Odd Sensation Poem by Marieta Maglas

My poem develops a Hindu philosophical concept.'' 'Asatho maa Sadgamaya', - 'Lead me from the unreal to the Real' - has been man's prayer to the Almighty since time immemorial. But what is the significance of the prayer? The concept of reality/unreality is enigmatic. For example, what is real in the waking state is unreal in the dream and vice versa. What is real in either in the waking state is unreal in the dream state and vice versa. What is real in either of these two states is non-existent in the deep sleep state. The unreality of the experiences in all the above three states of consciousness becomes evident in the transcendental state of ‘Turiya'. The noumenon alone is real for the non-dualist and idealist; while the phenomenal world is real for the realist and physical scientist. Stranger still is the fact that the 'solid matter' which was reality to the physicist of the nineteenth century is nothing but deception according to the twentieth century physicist whose extremely sophisticated instruments reveal that what really exists is not solid matter but vast empty spaces interspersed with dancing 'wavicles' of energy. Interestingly enough, this latest 'scientific' view of reality tallies with the Hindu's age old 'spiritual' symbol of the cosmic dance of Nataraja.