Parashat Shemini 5782 — 03/26/2022
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.
Vayikra 9:1-11:47
I’d like to start with a bit of a calendrical note. We just celebrated Purim, which usually comes quite a bit earlier in the cycle of readings – generally during the week of Parashat Tetzaveh. There is a very interesting connection between the two – Parashat Tetzaveh is the only parashah where Moses’ name is not mentioned (except in the book of Genesis, before his birth) and Megillat Esther is the only book of the Bible where Gd is not explicitly mentioned. Even the name Esther (which scholars relate to Ishtar, a fertility goddess) hints to the Hebrew root of hiddenness. Gd is hidden in Megillat Esther, His presence only hinted to by the use of the word HaMelech (the King) when Achashverosh’ name is not mentioned in the same breath. Moses is hidden in Parashat Tetzaveh, his presence hinted at by the word “you.” This hiding is the reality of consciousness that is not able to perceive the underlying Unity of all forms and phenomena, that cannot perceive all forms and phenomena as Gd’s displaying His infinite creativity to Himself. Of course, Purim is a month later this year because it is a leap year, and the extra month that gets added is Adar I, which pushes everything after it back 30 days. The first parshiyyot of Sefer Vayikra are all about Gd’s revealing Himself in the Mishkan and to Moses. Perhaps the hope that we get from a “late” Purim is that we can indeed rise to a level of consciousness where Gd is no longer hidden at all.
Passover normally comes out during the first few parshiyyot of Vayikra, which are all about the Divine service in the Tabernacle. The purpose of the Exodus, the central storyline of Pesach, is exactly the Divine service, both in the Mishkan and in life in general – service which is to bring us to the awareness of Gd’s Unity and all-pervasive nature. This year, everything is pushed back, and the two Sabbaths of Pesach (the first and last days of Pesach are on Shabbat this year) come between parshiyyot Tazria and Metzora on one side, and Acharei Mot and Kedoshim on the other. These parshiyyot deal with living a pure and holy life. If the Mishkan and its rituals are outer representations of Gd’s Unity (and participation in them presumably helps refine our consciousness to appreciate this Unity), the “holiness code” provides guidelines for reaching Unity Consciousness and an inspiration what life can be like from the level of Unity Consciousness.
And now, back to causality, physics and the Veda!
We have discussed the Unified Field in previous essays, particularly as a physical analog of Pure Consciousness. I would like to trace briefly the development of field theories in general, leading up to various attempts in modern physics to produce a “theory of everything.”
Field theories began in physics as a way to explain “action-at-a-distance.” Two charged particles at a distance from one another will attract or repel one another (according to whether they have opposite or like charges) without their actually being in contact with one another. Similarly, iron filings form a distinct pattern around a magnet even though they may be separated from the magnet by a piece of paper. Somehow, the charged particles or the magnet are able to produce an abstract influence in their environments, an influence that is concretized into a force when another object (second charged object, iron filings) that can react to the influence, is placed in the environment. Originally, fields were little more than a mathematical contrivance to push difficult questions under a rug.
Then, in the mid-nineteenth century, it was discovered that fields could interact with one another. In particular, it was discovered that a changing electric field could produce a magnetic field (electromagnet) and a changing magnetic field could produce an electric field (electrical generator). The laws governing the two fields and their interaction were codified by James Clerk Maxwell in the late 19th century. Maxwell’s Equations were eventually understood as the equations of one field, the electromagnetic field, which appears to us in some circumstances as electricity, and in others as magnetism. The electric field and the magnetic field, once thought to be two fields that interacted with one another, were now understood to be one, unified field. Further, this field could vibrate and those vibrations can carry energy, momentum and information – our whole technological society is based on this field and its dynamics. Far from being a mathematical nicety, the electromagnetic field has its own deep and subtle reality.
With the development of quantum mechanics, and especially quantum field theory, all the particles of nature were understood to be excitations of underlying fields, and these fields interacted with one another. There are two basic kinds of fields, so-called “matter” fields, corresponding to the “elementary particles,” and “force” fields, like the electromagnetic field. The “particles” are excitations of matter fields, and the force fields, too, have levels of excitation, which we see as photons in the case of the electromagnetic field, and other intermediary particles (mesons, gluons) in the case of other forces. In other words, all the particles described by all the fields interact with one another in one great, overriding, all-encompassing system. As we saw above, whenever two things are found to be interacting with one another, deeper analysis shows them to be two parts of one, underlying, unified system.
The culmination of this process of unification is a single field that incorporates all the forces and matter fields as components. That is, different modes of vibration of this field appear on the surface as the different particles and forces of nature. Instead of various fields interacting with one another, we have just one field, interacting with itself.
