May my speech be the same as my thought; and may my thought be the same as my speech. Oh Thou, Self-Luminous Reality, Oh Thou, Self-Luminous Lord, remove the veil of ignorance that is before me, that I might behold Thy Total Being. Reveal to me the spirit of the Sacred Scriptures. May the Truth of the holy Scriptures be ever-present in me. May I speak the truth of the Lord, may I speak the truth. May that Truth protect me. May that Truth protect my Guru.
AUM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI
Part I
Before projection was, all that existed was the Atma alone. Nothing else was there. Then the Atma thought: “Let me project forth, the three universes.”
He projected fourth these: the celestial universe above the sky, and upheld by it. The astral universe including the mortal realm. And the universe that is beneath the earth realm, ofttimes referred to as the hells (lower planes).
Part II
The Atma thought; “Behold these universes: let me now send forth their guardians to protect these universes.” Then the Atma sent forth their respective guardians.
The Atma thought; “Behold these universes, and the guardians of these universes. Let me send forth substance (food) for the guardians.” Then the Atma sent forth food for all of them. Then the Atma thought: “How shall there be these guardians, and I have no part of these guardians? If without me, the Atma, speech can be uttered or breath can be breathed, or the eye can see, or the ear can hear, what then am I?”
Thus, the Atma thought: “Let me enter these guardians.” Whereupon the Atma opened the Door of Bliss in the center of each guardian’s skull, and entered therein! The Atma, not being known, yet still existing in the three primordial states of soul-consciousness are but states of dreaming. These are called: wakefulness, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. In each of these three states, the Atma yet still dwells.
The Atma dwells in the eye, while we are in the wakeful state. The Atma dwells in the mind while we dream. The Atma dwells in the lotus of the heart while we sleep in the dreamless sleep state.
The Atma, having entered into the guardians, identified himself with those guardians; thus the Atma became many individual beings. Therefore, if an individual soul awakens from his three-fold dream state: of wakefulness, dreaming, dreamless sleep -- that soul sees none other than the Supreme Atma itself, for that individual soul sees the Atma dwelling in the lotus of Its own heart, as the omnipresent omniscient Reality. Thus he declares: “I know The Supreme Lord!”
Who is this Atma whom earthlings desire to worship? What is the nature of this Atma? Is he, the Atma, by which you see form, or hear sound, or perceive fragrance, or speak words, or come to know speech?
Is he the heart and/or the mind by which we perceive, command, discern, know, think, remember, will, feel, desire, breathe or love?
Nay, these are but secondary attributes of the Atma who is in truth: Pure Consciousness! This Atma, who is Pure Consciousness, is the Infinite Lord.
He is the five elements: the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the ether.
All beings great and small have a reality behind them. That reality behind all of these creatures is The Lord who is Pure Consciousness.
All these creatures, while they live, and even after they have ceased to live, live and exist in Him, the Atma. The Sage, Vamadeva, having thus realized the infinite Lord as pure consciousness, departed this life, ascended into Heaven, obtaining all of his “needs,” and also achieved Illumination.
AUM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI
Audio Lecture 1 Given by Goswami Kriyananda in 1974
Audio Lecture 2 Given by Goswami Kriyananda in 1977