The whole process begins in the eternal waters of the “cosmic ocean” which possesses all the necessary elements of the physical universe, but appears as a dark and inactive source like Sumerian Nammu and Egyptian Nun. Within the first moments of the divine day, Brahma emerges from the depths of this chaotic ocean in a lotus flower, and the holy process of creation starts. The supreme god then forms the universe using the potential of the cosmic ocean and sets the order with the power of his divine light. When the “night” falls for Brahma after 4.32 billion years, Shiva, the second important deity of the triad takes his turn and starts the destruction process which is necessary for the next creation. Finally, when Shiva is done with destroying the physical universe, Vishnu steps in just before the dawn of a new “day.” He helps the cosmic debris to dissolve in the waters of the eternal source again and makes sure everything is ready for a “fresh start” for Brahma. The works of Shiva and Vishnu lasts another 4.32 billion years which makes the total cycle, or as Hindus call it, “a day of Brahma” 8.64 billion years. Each of these three creation accounts of the ancient world clearly have some essential concepts in common which give us a brief idea about how our ancestors thought of the universe thousands of years ago. First of all, the time concept is cyclical (and even spiral) contrary to our “linear time” understanding. In ancient philosophies, there is neither a beginning nor an absolute end for the universe; instead, they underline a cosmic system with continuously repeating “creation” and “destruction” processes. Second, in almost all ancient cosmogonies, we come across the unique concept of the “primeval sea”: the eternal source of existence neither created nor destroyable. It is always the starting point of the physical universe, and also, the environment where it dissolves after the destruction process. That is to say, in ancient cosmogonies there is not an omnipotent and transcendent god—like the one in monotheistic religions—who creates the universe from scratch or completely destroys it when “the end of times” comes. The primeval sea or the “cosmic ocean” is the only eternal being that carries the essential elements of the universe which in turn forms the seeds of life. Finally, all these ancient traditions assume a set of essential principles which define the rules of all the processes between creation and destruction. In Sumer, these “golden guides” were called the Me’s;
10 The Wise
Egyptians named the universal rules Maat and depicted it as the goddess of truth and justice; the Hindu’s named it Rta, and the Buddhists chose the title Dharma, both terms meaning “wisdom and truth.” Hence, there is no supreme being above the cosmic ocean and the universal rules. The principal gods were actually symbolizing the forces of the universe, which could only act according to Me/Maat/Rta/Dharma and emerged from the chaotic darkness of the primeval sea in the beginning of each cycle.
The Big Bang and the Big Crunch The amazing part appears when we compare the basics of these cosmogony and cosmologies with the present achievements of our modern science. If we scrape off the esoteric casings wrapped around these ancient stories about the nature of our universe, what we obtain is a simple and logical comprehension of the cosmos which is surprisingly compatible with what our physicists have been telling us in the Standard Model (Big Bang) and the cyclic universe. The modern terminology does not employ terms like “cosmic ocean” but the contemporary theories tell about numerous inactive particles which probably presented a view of a “quantum sea” in that tiny shell we mentioned previously. The emergence of Atum, Brahma, An and Ki (or Pangu in Chinese cosmogony) signifies the critical moment of the Big Bang, and the destruction that comes with the acts of Shiva seems similar to what the physicists call “The Big Crunch.” But how could the ancient cosmologists know about the processes which the modern scientists theorized taking the advantages of high-tech equipment and the accumulated knowledge that came from the huge pile of experiments in the last couple of centuries? Actually, there is no mystery here, and no need for hypothetical “lost continents” or “galactic visitors.” We should not underestimate the power of the human mind and the capability of imagination when no dogmas prevent its curiosity and flexibility. In ancient times, before the religious bigotry took over the reins in the fourth century and launched prosecution campaigns against those who were defined as heretics, the philosophers enjoyed the benefits of free thought and imagination. What remains from them are the bits of thought which we began to discover only in this last century. Most mind-boggling questions start with a “what if” clause. So maybe it is time to put one of them forward to add some spice to our voyage in the stormy waters of the cosmic ocean: What if our universe is not the only one? What if we live in an immense “multiverse” where our own universe is just one of many tangential “bubbles” appearing as a “honeycomb”? Should we then revise our conception about the “cosmic ocean”?