Evolution and Involution of Consciousness based on Spiritual Wisdom and Science
This post is intended to be summary of the poster presented by Mani Sundaram and Prem Sundaram at the Science and Non Duality (SAND) 2016 conference. If you would like the full PDF of the poster below click HERE.
Summary
Consciousness is fundamental — contrary to most of today’s western/modern scientists who still try to compute consciousness, all the major eastern religions and philosophies agree on one thing — Consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe and existed before, well, pretty much anything. It is the universe.
The true nature and highest, most subtle, consciousness is present in all of us (‘man’) but is hidden under the veils of mind and matter. This state is known as Involution of Consciousness. What causes this involution? The process of the evolution of creation. And as we’ll understand, the evolution of the levels of creation is directly paralleled by the descending of consciousness from higher to lower levels. So in a sense they are inextricably linked and one implies the other.
And with this knowledge, why do you care? Well, the point is that to be happy we must focus and allow our inner higher spirit to be allowed evolve and connect back to the higher levels of consciousness that exist in the universe. True happiness comes from self-realization, and is not found in the material plane.
When we understand that consciousness descended many levels from the highest region of the Spirit, through to the region of the Universal Mind, and through the region of Pind (physical) — and that this is the process of the evolution of creation, we realize that our goal is to connect back to the highest spiritual region.
Now we can understand that the ‘world’ around us actually consists of 3 regions, (Spiritual, Mind and Physical) and that it is the act of the descending of consciousness (in ways we are still to understand) that manifested and created this universe around us.
Now, here we are as humans at one of the lowest creation or consciousness levels in the universe — but all is not lost!
The nature of true self or spirit is known as ‘Sat Chit Anand’ — (translated as Truth, Knowldge, Bliss) — the force or energy of the primordial consciousness or Supreme Being or Brahman. Nature and the Universe is perfect — and we are truly spiritual beings — so much so that Man is a perfect Microcosm of the Macrocosm — meaning that we are a fractal, a hologram of the entire universe and we have the capabilities, the portals, to connect and communicate to the highest spiritual state. And we can reach this through appropriate methods of meditation and inner intuition. Just as the entire Macrocosm consists of three regions, so does man — spiritual, mind and physical regions in this Microcosm that make it a perfect fractal or reflection of the entire universe, Macrocosm.
As consciousness descended, from a unity and non-dual nature, to the lowest levels (in Hinduism there are 18 levels of consciousness) of material consciousness, ego and duality, it is important to realize that the ‘consciousness’ we perceive is not at all the ultimate truth or reality, and that we have the capability to remove the layers of ignorance and connect back to our highest self and the ultimate supreme being consciousness.
Mani Sundaram says it like this:
‘One can understand how our Spirit is hidden under different sheaths. Suppose you are bathing in sunshine lying on an arm chair in your garden and enjoying the tranquility of it. Suddenly a wandering cloud comes on the sun and hides it, stopping the nice sun shine coming to you. You are not in direct contact with it. Now you are experiencing it under a shadow. More layers of cloud cover the Sun,you loose sight of it altogether as it happens in a rainy day. Now you also loose tranquility. But the Sun has not moved from its place or changed.
What has happened? The same thing has happened to the supreme being, pure spiritual consciousness. It is there for us to rediscover by uncovering the different sheaths, and this is done through meditation’.
