MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM -- 1

official source: Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 6

this version: is the printed Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell 
	Part 8, 1st edition, version (spelling mistakes only may have been 
	corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present 
	Electronic Edition.

cross-references: also published in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a 
	Nutshell Part 8

      The characteristic of a unit mind is that its goal is multi-purposive whereas its expression is unilateral, confined to a particular space, time and individuality. The goal of the Cosmic mind, however, is uni-purposive and Its expression multilateral, manifested in all time, space and individuality. This is the major difference between the microcosm and Macrocosm. A unit mind can only think of one object at a particular time, or remain attached to one entity at a particular time, but cannot exist in more than one place or at more than one time. But the Cosmic Mind expresses Himself in more than one action, at more than one place, and in more than one entity. A microcosm expresses itself unilaterally, but nurtures desires which are multilateral. It may want to be a king, and a billionaire, and a learned person, and so much more. But when it actually performs actions, it can only act in one direction, not many. But the Macrocosmic endeavours are multilateral. His only desire is to get all His reactive momenta exhausted through the suffering of the microcosms; to move towards fullness through the various times, spaces and individualities.

      In the case of microcosms, the creation of space and individuality occurs at a particular time. And that particular time becomes the past at a different time. But the Macrocosm transcends time, for the three realms of time - past, present and future - lie embedded in His mind. It may be that a thousand years ago, a certain unit mind was sheltered in a particular physical structure at a certain place, and today has found shelter in a different structure at an entirely different place, and a thousand years from now may find shelter in another structure at another place. These three states of existence - that which was, that which is and that which will remain - lie in their totality in the Macrocosm, the Witness of all, as the continuation of the same flow. For the Macrocosm there is no external space, hence, there are no spatial differences: Mithila, The Punjab, Russia, and America all are equal to Him. Each and every entity is an object of His mental imagination, thus for Him there are no external individual differences. The rich and the poor, the literate and the illiterate, are all His psychic projections, sheltered in His vast Macrocosmic Mind. Therefore under no circumstance can there be any allegation of partiality against Him.

      According to some people space is infinite, but in reality that is not the case. Space is a limited expression bound by the static principle of Prakrti. That which is bound by the static principle cannot be called infinite. We may say that space is vast, but not infinite. For the Macrocosm there is no difference between a partial expression of space, and the totality of space; between individuality and collectivity. Microcosms concern themselves with time, space and person; but the Macrocosm will think of them as his own psychic projection. What will happen if the Macrocosm does not think of anything as his psychic projection? The result will be that whatever the Macrocosm views from the microcosmic viewpoint will appear to be real. That particular object will be a mere fraction of His vast psychic flow.

	Though the Macrocosmic purpose is singular, Its actional expressions are multilateral. In this actional flow there is limitless dynamism. That is why the Macrocosm has equal concern for all objects at all times. All created entities are equally assimilated in Him. The unit mind, however, tries to assimilate an object with which it is associated at a particular time, and in a particular place and person, treating it as its own to the exclusion of all other entities. This is why people say, ' _my_ house, _my_ country, _my_ language'. Behind such expressions the psycho-philosophy of microcosmic exclusiveness is quite apparent. it is the same spirit of exclusiveness which causes unnecessary conflicts over state, country, language, community, creed, and so on. These narrow sentiments occur in the absence of an integral, universal viewpoint. So although the goal of the unit mind is multilateral, its movement at a particular time is unilateral, and thus it cannot be concerned with more than one object at a time. However, in the process of constant Cosmic ideation the multilateral goal of the unit mind becomes unilateral, and its unilateral actional expression becomes multilateral. It becomes an active participant in a multi-dimensional actional flow with a uni-purposive goal.

      Regarding the Macrocosm the vedas have proclaimed,

Saharsrashiirs'a'h purus'ah sahasra'ks'a sahasrapa't
Sa bhu'mirvishvato vrttva' atyatis't'haddasha'm'gulam.

