Namaste,
Yesterday, I was watching Discovery Channel. The program running was Stephen Hawking's idea of Creation. Some of the ideas that he proposes :
a) The Universe has come out of "Nothing" producing both "Positive Energy" and "Negative Energy" of equal amount. The manifest universe is the positive energy in the form of matter, energy as we all know. However, there is just the opposite of everything of this available in the vast universe too in equal amount which is sufficient to neutralise it all to "Nothing" again.
b) Everything seemingly infinite Universe that is manifest can be merged into a point "Black Hole" which was perhaps the "thing"/"nothing" before Big Bang.
c) Time started only after the "Creation" or after the Big Bang. There was no time before creation. In a black hole time stops.
d) As sum of everything "that is" is equal to "Nothing" .... there is no scope of having a separate God as everything has been already accounted for.
e) Even if a separate God's existence is accepted for argument sake, He won't be able to "Create" anything. As He needed time to create and before "creation", there was no time at all !
f) There is no hell and no heaven
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My take on Hawkin's theory :
a) Everything comes from "Nothing" :
The Upanishads/Vedas have already proclaimed that :
In the beginning It was One alone which was neither Sat nor Asat ... neither Being ... nor non-being. (NAsdiya Sukta)
The Fourth state of Reality as described in Mandukya
===> The "Nothing" in Hawkin's above theory has to be some special miraculous "nothing" otherwise creation of this intelligent self-governing Cosmos is not possible. As the Absolute from everything has come out is "Nothing" and yet it is special and miraculous ... it fits into the above description of the Reality of the VedAnta.
b) There is no separate God :
No scripture says it better than VedAnta. God and the Universe are not different and separate. The MAyic power of the Absolute (which is neither Being nor Non-Being) creates three states on the substratum of the Absolute i.e. the Turiya. God is undifferentiated Mass of Consciousness i.e. God is not an entity separate from this World.
c) God didn't create this world.
Actually, no separate God created this world. The seemingly "Nothing" which is the Absolute creates all this due its Nature. VedAnta says that it never "happened". It is beginningless.
d) There is no hell or heaven
Not the way it has been perceived by the Abrahamic religions. However, mental painful and blissful realms can exist as accepted in Hindu Dharma. Again, these realms are time-bound so are within creation. These are not permanent.
OM
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