Hello and welcome to episode 130 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about the power of consciousness and a simple exercise that will take you leap years ahead in your journey of spirituality.
Today’s question comes from Carl and he says “I’ve seen your videos and they are really inspirational. I have been struggling with meditation and would really appreciate it if you could help me with a simple visualisation exercise to get in touch with the consciousness.”
Thanks for watching and reading Carl I’m glad you are enjoying the videos. I put a lot of thought into this one so I hope you really find it helpful.
Serene Ocean
Here is what I want you to do. I want you to close your eyes and visualise a beautiful serene ocean. It is beautiful, serene and it is all one. There is no duality, only water. I want you to imagine taking a glass and filling that glass with water from the ocean. See the water flowing into the glass.
The moment you do that there becomes two. There is water inside the glass and water outside the glass. There is duality because of this glass.
The purpose of the glass is to hold the water. Now I want you to visualise the glass floating in the water. Just as the glass floats in the water your body floats on a journey of life. The water in the ocean is our consciousness. The water to the ocean is like the consciousness to ourselves and the glass is nothing but the body, mind and intellect. The glass creates duality.
The purpose of the glass is to hold the water and the purpose of the body is to manifest the consciousness. It’s through the consciousness that the body is formed. This is the spiritual law.
Consciousness
As you put the glass into ocean the water fills it up. The consciousness fills our bodies in the same way. The minute the water enters the glass the identification shifts to the glass. So as the consciousness enters the body mind and intellect the identifications shifts from the consciousness to the container, which is the body, mind and intellect. This is a big problem, this is how duality fools us.
The moment the identification shifts to the container it start associating itself with the qualities of the container. The consciousness shifts to the body mind and intellect and this is known as maya illusion. This is where the sattvic, rajasic and tamasic gunas come into play. All the limitations and blockages of the gunas begin to be associated with the consciousness.
Appearance
Remember the glass is only an appearance. Only the water is real. In the same way only our conscious is real and the container, our body mind and intellect is also only an appearance. Krishna says “it is both inside and outside, it moves not and yet it moves, being subtle it is difficult to understand. It’s near and yet very far. In all it exists undivided and yet appears divided.” Our body makes things appear divided. The only thing that exists is the consciousness. The gunas only makes us think we are the container but we are not. We are only the consciousness being blocked by the gunas.
As the glass starts floating we identify the journey of life and karma comes into play. We say this happened to me and I am doing this or that because the identification has shifted to the attributes of the container. We then think the container is everything, is our purpose when it should never be our purpose. Our only purpose is to manifest the consciousness.
When we become the container we become attached to the script and whatever is happening in the journey of life and we then get attached to the qualities of our body, mind and intellect along with the events. Our gunas then dominates us and everything we do.
Be detached
Krishna says “The embodied soul cannot totally renounce.” So we cannot just decide to destroy our container. We need it to journey through life. This is why we need the knowledge of Brahman, the universal consciousness. We need to practice yoga, which is giving up attachment to the script and identifying with karma along with withdrawing the gunas. This is all we need to do. Withdraw from the gunas and be detached from the script.
If you can be detached from the container you will be free from all time, circumstance and space but you won’t be if you stay trapped inside. The moment you withdraw your gunas you will be free. We are fooling ourselves by being concerned with money power and relationships. These are only illusions caused by the container.
We saw in earlier episode that there is the visible and the invisible. The visible is the three horses that represent the gunas, the reigns, the chariot and the charioteer. Then you have the invisible charioteer which is the consciousness.
Now imagine the glass drowning in the ocean. So what happens to the water? It goes back to the ocean. And then it finds another container. The consciousness goes back to the universal consciousness and then finds another container. Krishna says “the potent jiva, when it gains a fresh body carries with it its impressions just as air when it travels carries the scent of its abode.”
All of your gunas will be carried to the next container. That’s the law. Just like the air will carry the scent of wherever it’s been before. Krishna then says “the deluded do not see him moving out, staying in and experiencing in association with the constituents. The wise know it all.”
The deluded ones cannot understand why the consciousness moves in and out of its container but the great ones really know this in their hearts. They know there is the visible and the invisible. This is so important.
Meaning
Vivekananda says that the body, mind and intellect have no meaning just as the glass has no meaning. All they do is create duality. Trying to find meaning in the body mind and intellect is trying to find meaning in the meaningless. The only meaning that exists is the consciousness. What the water is to the ocean, Brahman is to you.
In an earlier episode we saw that the consciousness in your thought has a separate existence just as the water in the wave has a separate existence. The moment you separate from circumstance, time and place you become the consciousness.
I want to leave you with a poem by Vivekananda. It’s called The Cup:
This is your cup — the cup assigned
to you from the beginning.
Nay, my child, I know how much
of that dark drink is your own brew
Of fault and passion, ages long ago,
In the deep years of yesterday, I know.
This is your road — a painful road and drear.
I made the stones that never give you rest.
I set your friend in pleasant ways and clear,
And he shall come like you, unto my breast.
But you, my child, must travel here.
This is your task. It has no joy nor grace,
But it is not meant for any other hand,
And in my universe hath measured place,
Take it. I do not bid you understand.
I bid you close your eyes to see my face.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