      This Cosmic entity has innumerable heads. The microcosm is one-headed but the Macrocosm is many-headed. That is, His actional expression is multi-dimensional, for His movement is towards all objects at a time. The Macrocosm also has innumerable eyes. The microcosm can only see a particular object at a particular time in a particular place, but the Macrocosm can watch His own self as well as every single movement of every microcosm. He is the Witness of all. The witnesship of your existence, of all your actions, lies in Him. And when He witnesses you, He is witnessing an internal object. The microcosm cannot focus its vision on more than one object at a time; nor can it witness anything except its own self. All other entities are external to the microcosm. To enter another mind, or to enter within any other object, is beyond its capacity. The Macrocosm, however, is the Witness of Its own self and all other objects. Hence you cannot think anything secretly. Any secret thought that arises in your mind immediately arises in His mind too, because your mind is located in a tiny corner of His vast mind. Nor can you do anything secretly because every action of yours is nothing but a minor change of place of physical objects within His mind. The microcosm can only witness one object at a time, but the Macrocosm can witness innumerable objects at a time, hence we say that he is multi-eyed.

      A microcosm can move in only one direction at a time: it cannot move towards the north and the south simultaneously. Thus we can say that the microcosm has only one pair of legs, whereas the Macrocosm has innumerable pairs of legs. He can move in all directions which you know - north, south, east, west - and even in those directions you do not know, simultaneously. He even moves where the citta has not yet been metamorphosed into the quinquelemental factors. So though His goal is uni-purposive, His movement is multilateral. Hence we can say that He has innumerable pairs of legs.

      Now the question may arise: Is the totality of all the expressed microcosms of this manifested universe, the Macrocosm? No, this expressed universe is the manifested form of His mind-stuff. The Macrocosmic citta is sometimes expressed in the form of crude matter, and sometimes as unit minds created as a result of the process of clash and cohesion within the material structure. The Macrocosm is certainly the collection of all expressed matter and all unit minds, but that is not His totality. In him there also exists His unmanifested, infinite citta (mind stuff), His infinite doer-I (ahamtattva), and His infinite existential I-feeling (mahattattva).

	Crude matter is the condensed form of Macrocosmic mind-stuff. When this Macrocosmic mind-stuff loses a certain degree of its condensed state, it assumes the form of microcosm. Thus houses, kitchen utensils, hills, valleys and oceans, are nothing but dormant states of mind. The moment they awaken from their slumber of inertness, the moment the consciousness latent within them gets expressed, they will be changed into unit minds. Can you imagine what a unique and wonderful thing this is?

	The state subtler than the ethereal factor is the subtle state of Macrocosm mind-stuff. The unexpressed citta of the Macrocosm, according to its inherent reactive momenta, gets transformed into the inanimate material world as well as innumerable microcosms. Within the unit mind as well as in the entire mass of inanimate matter there are constant physical and psychic clashes. The fundamental cause behind psychic clash lies in the Macrocosm. Hence the Macrocosm in His subtle way, is inseparably associated with His expressed physical manifestations, and remains as the untainted Witnessing Consciousness, as the Supreme Knower and Subjectivity of all subjectivities.

      The word dasha'ungulam used in the above shloka has got a special spiritual significance. According to the science of yoga, a'jina' cakra ( the pituitary plexus) is the controlling point of the mind. The abode of Attributional Brahma ends just a little above the pituitary plexus. The sahasra'ra cakra (pineal plexus) is located ten fingers above the pituitary plexus. This pineal plexus is the abode of Parama Shiva, the Supreme Consciousness. In the shloka the rs'i explains that the Macrocosm is inseparably associated with all the entities created by Saguna Brahma, remaining as the Witnessing Faculty at a point ten fingers above the pituitary plexus.

      Is the intervening space between the microcosm and Consciousness completely void? No, the space between the mind and Consciousness is full of Macrocosmic mind-stuff.

	Purus'aevedam' sarvam' yadhu'tam' yacca bhavyam'
	Uta'mrtasy iisha'no yadanyena'dhirahoti.

      As the Knowing Entity He is omniscient. The manifested 'all' is nothing but His thought projection. What is the meaning of the word sarva (all)? The totality of whatever has been manifested and whatever has the capacity to be manifested, is called sarva. In the shloka it is mentioned that Purus'a, the underlying Consciousness, is both the cause and the effect of everything. The manifested world is eternally flowing within His mind and hence for Him the past, present and future are equally present. That which is still unmanifested is nothing but the reactive momenta of the Macrocosm, which contains the potential reactions of His original actions. The Macrocosm is fully aware of His original actions as well as His manifested state and manifestative potentialities.

      As the diverse forms of all the fundamental factors exist within the three realms of time, the Macrocosm knows them all. And that which still exists as the subtle Macrocosmic mind-stuff, that which as not yet taken the form of cruder mind-stuff, He Knows, for He is fully aware of the budding state of the dormant sam'ska'ras. Microcosms having developed brains are partially aware of the particular space, time and individuality in which they find themselves. With the help of the nerve-cells and nerve-fibres of microcosms the reactive momenta are maintained and expressed.

