While ultimate
truth lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, some human minds
boggle at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Ultimate
truth is beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond
imagination. Indeed, the highest idea is that ultimate truth transcends and
includes time, causation and space, and thus can never be known in the same
material sense as one traditionally 'understands' a given concept or object.
The
universe does not simply possess consciousness, it is consciousness, and this
consciousness is ultimate truth. The knowledge of ultimate truth springs from
inquiry into the nature of the mind or universe. The knowledge of ultimate
truth cannot be obtained in any other way.
Consciousness
is without attributes and strictly impersonal. It is pure knowing itself. One
has to hold consciousness to be the Ultimate Truth, so in comparison to consciousness,
every other thing, including the universe, its distinctness, and the
individuality of the living creatures are mere mirage created out of it. Consciousness
is the effulgent cause of everything that exists and can possibly exist. Since
it is beyond human comprehension, it is without any attributes, for assigning
attributes to it would be distorting the true nature of consciousness.
Since all the attributes are product of
consciousness the people who believe in the existence of attributed consciousness
holds no water from the ultimate standpoint because all the attributes are mere
mirage created out of consciousness, thus the sometime and space, and birth, life and death and idea of creator and creation are part of the mirage. The consciousness
which is free from form, time and space
is ultimate Truth.
When one
tries to know the attributeless consciousness mentally from his attributed
base, then he realizes all the attributes are created out of attributeless
material and that material is consciousness, which real and eternal.
Self is
the reflection of the consciousness in the realm of the mirage. Just like
reflection of moon, in a pool of water. The universe also appears as such due
to ignorance. Consciousness is eternal and unchangeable. It is due to ignorance
the universe, which is mere mirage, is experienced as reality. Once the curtain
of ignorance is lifted, and then there is no second thing exists other than
consciousness. Thus, due to Self- Knowledge, an individual loses the sense of
duality and achieves liberation from experiencing the duality as reality.
