Paramhansa Yogananda, master of the kriya-kundalini yoga technique of meditation, says that chemical elements, the structural factors that bring into being all forms in the universe – from stones and stars to human and other life forms – are just variants of electronic vibrations. For example, the different characteristics of ice are coldness, weight and form that make it visible. But when ice melts it becomes water; when electricity is passed through it the same gets transformed into invisible hydrogen and oxygen – which too are variants of electronic vibrations. It would therefore not be wrong to say that ice does not exist in reality even though it can be perceived through our senses of sight, touch and so on. Invisible electrons thus form the basis behind all external appearances.
The example of the waves that occur on the ocean aptly illustrates this. Waves, which are a passing phenomenon, cannot exist without the ocean, but the ocean exists irrespective of the presence or absence of waves. The logical conclusion therefore is that behind all the transitory forms of the phenomenal world, there is a Higher Power, the eternal Consciousness.
The transcendental aspect of consciousness can be experienced in deep meditation when the seeker gains access to the supracausal state of consciousness which is referred to by Yogananda as the endless region of ‘Darkless dark and lightless light’. Here the eternal Being abides as Absolute, undifferentiated Consciousness to the total absence of all sorts of forms, attributes and dualities that characterise the sphere of material creation.
The colourful universe with myriad diversities and forms is said to have emanated from the eternal Being’s magical power, called cosmic delusion, in the form of finite dream images consisting of infinite numbers of vibratory perceptions or processes of His thought. The entire universe thus exists only in thought; space and time are merely two different thoughts. For example, a train journey from Delhi to Mumbai by Rajdhani Express takes around 17 hours; but if one travels by an aeroplane, the distance can be covered in only two hours which goes to show that an increase in energy cuts down space. Now suppose that you are travelling to Mumbai in a dream. You hire a taxi to reach the railway station, board the Mumbai-bound train that stops at various stations, and reach Mumbai. Interestingly, in the dream state the entire journey is completed in a matter of minutes. This happens because in thought there is no space; it is all an idea in one’s brain.
Cosmic creation is thus merely a dream condensation of thoughts of the eternal Being; it has no real existence. This becomes clear from the fact that every night when you enter the state of deep sleep, both the dream world and the dream body with their concomitant pains are obliterated from the screen of your consciousness. Every night your consciousness departs from the body to remind you that you are not the body. And what is experienced unconsciously in sleep, can also be experienced consciously in meditation.
Yogananda said, “Out of the great Power all atomic energy is throbbing, manifesting and sustaining every cell of the physical universe. As moving pictures are sustained by a beam of light coming from the projection booth of a movie house, so are all of us sustained by the cosmic beam, the divine light pouring from the projection of the booth of eternity.”
Paramhansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi on March 7th in 1952.
The example of the waves that occur on the ocean aptly illustrates this. Waves, which are a passing phenomenon, cannot exist without the ocean, but the ocean exists irrespective of the presence or absence of waves. The logical conclusion therefore is that behind all the transitory forms of the phenomenal world, there is a Higher Power, the eternal Consciousness.
The transcendental aspect of consciousness can be experienced in deep meditation when the seeker gains access to the supracausal state of consciousness which is referred to by Yogananda as the endless region of ‘Darkless dark and lightless light’. Here the eternal Being abides as Absolute, undifferentiated Consciousness to the total absence of all sorts of forms, attributes and dualities that characterise the sphere of material creation.
The colourful universe with myriad diversities and forms is said to have emanated from the eternal Being’s magical power, called cosmic delusion, in the form of finite dream images consisting of infinite numbers of vibratory perceptions or processes of His thought. The entire universe thus exists only in thought; space and time are merely two different thoughts. For example, a train journey from Delhi to Mumbai by Rajdhani Express takes around 17 hours; but if one travels by an aeroplane, the distance can be covered in only two hours which goes to show that an increase in energy cuts down space. Now suppose that you are travelling to Mumbai in a dream. You hire a taxi to reach the railway station, board the Mumbai-bound train that stops at various stations, and reach Mumbai. Interestingly, in the dream state the entire journey is completed in a matter of minutes. This happens because in thought there is no space; it is all an idea in one’s brain.
Cosmic creation is thus merely a dream condensation of thoughts of the eternal Being; it has no real existence. This becomes clear from the fact that every night when you enter the state of deep sleep, both the dream world and the dream body with their concomitant pains are obliterated from the screen of your consciousness. Every night your consciousness departs from the body to remind you that you are not the body. And what is experienced unconsciously in sleep, can also be experienced consciously in meditation.
Yogananda said, “Out of the great Power all atomic energy is throbbing, manifesting and sustaining every cell of the physical universe. As moving pictures are sustained by a beam of light coming from the projection booth of a movie house, so are all of us sustained by the cosmic beam, the divine light pouring from the projection of the booth of eternity.”
Paramhansa Yogananda entered mahasamadhi on March 7th in 1952.
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