For Ananda members worldwide who share the weekly readings
from our founder’s book, “Rays of the One Light,**” we begin each year with Vedic
teachings on how the world (universe) was made. (**Written by Swami Kriyananda)
Paramhansa Yogananda came from
India to the west and spoke of God becoming
the world rather than merely “making” it as if He went out procured the basic
materials from somewhere or something outside Himself. From the standpoint of
sheer logic, it makes somewhat more sense, that God would create from within
and through his own consciousness. But how? “How can something have come out of
nothing?”
If God is pure Consciousness, how can consciousness produce
material objects? Well, let us pause to ask, “How do I create things?” Isn’t
it something like this: an idea comes to us (from nowhere, right?). We like the
idea and begin to chew on it, often enthusiastically. We think about how to bring
this idea into manifestation. We think about shape, materials, color, location,
even the financial funding.
Our ideas have the benefit of hardware stores and other ways
of procuring the materials needed to manifest our ideas. But God didn’t have
this benefit. So, let’s keep exploring.
If God is Consciousness then perhaps the ultimate reality of
the universe is a virtual reality. Every night in sleep don’t we create a private
universe, very real seeming to us? The only difference is that our dreams are personal
to us. They vanish instantly upon waking. Maybe God is dreaming this reality
show? Don’t characters in our dreams seem to behave independently of our
interests? (Like monsters who chase us?) Ever see the movie, the Matrix? Ever
read about scientists’ speculation about multi-verses or parallel realities?
And what about the brave new world soon to appear: AI (artificial
intelligence). Won’t AI call into question the very nature of consciousness?
You see we humans are exploring and expanding the
possibilities of what reality is as science rapidly expands our mental horizons.
In one century alone we went from maybe three galaxies to a postulated billions
of galaxies.
This makes this God-fellow one mighty big dude! And that’s
the point: He’s not a dude at all, at least not in the human sense, along the
lines of mythological gods and goddesses, replete with bad moods and naughty
deeds.
In splitting the atom and exploring distant galaxies we now
routinely accept sources of energy so powerful they defy anything our senses
can model. Why not just keep blowing up this energy thing until it is all but
infinite? Nothing stopping us if we can imagine it!
The ancient teachings of India, and other traditions, use
another explanation to extend the dream metaphor: duality. Known as “maya” or
the Measurer and considered to be evil or at least duplicitous (in its impact
on our personal consciousness), maya divides the world into opposites and
thereby creates the illusion that cold is different than heat, and that men are
different than women. By subdividing what would otherwise be perceived as a
cosmic unity, we dash about trying to fix things to our liking and avoid things
that we don’t like. That apple with the knowledge of good and evil may have
appeared tasty but biting into it, scales fall from the eyes of Oneness into
duality and all things were seen as different.
In the Book of Genesis, Chapter 2, Adam and Eve suddenly felt
self-conscious about their nakedness whereas before they were not. The apple in
the center of the garden, Yogananda taught, was the fruit of the tree of sex
nerves. Central to the propagation and procreation of maya is sex force without
which the cosmic illusion cannot continue. At puberty we bite the apple and
encounter the alluring touch of sex temptation. Our childhood innocence is over
and our lives begin to take their course into adulthood with more karma generated
and more future lifetimes being needed.
The same maya or illusion is experienced nightly in our
dreams as well, of course.
Imagine that the characters in your dream believe that they
are separate from the other characters, especially the biggest character in
your dream: you! Next imagine that this fact pervades our daytime world as well.
Maybe we imagine we are separate and that all the mountains, forests, planets,
stars and all these things are real.
And, being in the dream, they ARE real! It’s
only when you wake up that you can say the dream is not real.
When in the dream we cannot pretend the dream isn’t real. We
have to act as best we can IN the dream. Only when we awake will the dream
vanish.
And what, then, constitutes, being “awake?” Is it the
intellectual idea such as we are discussing? No, absolutely not! Freedom means
to release our consciousness into the great consciousness of God.
At present
our consciousness is locked in the human body: in the tissues, senses, and the
breath. Is there a way to unlock our consciousness?
Yes, of course: glad you asked! We must steadily re-direct
our attention from the body (and ego) to the indwelling God consciousness at
the heart of our own consciousness. God, in the self, is quiet and still. A
reflection, in fact, of the God of Pure Bliss and Consciousness out of which
this dream was manifested.
To achieve this, it can be a great help to train the breath
and heart to be as still as possible. The heart pump ties the mind
(consciousness) to the body and senses. But, as when we are sleeping (a state
of partial relaxation of the consciousness away from the senses), we free the
mind to soar beyond the human body.
In meditation this happens intentionally
and consciously whereas in sleep we are thrown into the dungeon of
sub-consciousness where we have virtually no control of the dream.
Thus it is, to return to the question of “How did God create
the universe,” we find that individuals with great powers of concentration can
be transmitters of new and history-changing ideas and inventions. It is with
their relative attunement to the creative power of God-consciousness that such
people do what they do. And, so can you and me, each in our own sphere of karma
and dharma.
It’s fun to create things. Even dreaming is enjoyable
(usually). Writing stories, creating movies, symphonies, new inventions:
creativity draws from the essence of the Blissful Spirit’s factory of
creativity! Of course a good story will NEED a villain or it isn’t a very
interesting and gripping story. But, let’s not move into the world of evil and
suffering as that would take a book to discuss it. Maybe next time.
But now we have peeked under the mask of God’s matrix. Now,
with God’s help, we can begin the Journey to Self-Realization. The great show
of the universe is a dream of the Creator’s. If we re-direct our attention from
our little self to the indwelling and omnipresent great Self of all, we will
steadily march towards soul freedom.
Joy in Being!
Nayaswami Hriman
