3 I / Atles.

GOD, WORLD and Consciousness.

Could we possibly define what we may call -  God?

The World and the Consciousness are the obvious Realities and need not be defined. However, the God is always so uncertain and such a concept that one could only think of but never know if it exists really an essential Principle or is but a fictitious idea only in the mind.

Mind is consciousness, Or we could also say consciousness is mind as well.

The world is a continuity of experiences and perceptions in the consciousness.

The World and the consciousness are neither mutually different and distinct nor other than the perceptions.

Out of these Two principles, namely the World and the consciousness, emerges out the assumption of quite another an entity that is called the God.

Finding out, Exploring and Discovering the Underlying Essential Principle that is the Timeless and Ever Existent Truth implies there is consciousness where-in the Existence appears to be something like the World and all the Perception.

So God could easily be ruled out from this consideration.

Only because of the assumption and the erroneous idea of the "self" associated with the non-dual consciousness that is the only ignorance.

What is understood by this word - the Ignorance too is again only a name or a verbal situation and never a happening that could really be felt or experienced.

Ignorance as such is therefore only an abstract notion that becomes kind of a belief.

Even if there is something which or someone Who might be called God, a Superior Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent consciousness that is said to create, to maintain and ultimately to annihilate its creation, that may not be different and distinct other than this World and the consciousness. We can perhaps say this is the only Non-Dual Reality. It could therefore neither be a Superior nor inferior to the All That Is, is seen, known, and is experienced. We could further extend It to a so-called a Beginningless Time and an expanse in terms of limitless Space. 

In conclusion, no distinction any as the object and the subject in this perception of God and the "self " could be there. If this could be agreed upon, there is also neither the independent "Action" - the "Karma", nor a virtue or a sin and the consequences. But as soon as "self" is given reality, at once the idea of the one "Who" is supposed to perform such an  "Action" and has to experience, and go through the consequences assumes an apparent existence. This is verily the "Bondage" and has neither a beginning nor an end in sight. Though one may go on trying there is no release whatever.

तपस्विभ्योधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः।

कर्मिभ्योश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगी भवार्जुन।।४६।।

(गीता अध्याय ६, Shrimadbhagvad-gita 6/46)

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The Trans.

The  Average Mind  /  चित्त

Goes through the following five phases :

मूढ  - unconscious.  

When the attention is yet to wake up and is free from the sense of individuality in a perceived world. Where the whole and the individual are undifferentiated.

क्षिप्त  - evolved / conscious. 

Where the attention has just woken up and the sense of the individuality comes up in a perceived world of senses. Like in the case of plants and trees where they are supposed to have only the sense of touch and know / experience the feeling only. A vague sense of just being only.

The same attention gradually grows in the kind of the next five kinds of sensory perceptions, like the smell, sound, taste and sight respectively.

So there is this hierarchy in that order. 

The insects, the tape-worm, the snail, the turtle, the frog and the fish are the next.

Then there are the animals, the birds and finally the humans on this ladder.

With this gradual ramification the five prominent sensory perceptions of them too become refined and subtle.

The same attention that in the beginning was of one kind, namely the touch, then becomes five-fold attention and though the focus of attention keeps on shifting from one to another kind, at a time only one of them governs over the other four. For example :

When you touch, attention is focused on this only and is withdrawn from all the other kinds of senses.

When you taste, the same thing repeats.

And in this way at any time the one of them dominates over the other four. In this way, the different kind of sensory perceptions always follow one-another.

एकाग्र  - centred  / pointed.

But when the attention is voluntarily or involuntarily kept fixed upon only one of them, the attention becomes pointed or centred about that specific perception.

Then you carefully withdraw attention from the other four kinds of the sensory perceptions and try to extend the time for comparatively a longer.

समाहित  - absorbed  / identified with the object of attention.

Because for that much span of Time, all sense of duality  seems to have ceased. It's like the state of deep dreamless sleep, where one enjoys the pure sense of being only and the natural, spontaneous bliss associated with it.

If the object attracts the attention and is very interesting, this rapt attention may give a great indescribable pleasure that remains stored in the memory.

But after a while because of compulsion or some other reason, when the pleasure is no more, attention diverts to another object of attraction.

This state of  mind  can't stay for long still one remembers it for a long time. This may be akin to Trans or samAdhi.

निरुद्ध - controlled.

This one is gained through effort because one realizes that all sensory perceptions howsoever promising and fulfilling don't last and can't stay for ever.

This is the beginning of the practice of Yoga. The aphorism :

अथ योगानुशासनम्।।१।।

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः।।२।।

The first aphorism, points out how to practice the discipline of Yoga.

The next one for the beginners, defines in the most simple words what Yoga means and is all about.

The above lines describe what are the five phases of Mind. 

It is also equally important to see and understand the consciousness in terms of the three states is something different but deeply related to the these five phases of Mind  /  चित्त.

That will be discussed in the next post :

The Alter-ego 

and 

The Altered states of consciousness.

So that in that perspective, we can better understand the meaning and the significance of the word :

Alter-ego.

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