Consciousness - the Yoga Vasistha

The book “The Supreme Yoga” is the teaching of the sage Vasistha imparted to Sri Rama. It contains true understanding about the creation of the world i.e. the world is nothing but the play of consciousness. the Yoga Vasistha is the greatest help to the spiritual awakening and direct experience of Truth. Vasistha demands direct observation of the mind, its motion, its notions, its reasoning, the assumed cause and the projected result. The book is a translation into English by Swami Venkatesananda of Divine Life Society, Rishikesh India. The article is primarily based on it.
Consciousness being infinite and all-pervading, has no birth nor death, nor is it possessed by anyone. It has nothing to gain by ‘living’ as a separate entity, since it is all-pervading. The entire universe is forever non-different from the consciousness that dwells in every atom, even as an ornament is non-different from gold. In reality neither the objective universe, nor the perceiving self, nor perception as such, nor void, nor inertness exists; only one is – cosmic consciousness (Chit).
 
Consciousness or Space is threefold – the infinite space of undivided consciousness, the finite space of divided consciousness and the physical space in which the material worlds exist. The infinite space of undivided consciousness (chida akasa) is that which exists in all, inside and outside, as the pure witness of that which is real and of that which appears to be. The finite space of divided consciousness (chitta akasa) is that which creates the division of time, which pervades all beings, and which is interested in the welfare of all beings. The physical space is that in which the other elements (air, etc.) exist. The latter two are not independent of the first. In fact, the others do not exist.
 
Consciousness energy (chit Shakti) is larger than the universe and yet subtler than minutest atomic particle and therefore invisible. I am the consciousness that exists everywhere like butter in milk, and whose very nature is experiencing.
The supreme consciousness alone exists. It is supreme truth, untainted by any impurity, forever in a state of perfect equilibrium and devoid of ego-sense. Once this truth is realised, it shines constantly without setting.
“It is this consciousness that is known by various means – Brahman, supreme self, etc. In it there is no division into subject-object and their relationship (knowledge). It is this consciousness alone that is manifest as the mind, intellect and the senses. This world-appearance, too, is but consciousness, apart from which nothing is. Consciousness does not undergo any change: the only apparent change is the illusory appearance, which is illusory and therefore not real!
 
That consciousness is the reality that bestows the individual characteristic on each and every substance in the universe, and though within all and so nearest to all, is far on account of its inaccessibility to the mind and the senses.
 
After the cosmic dissolution and before the next epoch dawned, the entire objective universe was in a state of perfect equilibrium. There then existed the supreme Lod, the eternal unborn, self-effulgent, who is that all and who is omnipotent. From him emerge countless divinities like Lord Vishnu, even as countless rays emerge from sun; from him emerge infinite worlds as ripples arise from the surface of the ocean. 

Ego-Sense -
On account of momentary conceptualisation, the pure consciousness gives rise to the ego-sense (I know). This ego-sense then gives rise to the notions of time and space. Endowed with the energy of the vital air, it then becomes Jiva or the individual. The individual thenceforward follows the dictates of the notions and slips into dense ignorance. Thus is the mind born in conjunction with the ego-sense and the different forms of psychological energy. All these together are known as the ‘ativahika’ body, the subtle body which moves from one plane to another. Various senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell) are known as the puryastaka and in their subtle state they are also known as the atvahika body.
Pure consciousness which is not affected by the illusory perception of the diverse of creation.

Consciousness -
It is infinite consciousness that is perceived by the ignorant as the universe. Just as a whole city exists within dreamer, the three worlds exist in a small atom. In that infinite consciousness there are countless universes which do not know of one another’s existence.
Within every atom is the potential experience of every kind. Therefore, give up all your notions of diversity or unity. Time, space, action (or motion) and matter are all different aspects of the one infinite consciousness. the rare few realise that the world-appearance seen within themselves is illusory, except as the one infinite consciousness which alone is ever true.
 
That state which endures is known as the waking state; and that which is transient is the dream state. During the period of even the dream, it takes on the characteristics of the waking state; and when the waking state is realised to be a fleeting nature, it gets the characteristic of dream. The two are the same. That consciousness which is awake even in deep sleep and which is also the light that shines in waking and dreaming, is the transcendental consciousness, truiya.
 
