Guest guest Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 Loving Sai Rams, Sruti describes Atman or Conscuiousness 'as that by which all this is illumined' (tasya Bhasa sarvam idam Vibhati). What is meant by 'All this'? All this refers to the world of perceptions, emotions and thoughts. Consciousness is the illuminator of the perceptions in the senses of emotions in the mind and thoughts in the intellect. Without Consciousness functioning through the body, mind and intellect, none of these experiences is possible. Consciousness is therefore said to be illuminator of all experiences. All the lights and experiences in the waking state of consciouness emante from Brahman but none of them can illumine or experience Brahman. Acharya Sankara in his famous work called Panchadasi declares Brahman as the Supreme Light of Intelligence. He says, " In all the countless months,years,ages, Kalpas, which have passed and which are yet to come, Pure Consciousness, which is one and Self-illuminous does neither rise nor set. (Esha svayam Prabha na udeti na astameti) " . Brahman is said to shine by itself like a red-hot ball in fire. It pervades and illumines the entire Universe internally and externally.The process of negating the world to to reach the Transcendantal Reality suggests the idea of duality which is further strenghtened by describing Reality as the illuminator of all illuminaries. But the Sruti stresses the Advaitic nature of Reality. Brahman pervades everywhere in the universe and beyond as well. Permeating the universe, Brahman expresses itself as existence(sat) in inert objects, as intelligence (chit) in living beings and as (Ananada) in their deep-sleep condition. Beyond these expressions of Brahman which are manifest in the Universe, Brahman also exists in its Pure Unmanifest form. The metaphor of an iron ball in the fire illustrates this idea. An iron ball placed in the fire acquires the qualities of fire and glows like fire itself. The properties of fire like heat ,light etc., are seen manifest in the red-hot ball. Similarly, Brahman permeates the whole Universe as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss (Satchitananda) and also exists beyond the realm of the universe in its unmanifest form. (to be continued) G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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