This text aims to present a point of view about the small and the large, the micro and the macrocosm according to scientific and non-scientific knowledge.
Yoga sees human as a reflection of the macrocosm. And it defines it from relationships in its microcosm.
There is a theory that the creative energy that engenders the Universe manifests itself in man, who is neither separate nor different from it. Our individual consciousness is just one of its dimensions, as energy and consciousness are not separate things. Science agrees with Yoga that the universe is a veritable sea of energy. They differ, however, in findings and approaches to consciousness. Within Samkhya and Tantra, matter, vibration, energy and consciousness are intimately linked, being two aspects of the same reality.
“The source of all creation is pure awareness... pure potentiality that seeks to express itself from the unmanifest to the manifest... And when we discover that our true Self is pure potentiality, we align ourselves with the force that coordinates everything in the universe. In the beginning There was no existence or non-existence The world was unrevealed energy... HE lived, without living, by HIS own power And there was nothing else...
Hymn of Creation, Rig Veda
The human body is not just unconscious matter or a carcass inhabited by an etheric soul, but a vibrating reality animated by the same consciousness that animates the mind itself. Therefore, we should stop seeing it as something other than our “invisible” being. Think of your body as a receptacle of cosmic energy, a cluster of conscious atoms, built in the image of the macrocosm.
In Vedic philosophy, the Macrocosm is Brahmanda, and the microcosm is Pindanda. Consciousness vibrates in each of your cells, prana is present in all your tissues. When body and mind unite, subtle body consciousness begins to reveal itself.
There are some frequent symbolisms in Vedic philosophy to describe the relationship of Macro and Micro. One of them is the Hyranyagarbha, the egg swimming over the ocean.
We find the whole Cosmos inside the egg, representing Brahmanda (Brahma- + "walk", the basic seed, the egg, basic unit of origin) - the macrocosm. Prakriti -the power of manifestation of the Universe, the will of the Universe to want to see itself- evolved into matter, originating the 5 elements, pañcabhūta. The individual aspect of the macrocosm, Pindanda (Pinda + “walk”), is made up of vata, pitta, kapha. It is the human cosmos).
It is possible to find in nature several similarities between large and small things, as shown in the following figures:
Another way to understand patterns in nature is through fractals.
A fractal, by definition, is a fraction, a part that corresponds to the whole.
We can find them in us or scattered in nature.
Fractal geometry deals with irregular geometric figures, observed in abundance in nature and in organic elements, presenting repetitive patterns, as if each part of the figure were the figure as a whole, due to the existing similarities.
Fractal geometry is frequently used in computer models to simulate organic systems with greater accuracy, from liquid dispersion, meteorite simulation and trajectory, or even the geographic perimeter of an island.
The term was created in 1975 by Benoît Mandelbrot in an attempt to measure sizes of objects whose traditional definitions of Euclidean geometry fail. The set equation is defined below:
In mathematics, the Mandelbrot set is an equation defined as the set of points c in the plane for which the function z does not diverge to infinity when the iterations start from z=0. After all, it is a repetitive (recursive) function.
z0=1
zn+1=zn2+ c
There are some boundary conditions for the variables above that we will not expose here to make the reading more fluid and didactic.
Liquid dispersions are another example of fractal geometry:
The ramifications present in the hydrographic basins allow the waters of an extensive area to be gathered in a main river that has a large volume of water.
Each river basin can be subdivided into smaller basins, called sub-basins. Studies suggest that the drainage networks of hydrographic basins present the same patterns when observed at different scales. Thus, it is possible to continue this process and also divide the sub-basins into more scale levels.
What about us? Are we fractals?
References :
UTTARA-GīTA (Tradução por MINATI, K) , Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, India, 2010.
VAZZA, F.; FELETTI, A. A Comparação Quantitativa entre a Rede Neuronal e a Web Cósmica. Frente. Phys , publicado online em 16 de novembro de 2020; doi: 10.3389/fphy.2020.525731
MANDELBROT, B. A geometria fractal da natureza. Macmillan. ISBN, 1983
FALCONER, K. Geometria Fractal: Fundamentos Matemáticos e Aplicações. John Wiley e Filhos,2003
BRIGGS, J. Fractais: Os Padrões do Caos. Tamisa e Hudson, Londres, 1992
VICSEK, T. ; Fenômenos de crescimento fractal; World Scientific, pp.31, 139-146., Cingapura/Nova Jersey, 1992
