When Feelings Conversed
Communication is the basic faculty of living. Every life form communicates. There was a time when nature was completely free, every organism inhaled communications by smelling and exhaled responses with smells which the other organisms’ inhaled and responded with smells. There must have been communication floods from the air. Loneliness was impossible. Every organism perceived and understood the feelings of every other organism. The air must have been creating the macro consciousness, connecting the consciousness of every life form from bacterium to whale. The individual biologies of each organism must have been actively and functionally connected to the biology of every other organism, making the air the great ocean of hormonal communications.
The very life in such totally free nature, with absolutely no human tampering must be the life of unending experiences which we call miracles today. The ordinary life form in its ordinary daily life must have experienced continuous miracles as discoveries and revelations. No definition must be stagnant. Ageing must be experiencing of miracles in discoveries, revelations, inspirations creating responses, their exhalations as messages which the other organisms inhaled creating inspirations among them. The air must have inspired continuously.
Actions must have followed implementations, creating a grand symbiosis. There could be no neurotic procrastination and suffering of worry caused by the procrastinations. Imagine life today, where everyone suffers from a big gnawing procrastination burden. In the free nature, the air continuously lubricates action via inspirations.
We cannot capture the communications flow of that free nature, from the troposphere with our present language.Subjects, predicates and Verb Contexts overlap and blend.
WE are struggling to develop the TOE with the Strings Theory, The M Theories, The Loop Quantum Gravity Theory and the concept of the Universe as a Hologram. In none of them consciousness has a place. My simple question is where are you in all these theories? And what is the place of consciousness of every life form? Why does your science ostracize consciousness, why do you eliminate yourself from nature? Nature has constituted you as a link, a vibrating link.
In the free and healthy nature one can actually experience the ‘Theory of All Pervading Consciousness’ that can extend into the Cosmos. You don’t and elaborate Technology of the CERN or Fermi Labs. What all you have to do, is to sit in the free nature, close your eyes, make your mind blank and allow the free nature wash you with discoveries, revelations and even out of the body travel into the deep space.
But then you need freedom from the dependence on technology and nature also free from technology. But how to make the patient institutions, the Universities which are suffering from many shackles of Technology, even conceptualize education from the stranglehold of mechanization and cartesianism?
YM Sarma
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Below is an edited and improved version of your essay. I aimed to preserve your voice, imagery, and philosophical intent while strengthening clarity, flow, and coherence. I did not alter your core ideas—only refined language and structure.
When Feelings Conversed
Revised and Edited Version
Communication is the basic faculty of life. Every living being, in one form or another, communicates. There must have been a time when nature was completely free—when every organism inhaled messages carried in the air and exhaled its responses back into that same atmosphere. Communication happened not through words, but through scents, signals, hormones, and subtle vibrations. The air must have been filled with floods of meaning. In such a world, loneliness would have been impossible. Each organism sensed and understood the feelings of the others. The atmosphere itself formed a kind of macro-consciousness, binding together the awareness of every creature, from bacterium to whale. Individual biologies were not isolated systems; they were actively connected in an intricate web, making the air a vast ocean of hormonal conversation.
Life in this untouched and unmanipulated nature must have been a continuous flow of experiences—what we now call miracles. Ordinary beings, in their ordinary routines, would have encountered revelations and discoveries at every moment. No definition would have remained fixed. Ageing would not be a slow decay but a deepening of discovery, a procession of inspirations exhaled as messages for others to breathe in, triggering new inspirations in them. The air itself must have been an ever-present teacher.
Action followed inspiration seamlessly, producing a grand symbiosis. There could have been no neurotic procrastination, no suffering generated by hesitation. Compare that to life today, where so many carry the heavy burden of delay and internal conflict. In a free nature, the air continually lubricated action with inspiration.
We cannot capture the flow of communication that existed in that free nature using our present languages. Subjects, predicates, and verbs blur and merge; boundaries dissolve. Even as we struggle to construct a Theory of Everything—through String Theory, M-theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, and the hypothesis of a holographic universe—none of these frameworks offer a place for consciousness. My simple question is: Where are you in these theories? Where is the consciousness of every life form? Why does science ostracize consciousness—why does it remove the self from nature, when nature has constituted us as living, vibrating links within its fabric?
In free and healthy nature, one can directly experience a “Theory of All-Pervading Consciousness,” a field that extends into the cosmos. You do not need the elaborate technologies of CERN or Fermilab. All you need is to sit quietly in an unspoiled natural space, close your eyes, empty your mind, and allow nature to wash over you with its discoveries and revelations—perhaps even lifting you into an experience of out-of-body travel through deep space.
