The Universal Wisdom
THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE
According to modern theory, there is an observational limit to the universe, which represents the boundary of the visible universe. When scientists began to study distant galaxies during the first half of the twentieth century, they made a remarkable discovery: the light emitted by a galaxy is shifted progressively toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum as a function of its distance from the earth. This is known as the cosmological red shift.
At first, this phenomenon had no explanation. One difficulty it presents is that the cosmological red shift is more or less spherically symmetrical. The same red shift phenomenon is observed regardless of the direction in space in which a distant galaxy might lie from the earth. The most widely accepted explanation of this phenomenon was proposed initially by Edwin Hubble, whose name is memorialized in the famous Hubble telescope.
He suggested that the red shift phenomenon is due to a luminous Doppler shift that is comparable to an acoustic Doppler shift, which is part of our common experience and can be characterized by the sound of a train whistle when it passes a stationary observer. Anyone who has experienced this phenomenon has noticed that the sound of the whistle changes as the train passes: As the train approaches, the whistle is higher pitched than after it passes. The seeming change in sound is due to the motion of the train, which serves as the sound’s source.
Generally, we can say that any sonic object that moves toward an observer will emit sonic wavelengths that are shorter than those emitted when the object moves away from the observer. In this case, the pitch of the sound is perceived as higher when the object is approaching and lower when the object is receding. The degree to which the wavelengths are shortened or lengthened is related directly to the speed of the moving object as compared to the speed of the sound waves emitted by that object.
Hubble proposed that the cosmological red shift is due to a similar “luminous” Doppler shift, which, in this case, has to do with the light waves emitted by distant galaxies. According to this explanation, these galaxies must be moving away from Earth at a speed that increases with increasing distance, so that emitted wavelengths are lengthened increasingly, or shifted toward the red end of the spectrum, as a function of distance.
Once this proposal was made, theorists were able to predict the recession speeds for different galaxies. In doing so, they found that some of the distant galaxies have recession speeds that are an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. They then calculated the distance at which the recession speed would actually equal the speed of light. This distance scale, estimated to be roughly 1028 centimeters, became known as the Hubble radius, or the radius of the visible universe. It represents the radius of that spherical portion of the universe visible from earth. Any galaxy that might lie on the surface or outside the Hubble sphere will not be observable from the earth, even in principle, because its galactic recession speed will either equal or exceed the speed of light. This means that light emitted by such galaxies will never reach Earth.
Whether or not galaxies exist beyond the Hubble radius is still a matter of dispute. Some theorists have proposed that the universe is actually infinite, and that the Hubble radius merely determines the finite portion of the universe visible from Earth. Others have proposed that the Hubble radius marks the boundary of the created universe itself—nothing whatsoever exists outside the Hubble sphere, not even time or space. In actuality, Hubble’s explanation of the cosmological red shift is not the only possible explanation; it is simply the most popular. Proposed are a number of complementary explanations that do not require any form of galactic recession and which account for the red shift phenomenon using mechanisms other than a luminous Doppler shift.
No matter which theoretical model is used to explain it, however, the red shift phenomenon itself is not in dispute. It is an empirical fact confirmed by thousands of astrophysical observations. This summarizes our modern scientific understanding of what is meant by the visible universe. Next, we must examine the ancient wisdom concerning the visible universe: the universal wisdom.
PHYSICAL WORLDS AND SPIRITUAL WORLDS
The term world is loaded with many different meanings. It can be used to refer to a physical world, such as the planet Earth, which is located at a particular place within the universe. Yet it can also refer to the Cosmos, which represents the physical world as a whole, filled with many billions of galaxies.
The ancients were of the opinion that the universe is filled with many different types of worlds—some corresponding to mundane planets such as Earth, and others corresponding to vast, celestial worlds, such as the solar system or galaxy taken as a whole. In addition to these physical worlds, which are tied to specific locations within the universe, the ancients also held that there is a spectrum of spiritual worlds tied to specific scales of consciousness.
Whereas the physical worlds are manifested by real particles and waves, the spiritual worlds are manifested by virtual particles and waves, which, for all empirical purposes, are unobservable. These virtual spiritual worlds may be compared to universal dream worlds that exist and appear on the level of consciousness even though they cannot be perceived by the physical organs of sense. The ancients referred to these spiritual worlds commonly as the heavens above and the hells below, and believed they represented the worlds inhabited by disembodied souls. These souls, which correspond to point values of consciousness, may not possess a physical body, but they nevertheless possess a conscious point of view, as we do in the dreaming state. Everything revolves around our conscious point of view in this state, and we may perceive ourselves as possessing a dreamlike body or as being little more than a disembodied point of view on various dreamlike events. The images may change from one moment to the next, but our point of view remains constant. This is precisely the type of reality experienced by disembodied souls within a spiritual world.
