Mathematics of Spirituality

You will find here references to a series of six papers presented by Dr. Raju Chidambaram at the conferences held by the World Association for Vedic Studies (WAVES). CLICK on the title of each paper to link to an on-line version of the paper.

The WAVES Papers assume a basic knowledge of Vedanta Philosophy. For those interested, there are numerous on-line sites devoted to Advaita and Vedanta that discuss related concepts. A book in progress by this author will include an overview of the philosophy to help the readers follow the mathematical models and analysis. The contents of the following papers, especially those of the first three, are being revised significantly for inclusion in the book. Excerpts from the papers for use in other articles, books or on-line sites must be with due acknowledgment of the source and prior approval of the author.

Unraveling Uncertainty(Fifth WAVES Conference, Washington DC, July 2004) - This paper proposes the basic Prakriti-Ishwara paradigm used in the model.

Towards A Mathematical Theory of Spirituality Based on Advaita Vedanta Part I (Sixth WAVES Conference, Houston, TX July 2006) - The concepts of time, cause-effect changes, experienced and experiencer are described in this part of the series. It introduces the parameter “theta” for spiritual detachment and its relation to experienced time.

Towards A Mathematical Theory of Spirituality Based on Advaita Vedanta Part II (Sixth WAVES Conference, Houston, TX July 2006) - The ‘fundamental law of mathematical spirituality’ is derived from the  model introduced in the previous papers. It introduces a mathematical representation of the spiritual evolution of jeevas using complex variables. The concept of Realization is discussed using this representation.

Sri Ramana’s Principle of Personal Will (Seventh WAVES Conference, Orlando, FL June 2008) - This paper shows how the mathematical model can be interpreted in probabilistic terms using Sri Ramana Maharshi’s insight that the only freedom a jeeva has at any time is to either stay with the Self or with the Non-Self.

Vasana Functions (Seventh WAVES Conference, Orlando, FL June 2008) - Vasanas are the tendencies lying deep within the personality of a jeeva accounting for the way that jeeva acts and reacts to the world around. This paper presents the concept of vasana function of a jeeva and shows how the wishing, willing, and acting aspects of each transaction of the jeeva can be described using this function. The mathematical relationship of spiritual detachment (the parameter “theta”)  to the vasana function is derived using the results from the previous paper on Sri Ramana’s Principle of Personal Will.

Minkowski’s Metric: - Vedantic literature uses the terms, ‘Space’ and ‘Consciousness’ as though they are practically synonymous; similarly ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Light’. Is this a mere metaphor or is there something more significant? The article on ‘The Minkowski Metric’ states more simply the similarity of a basic result in Special Relativity Theory with one in Mathematical Spirituality.

The original papers are available on-line. The contents of all the papers, especially the first three are being revised and edited, for incorporation into a book.