Omniscience In Varying Degrees
Hari Om
~~~~~
Namaste,
I was watching a program about a person that could see the future, yet only his future, the actions that involved him. That triggered a thought about what one can see and how it may be different then being omniscient.
I have not thought about this fully till today and thought others may have some idea or would care to critique this POV offered.
Omniscient or omniscience is having complete, unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving and knowing all things, all outcomes.
One part of omniscience is being able to see forward and backwards in time. For me, the person with omniscience has no time boundary at all, for it is always 'Now' for this being, but lets not go there for this conversation.
For the individual with this ability, lets call him a seer, it may be possible to see the future, the results of actions taken today, and how they sprout in the future. ( Future here can be days, weeks, years, hours, and perhaps lifetimes).
A basic premise
The future is the logical progression of a set of actions that takes place today and culminates in a conclusion. This conclusion can be big or small, but the notion here is it concludes and may be the input for a new set of actions.
So let me build this idea before coming to an opinion and POV at the end.
Lets start simple
Lets say I wish to set sail from point A to point B. It has a beginning and an end. I predict that I will fulfill this action of going from A to B without issue.
Now I ask someone who may have this ability, the seer, one with premonition, and ask what will transpire. If I were the seer I would ask , 'of which action would you like me to 'see forward' on? ' The reason why I say this, is all actions have a root action that starts the conditions to unfold or move forward. The first domino, if you will.
So I inform this seer I am going sailing from A to B. With that in the Seer says, 'yes you will arrive at point B, but be aware there will be some rough seas ahead and be sure to pack accordingly.'
The notion here is like dominoes - you set up the dominoes and tip over one, then the rest that are in line fall forward, knocking them down, yet all triggered by the initial push . The Seer, sees the first domino and the last, and all the actions in between, we do not. We just see the first domino and we want the last domino falling down at Point B.
That is one version of premonition. One action and the results that transpire, yet the seer cannot tell you the ending unless he knows the initial action i.e. sailing the boat as input for his premonition to work.
Pretty straight forward action as far as actions go and sailing. Lets say you ask the seer a bit more complex question
Next level of complexity
Now we ask the seer, I am starting a family ( lets call 'em Family A) . I am getting married and hope to have children, tell me what you see in 20 years time.
We have given the seer the input, but now we have increased the complexity manifold. We have added multiple rows of dominoes to the equation. There may be multiple Y's in the road (intersections) and the dominoes branch off left and right, and other Y's in the road are encountered and interact.
Now seeing the future is a bit more difficult ( to me ) because multiple first actions take place within the chain of domino's falling, yet they all have the same root action, the same initial domino chain that started it.
Pending the power of the seer to follow the chain he may say yes you are married, have 5 children, and at one junction point 3 children go to college the other two do not; you move to a new location, etc etc. The complexity is substantial for just one family. Now do I think this is omniscience? No, not yet.
Omniscience
Let stick with the dominoes analogy as it works well for the initial action and chain of events. The difference with Omniscience is, the Seer knows every possible action and every possible permutation that can happen for all actions, all beings, all the time with 100% certainty of the outcome of all ones actions. This is the omniscience I have thought of.
That is, every thought of '... well it depends' is comprehended in this Being's thinking without effort or fuss. All the intersecting points of Family A with any and every other Family, individual, person, place or thing on this planet is comprehended.
The next level of omniscience ( I am just building it to get an appreciation of this omniscience) is all the intersecting points mentioned above with Family A, and all other families of all species, persons, places, and things, but for the total universe, for all time to come.
This is why Krsna says unfathomable is the course of action ( Chapt 4.17 Bhagavad gita). There are so many dominoes that criss-cross that the permutations + combinations are innumerable.
We think actions are individual events, but on a grand scale there could have been muti-line triggers in the set of dominoes that we interact with, we just do not see it. The complexity and influence of actions is enormous.
So now who can possibly comprehend all this, and be able to see the final outcome of actions, individually and collectively? I say collectively as we as a world society have a collective consciousness and a collective set of actions that are far reaching.
That is the level of omniscience fully bloomed and its fullest is found in Isvara¹; omniscience in its infinite fullness.
For us, as humans we may have parts of this ability, rishi's and seers have various magnitudes of this blossoming. Even some people that are 'regular folks' have a sliver, a fraction of seeing one action and its conclusion. Yet the full expression Of this omniscience is the domain of Isvara. That is why Krsna can say the following with confidence, as this omniscience is in complete bloom within Him:
There never was a time when I was not, nor you, nor these rulers of men.
Nor will there ever be a time when all of us shall cease to be... Krsna to Arjuna Chapter 2.12
Any thoughts on this or your ideas are warmly accepted.
pranams
1. In Him (Isvara) the seed of Omniscience has reached its utmost development which cannot be exceed. -
Yoga Darśana of Pātañjali muni. Chapter I, Samadhi Pada, sutra 25
Last edited by yajvan; 07 December 2009 at 10:20 PM.
Reason: added foot note 1: Yoga Darśana of Pātañjali muni
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
Bookmarks