Unlike those things that exist in the physical world, which appears to possess an objective character so that it seems to exist independently from our individual mind, the things that exist in a spiritual world appear to possess a subjective character. Disembodied souls have the potential to conceive an entire, dreamlike world populated by tangible objects, sights, sounds, sensations, and even other conscious beings. Yet all of these are subject to change at a moment’s notice by the slightest alteration in the soul’s subjective state of mind. In this way, we may compare a spiritual world to a virtual world, a world within the mind.
Unlike our individual dreaming worlds experienced when we go to sleep at night, however, the universal dreaming worlds appear not as transient realities within the individual mind, but as permanent realities within the universal mind. The virtual phenomena within these worlds may change from moment to moment, but the spiritual worlds themselves are persistent and are tied directly to the imperishable layers of consciousness that constitute collectively the metaphysical Logos.
THE TWENTY-EIGHT HEAVENS AND TWENTY-EIGHT HELLS
According to the Vedic seers, there is a correspondence between the visible physical universe and the invisible spiritual worlds that underlie and pervade the physical universe. The same set of metaphysical layers that uphold the form of the visible universe as a whole also uphold the spectrum of spiritual worlds, which are experienced on different scales of consciousness.
Whereas the visible universe is experienced by the mortal soul while it is in an embodied state, the spiritual worlds are experienced by the soul when it is in a disembodied state, after physical death. According to the seers, this is not a random affair. After death, a given mortal soul will either ascend to a heavenly world or descend to a hellish world in accordance with divine will. The decision depends upon the thoughts, words, and deeds performed by the soul when it was in an embodied state.
If the sum total of all the actions (karma) performed by a soul during life serves to fulfill the purpose of creation, then that soul will be rewarded with a vacation in the heavenly realms. If, however, the sum total of action is contrary to the purpose of creation, then that soul will be punished by a visit to the hellish realms. Heaven and hell were viewed as a system of rewards and punishments.
According to the ancients, the spiritual experience of the mortal soul after death is not so different from our dreaming experience when we sleep. If our minds become filled with pleasant impressions during the day and our actions are born of selfless kindness, then we are likely to have pleasant or heavenly dreams when we go to sleep at night. If, on the other hand, our minds become filled with unpleasant impressions and our actions are born of selfish unkindness, then we are likely to have unpleasant or nightmarish dreams. The same principle holds true after death. Based upon the thoughts, words, and deeds performed during life, some souls ascend to a heavenly spiritual world filled with pleasant dreamlike experiences, while others descend to a hellish spiritual world filled with nightmarish dreamlike experiences.
Rather than having a specific location within the physical universe, these spiritual worlds exist on different scales of time and space. The heavenly worlds exist on scales above the half measure and are filled with the synthetic power of consciousness, while the hellish worlds exist on scales below the half measure and are filled with the analytic power of consciousness. The heavenly worlds are thus more unified and coherent than the hellish worlds, which are diversified and incoherent. Whereas the heavenly worlds exist above, in heaven (the macroscopic half of the spectrum), the hellish worlds exist below, on earth (the microscopic half of the spectrum).
The Vedic seers held that there is a limit to the spectrum of heavens and hells that can be experienced by the mortal soul after death. More specifically, they counted a total of twenty-eight heavens (nakshatras) and twenty-eight hells (narakas), which represent the spiritual worlds supported by the first twenty-eight layers above and below the half measure. The highest or twenty-eighth heaven was variously called dyaus (the shining heaven), svarga (the moving world of the self), or abhijit (the victorious world). It was also known as the world of Indra, the king of the gods. In the alphabetical model of the spectrum of layers, the highest heaven was represented by the twenty-eighth consonant, the phoneme la, which was also viewed as the seed formula (bija mantra) of Indra.
This represents the highest heaven that could be obtained by a mortal soul through the performance of action—including the action of thinking. It was not, however, the highest heaven that could be experienced by an immortal or enlightened soul.
