Dr. Fritjof Capra, PhD (Austrian-born American physicist) was born on February 1, 1939 in Vienna, Austria. He obtained a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna in 1966. He has done research on particle physics and systems theory and has written popular books, including the famous book The Tao of Physics.
The book was published in 1975 by a small publisher initially; the book became an underground best-seller by word of mouth before it was picked up by a major American publisher. It has been published in 43 editions in 23 languages so far. Millions have read the book.
He has explained about Shiva Nataraja like this:
“In contrast to the mechanistic view of classical western science, the eastern view could be called an organic, holistic, or ecological view.
“For Eastern mystics, objects have a fluid and changing character. Change and transformation, flow and movement, play an essential role in their vision of the world. The cosmos is seen as an inseparable reality, always in motion. It is alive, organic, spiritual and material at the same time. A very similar vision is now emerging from modern physics. “
You have to read Capra’s book to understand the cosmic dance of Shiva Nataraja that reveals the mysteries of the Universe.
He explains the dance of Shiva Nataraja: “The images of modern physics matter, not as passive and inert, but as dancing and vibrating continuously. This is very similar to the description of the world of the Eastern mystics. Both emphasize that the universe must be captured dynamically, structures are not static, rigid, but must be viewed in terms of dynamic equilibrium.
“Physicists speak of the continual dance of subatomic matter that occurs all the time. In fact, they have used the words ‘dance of creation and destruction’ or ‘dance of energy’. This naturally comes to mind when you see some of the particle images taken by physicists in their bubble chambers.
“Of course, physicists are not the only ones who speak of this cosmic dance. Perhaps the most beautiful example of this metaphor exists in Hinduism: the idea of the dance of Lord Siva. Siva is the personification of the cosmic dance. According to the India In tradition, all life is a rhythmic interplay of death and birth, of creation and destruction.
“Indian artists have created beautiful images and statues of Lord Shiva dancing. These statues are visual images of the cosmic dance, and so are the bubble chamber tracks photographed by modern physicists. They are a modern version of Siva’s dance. obtained by using the most modern and advanced of our western technological instruments. To me, the effect is as beautiful and profound as the magnificent Hindu statues. In both cases, we are imagining an eternal dance of creation and destruction, which is the basis of all natural phenomena, the basis of all existence. Therefore, I have put the two together – here you have the ‘Dance of Siva’ merging the 12th and 20th century versions. You can see that this image of the dance Cosmic unifies, in a very beautiful way, ancient mythology, religious art, mystical vision and modern science. “
Above are some excerpts from his keynote speech at Los Angels.
Physics and Metaphysics Symposium on October 29, 1977.
The figure that Dr. Capra shows is amazing. The Nataraja dance and the dance of atomic particles are identical. It has to be seen to be believed.
Not just Carl Sagan and Dr. Fritjof Capra, there are other eminent scholars who look up to Shiva Nataraja. We will see their opinions in our next article.