That everything appears in consciousness is fact number one. And no one can deny one's own existence to be honest. Accordingly, consciousness-existence is the metaphysical ground and first principle.
Thoughts appear in consciousness. Thoughts bond to other thoughts. In time, an entanglement of thought is formed named ego. Ego evaluates new thoughts and combinations thereof, and loves them, hates them, or forgets them.
Reflected consciousness-existence identifying with an ego is one big error. Like anything based in ignorance, it has an end via the appropriate knowledge. But because such ignorance is beginningless, it shall require revelation.
footnotes
1. No effort can take you there, only the clarity of understanding. Trace your misunderstandings and abandon them, that is all.
Relax and watch the 'I am'. Reality is just behind it. Keep quiet, keep silent; it will emerge, or, rather, it will take you in.
~Nisargadatta Maharaj
2. The light of the Self within is reflected in the intellect, and this reflected light is passed on, by contact (samparka), to the lower mind, senses and the body.
People identify themselves with this or that aspect of the psycho-physical organism, depending on how far their powers of discrimination have developed and rescued them from crude self-identification with the body.
As long as there is failure to discriminate the Self from the intellect, the Self appears ‘like’ the appearances that come before it. But in truth it is pure light and does not really act or move.
~Alston from Sankara on the Soul
No comments:
Post a Comment