by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 37
March. 2004

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 11

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

Whenever a change takes place how do we become aware that there has been a change? That awareness comes from the power within us that makes us aware about everything. We cognise a change. That power which helps us to cognise all changes is our 'consciousness' and we call it chetana. With this chetana we cognise all things around us, all activities that are taking place.

But we ourselves are not perfect yet in this exercise. We all have limits. We are aware of only that much, that our ignorance - our ajnanata- will allow us. We are prisoners within the limits of our ignorance. To be able to become aware or conscious of things beyond our limits or to expand our horizon of knowledge, we need a higher chetana a super-consciousness. If we extend this concept, that consciousness which is aware of everything around without any limit is Bramhan. That is what the upanishad says:

Chetanaschetanaanaam- the higher consciousness above all limited consciousness. That is Bramhan.

This chetana or consciousness that we talk about, makes us understand that nothing is indeed truly unreal. Nothing is false. But all are real and true only under specific conditions of time and environment. They have a conditional reality. Time changes, conditions change and they vanish. Only Bramhan has unconditional, absolute reality, providing the substratum over which all changes are perceived. He is the calmness of deep ocean supporting all the waves and tides on its surface.