Vichāra-saṅgraham 18: House of the Self
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2022-02-19

Devotee: How do the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., which are imaginations, appear in the Self-light which is one, impartite and self-luminous? Even if they should appear, how is one to know that the Self alone remains ever unmoving?

The Self which is the lamp (1) shines of its own accord in the inner chamber, i.e., the causal body (7) that is endowed with nescience as the inner wall (4) and sleep as the door (2); when by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door is opened, there occurs a reflection of the Self in the egoity-mirror (5) that is placed next to the doorstep: mahat-tattva (3); the egoity-mirror thus illumines the middle chamber, i.e., the dream state (8). And through the windows which are the five cognitive sense-organs (6), the outer court, i.e., the waking state (9) appears. When, again, by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door gets shut, the egoity ceases along with waking and dream, and the Self alone ever shines. The example just given explains how the Self is unmoving, how there is difference between the Self and the egoity and how the three states of consciousness, the three bodies, etc., appear.