Consciousness Alone Exists

 Sage Vasishtha 

The LORD (Shiva) continued:

Somewhere this consciousness functions as space, somewhere as a jiva, somewhere as action, somewhere as substance and so forth, but without intending to do so. Even as all the 'different' oceans are but one indivisible mass of water, this consciousness, though described in different ways, is but one cosmic mass of consciousness. In the body, which is like a lotus, it is the same consciousness that imbibes the experience which is like honey gathered by the restless mind which is like the bee. In this universe all these various beings (the gods, the demons, mountains, oceans and so forth) flow within this infinite consciousness even as eddies and whirlpools appear in the ocean. Even the wheel of ignorance, which causes the wheel of life and death to revolve, revolves within this cosmic consciousness whose energy is in constant motion.

It was consciousness, in the form of four-armed Vishnu, that destroyed the demons, even as the thunderstorm equipped with the rainbow quenches the heat that rises from the earth. It is consciousness alone which takes the form of Shiva and Parvati, of Brahma the creator and the numerous other beings. This consciousness is like a mirror which holds a reflection within itself, as it were, without undergoing any modification thereby. Without undergoing any modification in itself, this consciousness appears as all these countless beings in this universe. 

The infinite consciousness is like a creeper. It is sprinkled with the latent tendencies of the countless jivas. Desires are the buds. Past creations are the filaments. The sentient and the insentient beings are parts of the creeper. The one appears as many, but it has not become many. 

It is by this infinite consciousness that all this is thought of, expressed and done. It is the infinite consciousness alone which shines as the sun. It is the infinite consciousness which appears as the bodies which are in fact inert and which come into contact with one another and derive various experiences. This consciousness is like the typhoon which is unseen in itself but in which sand-particles and dust rise and dance as if by themselves. This consciousness casts a shadow in itself, as it were, and that is regarded as tamas or inertia. 

In this body, thoughts and notions generate action in the light of very consciousness. Surely, but for this consciousness even an object which is immediately in front of oneself cannot be experienced. The body cannot function nor exist but for this consciousness. It grows, it falls, it eats. This consciousness creates and maintains all the movable and the immovable beings in the universe. The infinite consciousness alone exists. naught else exists. Consciousness alone has risen in consciousness.