Yoga Vasistha

THE RAM GITA - THE CREST JEWEL OF VEDANTA

Intently listening to Sage Vasistha, Prince Ram learnt how a conditioned mind becomes subject to external influences. He understood the importance of freeing himself from samsaric bondages in order to realise and revel in the ultimate infinity. He further sought to know the nature of the universe that is said to exist within the mystical consciousness.

The Sage replied that the infinite consciousness is similar to the unmanifest space that is omnipresent. The universe is just a manifestation or a reflection of this consciousness. Similar to how white light passes through the crystal and creates multiple reflections of itself, the names and forms that we see in the universe are just reflections that occur when the consciousness moves in time and space. Everything that ‘is’, is just a pure manifestation of this eternal truth.

In reality, the world appearance is nondifferent from the whole from which it emanates. It is sheer ignorance that causes people to see differences between the multiple manifestations, similar to how intoxication causes a person to see himself as another. The Sage said, “O Ram, this self, the Supreme Brahman, which permeates everything, is that which enables you to experience all that is, through your vision, the sound that you hear, through taste, form and fragrance.”

Transcending Ego and Doer-ship