The Ancient Seers Who Claimed to Access All of Human Knowledge: India's Rishis and the Mystery of the Akashic Field

Ancient Wisdom – Week 10

The past nine weeks have seen the exploration of profound insights provided by the great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, who developed their models of the universe by employing the techniques of logical reasoning and analytical thought. However, what if there is another method of knowing that does not utilize logic, but relies on a direct experience of the universe itself?

Our journey this week takes us to India, approximately 1500 B.C.E., where we find a group of enigmatic sages known as the Vedic Rishis. They were unlike any other intellectuals; they were seers who boldly proclaimed that they didn’t create the Vedas, the oldest and most revered religious texts in the world, but rather received them directly from the Universe itself.

The Rishis believed they were able to access the Akasha, or the cosmic intelligence field, that retains the information of every thought, event and possibility in existence, as well as the sound of an infinite number of possible sounds of the human voice. Today, after thousands of years of development within quantum physics, we are witnessing the resurgence and rise of the concept of the Akasha.

The Rishis: Seers, Not Authors

A key premise to understanding Rishis is to let go of our modern understanding of authorship. Rishis did not consider themselves to be authors or composers; rather, they were Mantra-Drashta (seers of mantra). Because they perceived the Universe to be composed of vibration, they were able to attune their consciousness through deep meditative states to those vibrational frequencies that form the basis of reality and everything in the Universe. This knowledge that they experienced is referred to as shruti (that which was heard). This revolutionary concept proposes that the Vedas are not created by humans but are eternal and exist outside of the authorial perspective as truths that the Rishis perceived. They did not channel a divine spirit but rather tapped into the fundamental layer of Reality. They claimed that this knowledge was always present in nature and will always be and will be available when a consciousness has developed sufficiently to access it.

“I am the instrument, the first-born of the eternal order, earlier than the gods, in the navel of immortality. The voice that speaks through me is my own voice, yet it is the voice of the universe. He who eats, who sees, who breathes, who hears what is said, does so through me. They do not know me, yet they dwell in me.”
- Devi Sukta, Rigveda 10.125.1-8

Akasha: The Primordial Element

The Vedic cosmology describes five great elements known as the Pancha Mahabhutas. These elements include Earth (Prithvi), Water (Jal), Fire (Agni), Air (Vayu), and Akasha - a fifth, finer element. Akasha has frequently been referred to as ether or space; however, Akasha contains a deeper meaning than ether or space. It is the primordial element from which all other things arise. It could be thought of as the space in which all things eventually exist. In the universe, Akasha might be viewed as a symphony composed of various notes; therefore, Akasha represents the silent void between those notes.

When a person plays music on an instrument, the vibrations created by the strings or air of the instrument travel through the akasha to eventually reach their ears. Every thought, every action, every vibration that mankind has ever engaged in has created a distinct imprint upon the akasha. Thus, gradual processes within akasha can be understood not to represent a static absence of energy, but rather as an active, living library containing everything that has been produced throughout all creation. This library of all creation is what modern esoteric traditions refer to as the Akashic Records.

The Akashic Field — From Ancient Vedic Wisdom to Modern Science

The Akashic Field: Where Science and Spirituality Collide

For centuries the idea of a Cosmic Information Field was dismissed as mere mystical speculation. Yet within the last 100 years, as physicists have probed increasingly deeply into the Quantum realm, the way they describe reality (Cosmos) increasingly resembles the Ancient Vedic texts.

The Particle at the sub-atomic level is not a solid object but rather a shimmer cloud of probability, interconnected within a vast invisible web. The Quantum Vacuum is not “empty” space; it is a seething plenum of energy/information from which particles emerge, are “created”, “pop” in and out of existence. As a result of a fundamental property of the Universe being composed, in essence, of information rather than just Matter, many thinkers, such as the Nobel Committee nominee Philosopher of Science Ervin Laszlo, have suggested a Fundamental Reason for the apparent antiquity and ubiquity of Ancient Vedic texts. He describes it as the “Akashic Field/A-Field” that serves as a memory bank for the universe, connecting everything with everything, instantly and Non-Local.

“The A-field is a cosmic memory field that connects every part of the universe to every other part... It is the ‘Akashic Records’ of mystics and sensitives, now being rediscovered by the new sciences.”
- Ervin Laszlo, Science and the Akashic Field

The merging of two seemingly disparate philosophies has opened the door to a host of possibilities for both ancient Rishis and contemporary scientists alike. For centuries, Rishis posited that an individual’s ability to comprehend reality resulted from heightened consciousness, but now, scientists are starting to describe this process via quantum mechanical principles. Rather than being viewed simply as a mystical notion, it has transformed into a substantial scientific theory that suggests our universe is analogous to an enormous, interconnected system for processing information.

Three Practices to Access Your Own Inner Akasha

1. The Practice of Deep Listening (Shruti): The Rishis “heard” the Vedas. Find somewhere quiet, and close your eyes, listening with no judgement to the sounds around you. After listening to the sounds, listen to the silence that lies underneath those sounds. Finally, listen to the ‘sounds’ of your thoughts and feelings as you turn your attention inwards. The intent is not to analyse these sounds, but rather to witness as a ‘seer’ your inner world.

2. The Mantra Meditation: To connect with the Akashic Field, the Rishis used mantras (sacred vibrations). You can use a simple universal mantra such as “Om” or even a single calming word (e.g., peace, one). Set yourself in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and silently repeat your mantra for 10 to 15 minutes. Every time your mind wanders from your mantra to something else, gently guide it back into the vibration of your mantra. The mantra meditation calms the chatter of the mind and creates an environment for deeper awareness.

3. The Information Field Journal: At the end of each day, take a moment to write down all of the experiences you had that fit into the categories of intuitive guidance, synchronicity, and insight. Have you ever ‘felt’ something was going to happen and that your gut feeling was correct? Have you ever been thinking of a person right before they called? Did you find the answer to one of your problems seemingly from nowhere? Writing these things down will help you learn how to notice those subtle ways in which information flows into your awareness from outside your normal, conscious mind, the subtle voice of the Akasha in your everyday life.

The Lasting Mystery

The challenge posed by the Vedic rishis is a great one; they ask us to think of how we can perceive knowledge rather than just learn it. They say that the universe is not made up of dead matter but is a living and conscious being. And they point out that people, as conscious beings, could potentially have access to the hidden information within this conscious being.

The Akashic field described by Laszlo may be an actual thing that exists in reality or may simply be a powerful metaphor for how everything is connected, but the message from the rishis is always the same: The highest truths are inside each of us in the quietest part of our own consciousness. In a world filled with noise and distraction..., the wisdom of the Vedic rishis clearly represents some of the most radical and essential of all lessons.

By Dr Ioannis Syrigos

Suggested Books

The Rigveda: A Guide (Guides to Sacred Texts) translated by Stephanie Jamison, Joel Brereton

Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything Paperback by Ervin Laszlo