But such experience requires liberation—freedom from dependence on technology, and nature itself freed from technological intrusion. The question then arises: how can our institutions—our universities, so entangled in the mechanisms and shackles of technology—begin to imagine education beyond the grip of mechanization and Cartesian thinking?
—YM Sarma
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Feelings in Nature and in the Concrete Jungle: A Hindu Philosophical Inquiry into Consciousness, Experience, and Environment
Abstract
Human experience oscillates between two environments: the natural world, untouched or minimally shaped by human ambition, and the urban world, a constructed ecosystem of concrete, steel, and relentless motion. While these appear to be oppositional spaces in modern discourse, Hindu philosophy portrays them not as dichotomies but as two manifestations of the same Brahman—the underlying reality that expresses itself through myriad forms. This essay explores how nature and the city evoke distinct emotional, psychological, and spiritual responses within the human being, and how these responses correspond to the fundamental concepts of Prakriti, Purusha, Gunas, Maya, Dharma, and Yoga. Drawing from the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, classical commentaries, yogic psychology, and contemporary philosophical interpretations, this essay argues that both environments serve as mirrors for inner states, teachers of different modes of awareness, and essential fields for self-realization. The ultimate realization is not a rejection of one and an embrace of the other, but the integration of both through nondual awareness.
I. Introduction: Two Landscapes, One Search
Human beings have always lived in tension between the natural and the constructed. In ancient India, forests (aranya) were revered as spaces of contemplation, while cities (pura) represented the activities of society, culture, and dharma. The sages moved fluidly between them:
the forest hermit found truth in silence,
the householder discovered truth amidst responsibility.
Modern life sharpens this contrast.
Nature seems like an escape.
The city feels like a demand.
Yet Hindu philosophy insists that environment is an extension of consciousness, not a determinant of it. The Upanishads describe the world as “sarvam khalvidam brahma” — all this is Brahman. If all is Brahman, then both the forest and the city are sacred possibilities.
Still, our emotional states differ drastically in each. Why?
This essay examines that question through a Hindu philosophical lens.
II. Prakriti and Purusha: The Metaphysical Foundation
Any exploration of human feelings in different environments must begin with Samkhya metaphysics, which divides reality into:
Purusha — pure consciousness, unchanging witness
Prakriti — primordial nature, dynamic, evolving
Everything perceptible—body, mind, emotions, environment—is Prakriti; consciousness alone is Purusha.
1. Nature as Original Prakriti
Nature is the “unmodified” face of Prakriti.
Its rhythms are cyclical, not linear.
Its movements arise from gunas, not human intention.
2. City as Modified Prakriti
The city is Prakriti rearranged by intellect (buddhi) and desire (rajas).
Yet it remains Prakriti.
It expresses the creativity of Maya in a new form.
3. The Emotional Implication
Nature reduces the distance between Purusha and Prakriti; thus emotions quiet.
City increases the entanglement between Purusha and Prakriti; thus emotions amplify.
This structure forms the backbone of the essay’s subsequent chapters.
III. The Gunas and Emotional Landscapes
The Gunas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—determine both the world we experience and the feelings that arise within us.
A. Nature as Sattvic Space
Nature is predominantly sattvic:
clarity
spaciousness
harmony
balance
luminosity
In such an environment:
anxiety dissolves
breath deepens
emotions simplify
perception expands
mind becomes reflective
This is why sages retreat to forests for meditation.
B. City as Rajasic-Tamasic Space
Cities amplify rajas, the guna of activity:
speed
ambition
competition
stimulation
They also carry elements of tamas:
pollution
noise
stress
sensory overload
This combination creates:
restlessness
hyper-reactivity
emotional fragmentation
heightened desires
The gunas explain why environments feel different without romanticizing or demonizing either.
IV. Phenomenology of Nature: The Experience of Being
1. Stillness and the Expansive Self
Nature induces a subtle dilation of inner space.
The mind becomes less of a dictator and more of an observer.
This experience resembles the yogic state of pratyahara, the withdrawal of senses.
2. Non-Conflictual Perception
In nature, nothing asks you to be anything.
A tree does not expect.
A river does not judge.
Mountains do not compete.
This non-conflictual presence reduces the ego’s defesive habits.
The emotional system moves toward equilibrium.
3. Sensory Entrustment
Natural sounds—wind, water, birds—do not overstimulate.
They entrust the senses rather than hijack them.
This fosters manas-Shuddhi, purification of mental impressions.
4. Time as Cyclical
In nature, time feels circular: sunrise and sunset, tides, seasons.
Circular time reduces existential pressure, allowing the self to simply be.
V. Phenomenology of the Urban World: The Experience of Doing
1. Hyperstimulation and Fragmentation
The city bombards the senses:
advertisements
traffic noise
constant digital stimuli
This creates “attentional fatigue” and emotional clutter.
