A Story for Sri Rama

O Rama, there is a great rock that is full of tenderness and affection, which is obvious and ever clearly perceived, which is soft, which is omnipresent and eternal. Within it, countless lotuses blossom. Their petals sometimes touch one another, sometimes not, sometimes they are exposed and sometimes they are hidden from view. Some have their roots intertwined, some have no roots at all. O Rama, this rock is indeed the cosmic consciousness; it is rocklike in its homogeneity. Just as one conceives or imagines different forms within the rock, this universe is also ignorantly imagined to exist in this consciousness. Even if a sculptor ‘creates’ different forms in the rock, it is still rock; even so in the case of this cosmic consciousness that is a homogenous mass of consciousness. Even as the solid rock contains potentially diverse figures that can be carved out of it, the diverse names and forms of the creatures of this universe exist potentially in cosmic consciousness. Even as rock remains rock, carved or uncarved, consciousness remains consciousness whether the world appears or not. The world-appearance is but an empty expression; its substance is naught but consciousness. Even these manifestations and modifications are but Brahmn, the cosmic consciousness — though not in the sense of manifestation or modification. Even this distinction is meaningless in Brahmn. When such expressions are used in relation to Brahmn, the meaning is quite different, like water in a mirage. … When this truth is realised, duality ceases. All is Brahmn.

Source: Economic Times, 27/11/2018