	* Although the knowledge of microcosms is carried through the cruder nerve-cells, they are unable to carry the totality of the knowledge of the causal mind. But the moment the disembodied causal mind acquires a physical base knowledge is transmitted through the cruder portions of the nerve cells of microcosms.

      Herein lies the limitations, the imperfections of microcosms. After reading ten to twenty books people boast about their vast knowledge. They become so intoxicated with vanity and pride that they even scorn the world. But they forget that if the brain becomes even slightly defective, all their acquired knowledge can be thrown into oblivion. Motivated by the fear of failing their examinations, students labour hard to memorise their lessons. However, as soon as the examinations are over, their examination phobia disappears, and they forget all their acquired knowledge. The knowledge acquired through perception is only a temporary asset.

      The controlling capacity of microcosms is very limited. The microcosms can only temporarily control  objects whose physical waves are shorter than their own psychic waves. When the physical waves of objects are longer, they can at most be brought within sense-perception, but controlled. But when the wavelengths of physical objects are far longer than those of unit minds, they cannot even be brought within the scope of sense-perception. In this case those objects themselves exercise control over the physical existence as well as the ka'mamaya and annamaya kos'as of individuals. The psychic wavelength of an average person is greater than that of wine, and hence his or her mind is not easily influenced by wine. But due to excessive drinking the psychic wavelength of an alcoholic becomes shorter than the wavelength of wine, and he or she becomes its slave.

      The microscopic fraction of a wave radiated from an object and received by the sensory organs is called an inference (tanmatra). The capacity of receiving or perceiving tanma'tras is determined by the capacity of the indriyas as well as the psychic wavelength. Every atom and molecule in the process of conflict in the flows of Saincara and Pratisaincara creates inferences. Of course, from the absolute point of view, every atom and molecule is Cosmic mind-stuff; but from the microcosmic point of view, the special type of inference radiated as a result of physical clash is called a tanma'tra. Usually we do not call the waves caused by psychic clash tanma'tras, because under normal circumstances such mental waves do not come within the perception of the sensory organs.

      When the psychic wave becomes lengthened as a result of spiritual ideation or the intellectual development caused by scientific pursuit, the human mind becomes more capable of controlling a greater amount of physical waves. As certain waves cannot be transmitted by the indriyas, human beings have manufactured scientific instruments for the purpose. These instruments help their psychic waves to utilise those physical waves which they previously considered to be uncontrollable according to their own sweet will. Moreover, through internal development, the psychic waves of human beings become capable of controlling the internal mean propensities. But whether it is a propensity or any other object, the degree of psychic control depends on the lengthening of the psychic waves.

	Microcosms, confined as they are within the relative factors, have very little controlling authority. The Macrocosm, however, is the controller of heaven and hell. It is worthwhile to mention here that the tendency of the human mind to degenerate towards matter in the path of negative pratisaincara is called hell (naraka), and the movement of the unit mind towards the Supreme Non-attributional Stance in the flow of positive Pratisaincara is called heaven. A unit mind which accepts gold or silver as the goal of life gradually becomes transformed into gold or silver. The psychic waves, as a result of constant ideation are first transformed into the waves of gold or silver and finally into crude gold or silver itself as a result of jadasama'dhi. Later on it is reborn as a gold or silver, and spends its days confined within the safe of a money-minded merchant. This undesirable situation is called narakava'sa or life in hell.

	This type of degradation is not possible for creatures other than human beings, because they cannot perform original actions independently. With the development of intellect, and with the expansion of freedom in the field of action, human beings can either elevate themselves or degrade themselves. Prior to the attainment of this freedom they moved along the path of development in the flow of Pratisaincara. On acquiring this freedom, however, they have to make a tremendous effort to progress, or else they will certainly regress. Those people who move towards heaven or hell are not the controller of either. But the Macrocosm is the controller of both because the movement from hell to heaven is nothing but the direct result of the application of His divine energy.

      Microcosms incessantly run after objects, one after the other, for their self-preservation. But as there is nothing outside the Macrocosm He does not run after any object.

      Sarvendriya gun'a'bhasam' sarvendriya vivarjitam.