THE TELEOLOGY OF THE ENLIGHTENED SOUL
The Vedic seers held that an enlightened soul neither ascends to a spiritual heaven nor descends to a spiritual hell after physical death. At this time, it does not go anywhere. Prior to death, the awareness of an enlightened soul has already begun its spiritual journey, by ascending and descending the divine ladder simultaneously. In the process, it has the potential to cognize the spectrum of spiritual worlds known as the heavens and hells—even during its physical life.
Yet it does not obtain these worlds through the performance of action or thinking. Rather, it reaches them through the practice of tapas—of transcending—that is characterized by tranquillity (shama) rather than action (karma). Moreover, the enlightened soul does not experience these worlds in a way that is unbalanced: it does not, for instance, experience a hellish world to the exclusion of a heavenly world. By simultaneously ascending and descending through the spectrum of layers, it experiences both worlds in a balanced fashion.
This results in a completely different type of spiritual experience from that obtained by the mortal soul—one that transcends the notions of good and evil. To the enlightened soul, the hells are not evil and the heavens are not good. Instead, both are viewed as part and parcel of the overall design of creation, which serves to fulfill the ultimate purpose of creation: the realization of immortality in the bosom of the infinite. The spiritual worlds are hidden to the mortal soul during its physical life—but they are not hidden to the enlightened soul. They are experienced as coexisting with the physical world, but on a different level of consciousness. Consequently, when the physical body of an enlightened soul dies, the soul does not have to go anywhere. It does not have to ascend or descend because it has already ascended and descended.
Whatever stage of ascent and descent the enlightened soul has attained during physical life will be preserved after physical death and will serve as the basis for further progress on its spiritual journey. In this regard, physical death was viewed as no obstacle to the attainment of true immortality. The physical body may fall away, but the immortal soul goes on forever, for the enlightened soul is not identified with its mortal, physical body. Instead, it is identified with an immortal body—the metaphysical body of Logos.
The twenty-eighth heaven, the world of Indra, may be the highest heaven that can be experienced by the mortal soul, but it is not the highest that can be experienced by the enlightened soul. The world of Varuna was an even higher heaven, which marked the boundary of the visible universe and everything in it.
THE MYTH OF INDRA-VARUNA
In the Rig Veda, the embodiment of the visible form of the universe was personified by Indra, the king of the celestial gods. Therefore, the gods presided over by Indra correspond to the stars and galaxies that shine within the body of the visible universe.
Yet Varuna, a deity linked closely to Indra, was often described as standing above the whole world. In the mythological accounts provided by the Vedic Puranas, Varuna was known as the regent of the western ocean. The shining heaven of Indra, which encompasses the visible form of the universe, was often compared to the universal sun, because it appears as a sphere filled with luminous galactic particles. When the enlightened soul ascends beyond the world of Indra, however, and arrives in the higher world of Varuna, the visible universe (or universal sun) sets in its awareness. This may be compared to the sun setting in the western ocean in a blaze of reddish light. For this reason, Varuna, the regent of the western ocean, was described with the term rajasa, which means both “royal” and “reddish.”
The term varuna is derived from the compound va + aruna, with va meaning “ocean” or “pervasive” and aruna signifying the reddish color of the sky at dawn and dusk. The phoneme va serves as the twenty-ninth consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet—which means it represents the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure. Just as the twenty-eighth consonant, la, was viewed as the seed formula of Indra, so va, the twenty-ninth consonant, was viewed as the seed formula of Varuna. The implication is that the world of Indra is supported by the twenty-eighth layer above the half measure, and the world of Varuna is supported by the twenty-ninth layer.
The constant association of Varuna with the term rajasa (royal redness) can be explained in terms of Samkhya philosophy: All created forms of existence are rooted in three fundamental qualities (gunas), called sattva, rajas, and tamas. The quality of tamas (darkness and inertia) acts as the source of all phenomenal forms of matter, and the quality of rajas (redness and incessant motion) acts as the source of all phenomenal forms of force. The term sattva, meaning “the nature (tva) of pure existence (sat),” represents the quality that acts as the ultimate source of all phenomenal forms of mind.
These three qualities are codependent—they coexist and act together. Yet the theory tells us that one can predominate over the other two. This means that sometimes the field (kshetra) can appear as a field of matter displaying the quality of tamas. At other times, it can appear as a field of force displaying the quality of rajas. It can also appear as a field of mind displaying the quality of sattva. It is important to note that these times do not necessarily correspond to sequential moments, but they can correspond to different scales of time and space within the overall spectrum of creation. For example, on the scale of the twenty-fourth layer above the half measure, which marks the boundary of the galactic sphere, the field appears to display the quality of dark matter, with tamas dominating over rajas and sattva. Similarly, on the scale of the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure, which marks the boundary of the universal sphere—the boundary of the visible universe—the field displays rajas (red force), with rajas dominating over tamas and sattva.
