Right from the birth we try to perceive everything in this world in material "form" or Body.  Even using the word "I", we refer to our Physical body. The same happens when we look outside to the World, identifying to all the forms of physical entities. We cannot relate to anything without a physical "Body" or structure. Even those things we cannot perceive with our sense organs, we try to objectify as an image with our imagination.  So our world  is only full of objects, bodies, entities and images.

      We connect to the world outside through our body Sense organs.  The five sense organs are Ears, Skin, Eyes, Tongue and Nose which help to perceive five physical attributes of this Universe, which are Sound, Touch, Sight, Taste and Smell. 

    In summary, we owe our existence to our physical body. This is why the ancient people referred the Body as the  "Earth" element, because our life is on Earth. Anything that is gross, solid, inert , the ancient's referred to as Body or Earth. This Earth is symbolized as the little finger of the hand.

Does our Sense organs really perceive the physical world?. No. There is something subtler than the body that is involved in perception. This is the Mind or Mana (in Sanskrit). The physical eyes may be looking at an object, but if we are not mentally (Mind) connected to the physical organ , there is no perception of that object.

        So it is the mind that brings reality to the body or the physical world. Without the mind there is no Body. This we experience in sleep or when we are unconscious due to brain injury or anesthetized. So it is the mind that gives the body a reality.

However this mind is not solid like the Body. The mind can change rapidly and flow or alternate between various sense perceptions. The mind also can flow backward in time and leap forward in time. Because of this fluid nature, the ancient's attributed the Mind to the "Water" element. 

       The Vedic Scholars says that like the fluid water solidifies into a solid block of ice, the Body is nothing but the solidified energy of the mind.  The mind is represented by the ring finger. Wedding is the symbolic of the joining of two minds and hence a wedding ring is worn on the "Mind" finger!

                                                                                      Intelligence

The sensory signals received by the body-sense-organs is perceived or translated as thoughts. Each thought refers to an object or image and we generate infinite number of such thoughts. The constant flux of thoughts is called as the mind. Interestingly ,the thoughts are stream-lined into a logical information pattern by a subtler aspect called Intelligence or Buddhi.

   Without Intelligence, Mind would just be a random flow of thoughts without any logic in it.  In other words, Intelligence illuminates the path for the Mind to flow logically. Hence the ancients associated the "Fire" element with Intelligence.

    Our mind, is  droplets of thoughts flowing like a river and  cannot be still. It flows  forward to the future or backwards to the past. The most important attribute of Intelligence is that, it pulls the mind inward to the present moment, the Being, the Awareness. The intelligence ignites or fuses the Mind to the inner Awareness. Thus Intelligence is the middle man between the Mind and the inner Awareness and hence symbolized as the middle finger.  

                                                                                                                                             Awareness 

Only when we are alive we can feel our Body, Mind and Intelligence. That Aliveness is known as Awareness. Without Awareness, we are  dead.  It is the Awareness that enlivens all the three, the Body, Mind and Intelligence. Like the air is needed for the fire to burn,  Awareness is needed for the fire of intelligence to propel the functioning of the Mind and the Body. Hence the ancients rightly called the Awareness as the "Air" element.

   According to the Ancient Vedic Science, Awareness which we feel as liveliness is the most subtlest Energy form. Like the water vapor that  condenses to form fluid water and finally solidifies to ice form, Awareness-energy condenses to form the fluid Mind and solid Body. The Sum total of Awareness, intelligence, Mind and Body is called as Sakthi or Energy. Modern Quantum physics arrives at this same conclusion that the material world (matter) is only condensed Energy.

       The Irony is that without been able to still define "Energy", our Scientists have  technologically exploited various forms of Energy for our physical comforts in life. The same way Neuroscience without being able to define Consciousness, exploits the technology of thoughts.  We as Human being also without knowing the definition of life we exploit the Time and Space on Earth.

The objective of this web site is to give Scientific (logical) Holistic (Complete) understanding of our Existence.  All the questions about Energy, Matter, Mind,  intelligence are answered in this web site from the  layman's point of view that equally appeals to the highest intellectual scientists to comprehend.

                                                     Consciousness 

The puzzlingly fact is that we lose the Awareness of the Body, Mind and intelligence during the dream-less deep sleep state. This state is called as Consciousness by Vedic Scholars. So in deep sleep state, the  Awareness of Consciousness is never lost at any time because it is the Consciousness that  is manifested as Awareness, Intelligence, Mind and Body. Being in Awareness without being Aware of Intelligence, Mind and Body is known as Consciousness. In other words Consciousness is Unconditional Awareness (without any form).

    Without Consciousness nothing can exist. Everything exists in Consciousness, the living , the dead, the moving the immobile, the small the big.   Like everything exists in space , all existence come into "Being due to Consciousness.  This is why the ancients  associated Consciousness to the "Space" element.

   Like the thumb finger needed for all the other fingers to function, without Consciousness nothing can exist and function. So Consciousness is symbolized as the thumb finger.

  Like the thumb that remains untouched yet needed for other fingers, so is Consciousness remains undisturbed by Awareness, Intelligence, Mind and Body. Consciousness like thumb does not depend on the other four, but all the four cannot function or exist without Consciousness.  All the four, the Awareness, intelligence, Mind and Body can be experienced, but not the Consciousness, because it is the experiencer itself. This Truth is not obvious to our normal state of mind and hence the ancients termed this Truth to be secretive (Guhya) or  mystical.  Unfortunately common man took the statement literally and thought this Truth should not be revealed to anyone. All revelations that people experience is this Self-revealing  Truth or Knowledge.

These five  aspects of Consciousness, Awareness, Intelligence, Mind and Body  are the fundamental to all attributes in this Universe. This is mirrored in every walk of life. All the Vedic Sciences and Arts, Medical Science (Ayurveda), Astronomy, Astrology, Philosophy, Social structure were all based on this five aspects. Even the concept of  God is also based on these five.  This whole site explains how this five aspects is the fundamental to everything in this Universe from Cosmology to Human Evolution.

First would be how even the act of eating is based on this five aspects. Click to read More

Indru enakku aruli irul (body)  kadinthu (with compulsion)  ullaththu (mind) 
ezu-kindra gzhayirae (intellect)  pondru 
Nindra (awareness) Nin thanmai (consciousness)  Ninaippu ara (Transcend) 
Ninanithen (realize)  nee-allaal pirithu 
matrinmai sendru 
Anuvai theinthu theinthu onraam thiru-perundurai urai sivane 
ondrum nee allai andree ondru ellai. Yaar unnai ariya iruppaarae

                                       Thiruvasagam

                                        22nd chapter 
                                          koil pathigam - Verse # 384

 
Of Lord please eradicate my ignorance (of my body) and in my mind and let the knowledge that there is nothing
but you which is the same I realize even by splitting atom again and again to its very fundamental nature.