SPONTANEOUS SYMMETRY-BREAKING
In Samkhya philosophy, the imperishable substance of pure consciousness was called prakriti, “that which exists prior (pra) to creation (kriti).” Interestingly, the term prakriti was used synonymously with the word kshetra, “field,” to represent the ultimate unified field, which is cognized on the scale of the fortieth layers above and below the half measure.
In the system of Samkhya, prakriti was defined as the unity of the three gunas held in equilibrium (gunanam samyavastha). 3 As we have seen, the three gunas correspond to the qualities of mind (sattva), force (rajas), and matter (tamas). Therefore, the field of prakriti represents the unified field of mind, force, and matter that transcends both the created and uncreated forms of the universe. In this field, the qualities of mind, force, and matter are forever united in homogeneous equilibrium. Yet this unity is different from each of the three qualities themselves: It represents the unqualified or absolute quality of pure consciousness (prakriti; pradhana), rather than the relative qualities of mind, force, and matter (sattva, rajas, and tamas).
According to the seers, the field of unity and homogenous equilibrium cognized on the scales of the fortieth layers above and below is both infinite and eternal; the unified state of homogenous equilibrium is never actually disturbed, though the equilibrium state may appear disturbed when awareness operates on scales that lie in between the fortieth layers.
The apparent nonequilibrium states of the field, which arise on different scales of consciousness, were often compared to mirage water superimposed on a dry desert. Just as mirage water cannot make the dry desert wet, the apparent nonequilibrium states can have no affect on the underlying state of homogenous equilibrium, which is eternal and undisturbable. In Samkhya philosophy, the apparent nonequilibrium states were described as the heterogeneous transformations (virupa parinamas) of the field wherein one of the three qualities appears to predominate over the other two.
Such transformations were said to provide the basis for the appearance of the universe in consciousness in both its created and uncreated form. Conversely, the transformations associated with the eternal state of homogeneous equilibrium were called homogeneous transformations (sarupa parinamas), and were said to preserve the unity and balance of the three qualities in the midst of change.Both types of transformations coexist—but on different scales of consciousness. The homogenous transformations appear on the scale of the fortieth layers above and below the half measure, and the heterogeneous transformations appear on the scales of the layers in between. As a result, the symmetry of the field, which eternally exists on the scale of the fortieth layers, appears to become broken spontaneously on the intermediate scales. In modern theory, this type of symmetry-breaking, which arises as a function of a change in the scale of observation, rather than from any dynamic process, is called spontaneous symmetry-breaking, and is invoked by modern theorists to explain how various fields of force and matter arise from the unified field.
Both modern and ancient theorists are in agreement regarding the mechanics by which unity becomes transformed into the appearance of diversity: These mechanics involve not a dynamic process, but a change in the scale of observation. These theorists, however, are not in agreement regarding the ultimate scales of unification. Modern science limits itself to the study of force and matter alone; there is no notion in modern theory that in addition to fields of force and matter, the universe is pervaded by fields of mind. As a result, the unification scale is tied to the Planck scale in which the fields of force and matter become unified. This means that the field that arises from such unification can be described as neither a field of force nor a field of matter. It must transcend the dichotomy between force and matter. So what type of field does it represent? According to the ancient seers, it represents the first of seven universal fields of mind, and they equate it with the seven uncreated foundations (or seven shells) of the cosmic egg.
Unlike modern theorists, the ancient seers did not restrict themselves to considering the qualities of force (rajas) and matter (tamas) alone, but included the quality of mind (sattva) in their theoretical descriptions. In this regard, the universal fields of mind associated with the seven shells were viewed as the first seminonequilibrium states of the unified field in which the quality of mind (sattva) predominates over the qualities of force (rajas) and matter (tamas). Given this larger and more complete theoretical description, the ultimate unified field corresponds not to the universal field of mind associated with the thirty-third layer, but to the field of pure consciousness associated with the fortieth layer. It is only on the scale of the fortieth layer that the qualities of mind, force, and matter become truly unified in homogenous equilibrium.
All other forms of the unified field, which appear on scales in between the fortieth layers above and below, were viewed as corresponding only to the nonequilibrium states of the field and arising from a change in the scale of observation, rather than from any dynamic process. In other words, they arise from a process of spontaneous symmetry-breaking. By virtue of this process, the unlimited and unqualified unified field assumes the appearance of various limited and qualified fields. For example, on the scale of the thirty-third layer, it appears as a superuniversal field of mind (sattva); on the scale of the twenty-ninth layer, it appears as a universal field of force (rajas); and on the scale of the twenty-fourth layer, it appears as a galactic field of matter (tamas). All of these are but limited appearances of the ultimate unified field, which transcends, underlies, and pervades them all.
On the scale of the fortieth layers above and below, these relative appearances are dissolved into the ultimate reality of the unified field, the field of pure consciousness. From a Vedic perspective, the ultimate unification scales are 10-40 centimeters and 1039 centimeters, rather than 10-33 centimeters and 1032 centimeters.
If the behavior of the universe is described in terms of force and matter, then for all practical purposes, the Planck scale (10-33 centimeters) and Para scale (1032 centimeters) may be viewed as unification scales. If, however, our scientific understanding of the universe extends to the behavior of mind, then we must take into account a more expanded set of scales so that the ultimate unification scales are 10-40 centimeters and 1039 centimeters.These scales cannot be inferred directly from empirical data (or the universal constants) because they involve the operation of mind, rather than the operation of force or matter, but the ancients did not derive any of these scales from empirical data. Instead, the scales arose from the operation of the seers’ own consciousness over the full spectrum of scales, as represented by the system of matched pairs.