Infinite Consciousness Is All

Sage Vasishtha

The ignorant man does not realize the unreality of the objects (big or small), because he has not realized the reality. He who has attained the state pure being is never sullied, whether he lives or dies, at home or elsewhere, in luxury or mendicancy, whether he enjoys and dances, or he renounces everything and isolates himself on a mountain, whether he wears expensive creams and scents or he wears matted locks or falls into the fire, whether he commits sins or performs virtuous deeds, whether he dies or lives till the end of the world-cycle. For he does nothing. It is only the conditioned mind that is tainted, because of its ego-sense and the notions attached to it. When all notions have ceased and wisdom has arisen, the impurities of the mind are removed naturally.  

The enlightened sage stands to gain nothing by either doing anything or by not doing anything. Even as a tree does not spring from a stone, desires do not appear in the life of a sage. Should they arise at times, they instantly vanish like writings on water. The sage and the entire universe are non-different from each other.

O Rama, the infinite consciousness becomes aware of the pungency of the chili: and this gives rise to the ego-sense, with all its differentiation in time and space. The  infinite consciousness becomes aware of the savour in salt; and that gives rise to the ego-sense with all the differentiation which seems to exists in time and space.The  infinite consciousness  becomes aware of the sweetness in sugarcane; and thereby arises the awareness of its particular characteristic. Similarly, the  infinite consciousness  being the indwelling omnipresence, becomes aware of the nature of a rock, a mountain, a tree, of water, of space and this self-consciousness or individuality arises. 

Thus the natural combination of atomic particles and molecules apparently acts as a dividing wall, thus giving rise to the divisions of 'I', 'you' etc. and these then appear to be outside of consciousness which, becoming aware of them within itself, bestows upon them their apparent individuality. Consciousness tastes itself, the awareness being non-different from consciousness: and that appears to give rise to the ego-sense etc., naught else. The crystal of this  infinite consciousness reflects its own light of consciousness which is present in all these combinations of atomic particles: and then they gain an apparent self-consciousness and think 'I am' etc.

(To be continued)