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The Universal Absolute, dimensionless and eternal, has within
itself the power of creativity. Its nature is to alternate between
epochs of quiescence and creative manifestation. To enter a phase
of Self-expression, the Absolute creates within itself universes
of dimension and duration that will again, at the end of the cycle,
return to eternal Unity. This creation of space, time and form
is a contraction of Universal Consciousness and is limited in
power, knowledge and location. Sentiency in this limited universe
possesses self-luminous conscious intelligence but because of
its contractedness, does not know its creator.
This individual self-consciousness is, in fact, incomplete in
its self-knowledge, power, and extent of awareness. As such, the
experient feels a sense of incompleteness until the time of reawakening
of the power of the Supra-causal to know itself. Haven't we all
asked ourselves, "Is this all there is?" Don't we all want something
or someone to fulfill us and give meaning to our lives? What is
it that is really missing? What is it that will truly fulfill
our longing?
What is lost is the full experience of unlimited consciousness
and bliss absolute. But it is not really lost, it is only waiting
to be awakened within. We might think of this transient ignorance
as part of a cosmic game of hide-and-seek where the Lord hides
His Self-knowledge in order to take form in this projection of
time and space.
To illustrate, let's take the example of dreaming. When we dream,
things appear solid and people appear real. What happens in the
dream seems real, apparent pleasure and pain bring us joy or grief.
When we awaken, we see that we have created an imaginary drama
within our own consciousness and not any of it was truly real.
In exactly the same way we shall awaken from the long-dream of
this incarnation and realize that the vivid play upon the screen
was merely a play of consciousness; whimsy of divine sport. The
object of the game is to wake up before we die or our fascination
with the miasma will bring us back to the dream to pick up where
we left off.
The question now is how do we shake off this burden of limitation
to reveal the splendor of our true being. The sage Vasishta teaches
Rama: "When the mind is at peace and the heart leaps to the supreme
truth, when all the disturbing thought-waves in the mind-stuff
have subsided and there is unbroken flow of peace and the heart
is filled with the bliss of the absolute, when thus the truth
has been seen in the heart, then this very world becomes an abode
of bliss." [Venkateshananda, The Yoga Vasishta, II:33]
What Vasishta teaches Rama is what saints and sages of all cultures
teach seekers after truth and liberation: attain unbroken flow
of peace. Why this practice? What is so special about stilling
the thought-waves in the mind?
Mastery of this state mimics the consciousness of the soul that
has returned to its creator. When the body falls away the mind
dissipates. What emerges from the cocoon of form, limitation and
ignorance is full consciousness of the Universal Absolute. As
we mimic our ultimate transcendence "É then this very world becomes
an abode of bliss." Our soul becomes liberated while still in
the body, never to return to the dream world of pleasure and pain.
Even though the heart has attained the Truth, nothing has changed.
As a Zen monk observed:
Before enlightenment I cut wood and carried water.
After enlightenment I cut wood and carried water.
Life in the world goes on but our concerns over loss and gain
have melted into profound gratitude for living in the light of
boundless eternal joy.
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