Rama Seeks Answers: The Nature of Reality

Day 136 

Rama Seeks Answers: The Nature of Reality

Rama ponders the existence of the universe within the infinite consciousness. Vasistha offers profound insights using metaphors and analogies.

The Unmanifest and the Manifest:

Vasistha explains that the universe exists in the infinite consciousness like future waves in a calm sea. It's not truly separate but has the potential for apparent difference. The infinite consciousness is unmanifest, like space, yet all-pervading.

Reflections and Reality:

The universe is seen as a reflection in the infinite consciousness, similar to a reflection in a crystal. It's neither truly real nor unreal. Just as clouds don't affect space, the universe doesn't affect the infinite consciousness. Light is only visible through a medium; similarly, the infinite consciousness is revealed through various bodies.

Consciousness: The Source and Experience:

Consciousness reflects within itself, shining as pure experience. It allows the sun to shine and beings to live. It's eternal, and the world appears superimposed on it like waves on an ocean. The "I am" notion arises within consciousness, creating diversity.

The Play of Consciousness:

Consciousness plays a multifaceted role. It acts as space for the seed to sprout, air that draws it, water that nourishes it, earth that stabilizes it, and light that reveals new life. It's the consciousness within the seed that becomes the fruit.

The Omnipresent Force:

Consciousness is the essence of seasons and their characteristics. It supports the entire universe with its infinite beings until the cosmic dissolution.

The Paradoxical Nature:

The world appearance is both the nature of consciousness and not truly separate from it. It arises, exists, and dissolves within consciousness. It appears like agitated waves on the surface of a calm ocean. Like someone intoxicated seeing a double, consciousness becomes aware of itself as another.

Beyond Duality:

The universe is neither real nor unreal. It exists within consciousness but not independently. It appears as an addition but doesn't exceed consciousness, like ornaments and gold.

The Self as Brahman:

The supreme Brahman, the all-pervading self, allows us to experience sound, taste, form, and fragrance. It's pure and nondual, with no concept of otherness. All diversities are mere imaginations of the ignorant.

Free from Desire and Action:

Since there's nothing but the self, there's no desire for anything else. The self is actionless and doesn't get involved in actions because the doer and the action are one. There's no concept of existence or non-existence in the self.

Rama: The Embodiment of Brahman:

Rama is the very existence of this absolute Brahman. He is advised to live an active life without clinging to duality. He is already the infinite consciousness; there's nothing else to gain.

Finding Peace Within:

Vasistha urges Rama to find peace and purity within himself, like an ocean unagitated by wind. The self isn't found by traveling; it's already within Rama. He is the supreme self, the infinite consciousness.

The Illusion of Doership:

The sense of "I do this" is an illusion that creates happiness, unhappiness, or yoga. It arises from the mind's desire to gain something. The notion of enjoying the fruits of action stems from the same source.

Beyond Conditioning:

Whether engaged in action or not, experiencing heaven or hell, it's all a product of the mind. The ignorant mind attributes actions to itself, while the enlightened are free from this notion. Knowing this truth weakens conditioning. The wise act without attachment to results.

The Mind: The True Doer:

The mind is the real doer, not the body. The world appears within the mind and rests in it. When both objects and the mind become still, only consciousness remains.

The State of the Enlightened:

The enlightened one is beyond definitions of bliss, motion, or reality. They play their role in the world unattached, like an actor in a play. Their actions are non-actions, free from merit or demerit. They are like children, unfazed by worldly appearances. They see only the self