PROBLEMS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE | SRI SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

|| < : UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS : > ||

Larry : What is individual consciousness ?

SWAMIJI : Individual consciousness ? There is no such thing as individual consciousness ; it does not exist .

There is only one consciousness , which is universally present everywhere , and when it appears to be located in a particular point of spatio-temporal context , you call it individuality .

It is like space contained in a little tumbler . The space cannot be contained in a tumbler ; it is not possible . But you can imagine that the space is inside the tumbler and it is a little small space , and that smallness that you attribute to the otherwise large consciousness is the individuality thereof .

It cannot really become the individual ; it is always universal only , but it appears to be individual because you have somehow imagined that there is a location for it and you impose a kind of restriction upon it — like the vessel .

It is really not confined , and it cannot be confined .

Larry : So it just appears to be confined .

SWAMIJI : Yes , it appears to be confined .

Larry : And it appears to be confined in so many things . I wanted to know why that has happened .

SWAMIJI : You may ask that person who has made it . I am not responsible for it , so you should not ask such questions .

Larry : But you are responsible for it . You are consciousness .

SWAMIJI : I have not created this difference and I cannot see it , also . So I cannot answer a question on that which is not visible to my eyes .

You are seeing something that I cannot see . That is the only difference .

It is like a straight stick looking bent when you dip it in a glass of water . You are asking who bent it .

Now what can I tell you ? Who is responsible for bending it ? It is a straight pencil ; you dip it in a glass of water and it looks dented .

Now , who is responsible for bending it ?

Larry : The Universal Consciousness .

SWAMIJI : Nobody — not the Universal Consciousness .

Your eyes are not seeing properly , that is all .

The Universal Consciousness is not responsible .

It is not bending the pencil . Your eyes are not structured properly while seeing then .

Larry : But the Universal is . . .

SWAMIJI : Who is the Universal ?

You yourself are That , finally . And why are you taking the name of That ?

You are the Universal , and why are you talking of the Universal as if it is sitting outside ? How could you stand outside Universality ?

Larry : Because , for some reason , my consciousness is limited . It is confined .

SWAMIJI : No , it is not limited actually ; and that idea also you must remove . You have already imposed some unnecessary ideas in your head .

I told you it cannot be limited .

It cannot be limited because the very consciousness of limitation implies that it is not limited .

A limited person cannot know that one is limited . The whole point is that .

One has exceeded the limitations ; therefore , one is conscious of the limitations .

Be a little logical . Unless you have exceeded the limitation , you will not be conscious that you are limited .

Larry : That to me sounds more like a mirror . In other words , by recognising that I am limited , I have exceeded the limitation .

SWAMIJI : How do you know that you are limited unless you have already got out of the limitation ?

The person inside the prison organically cannot know that one is caught up like that . One has a consciousness of freedom . One is conscious that there is something outside the jail , and so seeks freedom .

Larry : One is conscious of something outside the jail , but one knows one is limited to the jail .

SWAMIJI : But one knows that one is not limited , also ; otherwise , the idea of going out cannot arise in one's mind . There is a possibility of one's real nature being outside the jail .

Larry : Yes , there is a possibility , yes .

SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG