Knowing That which Alone is Real

In the following we read excerpts from the Yoga-Vasistha-Ramayana.

“Individual consciousness arises in the Supreme Being. It is different and non-different from infinite consciousness, as a wave is different and non- different from the ocean.

To the one who is enlightened, individualized consciousness is the absolute pure consciousness and nothing else. To one who is unenlightened, individualized consciousness is influenced by the manifold experiences that surround one’s life. When enlightened teachers use dualistic concepts, they do it to facilitate instruction; the seeming divisions in the discussion of consciousness however, are not actual.”

Commentary:

Units of consciousness (referred to as souls when not aware of their true nature) of the one Reality are said to be different from the field of infinite pure consciousness which has no characteristics, yet they are not different, because in their essence they are identical to it.

One’s individual consciousness becomes clouded as a result of repeated experiences with circumstances surrounding life on the physical plane. When identified with sense experience rather than with one’s true essence, the transmission of higher realities is severely impeded, because one is not receptive to them.

“An individualized unit is a junction of consciousness and matter. Because it is a unit of absolute consciousness, it is said to be absolute consciousness.”

An individual unit of the one Reality (soul) that is identified with the ego and material consciousness is at its core pure consciousness.

When realizing, this to be true, one should identify with the true, changeless essence of one’s being.

Units of one consciousness are said to be individualized by the blending of consciousness and fine matter. This is a cosmic process that occurs naturally when it expresses in nature.