All Life is One
There was a poet who once
wrote, "You cannot pluck a little flower without the shaking of a
star." All life is one. There is one common consciousness which links the
life of all beings into one great cosmic unity.
There was once a Sufi mystic
who was established in this state of cosmic consciousness. He was a gardener.
One day a friend of his came to visit him. In the conversation that they were
having he was distracted and the sharp gardening tool which he was using hit
his leg. His friend was startled , for he saw, oozing out of the wound in his
leg, not red blood but a thin, pale fluid. It was the sap of plants. This Sufi
mystic was in an absolute rapport, a perfect harmony with all life. He was at
one with the plants, He had entered into their very consciousness. His life and
their life was entirely one.
Many other stories could be
told about mystics who have attained this state of absolute consciousness with
all life. One such cosmic being was sitting in that state one day in the
courtyard of a great temple situated on the bank of a river. A ferryboat was
carrying passengers across the river. One disembarking passenger queried the
ferryman regarding the cost of the fare. First there was a discussion. Then hot
words. Then a lively argument. Suddenly the passenger lunged forward and hit
the ferryman. And this mystic sitting nearby was so sensitive that the blow
caused him to fall over unconscious. It was as though the passenger has
delivered the blow on him.
There is another poem in which
the poet says, "One touch of nature makes
all life kin." The poet here refers to the original nature in which all
forms of life are related to the One. Vedanta proclaims the oneness of all
existence. Vedanta declares that there is one divine principle present in all
things. The first Sloka of the first Upanishad says, "Whatever exists is
pervaded by the one great Cosmic Being. That Being permeates, saturates and
pervades all things in the universe." Even modern science is now
confirming this great truth. At the back of all this diversity the back of all
this multifariousness, there is something common to all life. If you touch it,
you experience cosmic consciousness.
The Vedantic method is
deductive; the scientific method is inductive. The Vedantic method starts with
the one and proceeds to the many. The scientific method starts with the many
and proceeds to the one. Now it seems almost as though modern science,
especially modern physical science, is proposing a theory which corroborates
nearly verbatim the central thesis of the ancient Sakta school of philosophy in
India. The Sakta philosophy states that energy or force is the very nature of
pure Consciousness. Man borrows light from another Source of intelligence.
Without this light the intellect would be inert, for it is that light which
illumines the intellect and enables it to function. Man borrows it from pure
Consciousness. It is, therefore, pure Consciousness which lies behind man’s
intellect. Pure Consciousness alone is real.
The intellect is conscious
when man is in the waking state, semiconscious when he is in the dream state
and unconscious when he is in the deep sleep state. This consciousness is not
continuous. The consciousness of ‘I am’ , on the other hand , is always present
even in the deep sleep state. "I slept well," you say on waking up in
the morning. So the consciousness is continuous. You affirm the existence of an
‘I’ at all times: waking, dreaming and sleeping. The ‘I’ principle is the
substratum upon which all the three states of your consciousness are supported.
This ‘I’ principle is common to all sentient beings . It is a mysterious factor
which binds life into one great cosmic unity. Ponder upon it. For eventually
you must know everything about it.
Excerpts from:
All Life is One - Life is One by Sri Swami
Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?
If you would
like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact
the General Secretary at:
No comments:
Post a Comment