AYP Plus Lesson 254, The One is the Many and the Many are the One

Advanced Yoga Practices Plus
Main Lessons - Expanded and Interactive

Lesson 254 - The One is the Many and the Many are the One (Audio)

Feb 10, 2005

Q: If we reach samadhi, we are the God. My question is, because there is only one soul, and if I realize that I am God, everybody in the world should know automatically that he is God.

How come that's not happening? If Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa realizes, shouldn't I also realize?

A: Yes, you are right. As one person becomes enlightened, the many do experience the opening also. Full enlightenment comes as each soul turns and looks directly inward upon the divine Self. In other words, to complete the process, each must choose. It is individual karma, the residual effects of past actions, that delays the opening of individual souls to the inner light. These lingering obstructions in each nervous system can be removed through the methods of yoga.

Consider the one great inner light of pure bliss consciousness animating everyone. This is also described in the unified field theory of modern physics. The One is the many and the many are the One. Each of us can experience and express the fullness of the One. The human nervous system has this ability.

We are like windows - billions of windows to the great inner light. We are in need of some karmic cleaning so the glory of pure bliss consciousness can shine out through us into the world. If one window is being cleaned through daily yoga practices, then the light comes up, and this has a corresponding effect on all other windows. This inspires a conscious turning in toward Self-awareness by each individual window. Then there is the individual desire to clean the window, and it will be done through engagement in practices. Each person/window will choose according to the stirring of the inner desire, which is determined by the light coming up due to the practices of others, and the individual karmic obstructions still to be cleaned out.

There can be no doubt that more windows choosing to engage in self-cleaning will affect many more windows. So you are right that one window can facilitate the cleaning of many windows. So too do many windows being cleaned affect many more. And so on it goes like an expanding snowball rolling down a hill. That is the scenario occurring in this new era, with more and more people engaging in yoga practices. In that way, Ramakrishna's enlightenment is gradually becoming everyone's enlightenment, as is the enlightenment of all the saints and sages. Today, ordinary people meditating everywhere are cleaning the windows of everyone. It is a mass phenomenon that has been steadily rising on the planet over the last century.

Like that, our individual commitment to daily practices benefits everyone in the world. If you feel the inner desire, you don't have to wait for others to finish the job for you. You can clean your window yourself. Then everyone will be moving much faster toward the wonderful ideal you suggest.

The guru is in you.