In the very beginning there was a void — a curious form of vacuum — a nothingness containing no space, no time, no matter, no light, no sound. Yet the laws of nature were in place, and this curious vacuum held potential, like a giant boulder perched at the edge of a towering cliff...”
Thus starts the opening chapter of the book God Particle, written by physicist Leon Lederman with Dick Teresi who actually named the book ‘Goddamn Particle’ but the publisher wanted sensation, and named it God Particle and the name has since stuck. Even according to scientists, it is absurd to call the particle a God particle since it is like any other particle in the sub-atomic realm. Although all pervasive in universe, the God particle is keeping the mankind from a true understanding of matter or understanding of true nature of matter. The essence of physical matter,
as per the Standard Model, consists of six each of Quarks and Leptons along with four fundamental forces. The Higgs boson exerts the Higgs field throughout the universe and is responsible for imparting mass to elementary particles. First hypothesised in 1964, it has just been observed in CERN, Gerneva.
By the 1980s, all elementary particles as per the Standard Model except the Higgs boson had been discovered, simply because of the limited accelerating capacity of the available particle accelerators. CERN then built the largest particle accelerator, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider),100 m below the ground and for a circumference of 27 km for the purpose of creating the conditions of Big Bang presumed to have existed 13.7 billion years ago.
The physical manifestation of the universe started 13.7 billion years ago with a Big Bang from a point of singularity where all matter and energy along with time were believed to have been condensed with extreme degree of energy which resulted in quantum fluctuations on the surface and which eventually released elementary particles (fermions) and the corresponding forces and fields (bosons). These then fused with the help of messenger particles to form atoms of matter starting with hydrogen, the basic fuel for further formation of the entire galactic matter. Since then, the universe has been constantly expanding. This is science.
If one has to find the corresponding scenario as per scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, the singularity can be compared to ‘Brahman’ which contains the entire physical matter in a state of dormancy which then is released as an explosion, (Vispotha) from the womb of creation, ‘Hiranya Garbha’ as physical manifestation of matter and eventually to life forms with ascending levels of consciousness. Humans with highest degree of consciousness are provided with a mind that can discern, and the purpose is to find our roots and eventually merge with the Supreme Consciousness in the state of Brahman.
The entire physical manifestation is in a state of continuous dance as seen by physicist Fritjof Capra who likened it to the tandava nritya of Shiva who, as creator and destroyer is culmination of stillness, the Shiva, the witness and the dynamism, the Shakti, and the dance as represented by the Nataraja idol gifted to CERN, Geneva by India. The laws of nature were already in place and what science is doing is discovering these to establish what already is created with a specific action plan in the mind of the creator.
Like a giant boulder perched on the edge of a towering cliff that starts rolling, this will go on forever, reflecting the ever-expanding universe, possibly reaching a point of big crunch once the energy of expansion is exhausted. And this process is perpetual or repetitive, according to Sanatana Dharma.
In respect of the experimentation itself, two aspects are notable: one, in the bubble chamber where collisions are recorded, new particles that come into being have the same mass and charge as the colliding particles and are extremely short lived before merging back into the nothingness from where they emerged. This is completely reflected in perpetuation of the observing consciousness where new life-forms have exactly the same potential for mass and potency as the parent consciousness, and a limited existence. As per Sanatana Dharma, once the sojourn is complete in the physical realm, the entities appear back in perpetuation to ‘pay’ for accumulated deeds in the form of karma till such time as the debit/credit balance is nil, when the entities merge in Brahman which is called Moksha.
The second significant point of the experimentation is the fact that the particles are accelerated round in a circular manner reflecting on the process of Brahmacharya to expedite the process of reaching the stage of Moksha.
Thus there are many similarities both in philosophy and in experimentation between the findings of science and the conclusion by way of intuitions which are the result of exploration of the inside world by sages and seers.
Faith may not be the opposite of proof but includes proof and has no necessity of it. Lederman’s quest for the God particle started with the humble understanding that if the universe is the answer what is the question? Almost all the scientific discoveries till date, however momentous, have had no effect on day-to-day activity of man. This is so right from the discovery of earth being round to the discovery of the God particle. Man is essentially a status-quo animal and resists change, both without and within. Unless there is fundamental mutation in the brain cells of man and a metamorphosis in his psyche, man will not transform to his true potential of being divine. And this transformation is having to come to terms with the fact that our pursuit either in the internal world of subjective reality or the external world of objective reality is the discovery and understanding that both realities have primordial existence in the Creator’s realm. Therefore, the quest ought to be to enter the Creator’s mind as rightly suggested by Albert Einstein, as otherwise it would prove to be a wild goose chase with billions of dollars spent to come to an understanding that there is nothing to understand; this physically reflecting the large nothingness inside the quarks of atoms. But this is no argument to stop the quest itself which has to continue as perhaps ordained by the Creator seated within as consciousness.
We need to become conscious of this consciousness such that we create a context to further of evolution such that our scientific thoughts, priorities, policies, budgets and investments shall align themselves with the essence of evolution itself and ensure the well-being of the entire creation.
This is the purpose of a discerning mind in a scientific way and a strong will which is totally spiritual. Then, the Goddamn particle becomes a God Particle well within each one of us – the human beings in this world.
ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org