      Microcosms can use their indriyas to receive tanmatras radiated from the fundamental factors or to activate the fundamental factors. For the microcosms these fundamental factors are external entities, but for the Macrocosm nothing is external. Moreover, as the Cosmic Mind is multilateral and Its knowledge infinite, It does not require indriyas or a brain. Even when the Macrocosm is an apparent state of inaction, He performs His role of Knower, Knowable and Knowledge with the help of Cosmic momentum. So it must be admitted that the indriyas' capacity to receive objects actually lies in the Macrocosm. It is only when power is infused in microcosms that they develop the capacity of knowledge and action. Dead bodies have indriyas, but they do not possess the capacity of receiving objects because on death the power is withdrawn by Macrocosm.

      As the Macrocosm does not have any external object, He does not require the help of any indriya for the externalization of any action or the internalization of an idea. Thus He called Sarvendriyavivarjita (devoid of any indriya). The unit mind, in the process of constant Cosmic ideation, moves steadily towards the Macrocosm and finally becomes one with Him.

      One of the reasons for the multilateral goal of the microcosm lies in the nature of its ectoplasmic formations. According to the degree of density of the ectoplasm there is tremendous internal friction. Whenever the microcosm comes in contact with matter, it is drawn away from its original stance by the material waves. This scattering of the mind-stuff towards different objects is what we call the innumerable human cravings and longings. But in the limited practical realm, as its unit I-feeling has to work through the body, the unit mind finds it difficult to associate itself with more than one object at a time.

When the extroversial tendency of human beings rushes towards objects in a particular environment, the mind begins to dance according to vibrations of the material waves of those objects. People who are not accustomed to using luxury goods in life hardly feel their necessity, but those who have already used such things have a natural weakness for them. In Bengali there is a proverb, Ja'r chele jato pa'y ta'r chele tato cha'y. "The more a child gets the more it wants." In the practical field we notice that unless the material waves are controlled by the psychic waves no action can take place. In the absence of proper harmony between hands and mind a person cannot do anything. Thus for action to occur microcosms must control the physical waves of objects with the help of their entire psychic wave. Not only in the case of physical actions, but also while thinking it becomes impossible for microcosms to be focused on more than one object or action at a time.

      The excessive desire for material enjoyment, or the excessive pursuit of crude matter, reduces the inter-ectoplasmic space and as a result causes microcosms to become totally obsessed with their psychic objects. This is the reason why so-called learned people are averse to spiritual practice - their lives have become too egotistical.

      Spiritual practice (sadhana) means to powder down the ectoplasmic structure with the help of opposing forces. That is, sadhana is a process of struggle against the inter-ectoplasmic affinity.

      The individual parts of ectoplasmic cells are called citta'n'u. When these citta'n'u merge their individual identities into the cognitive faculty, or when they become separated from one another, it should be understood that one is progressing along the path of expansion. As the ectoplasms begin to drift away from one another their collective vibration feels more and more affinity towards the collective Cosmic waves and finally they merge themselves in those Macrocosmic waves. This process of merging one's individual flow in the Cosmic flow is called self-surrender. Those who have difficulty surrendering themselves suffer from structural crudity, a lack of Cosmic affinity, and an excess of vanity or ego.

      This universe is embedded in the Macrocosmic flow. There is no instrument within microcosms to fathom the depth of the Macrocosmic flow. Each and every atom and molecule of the universe, all minds and all matter, are drifting in the vast Macrocosmic flow. The person whose mind is free from the burden of crudity can easily float on the vast cosmic ocean, but who is loaded down with a heavy burden will sink. Lord Buddha said in the Dharmapa'da,

      "Siinca bhiks'una'bam sittate lahamessati."

      "O monk, if you want to reach the other bank of the river you must reduce the load in the boat of your mind - throw it over board."

      Whether in the homogenous flow or in the heterogeneous flow, each and every atom and molecule of the universe is floating consciously or unconsciously in the Macrocosmic flow. This is the science of psycho-spiritual parallelism. This microcosmic dance around the Macrocosmic Nucleus or Purus'ottama is known as ra'saliila'.

      Nityer vashe cainacalaholo vidrohii parama'n'u
Padayuga ghire jyotimainjire ba'jilo Candrabha'nu.

      "The rebellious atoms become restless with the dance. The dancing steps emit the divine effulgence of a thousand suns and moons."

Paos'ii Pu'rn'ima' 1959, Darbhaga, Bihar
Subha's'ita Sam'graha Part 7