Today’s subject of discourse is “Omni-Reflective Consciousness” (Pratisaḿvedii Puruśa). Who is pratisaḿvedii? When an object, due to its objective existence, [[is substantiated]] as the counterpart of [[another action or as the counterpart of an existence, that object]] is called [[prati]]saḿvedii. For instance, when the sound wave is reflected on an object we hear the echo of the original sound. The object [[on which the]] original wave is reflected is called [[pratisaḿvedii]] [reflecting plate]. Such an action is called saḿvedana. The reaction to this action is called pratisaḿvedana. That is, the action is saḿvedana and the reaction is pratisaḿvedana.

When human beings proceed towards the cause from the effect along the path of the law of causation, they finally reach a stage where they only see the effect and not the cause. For example, the cause of a tree is a seed and the cause of a seed is the tree. A stage is reached when the cause of the seed is no longer known – the intellect fails to proceed any further. The Supreme cause remains beyond the mind’s periphery on the other side of creation. The human mind cannot reach it because it remains embedded in Parama Puruśa. Whenever there is a reflection, there must be a reflecting plate. Similarly, whenever there is pratisaḿvedana there must be a pratisaḿvedii. Thus in the process of analysis, the last pratisaḿvedii will be none other than Parama Puruśa.

One of the meanings of the Saḿskrta root-verb krś is to determine one’s existence. Krśna means the entity on whom the existence of all other entities depends. Krśna is the Supreme pratisaḿvedii.

One can never reach the Supreme pratisaḿvedii by following the path of analysis. This path causes one to believe that one’s mother, father, and even the limbs of one’s own body are all separate entities. The path of dharma or spirituality is the path of synthesis. It is the path which synthesizes the many into one, and helps one to discover the Supreme unity in the midst of diversity. The one who treads the path of synthesis ultimately discovers that what was once multiplicity has been transformed into the supreme singularity.

In the first stage of synthesis one will have to consolidate all the expressions of the sense organs and then withdraw them into citta. Suppose you see something. The original waves of an object assimilated by your eye organ will be reflected in your citta. Only then will you be able to perceive that object. But if those waves assimilated by your eyes are not properly reflected in citta you can not see anything. In the next stage the existence of citta is substantiated by ahaḿtattva or doer-I, its reflecting, plate. Thus, on the path of synthesis citta will have to be merged in ahaḿtattva. In the subsequent stage all the faculties of ahaḿtattva will have to be merged into mahatattva, the existential I. And in the fourth stage the faculties of mahatattva will have to be merged in jiivátmá or unit consciousness. The pratisaḿvedii of jiivatma is Parama Puruśa. Thus in the process of synthesis human beings move towards Parama Puruśa.

What is the meaning of the term Puruśa? The first meaning is, Pure shete ya sa Puruśah. That is, the entity that lies quiescent in the psycho-physical structure of another entity is called Puruśa. You must have noticed that in a house where a marriage ceremony is being held different people perform certain tasks. The head of the family, however, does not do any specific task, but supervises the proper completion of all tasks. Similarly, Puruśa, the Cognitive Faculty, lies hidden in the physical body. Without His wish no organ of the body can function. The second meaning of Puruśa is Purasi tiśt́hati ya sa puruśah: The entity that remains before all other entities is Puruśa.

The import of both the above definitions is the same: Parama Puruśa is the Supreme Pratisaḿvedii.

You may have thought about the primordial cause of this creation. Human beings have been trying to discover this ultimate cause in various ways. Primitive human beings had an undeveloped intellect. To them rainfall, the dawn and rice were the symbols of gods and goddesses. Matter was of paramount importance in their lives. It was long afterwards that human beings realized that Parma Puruśa is the Supreme cause of creation.

Kálah svabhávo niyatiryadrccha
Bhútáni yonih Puruśa iti cintyáh
Saḿyoga eśaḿ na tvátmabhavát
Dátmá pyaniishah sukha duhkha hetoh

“Time, nature, fate, accident and the five fundamental factors – the combination of all these was thought to be the Supreme Cause of creation.”

While trying to discover the original cause of creation human beings thought that it must be eternal tempos. But when intellect developed they discovered that hypothesis to be incorrect because time is nothing but the mental measurement of the motivity of the action. If there is no action there is no question of any measurement of time. If the moon does not move around the earth, no question of days, months or years can arise. Hence time is not the original cause. Yet out of inquisitiveness human beings continued to search for the ultimate cause of creation. A question arose in their minds:

Is nature the ultimate cause? The answer is no. Prakrti, the Supreme Operative Principle, functions according to the limited freedom it has been granted by Puruśa, the Supreme Cognitive Faculty. Puruśa is the Transcendental Entity; Prakrti is merely the immanent power of Puruśa. Shaktih sa shivasya shaktih. The style in which Puruśa functions is called nature. Nature cannot act independently and thus cannot be regarded as the absolute cause of creation, the Supreme Reflecting Plate.

Is fate (niyati) the primordial cause of creation? The word niyati means “fate” or “providence.” The accumulated reaction of the action you once did will definitely be expressed one day. This reaction is called niyati. It is true that human beings are controlled by niyati or fate. The environment into which one is born is the most congenial for the expression of the unexpressed reactive momenta, and the circumstances in which one exists must be accepted as the result of one’s actions – this constitutes one’s fate or niyati. According to their fate, people are born under particular planetary positions, but they are not guided by those planets: they are guided by their own fate which they themselves have created. Hence niyati or fate also cannot be the Supreme Reflecting One (carama pratisaḿvedii). I would like to add further that those who are fatalists are also misguided. It is wrong to leave everything to fate without taking any initiative at the time of grave danger. Once a person has created his or her fate through his or her own actions, it is certainly not proper to completely surrender to that self-created fate.