I might add that one of the fundamental forces of nature is gravity. But we saw a few weeks ago, that gravity is actually just curvature of spacetime geometry. Any attempt at unifying gravity with the other forces of nature must take into account that the other fields operate within space and time, while gravity is space and time. This consideration, among others, has led to Unified Field theories that work in many dimensions besides the usual 3 of space and 1 of time. Generally, the “extra” dimensions only become apparent at extremely short scales and/or extremely high energies. Nevertheless, if these theories are correct, they are there, and there may therefore be pathways through the extra dimensions that connect events in space and time in ways that call our ordinary ideas of locality (and causality) into doubt.
The upshot of this whole discussion is that there appears to be a level of physical creation, the Unified Field, which is transcendental to space, time, objects and activity, and is the sole, ultimate, underlying reality. The concrete “reality” in which we live in waking state of consciousness is nothing more than the internal dynamics of this one field as it interacts with itself, projecting, or appearing to project, layer upon layer of manifestation, while never losing its unmanifest, transcendental nature.
But this description is remarkably similar to the description of Consciousness given by the ancient Vedic tradition. Consciousness is conscious, and therefore aware, but it has only itself to be aware of. Therefore, it is Self-interacting, and it is this self-interaction which sets up the virtual dynamics that ramifies into all of relative existence. Some of those ramifications also have the quality of self-awareness, and on this basis can evolve to a level of consciousness where the ultimate reality of consciousness is perceived directly on the level of the mind, intellect and senses. Finally, consider the fact that consciousness appears to be the intersection between the world of physical phenomena and the non-material world. This can be on a simple level of perception, where sense impressions cause electrical activity in the nervous system, which then, somehow gets transformed into mental images, and action, where mental intentions somehow get transformed into electrical activity in the nervous system, and eventually mechanical activity as the muscles move the body in accord with those intentions. We also saw that it is the extension of human consciousness as measurement that makes wave functions appear to “collapse” into one of a potentially infinite number of states, and that this “collapse,” in the case of systems that have quantum correlations, give us a glimpse into a deeper, more connected reality.
As we have seen, when two things interact, they always turn out to be parts of a greater, more all-encompassing system. Consciousness and the physical world interact in all the ways we have described, so it would not be much of a stretch to conclude that they are two aspects of the same underlying system. Based on the teachings of the Vedic tradition we call this ultimate reality Consciousness, and it expresses itself as all the levels of consciousness we see in the world, all the different structures of intelligence, and it expresses itself as the material underpinning of those structures. With Gd’s help may we all rise to the level of consciousness where Wholeness is the reality of life, and all the distinctions we see around us are but a garden of delights projected for our enjoyment.
And with Gd’s help, next week we shall return to the next chapter of Rambam and consider the meaning of “place.”
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Shemini
Shemini means “eighth.” In this parshah, we learn that Aaron completed his seven days after being initiated by Gd through Moses as High Priest of Israel; on the eighth, he performed his first service as High Priest:
“…And the glory of the Lrd appeared to all the people.” Leviticus 9:23 (chabad.org).
Aaron made his own offerings (“korbanot”, drawing near) and also those of the people in the correct way and the glory of the Lrd appeared to all the people. This is the world we want today and always, a world in which all leaders and all people – all included, none left out — are properly prepared to draw near and to experience the glory of Gd and as they experience the experience becomes available to all the people.
Leviticus, 9:24.
“And fire went forth from before the Lrd and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the alter, and all the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces” (translation, chabad.org) The symbolism of “eight”, as chabad.org presents it, appeals to me: eight symbolizes Gd beyond the seven days of creation [if we include the seventh day of “rest”] and, therefore, knowable only by Gd , beyond comprehension by the creation.
On the eighth day, we would have Gd, as Kaddish says about Gd: above and beyond any praise or blessing we can utter in the world. On this day, Aaron is fulfilled and he and all the Children of Israel see the Glory of the Lrd; also on this day, two of Aaron’s sons are consumed by the same Fire of Gd that consumed the offerings of Aaron and the people. Both events occur on the same day, indicating the unknowableness of Gd. Torah says this was because they offered “strange fire” which Gd had not commanded; some rabbis say it was because they were drunk; other rabbis say it was because they were great and Gd sanctified the Tabernacle through them. We have diverse views, consistent with the symbolism of eight as Gd being beyond description or human understanding.
Consistent with this interpretation of Gd beyond understanding is the description in this parshah of dietary laws, particularly what animals, birds, fish, insects are clean and which are not to be eaten.
Discussions I have seen on this indicate that the reasons for the categorizing are not understandable simply from a human zoological view but they are known only to Gd and we must have faith in them and thus to be holy as Gd is Holy.
So, it is up to us to live pure lives, to serve as High Priests within the Temple that is our own body and personality, and to offer our lives to Gd, Totality beyond words to describe or understand, and to enjoy the unfoldment of Gd’s glory within us and around us, everywhere. Everywhere. For everyone.
Baruch HaShem