breadth, and height.

The space and time constitute the limited adjuncts in the life journeying process to realise Atman, or Self. This phenomenal world, according to Brihadaranyak Upanishad (1.6.1), consists of nothing except Nama (name), Rupa (form) and Karma (action). The Upanishad says this universe does indeed consist of three things: name, form, and action. Of those names, speech (sound in general) is the Uktha (source), for all names spring from it. It is their Sāman (common feature), for it is common to all names. It is their Brahman (Supreme Self), for it sustains all names. The differentiated universe consisting of means and ends, which was introduced as the subject matter of ignorance, with its results culminating in identification with the vital force, as well as its state prior to manifestation denoted by the word ‘undifferentiated’, like a tree and its seed—all this indeed consists of three things. Name, form and action are all non-Self and not Self, which is Brahman, immediate and direct. Therefore one should turn away from it. One whose mind is not averse to this non-Self has no inclination to meditate upon Self, one’s own world, as ‘I am Brahman’, for the two tendencies—one going outwards and the other devoting itself to the inner Self—are contradictory. In a similar vein, Kaṭha Upaniṣad (4.1.) says that ‘The self-born Lord injured the organs by making them outgoing in their tendencies. Therefore, they perceive only external things, but not the inner Self. Once in a while some steady man, desiring immortality, turns his gaze inwards and sees the inner Self.’

  Sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda, in his The Essence of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, states that name, form and action are what this world is. The world consists of nothing but names, forms, and activities. These, when externalised, particularised, or finitised, become sources of bondage. Again, the Upanishad uses the technique of universalising name, form, and activity. Then they become the names, forms, and actions of Hiranyagarbha-Prana. This is a meditation which, we may say, is the basis for the Karma-Yoga doctrine, according to which every action is supposed to be divinity manifest and a means to liberation of Atman, provided, of course, names, forms and actions get universalised in the meditation which is to be the background of one's activities in the world.

 -Asutosh Satpathy