Day 230 - Vasistha continued

Day 230 - Vasistha continued

Consciousness sees whatever it imagines as existing. Its concepts and notions are never barren. Just as a golden bracelet is both gold (reality) and bracelet (appearance), the self includes both consciousness and the notion of materiality. Consciousness is omnipresent and is present wherever a notion arises.

A dreamer imagines living in different places, moving from one to another. Similarly, the jiva moves from one body to another, with the body being just a reflection of the jiva's notion. The unreal body dies and is reborn in another unreal body. In a dream, one experiences both seen and unseen things, just like the jiva in its experiences of the world.

Overcoming Past Habits and Liberation

Past mistakes can be corrected through self-effort today, and past habits can be overcome similarly. However, the notions of jiva-hood and the functioning of senses can't be eliminated without achieving liberation. Until then, they alternate between being dormant and active.

A notion in consciousness appears as the body, with a corresponding subtle body (ativahika or puryastaka) made of mind, intellect, ego-sense, and the five elements. The self is formless, but the puryastaka roams through creation in sentient and insentient bodies until it purifies itself and attains liberation. The subtle body exists always, during dreams and sleep, continuing even in inanimate objects as if in deep sleep. All these experiences occur in the human body. Deep sleep is insentient, the dream-state is the experience of creation, and the waking state is the transcendental (turiya) consciousness. Realizing the truth is liberation. Liberation-while-living is the turiya consciousness, beyond which is Brahman (turiya-atita). The supreme being is present in every atom. Wherever the world is seen, it's just an illusory appearance. This illusion, or bondage, is maintained by psychological conditioning, which is bondage, and its abandonment is freedom. Heavy conditioning results in inert objects, moderate conditioning in animals, and light conditioning in humans. The whole universe is the energy of infinite consciousness.

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Advisory to Modern Society

Understand that our perceptions and experiences are rooted in our consciousness and its notions. True liberation comes from realizing the infinite, formless nature of the self. By overcoming past habits through self-effort and seeking self-knowledge, one can transcend material illusions. Embrace the oneness of all existence, free from psychological conditioning, and strive for spiritual awakening and self-realization.