Parashat HaAzinu 5786 – 10/04/2025
Beginning with Bereishit 5781 (17 October 2020) we embarked on a new format. We will be considering Rambam’s (Maimonides’) great philosophical work Moreh Nevukim (Guide for the Perplexed) in the light of the knowledge of Vedic Science as expounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The individual essays will therefore not necessarily have anything to do with the weekly Torah portion, although certainly there will be plenty of references to the Torah, the rest of the Bible, and to the Rabbinic literature. For Bereishit we described the project. The next four parshiyyot, Noach through Chayei Sarah, laid out a foundational understanding of Vedic Science, to the degree I am capable of doing so. Beginning with Toledot we started examining Moreh Nevukim.
Devarim 32:1-52
Rambam goes on to describe the 11th premise of the Mutakallimūn.
This is their saying that the existence of that which is infinite in any mode whatever is impossible. The explanation of this is as follows. The impossibility of the existence of an infinite magnitude has already been demonstrated, or the existence of magnitudes infinite in number – even if each of them is of finite magnitude – provided that those magnitudes infinite in number are supposed to coexist in time.
We have already discussed some of the mathematics of infinity. In the 19th century, Georg Cantor developed a theory of infinite sets and different levels of infinite numbers. Now mathematics exists in our consciousness, but, as we have seen many times, mathematics has an uncannily close relationship with the objective world. If you will permit me some bragging, a recent example of this is given in Quanta magazine, citing work done by my daughter-in-law, Kirsten Wickelgren , in which results in the field of enumerative geometry are showing potential applications to string theory in Unified Field physics. You’ll have to read the article for the details. My point here is that the infinities we study in our consciousness are real, and have applications in the objective world. From the point of view of Vedic Science this is not at all surprising, since the universe, both subjective and objective, is all consciousness.
Infinities in actual physics can be more troubling. For example, when trying to figure out the mechanism of black-body radiation, Max Planck kept running into the conundrum that a black body will emit an infinite amount of energy. He therefore introduced the concept of light’s energy coming in packets, called quanta. The rest, as they say, is history. Moving forward several decades, the development of quantum field theory introduced the concept of the vacuum state. Unfortunately, the energy of the vacuum state, as far as we currently understand, is infinite. This infinity cannot be removed so cleverly, but fortunately it appears that it can be ignored. This of course is a very uncomfortable position to be in, but physicists seem to have just acknowledged the issue and moved on.
On the macro scale, General Relativity predicts the existence of black holes – regions of space where the matter of a star has collapsed into a single, infinitesimal point (“singularity”). The density at this point is infinite (finite mass divided by zero volume = infinite density). Space-time itself has twisted itself into a single point. Again, we don’t really know what to do with this infinity, but we have been able to avoid dealing with the problem, because one can never get any information out from inside a finite-sized sphere around the singularity (“event horizon”). Recent research is looking into the application of quantum mechanics – the physics of the microscopic realm – to this singularity. This may be a more satisfying way of dealing with the issue of the infinity in the center of the black hole.
One final example. Before General Relativity it was of course thought that space was “flat” – that the x, y and z coordinate axes stretched from infinity to infinity in a straight line. It was also assumed that there were stars filling all areas of space. Eventually, someone figured out that if this were the case, then any line of sight would eventually intersect a star, and that therefore we should be bathed in starlight night and day, which is obviously not the case. This is called Olber’s Paradox, and it was not resolved until modern cosmology described the universe as curved and ever-expanding. Again, the problem of a real, physical infinity is at the basis of the paradox.
Rambam continues:
Similarly the existence of an infinite number of causes is impossible – I mean to say that a thing should be the cause of something, that this thing should have a cause in its turn, that that cause should again have a cause, and so forth to infinity, so that an infinite number of numerable things should exist in actu ; and it is indifferent whether these be bodies or things separate from matter, provided only that some of them are the causes of others. It is this natural and essential orderly arrangement with regard to which it has been demonstrated that the infinite is impossible in it.
Here it appears that Rambam is talking about material causes. Even in such a case, if we assume that the universe is infinite in time, at least going forward, then if there is matter going forward, the state of the system at any time will be caused by the state of the system at a previous time, and this chain of causality can be projected into the future ad infinitum . In addition, if time is continuous, then any amount of time has an infinite number of moments and at each moment there is a cause and effect. This, too, would be an infinite chain of cause and effect, even though limited in time. Of course, since the Mutakallimūn believed that time came in atoms, they wouldn’t buy this latter argument.
