Book II – Chapter II – Brahman, Purusha, Ishwara— Maya, Prakriti, Shakti

SYNOPSIS Brahman, Purusha, Ishwara— Maya, Prakriti, Shakti An eternal and infinite and absolute Self is the foundation and the secret support that pervades all things. It reveals itself in three

Study Notes                                                        

Study Notes In the ordinary tongue of metaphysical thought we have to be content with a distant indication, an approximation by abstractions, which may still be of some service to

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 4      An absolute, eternal and infinite Self-existence, Self-awareness, Self-delight of being that secretly supports and pervades the universe even while it is also beyond it,

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 6      But, in fact, the cause of this impression must necessarily be sought not in anything illusory or fantastic in the Supreme or the universal

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 7      But the being and action of the Infinite must not be therefore regarded as if it were a magic void of all reason; there

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 8      It is evident that such a Consciousness and Will need not act in harmony with the conclusions of our limited reason or according to

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 9 Contd.., The realisation “I am That” is true, but we cannot safely proceed on it unless we realise also that all is That; our self-existence is

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 11      The same conciliation occurs everywhere, when we look with a straight and accurate look on the truth of the Reality. In our experience of

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 12 Contd.., It can be said of it that it would not be the infinite Oneness if it were not capable of an infinite multiplicity; but that

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 14      Our conception of the Infinite is formlessness, but everywhere we see form and forms surrounding us and it can be and is affirmed of

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 15      It becomes clear from these considerations that the coexistence of the Infinite and the finite, which is the very nature of universal being, is

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 17      The Identical to our notions is the Immutable; it is ever the same through eternity, for if it is or becomes subject to mutation

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 19      This, then, is the logic of the way of universal being of Brahman and the basic working of the reason, the infinite intelligence of

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 20      A second possibility of the Infinite Consciousness that must be admitted is its power of self-limitation or secondary self-formation into a subordinate movement within

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 21      But a third power or possibility of the Infinite Consciousness can be admitted, its power of self-absorption, of plunging into itself, into a state

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 22      This throws light incidentally on the opposition made by our minds between pure consciousness, pure existence, pure bliss and the abundant activity, the manifold

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 23      Brahman the Reality is the self-existent Absolute and Maya is the Consciousness and Force of this self-existence; but with regard to the universe Brahman

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 24      The Conscious Being, Purusha, is the Self as originator, witness, support and lord and enjoyer of the forms and works of Nature. As the

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 26      It is the Reality, the Self, that takes the position of the Conscious Being regarding and accepting or ruling the works of its own Nature.

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 28      The sharp opposition made between personality and impersonality by our mental way of thinking is a creation of the mind based on the appearances

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 30      If we regard this aspect of the one Reality and put it in close connection with the other aspects, we can get a complete

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 31      Again, if we remain absorbed in the Silence, the creative Consciousness and her works disappear into the Silence; Nature and the creation for us

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 32      A certain difficulty arises for our mind in reconciling these different faces or fronts of the One Self and Spirit, because we are obliged

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 34      One problem still remains to be solved, and it can be solved on the same basis; it is the problem of the opposition between

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 35      The original status is that of the Reality timeless and spaceless; Space and Time would be the same Reality self-extended to contain the deployment

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 37      In any case, if Spirit is the fundamental reality, Time and Space must either be conceptive conditions under which the Spirit sees its own

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 38 Contd.., But, in fact, Space also would appear by the mutual relation of Mind-Space and Matter- Space to be subjective; in other words, both are the

Study Notes PARAGRAPH 39 Contd.., For it can see the whole Time development from outside or from above the movement; it can take a stable position within the movement and