If time (kála), nature (svabháva) and fate (niyati) are not the Supreme Factor, then is action (yadrcchá) the primordial cause? In fact in the world there is no accident – everything is an incident. The seed of a mango becomes a tree in due course, but when the cause is quickly transformed into effect, we call it an “accident” because we can see the effect but not its cause. In fact, the concept of accident is a defective notion created by our ignorance. Many people consider an earthquake to be an accident, but this is incorrect. Perhaps a huge stone took ten million years to move from one place to another, but when it really did fall then the action of falling took place in only a few seconds; whereas the cause of the action was preparing to reach this consummate state for many years. Hence you should bear in mind that this vast and varied universe was not created accidentally, otherwise in the process of analysis we could have attributed it to accident. The exact equivalent of the Saḿskrta word yadrcchá hat́hát is that which literally means “suddenly” – an unwise action done on the spur of the moment. The sound “ha” is the acoustic root of the sun, and of the Vishuddha Cakra, and the sound “t́ha” is the acoustic root of the Ájiṋá Cakra. The portion of mind which regulates the body and the physical energy is symbolised by the sound “t́ha”. When “ha” controls “t́ha” it is called “hat́ha yoga”; that is, to control one’s subtle energy through physical energy. Hence accident or yadrcchá which is only a relative concept can never be the primordial cause, and it cannot be the Omni-Reflecting Cognitive Principle either.

Then are the quinquelemental factors of matter the primordial cause? The physical body composed of five fundamental factors is activated by the physical nerve cells and nerve fibres, which are in turn controlled by the mind. The mind is the over-all controller. To consider this material universe the primordial cause of creation is certainly erroneous. The five fundamental factors emerge from the Cosmic Mind and from the five fundamental factors the unit minds emerge. By utilizing powerful bombs made by these unit minds, we can utilize matter at our own will to even destroy huge mountains. So how can matter which is created and ruled by mind be called the absolute factor? It, too, cannot be said to be the Supreme Reflecting Principle. Those who consider matter as the primordial cause are living in a fool’s paradise.

Then is the unit consciousness (jiivátma) the primordial cause of creation? The unit consciousness is so assailed by its illusory bondages of Prakrti, by its actional bondages, and by the bondages of the guńas, that it cannot transcend its own labyrinthine limitations. Although the witnessing “I” (jiivátma) of the microcosmic mind can be the witnessing “I” of the Macrocosmic mind as well, yet in ordinary circumstances that witnessing “I” is confined within the limits of a particular unit mind. Under these circumstances the iivdma or unit consciousness which is associated with the unit mind and assailed by the consequences of the actions of the unit mind, cannot be called the Supreme Reflecting Principle, because it is coloured by the colour of the unit mind. For instance, when a red rose is placed before a mirror, the mirror becomes red. Likewise the unit consciousness also becomes assailed due to its proximity to the unit mind. Here the flower represents the unit “I” and the mirror the unit consciousness. The unit consciousness, because of its closest association with the unit existential feeling, gets inseparably associated with the joys and sorrows of the microcosms.

Klesha-karma-vipákáshayaeraparámrśt́a puruśavisheśa Iishvara.

Until the jiivátmá or unit consciousness is unassailed by dint of sádhaná or spiritual practice, it cannot be considered to have attained the rank of Iishvara. Hence the unit consciousness also cannot be considered as the Supreme Reflecting Principle, the primordial cause of creation.

What is the actual Pratisaḿvedii Puruśa? The scriptures say,

Kśaraḿ pradhánamamrtákśaraḿ harah kśarátmanáviishate deva ekah.
Tasyabhidhyánád yojanát tattvabhábádbhúyaschánte vishvamáyá nivrttih.

The instrumental cause of the metamorphosis of this universe is the three principles of Prakrti. Prakrti is an entity which is doing something, but it cannot be the material cause or the efficient cause because behind the actional faculty of Prakrti there is no scope for any moral principle. Shakti or energy itself is a blind force – if it is not supported by intellect or prajiṋá it is always crude and static. Suppose an electric hammer is being operated, and a child accidentally inserts its tender hand under the hammer. The hammer will automatically smash it – its blind force will not spare the innocent child’s hand. Hence the sádhaná of Prakrti divorced from the touch of Shiva (consciousness) is highly dangerous. The Cognitive Principle itself is both the material cause and the efficient cause of creation.

In the flow of creation the Cognitive Principle is also inseparably associated with the Creative Force. Although the Cognitive Principle is not the enjoyer of the fruits of action, yet it maintains the closest association with the Operative Force, and as such it cannot be the Supreme Reflecting Principle (caram prati-saḿvedii). Hence only the unmanifested Supreme Cognition which is above both the Cognitive Principle and the Operative Force can be the Supreme Reflecting Principle, because when we reach both the mutable and immutable (kśara and akśara) in the path of synthesis towards the One, we notice that in the previous stage both of them have emanated from the unmanifested Supreme Cognition (nirakśara). This unmanifested Supreme Cognition is the Supreme Reflecting Principle. Hence the unit consciousness will have to proceed from matter to mind to consciousness, and from consciousness to the Supreme Cognition. All human beings are endowed with this capacity to move forward towards the Supreme Cognition. You all have come from the Supreme Entity, and you will all finally return unto It. That Supreme Reflecting Principle is the highest desideratum of your life.