I might point out that the whole concept of causality becomes somewhat trickier in Special Relativity, where two events (space-time points) can be farther apart in space than the distance that light can travel in the amount of time between them. In such a case, there can be no causal connection between the two events – in fact, in some reference frames A can precede B while in others the temporal order is reversed. Modern theories of cosmology posit that the universe is expanding faster than the speed of light (things cannot move faster than the speed of light, but the fabric of space-time can expand this quickly), so there are regions of the universe that are actually beyond our ever knowing about or affecting.
I think the issue with infinity is that we can imagine infinities in our consciousness, and can even manipulate various different “sizes” of infinity. That is because our mind can experience infinity directly, as we do when we practice the TM technique. Even without such direct experience, we can imagine infinity because it is structured in the nature of our mind – and sometimes the stresses that block the experience stop roiling and we get a glimpse of the reality. The physical world, on the other hand, is the world of finite objects, at least on the surface. It is only when we probe beneath the surface that we begin to see that every finite bit of physical reality is nothing other than infinite Pure Consciousness. We can begin to understand this intellectually, through physics for example, but it is only in fully developed Unity Consciousness that the reality becomes a matter of direct perception.
I hope everyone had an easy and meaningful fast. Now we have a joyous Sukkot to look forward to. Chag Same’ach!
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Ha’Azinu
“ Ha’azinu” means “Listen”: not just “hear” but “listen, listen with full attention.”
As he speaks to our ancestors (and to us), Moses calls upon Heaven and Earth to listen. Not only Heaven and Earth outside us, but within us.
He praises Gd and rebukes Israel from turning away from Gd. Moses concludes by telling our ancestors (and all generations) to set our heart to his words so that we may command our children to obey Torah. Better than this is to live so Torah is alive in us and our words and lives will be so alive we need not command our children to obey Torah–they will Live in our Universal Love, in Torah and will naturally be and act in harmony with Torah.
The central message in Moses’s song is that there is no god besides Gd.
Gd Says, “See now that it is I! (who Am your Rock and Your Shelter). I Am the One and there is no god like Me.” Deuteronomy 32:39, chabad.org translation.
As we realize this, we realize the implications of Gd’s Being One: not only is there no god besides Gd, there is nothing but Gd and all that exists is an expression of Gd, within Gd. Everything is Gd from the Universe, to galaxies, stars, planets, mountains, trees, people, ants, stones and quantum bubbles; all actions, thoughts, feelings, decisions, memories and plans.
And so, when Gd praises or rebukes, Gd is Praising or Rebuking Gd; Gd is playing a game in which Gd is the Director, Screenwriter, Actors, Camera Crew, Audience and Reviewers. Gd is the virtuous and the villains.
Gd is all thoughts and all decisions, all actions and all roles.
When we read in Torah that our ancestors turned away from Gd, it is clear that Gd was the One who Is the Thought that made them turn and they were roles Gd played so it was Gd turning away from Gd.
It is good to remember this so that we are not hard on those who stray, whether it was our ancestors or our neighbors or ourselves. When we make a decision to turn toward or away from Wholeness, it is Gd who is making the decision and it is Gd playing the roles of all who turn.
But, that said, we can’t spend our lives constantly thinking “Gd is All, Gd is my thought, I have nothing to do with anything…” and so on.
We have to act naturally, spontaneously, just being the people we are, with the personalities and skills we have, yet always favoring what we know to be right, letting our heart always fill with love for Gd and our neighbor.
Torah as Divine Sounds and Glowing Streams in our consciousness: Torah as meaning, literal and symbolic; Torah in the vast range of commentaries on it; Torah in our feelings, thoughts and conversations, help us to develop a firm sense of right and wrong, help us to act with wisdom, and to better and better return to our Source—Gd.
Gd Hides, playing the roles of every limited value: humans, galaxies, ants, stones, quantum strings; Gd Guides the seeking to return for all roles and Reveals Gd to the roles as Gd Chooses.
So not only at the time of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur but every moment always, let us do the greatest kindness, the greatest love, to ourselves and our neighbors and attune ourselves to Torah, to Gd: naturally, spontaneously comfortably, easily but steadily, consistently, routinely, uniting more and more with Universal Love and Joy, the One and Only “I”: Gd.
Baruch HaShem