Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
In having established that we must transcend our thoughts to see OurSelf, how are we to assess our relationship with That? As we a part of It/Him/Her… or are we apart from..?
SwUlvEraJyyaerEKy< sUú mhEr{ygÉRyae>,
A}anmayyaerEKy< àTyiGv}anpU[Ryae>.23.
Sthuula-vairaajyayor-aikyam suukshma-hairanyagarbhayoH,
Ajnaana-maayayor-aikyam pratyag-vijnaana-puurnayoH ||23||
There is an identity between the individual gross body and the total Gross Body and between the individual subtle body and the total Subtle Body. There is also identity between the individual causal body and the total Causal Body and between the individual consciousness and the Total Consciousness.
Now, readers and roaming souls… if you have been studying consistently here at AV-bloggy, you will absolutely get the reference to sthuula and suukshma, to karana and aatmaa shariiraaH.
You can, of course, review and refresh understanding by using the appropriate link. However, let us summarise here.
Sthuula shariira/Gross body; that with which we are most familiar. It is made up of the pancha-mahaabhuutaaH (five elements) and is that thing through which we identify as the individual.
Suukshma shariira/Subtle body; that part of our being which cannot be seen in physical terms but by which we 'know' things and 'experience' them. They are still gross, insofar as they are also made of the material elements and they are the organs of action, perception, physiological function and 'thought modification'. It is through the suukshma that Consciousness manifests as 'life' - in its absence, the body is called dead.
Karana shariira/Causal body; that which contains our inherent tendencies (vaasanas), the record of our karma, and which causes our sthuula and suukshma to manifest as it does.
How does all this tie us in with the Totality? The entire physical cosmos is the sthuula shariira of That. It consists of the five gross elements and we can only physically manifest as a result of the cosmos having manifested, thus we are an integrated part of the physical whole. Equally, all the thoughts and vital airs present in this universe have arisen from That source - we cannot be separate from that whole and that origin. Further, the causal body of That/He/She is the infinite power of illusion - Maya - and it has the potential, indeed to manifest multiple universes and everything contained therein, including ourselves as we see ourselves. We are nothing but part of That.
The individual cannot exist if there is no Totality just as the wave cannot exist where there is no ocean. The concept of individuality only comes about within the individual, the Totality knows it not; the wave knows itself and other waves, but the ocean knows only itself and sees the waves as itself, part of its whole.
Individuality is only from our standpoint, not from the view of the Totality. Consider this. Within your own body, there are many cells. Each cell has an independent existence yet we, who are the Totality for those cells, do not perceive them as being separate from us. We only know ourselves as a whole being. Yet we are not - we are the 'cells' of the Totality of the cosmos and it, in turn, is nothing more than Maya, the power of the great Consciousness at play. That Self, the One True Nature is all that we are and from which all this arises. "I", the witness of all this, am nothing more or less than That Sat-Chit-Aananda.
