I am here in Tiruvannamalai<\/a>, site of the ashram of Ramana Maharshi<\/a>, who said that freedom came to him and can come to others by focusing one's complete attention on the question, "Who am I?". The intention is to reach an integrated understanding that body, mind, and all that has been appropriated by the ego in defence of an individual that differentiates itself from the whole, will dissipate to reveal that the self is the supreme, all inclusive reality that in Hinduism is called "Brahman<\/a>".
Because I have not as yet found it workable to follow the recommended practice, my tendency has been to approach the matter from a different aspect, by observing how we view reality as conditioned by our perception, which, in the vast majority of humans, dictates that we observe it through a lens of differentiation: first dividing it into subject and object: "I<\/em> see the universe", and then finding it fragmented into millions of separate entities: "I see the table, the chairs, various people sitting at the table." There may be rare persons or sages who rather perceive the universe (including themselves) as a unified whole, who, in fact, do not admit the existence of any physical universe at all but find the one self everywhere, without differentiation. This is admirable, but risks an inability to function in the same world that most of us inhabit.
Intuitively, and according to many scientists<\/a> the world, which seems outwardly differentiated, is inwardly unified. Every element has a nameable outward form, but a core of indivisible, unchanging being, or unitary consciousness. This substratum is shared by every element in the universe. It is a common integrating thread that runs through all elements and creates harmony between what would be disparate and fragmented. It is the lack of appreciation for this integration that leads us astray, into a battle of egos, into wars, into depredation of the planet. The seemingly distinct forms that we see all issue from the same clay. Even more importantly, they are not in their essence separate from our own, so that when we draw an artificial separation, we create disharmony in the entire biosphere, which depends upon a network of harmonious interactions between its constituent beings.
The more that we understand ecology, the more established becomes our respect for the substratum of inter-being that is the binding link between us and the whole. To be capable of modifying our actual interaction with the world, we need knowledge, intellectual understanding but also reverence. In order properly to understand the matter of integration between subject and object, between diversity and unity, we need an integrated approach to it.
The universe, in its infinite variety, is deserving of our reverence, of our love. The objects that we see are an outgrowth of the substratum of consciousness that is at the heart of their being. Failing to admit this is to be aware of only their outward form, which means that our perception is in error, and that we base our interaction with them upon this same error.<\/div><\/div>
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Because I have not as yet found it workable to follow the recommended practice, my tendency has been to approach the matter from a different aspect, by observing how we view reality as conditioned by our perception, which, in the vast majority of humans, dictates that we observe it through a lens of differentiation: first dividing it into subject and object: "I<\/em> see the universe", and then finding it fragmented into millions of separate entities: "I see the table, the chairs, various people sitting at the table." There may be rare persons or sages who rather perceive the universe (including themselves) as a unified whole, who, in fact, do not admit the existence of any physical universe at all but find the one self everywhere, without differentiation. This is admirable, but risks an inability to function in the same world that most of us inhabit.
Intuitively, and according to many scientists<\/a> the world, which seems outwardly differentiated, is inwardly unified. Every element has a nameable outward form, but a core of indivisible, unchanging being, or unitary consciousness. This substratum is shared by every element in the universe. It is a common integrating thread that runs through all elements and creates harmony between what would be disparate and fragmented. It is the lack of appreciation for this integration that leads us astray, into a battle of egos, into wars, into depredation of the planet. The seemingly distinct forms that we see all issue from the same clay. Even more importantly, they are not in their essence separate from our own, so that when we draw an artificial separation, we create disharmony in the entire biosphere, which depends upon a network of harmonious interactions between its constituent beings.
The more that we understand ecology, the more established becomes our respect for the substratum of inter-being that is the binding link between us and the whole. To be capable of modifying our actual interaction with the world, we need knowledge, intellectual understanding but also reverence. In order properly to understand the matter of integration between subject and object, between diversity and unity, we need an integrated approach to it.
The universe, in its infinite variety, is deserving of our reverence, of our love. The objects that we see are an outgrowth of the substratum of consciousness that is at the heart of their being. Failing to admit this is to be aware of only their outward form, which means that our perception is in error, and that we base our interaction with them upon this same error.<\/div><\/div>
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