In the Rig Veda, the universal field of rajas is described as an “upper mass of light,” sustained by Varuna, who is assigned a “reddish” color: “The reddish Varuna of pure vision dwells in the fathomless [space]. He sustains the upper mass of light; the rays [of which] are pointed downwards, while their base is above.”1
This reddish mass of light represents the proverbial red veil that hides the holy of holies from all mortal eyes and the reddish veil that obscures the higher and larger realities of the universe from all mortal souls—whether they exist in an embodied or disembodied form.
THE LOKA-ALOKA BARRIER
In the Vedic Puranas, this cosmic red veil was also described as the loka-aloka barrier. The Sanskrit word loka, meaning “world,” corresponds to the English term local. Its opposite is denoted by the word aloka, “nonworld,” which corresponds to the English term nonlocal. In this sense, the red veil may be understood as the cosmic barrier that separates the local reality of the visible universe from the nonlocal reality of the larger, invisible universe.
The local reality of the visible universe upheld by local cause-effect relations is mediated by real waves that travel at the speed of light. The nonlocal reality of the invisible universe cannot be experienced empirically; it transcends all means of direct empirical observation, and represents the portion of the universe that lies above and beyond the cosmic red veil—that is, beyond the boundary of the visible universe.
In the Vedic texts, the loka-aloka barrier was often compared to a mountain range separating two distinct regions. Although this boundary cannot be seen by any mortal eye, the ancient texts state that it can be perceived by the enlightened eye, the eye of pure consciousness. More specifically, they state that it is experienced as a cosmic field of reddish light, which serves to obscure the visible universe and everything in it. As long as the enlightened soul remains within the highest heaven, represented by the twenty-eighth layer above, the visible form of the universe can be seen. Yet as soon as the soul rises above the highest heaven and enters into the world of Varuna, represented by the twenty-ninth layer, the visible form of the universe is dissolved into an all-pervading field of reddish light. This represents the loka-aloka barrier, which separates the local reality of the visible universe from the nonlocal reality of the invisible universe.
According to the Vedic texts, the primary characteristic of Varuna is his power to bind: He serves to bind the visible universe and everything in it by means of his cosmic noose (pashu), which may be compared to a noose wrapped around the neck of a domesticated animal. In devanagari script (script of the gods), the letter va is written in the form of a noose attached to a pole.
This noose represents the upper mass of light, the loka-aloka barrier, which serves to create a universal space (loka) in the otherwise realmless space (aloka) of consciousness. It is within this created space that the universal sun (the visible form of the universe) moves and revolves. The Rig Veda states: “The royal (reddish) Varuna verily established a wide space for the shining Sun to follow in its course, a realm in the realmless.”2
As the lord of the cosmic boundary, Varuna may be described as the Lord of the Noose (Pashu-pati), a term that is often used to describe Shiva and that takes us back to our earlier discussion regarding the universal form of Shiva.
THE FIVE FACES OF SHIVA
The Vedic conception of Shiva was synthetic. He was identified not with any particular layer or universal god, but with the entire collection of layers or universal gods that uphold the visible form of the universe and its invisible boundary.
As we have seen, Shiva was viewed as having a galactic torso corresponding to the visible form of our galaxy. He was also viewed as having a blue-black neck, which corresponds to the dark-matter halo that surrounds the visible form of the galaxy. Above the dark neck of Shiva lies his intergalactic head, which, according to tradition, has five faces. These correspond to the five intergalactic layers that extend to the boundary of the visible universe—to the twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth layers above the half measure.
The tradition holds that the first four faces of Shiva are visible. These correspond to the four intergalactic layers that uphold the visible form of the universe, ending with the highest heaven. The fifth face of Shiva, however, was said to be invisible. This corresponds to the twenty-ninth layer, which upholds the cosmic red veil that is invisible to all mortal eyes, and which serves as the boundary of the visible universe. In this case, the fifth face of Shiva may be viewed as the face of Varuna, the lord of the cosmic noose and the regent of the western ocean. Because this fifth countenance represents his highest face, Shiva was known as Pashu-pati—the Lord of the Noose—a name that is also assigned to Varuna.
In this way, the ancient seers described the reality in different ways, drawing upon different conceptions and names of God, which would prove a labyrinth for those unversed in the ancient wisdoms. Yet, like a diamond that has many facets, the truth is only one.
