The sun is always shining. We may not see it all the time because of clouds or the rotation of the earth. Yet behind the scenes the sun is always present, everywhere for everyone. When it shines, it does not only shine on the house of the rich, or the wise, or the loving. It shines equally on the house of the poor, the wicked, the evil. It is for us all. There is nothing superior to the sun in this world and in all the solar system.
That's perhaps why the sun has been revered by people since the dawn of time. We are all children of the sun. We are totally dependent on it for our lives. The sun has been the god of humanity in certain cultures over the millennia. People prayed to the sun and worshiped it as their source of life and their deity or god and still do in places.
Similarly, the yogi sees spirit in the same way. If you prefer, then we can use the word consciousness in place of spirit. It demystifies the concept somewhat, yet preserves the qualities of this item upon which all life depends.
The difference between a living body and a dead body is the consciousness which animates it. When a person dies, all the ingredients are still present in the dead body, so what is the difference? The difference is that the living is animated by consciousness and the dead is not.
The yogi understands, by dint of knowledge and also practice and experience, that there is a superior consciousness that is animating all life. It appears limited in its expression by the particular body in which it finds itself. But that consciousness in its pure form is absolute and perfect and unlimited. Only the body limits the expression of this consciousness.
And we all have it. We are all it. Regardless of birth or character or perspective. Just as the sun shines on us all, regardless of anything. Some people may see the sun and take it for granted. Others may not see it due to cloud covering them. After all, the cloud covers us, not the sun. The sun is too big to be covered. it is always shining everywhere. We are the ones that become covered by the cloud.
A person may lose sight of the sun and feel its absence for a night or a season, only due to their perspective, not due to the sun. Similarly we may lose sight of our true identity as consciousness due to the covering of our body and mind. Or we may feel limitations in our perception of consciousness because of our frail body and mind. Yet it is always there in all its power.
At our best we can only glimpse a small fraction of its power. Yet with practice, we can awaken more of our potential as consciousness if we desire. We are limited only by our lack of knowledge regarding our true consciousness. When we come across information or when we see others performing phenomenal feats of consciousness, then our eyes are opened a little more regarding our actual potential.
Perfection is attainable by removing the misinformation about our self as consciousness an our potential. Consciousness is not limited to the brain or the body. It is ultimately made up of the characteristics of full knowledge or cognition, as well as bliss. And it is not bound by time or this life whatsoever.
In other words, we exist separate from this body and mind as well as this time in space. And the explorer of consciousness via the various methods like yoga and meditation and the other arts, can tap in and reawaken this dormant potential.
Ultimately we are connected to the source of all consciousness, which some call God. We are all always connected. That source is always present. Yet, like the sun, we sometimes glimpse it and sometimes we don't. Yet t is the closest thing to us in existence, at all times. It is us and we are it.
We understand that we are but a small fraction of the supreme consciousness, like a fractal or a hologram, which contains all the qualities of the whole, yet only in minute quantity. We are non-different from the source in quality, but only a small fragment in quantity. Yet even that small fragment is perfect and whole and absolute, like the fractal of hologram.
Such is the true understanding of consciousness and of ourselves as living beings. Anyone who says otherwise is simply covered in their perception, like a person who is limited in their vision of the sun due to a little cloud over their village.
Even more naive is the villager that thinks the sun is only shining on their village and not the others, and that they are special and more privileged as a result. This superiority complex is what happens when you bask so much in the rays of the sun, that you think you are closer to it than the rest, like Icharus who flew too close to the sun, only to fall from that position of hubris.
It's easy for the ego to identify with the body and be told that your village is more worthy of the sunshine than the next one and that you have monopoly over it. This philosophy is obviously foolish to anyone who knows that the sun shines everywhere, and that anyone can make the effort to go bask in its rays if you choose.
You can tell a person's realization by hearing their perception of reality. You can tell if they have studied or practiced the process of consciousness realization or not. They will talk and act either out of ignorance or insight. Most are bewildered by their culture of birth and unable to look outside of that box. They are like the frog in the well who tries to understand the size of the ocean, when all they have to compare it to is their small perspective of the world.
When you don't know that you don't know - then you are simply the greater fool. But when you know that you don't know - then you have begun to glimpse the potential yet to be discovered. And when you try to explain the power of the sun to a person in a cave with nothing but fire, they will simply laugh at you out of ignorance.
Therefore, you can tell who is a fool as soon as they open their mouth. The wise are few and far between and they sometimes remain silent, or when they speak few grasp their meaning because it is a matter of realization and personal experience. Yet still, some fools are open to wisdom, especially when they see an example to emulate, or when they see evidence.
So until you actually see the truth, it may be staring you in the face, yet you have not the eyes of wisdom to perceive it. You may even already have it all, yet not even realize it. But once you see it, you can never unsee it. even if the memory fades or the glimpse of it was brief. Still, you know in theory that it's true, what is possible, the unlimited potential. And that remembrance alone can inspire you for the rest of your life because your perception of reality has expanded and you glimpsed your potential, the truth of reality. And that taste is the sweetest thing you will ever know in this human life, so cherish it and allow it to grow.
Bhagavad Gita ch 6:30
यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति । तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति ॥ ३० ॥
yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi sa ca me na praṇaśyati
SYNONYMS yaḥ—whoever; mām—Me; paśyati—sees; sarvatra—everywhere; sarvam—everything; ca—and; mayi—in Me; paśyati—he sees; tasya—his; aham—I; na—not; praṇaśyāmi—am lost; saḥ—he; ca—also; me—to Me; na—nor; praṇaśyati—is lost.
TRANSLATION For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.
PURPORT A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness certainly sees Lord Kṛṣṇa everywhere, and he sees everything in Kṛṣṇa. Such a person may appear to see all separate manifestations of the material nature, but in each and every instance he is conscious of Kṛṣṇa, knowing that everything is the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energy. Nothing can exist without Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of everything—this is the basic principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the development of love of Kṛṣṇa—a position transcendental even to material liberation. It is the stage beyond self-realization at which the devotee becomes one with Kṛṣṇa in the sense that Kṛṣṇa becomes everything for the devotee, and the devotee becomes full in loving Kṛṣṇa. An intimate relationship between the Lord and the devotee then exists. In that stage, the living entity attains his immortality. Nor is the Personality of Godhead ever out of the sight of the devotee. To merge in Kṛṣṇa is spiritual annihilation. A devotee takes no such risk. It is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā: premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi "I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara situated within the heart of the devotee." (Bs. 5.38) At this stage, Lord Kṛṣṇa never disappears from the sight of the devotee, nor does the devotee ever lose sight of the Lord. In the case of a yogī who sees the Lord as Paramātmā within the heart, the same applies. Such a yogī turns into a pure devotee and cannot bear to live for a moment with out seeing the Lord within himself.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original Macmillan 1972 edition. Freely available at www.prabhupadabooks.com.
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