Every thing or object in the manifested universe is a product of Consciousness, both during the illusion when the manifestation appeared to be “real” and after the realization of the Truth.We are nothing but Consciousness, and never have been anything else. Perhaps it would be easier to “understand” the Truth if it is conceived that there never has been any “we” at any time, and that all there is— and has ever been— is Consciousness. “We” think of ourselves, consciously or unconsciously, as sentient beings and therefore as separate from the manifestation: “we” are the subject and the rest of the manifestation is the object. The reality is that “we”, as manifested phenomena, are actually nothing but a part of the one manifested universe. What makes us think of ourselves as separate is the fact that the apparent universe becomes known to us, as sentient beings, through sentience operating through congnitive faculties. This “sentience,” as an aspect of Consciousness in Itself, is a direct manifestation of the whole-mind. And it is for this reason that we cannot get rid of the deepest feeling that “I” am other than the manifested appearance. And so indeed we are, but the illusion (the maya) consists in the fact that instead of collectively considering ourselves as sentience which enables us to cognize the manifestation (including sentient beings) which has appeared in Consciousness, we consider ourselves as separate individual entities. And therein lies our suffering and bondage.
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