THE RADIUS OF THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE
This ancient universal wisdom provides the basis for a prediction regarding the radius of the visible universe. If the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure upholds the spherical boundary of the visible universe, then the radius of the visible universe should correspond to the characteristic measure of the twenty-ninth layer. The universal rule of thumb gives this as 1028 centimeters. As discussed earlier, modern theorists have also calculated the radius of the visible universe: the Hubble radius, or the radius of the Hubble sphere, is likewise given as 1028 centimeters.
Therefore, it appears that the ancient seers and modern theorists are largely in agreement; not only did they arrive at the same conclusion regarding the radius of the universe, but also they reached the same conclusion regarding the quality of light associated with that radius: red. In modern theory, the redness associated with the cosmological boundary is interpreted in terms of the cosmological red shift, which is explained in terms of a luminous Doppler shift resulting from a galactic recession speed that increases as distance from Earth increases. At the Hubble radius, this speed becomes equal, presumably, to the speed of light. Therefore, the Hubble radius represents the boundary between the local speeds of the galaxies within the sphere and the nonlocal speeds of the galaxies that lie on the surface and beyond the sphere.
The Vedic seers, on the other hand, described the cosmological boundary in terms of an all-pervading force field—the universal field of rajas, which is characterized by redness and incessant motion. As we have discovered, the explanation of the red shift provided by Hubble is not the only possible one. Other competing theories suggest that the electromagnetic wavelengths become lengthened due to a gradual loss of energy as they propagate through intergalactic space over vast distance and time scales. Such theories are described commonly as “tired light” theories. The difficulty with them, however, is that the underlying mechanism that causes this gradual loss of energy remains largely unknown. To account for the energy loss, the vacuum of intergalactic space must be viewed as pervaded by some unknown field, which tends to absorb energy from the propagating electromagnetic waves.
In light of the ancient Vedic theory, this underlying field can be described as the universal field of rajas, which represents a type of force field characterized by redness and incessant motion. This raises a fundamental question: To which of the known force fields does the universal field of rajas correspond?
THE SCALE OF GRAND UNIFICATION
The answer is provided by the system of matched pairs. If the scale of the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure marks the radius of the Hubble sphere, which is pervaded by the field of rajas, then the scale of the twenty-ninth layer below the half measure should mark the scale of the elementary constituents of that field. The universal rule of thumb gives this as 10-29 centimeters.
This leads to a prediction regarding the elementary particles of force that characterize the universal field of rajas. The ancient theory predicts that these unknown force particles should have a characteristic interaction scale that is roughly 10-29 centimeters. This can also be expressed as a prediction regarding a fundamental transition scale in the quantum vacuum. If the upper cosmological boundary represents a transition between the vacuum of intergalactic space, which is characterized by relations among visible galaxies, and the vacuum of interuniversal space, which is characterized by relations among local or visible universes, then the lower scale should mark a transition between two different types of quantum vacuum states. As we shall see, this prediction has support in modern theory.
In quantum theory, the scale of 10-29 centimeters is known as the scale of grand unification: The electro-weak force field becomes indistinguishable from, and hence unified with, the strong force field. The electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces, the three forces described by the Standard Model of quantum theory, serve to uphold all observable forms of matter in the universe. In order for matter as we know it to exist, these three forces must function in a diversified manner—as though they are distinct and independent. On the scale of grand unification, the distinctions among the three forces are obliterated so that they merge into a single, grand-unified force field. As a result, matter as we know it cannot exist. On the scale of 10-29 centimeters, all observable forms of matter must dissolve, effectively, into the grand-unified force field.
This reflects the principle “as above, so below.” On the scale of 1028 centimeters, the observable forms of the material galaxies are drowned in the universal red force field, and on the scale of 1028 centimeters, the observable forms of the material particles are drowned in the grand-unified force field. In this way, the two scales form a matched pair so that they represent the macroscopic and microscopic boundaries of the observable universe. The upshot is that we may equate the universal field of rajas described by the Vedic theory and the grand-unified force field described by quantum theory.
THE UNIVERSAL KABBALAH
Although we have relied heavily upon the Vedic tradition in our description of the universal wisdom, this is only because the Vedic literature is by far the largest extent body of writing of the surviving ancient literatures—in fact, it is much larger than all of the other ancient literatures put together. It therefore offers perhaps the clearest insight into the thinking of the ancient seers.