The mind is pulled outward, creating vṛttis (whirling waves of thought).
2. The Ego as Performer
The city constantly activates identity:
status
role
ambition
comparison
The ego becomes a performer on an unending stage.
Feelings intensify: excitement, jealousy, anxiety, anticipation.
3. Linear Time
Urban life is structured by schedules.
This linearity creates pressure:
deadlines
clocks
productivity expectations
Time becomes a battlefield rather than a rhythm.
4. Maya in Motion
The city is the most sophisticated expression of Maya, the creative illusion.
It dazzles, distracts, inspires, overwhelms.
Emotionally, it awakens desire-driven states.
But Maya is not evil—it is cosmic play (lila).
VI. The Symbolism of Forest and City in Hindu Texts
Hindu scriptures provide archetypes for these environments.
A. Forest Archetype
Rishis meditate in forests
Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana experience spiritual liberation during exile
The Upanishads were born in hermitages
Forest represents:
renunciation
inwardness
sattva
revelation
B. City Archetype
Cities appear as centers of:
dharma
duty
social order
ethical responsibility
Krishna’s entire teaching in the Gita occurs in a battlefield, not in a forest.
City symbolizes:
karma
responsibility
rajas
complexity
Both are necessary for holistic realization.
VII. Emotional Intelligence in Nature vs. City
A. Emotional States Amplified in Nature
awe
gratitude
quiet joy
reflection
belonging
wonder
These emotions arise easily because the nervous system is safe.
B. Emotional States Amplified in City
anxiety
competitiveness
ambition
loneliness in crowds
overstimulation
irritability
But also:
inspiration
collaboration
motivation
Urban emotions are intense and layered.
VIII. The Spiritual Function of Nature
1. Nature as Guru
Nature teaches:
impermanence
balance
interdependence
It reveals dharma through ecology.
2. Nature as Mirror of the Inner Self
The quiet environment reflects subtle inner states.
What is unresolved becomes visible.
3. Nature as Healing
Ayurveda roots healing in natural elements:
earth, water, fire, air, ether.
Nature restores physiological and psychological balance.
4. Nature and Meditation
Silence + repetition + open space creates ideal conditions for:
Japa
dhyana
breath practices
contemplation
Nature is the sattvic cradle of enlightenment.
IX. The Spiritual Function of the City
1. City as Karma Yoga Field
The city demands:
responsibility
discipline
selfless work
Krishna insists that spiritual life must include engaged action.
2. City as Maya’s Playground
Maya is not deception but creative dynamism.
Cities display human creativity at its peak.
3. City as Test of Equanimity
Urban life reveals:
attachments
fears
ego-traps
emotional triggers
It is a testing ground for vairagya (non-attachment).
4. City and Social Dharma
The city enables:
collaboration
governance
ethical responsibility
community service
These are essential for fulfilling laukika dharma (worldly duty).
X. Integration: Advaita and the Non-Dual Vision of Both Worlds
1. Moving Beyond Duality
The core teaching of Advaita Vedanta:
All distinctions are imagined; the Self alone is real.
Thus:
nature is Brahman
city is Brahman
emotions in both arise in Brahman
the witness remains unchanged
2. The Mature Seeker
A realized being feels:
peace in noise
clarity in chaos
stillness in motion
The environment no longer dictates the state of consciousness.
3. Equal Vision (Sama Darsana)
The Bhagavad Gita repeatedly describes the sthitaprajña, one of steady wisdom:
unaffected by pleasure/pain
sees gold and stone alike
remains calm amid activity
This equanimity is the goal—regardless of setting.
XI. Practical Synthesis for Modern Life
Carrying Nature into the City
morning meditation
intentional breathing
pauses of silence
green spaces
mindful walking
Carrying the City into Nature
responsibility
intentionality
structure
conscious purpose
Bridging Both Worlds
Practicing yoga that harmonizes rajas
Cultivating gratitude that stabilizes sattva
Studying scripture to strengthen awareness
Engaging in service to ground the ego
Integration is not balance—it is transcendence.
XII. Conclusion: The Inner Landscape as the Ultimate Truth
After examining:
metaphysics
psychology
scripture
environmental phenomenology
emotional states
spiritual practices
symbolism
One truth remains:
There are not two environments—only one consciousness encountering itself through different forms.
Nature reveals who we are without effort.
The city reveals who we become through effort.
Together they create a complete human being.
The final realization is this:
The forest is within.
The city is within.
The divine is within everything.
The journey is not through environments but through consciousness itself.
K Rajaram IRS 121225 (adopted from Krishnan Nanda Sivananda articles)
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