It is only when the mind has become devoid of all attachment, when it is not swayed by the pairs of opposites, when it is not attracted by objects and when it is totally independent of all supports, that it is freed from the cage of delusion. When all doubt comes to rest and when there is neither elation nor depression, then the mind shines like the full moon.
When there is cessation of the flow of the life-breath, the consciousness of the individual becomes utterly passive. Consciousness is pure, eternal and infinite: it does not arise nor cease to be. It is ever there in the moving unmoving creatures, in the sky, on the mountain and in fire and air. When the life-breath ceases, the body is said to ‘dead or inert’. The life-breath returns to its source – air – and consciousness freed from memory and tendencies remain as the self. That atomic ethereal particle which is possessed of these memories and tendencies is known as Jiva: and it remains there itself, in the space where the dead body is.
 
When that intelligence, which is part of the infinite consciousness, fancied itself to be a tree, it becomes a tree; or a rock, it becomes a rock; or grass, it becomes a grass. There is no distinction between the sentient and the insentient, between the intelligent and the inert: there is no difference at all in the essence of substances, for the infinite consciousness is present everywhere equally.
 
In the infinite ocean of consciousness, whirlpools known as the three worlds arise spontaneously and naturally, even so whirlpools are caused by the very nature of the running water. Because this consciousness is beyond the reach of the mind and senses, it seems to be void; but since it can be known as self-knowledge, it is not a void. On account of the indivisibility of consciousness, I am you and you are me; but the indivisible consciousness itself has become neither I or You. When the wrong notions of ‘you’ and ‘I’ are given up, there arises the awareness that there is neither you nor I, nor everything; perhaps it alone is everything.
 
It is the eternal light which shines in the sun, the moon and the fire, but independent of them. There is no world independent of the consciousness. as long as one sees the bracelet, it is not seen as gold; but when it is seen that ‘bracelet’ is just a word and not the reality, then gold is seen. Even so, when the world is assumed to be real, the self is not seen: but when this assumption is discarded, consciousness is realised.
 
Self -
Self is subtler that even space, since it has no name and cannot be described; and neither the mind nor the senses can reach it or comprehend it. It is pure consciousness. the entire universe exists in the consciousness that is atomic, even as a tree exists within seed: then the universe exists as consciousness and does not exist as the universe. That consciousness exists, however, because such is the experience of all, and since it alone is the self of all. Since it is, all else is.
That self is empty like space; but it is not nothingness, since it is consciousness. it is: yet because it cannot be experienced by the mind and senses, it is not.  It being the self of all.

The self, being infinite, moves not through moving, and yet is forever established in every atom of existence. The self does not go nor does it ever come: for space and time derive their meaning from consciousness alone. Where can the self-go when all that is, is within it? If a pot is taken from one place to another the space within does not move from one place to another, for everything is forever in space.

The light of self-knowledge alone illumines all experiences. It shines by its own light. Indeed, all this infinite consciousness alone is all this: and all the hands and eyes are its own, though being extremely subtle, it has no limbs.

Though the self is neither the doer of actions nor the experiencer of experiences, it is the doer of all actions and the experiencer of all experiences: there is nothing apart from it. Within the atom of infinite consciousness, the doer-ship and the experiencer are inherent.

Manifestation of Consciousness -
One can say that this world appearance is real only so far as it is the manifestation of consciousness and because of direct experience; and it is unreal when it is grasped with the mind and the sense organs.
 
In the mirror of infinite consciousness are seen countless reflections which constitute the appearance of the world. These are the Jiva. Jiva is like unto just a little agitation on the surface of the ocean of Brahman; or just a little movement of the flame of a candle in a windless room.
 
Consciousness, when it is fed by tendencies and memories, condenses into egotism – ‘I’-ness. This I-ness is not a solid reality; but the Jiva sees it as real, like the blueness of the sky. When the egotism begins to entertain its own notions it gives rise to the mind-stuff, the concept of an independent and separate Jiva, mind, Maya or cosmic illusion, cosmic nature etc. Creation (of mind) is but agitation of consciousness; and the world exists in the mind.
 
One Brahman appears to be many. When one contemplates the unreality of this diversity he is freed from sorrow.
 
The world-appearance is the waking state of consciousness; egotism is the dreaming state; the mind-stuff is the deep sleep state; and pure consciousness is the fourth state or uncontradicted truth. Beyond even this fourth state there is absolute purity of consciousness. One who is established in it goes beyond sorrow.
 
The vibration in the infinite consciousness is not different from that consciousness itself. From that vibration, just as the Jiva becomes manifest, even so from the Jiva the mind becomes manifest because the Jiva thinks. The mind itself entertains the notions of the five elements and it transforms itself into these elements. Whatever the mind thinks of, that alone it sees. After this, one by one the Jiva acquires the sense organs – the tongue, the eyes, the nose, the sense of touch etc. In this there is no causal connection between the mind and senses, but there is the coincidence of the thought and of the manifestation of the sense organs.