Yet the Hebrew seers—more specifically, the proponents of kabbalah—also possessed this ancient wisdom. The word kabbalah (KBLH) means “that which was received.” According to traditional sources, the kabbalah was originally received by Adam, the proverbial first man, while he dwelled in the Garden of Eden. More specifically, the tradition holds that Adam received the wisdom from an elohim (universal lord) named Raziel, also known as the “keeper of secrets.”
Although the Garden of Eden may correspond to a physical and historical place on earth marked by the headwaters of four rivers (Tigris, Euphrates, Pischon, and Gihon), many believe it has a deeper cosmological interpretation in terms of the spiritual heavens. In this expanded cosmological interpretation, the Garden of Eden corresponds to the paradisal spiritual world represented by the highest heaven and realized on the scale of the twenty-eighth layer above the half measure. In this case, Adam and Eve represent archetypal souls inhabiting the highest heaven in the visible universe, and their Fall from the Garden of Eden corresponds to their subsequent incarnation on earth as mortal human beings, when they became clothed in animal skins.
In this case, the Garden of Eden corresponds to the highest heaven, which lies in immediate proximity to the cosmological red veil, hiding from all mortal eyes the higher mysteries of the universe. This interpretation is supported in the doctrine of kabbalah wherein the metaphysical layers are called the sephirotic emanations. The tradition holds that each of these emanations has its own presiding deity or lord—the elohim, who are commonly compared to the archangels of God. The elohim called Raziel is listed as the lord of the twenty-ninth emanation (layer) in the ascending direction. In effect, Raziel is just another name for Varuna, the lord of the twenty-ninth layer, who also represents the keeper of the cosmic red veil, which is why Raziel was known as the “keeper of secrets.” Apparently, however, Raziel deigned to reveal those secrets to Adam so that he could teach them to human beings on earth in his subsequent incarnation. In this sense, Adam may be viewed as a divine incarnation, a messenger of God who became man on earth in accordance with divine will, in order to teach to his descendants the higher mysteries of the universe so that his progeny might become immortal.
As we have seen, the term kabbalah itself is a mantra or a phonemic formula that encodes the first stage of human enlightenment, represented by the phoneme ka, and the subsequent stage of galactic enlightenment, represented by the phoneme ba. In this sense, the two Hebrew letters k and b (ka, ba) represent a form of galactic wisdom. We can now go further and discover that the three phonemes k, b, and l (ka, ba, and la) represent a form of universal wisdom, which pertains to the overall form of the visible universe extending up to the highest heaven. This interpretation is based upon the sequence of consonants in the Sanskrit alphabet, in which the first consonant is ka, the twenty-third consonant is ba, and the twenty-eighth consonant is la. As we have seen, in the Vedic tradition, the phoneme la was viewed as the seed formula of Indra, the king of the celestial gods, who was also known as the presiding deity of the highest heaven.
When the human soul first attains enlightenment on the scale of the first layer above the half measure, it becomes identified with the divine Ka. This marks the first major milestone on the path of immortality: the soul cognizes the first universal forms of light and sound to emerge at the beginning of creation. When the soul subsequently ascends to the scale of the twenty-third layer, it arrives at the galactic heaven and becomes identified with the divine Ba. This marks the second major milestone on the path: the soul obtains galactic consciousness and cognizes the visible form of the galaxy within its awareness. When the soul then ascends to the scale of the twenty-eighth layer, it arrives at the highest universal heaven and becomes identified with the divine La, which marks the third major milestone on the path: The soul obtains universal consciousness and cognizes the visible form of the universe within its awareness.
Therefore, the three phonemes k, b, and l (ka, ba, and la) represent the first three major milestones on the path of immortality: They correspond to the stages of human enlightenment, galactic enlightenment, and universal enlightenment. Oddly, though, this phonemic understanding of the Hebrew KBLH is rooted in a Vedic interpretation of the Sanskrit alphabet. Once again, this points to the notion that the ancient cultures shared a scientific language expressed in terms of phonemes, which transcended the grammatical differences of their spoken languages. Although this original phonematic language was lost for the most part, it appears that in certain important cases, such as the systematic organization of the Vedic alphabet and the phonemic formula KBLH, the original scientific language was preserved.
At this point, we have reached the boundary of the visible universe—but our journey does not end there. The ancient wisdom extended beyond the boundary of the visible universe to the boundary of the superuniverse, the cosmic egg as a whole. This leads us to the next chapter, in which we examine the superuniversal wisdom.