Sage Vasishtha
THE LORD said:
Thus, they say that lord Rudra is the peer, spontaneous self-experience which is the one consciousness that dwells in all substances. It is the seed of all seeds, it is the essence of this world-appearance, it is the greatest of actions. It is the cause of all causes and it is the essence in all beings, though in fact it does not cause anything nor is it the concept of being, and therefore cannot be conceived. It is the awareness in all that is sentient, it knows itself as its own object, it is its own supreme object and it is aware of infinite diversity within itself.
It is consciousness in all experiences but it is pure and unconditioned. It is absolute truth and therefore not truth as a concept. It is not limited to the definitions of truth or falsehood. It is in fact the very end (terminus) of the supreme truth or the primordial reality. It is pure absolute consciousness, naught else.
Yet, it itself becomes coloured with desire or attraction for pleasure. It itself becomes the experiencer of pleasure, the pleasure-experience and the impurity or taint caused by it. Though it is like the sky, unconditioned and undivided, soon it becomes limited and conditioned. In this infinite consciousness there have been millions of mirages known as world-appearance and there will also arise millions more mirages known as world-appearance. Yet, nothing really has come into being independent of the infinite consciousness: light and heat seem to come out of fire but they are not independent of fire.
This infinite consciousness can be compared to the ultimate subatomic particle which yet hides within its heart the greatest of mountains. It encompasses the span of countless epochs, but it does not let go of a moment of time. It is subtler than a tip of a single strand of hair, yet it pervades the entire universe. No one has seen its limits or boundaries.
It does nothing, yet it has fashioned the universe. Sustaining the entire universe, it does nothing at all. All substances are non-different from it, yet it is not a substance; though it is non-substantial it pervades all substances. The cosmos is its body, yet it has no body. It is the eternal 'now', yet it is the tomorrow (morning). Often apparently meaningless sounds become meaningful and are regarded as meaningful while communicating with one another: even so that infinite consciousness is and is not. It is even what it is not. All these statements about what is and what is not are based on logic, and the infinite consciousness goes beyond truth, beyond logic.