The Separate Ego-Consciousness and the Universal Divine Consciousness

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The concept of Maya is
frequently described as the

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world being an illusion that
mystifies our senses and our

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minds such that we take it for
real when it is not the truth of

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existence.
We are then asked to cut through

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the illusion to find the actual
reality, the Absolute, the

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consciousness that is coincident
with all existence and which is

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not bound by any of the forms
taken by this external illusory

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reality.
The Mayavadins have indeed

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captured A partial truth of
existence.

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The reality of the creation is
not to be denied, but our

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perception of it and our
interpretation of its meaning

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constitute the real illusion.
In the 4th chapter of the Life

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Divine, Sri Arobinda works out
the harmonizing synthesis

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between those who hold the world
as real and spiritual endeavor

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to be illusory and those who
hold the world as illusory and

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the spiritual endeavor is real.
He defines this as reality,

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omnipresent.
The entire Universal Creation is

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a manifestation of the Divine
and its reality is based in the

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reality of the Divine Existence.
If we look at our normal

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standpoint, we are rooted in the
ego and we naturally experience

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the ego consciousness as a
separate independent, self

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standing reality facing the
world and other independent

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actors in the world as being
able to make free and

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independent choices and either
harmonize or conflict with

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others.
The alternative viewpoint is one

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that treats the individual as a
Nexus or point of expression in

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the universal consciousness.
An example may help us grasp

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this concept.
We see the vast ocean before us.

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Someone captures some sea water
in a container.

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The water in the ocean and the
water in the container are the

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same, the difference between
them being simply that some of

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that water is now within the
container.

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Now if we conceive of the
container as a permeable

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membrane that allows impacts,
motion, heat, cooling, salinity,

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etcetera from the wider ocean to
affect the contained water, and

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similarly the water inside to
migrate out under various

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conditions, we can get some
sense of how the universal

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consciousness both cordons
itself off into these separate

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standpoints and how it at the
same time manifests its

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intention through them.
Sri Aurobindo writes quote What

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is this divine supreme will and
how can it be recognized by our

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by our deluded instruments and
our blind prisoned intelligence.

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Ordinarily we conceive of
ourselves as a separate eye in

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the universe that governs a
separate body, and mental and

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moral nature chooses in full
liberty its own self determined

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actions, and is independent and
therefore sole master of its

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works and responsible.
It is not easy for the ordinary

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mind, the mind that is not
thought nor looked deeply into

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its own constitution and
constituents.

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It is difficult even for minds
that have thought but have no

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spiritual vision and experience
to imagine how there can be

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anything else in US truer,
deeper and more powerful than

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this apparent I and its empire.
But the very first step towards

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self knowledge, as towards the
true knowledge of phenomena, is

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to get behind the apparent truth
of things and find the real but

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masked essential and dynamic
truth which their appearances

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cover.
This ego or I is not a lasting

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truth, much less our essential
part.

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It is only a formation of
nature, a mental form of

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thought, centralization in the
perceiving and discriminating

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mind, a vital form of the
centralization of feeling and

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sensation in our parts of life,
a form of physical conscious

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reception, centralizing
substance and function of

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substance in our bodies.
All that we internally are is

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not ego, but consciousness,
soul, or spirit.

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All that we externally and
superficially are and do is not

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ego but nature.
An executive cosmic force shapes

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us and dictates through our
temperament and environment and

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mentality, so shaped through our
individualized formulation of

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the cosmic energies, our actions
and their results.

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Truly we do not think, will, or
act.

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But thought occurs in US, will
occurs in US, impulse and act

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occur in us.
Our ego sense gathers around

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itself, refers to itself, all
this flow of natural activities.

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It is cosmic force.
It is nature that forms the

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thought, imposes the will,
imparts the impulse.

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Our body, mind and ego are a
wave of that sea of force in

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action and do not govern it, but
by it are governed and directed.

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The Sadiq in his progress
towards truth and self

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knowledge, must come to a point
where the soul opens its eyes of

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vision and recognizes this truth
of ego and this truth of works.

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He gives up the idea of a mental
vital physical eye that acts or

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governs action.
He recognizes that Prakriti

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force of cosmic nature following
her fixed modes is in him and

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all things and creatures, the
one and only worker.

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End Quote Reference Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother, The

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Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
One, Life Through the Eyes of

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the Yogin, pages 23 to 24.