GITA FOR CHILDREN
PART 20
Continued
from the previous issue….
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Chapter – 8
19. ‘I now wish to tell you something about Creation and the Dissolution of the Universe, and the cycle of birth and death that takes place within it.’
20. ‘As a part of My never-ending Cosmic Drama, I create the Universe, let it run for a while, and then dissolve it. I then recreate it and later dissolve it once more. This goes on and on. This is all a part of My Leela or Divine Sport.’
21. ‘At the time of Creation, everything issues forth from Me, and at the time of dissolution everything comes back into Me.’
22. ‘The birth of the Universe occurs at what might be called the Cosmic Dawn and the dissolution occurs when Cosmic Night sets in.’
23. ‘Don’t imagine that the duration between dawn and nightfall is twelve hours. Where the Universe is concerned, this time span is billions of years.’
24. ‘Between Dissolution and the next Creation all the withdrawn beings are kept in a state of suspended animation as it were. They emerge once more when the next cycle of Creation occurs.’
25. ‘You will of course appreciate that though Universes might come and go, I go on forever. Once again I repeat that there is nothing beyond Me and I am what philosophers refer to as the Ultimate Ultimate.’ |
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26. ‘Turning now to the living beings, there are, as you know, millions of species. These have emerged as the result of a complex evolutionary process. It all might seem to have happened “quite naturally.” So it appears to those who do not enquire in depth. The wise know that every single aspect of evolution is a part of My Master Plan. There is nothing random about it, though it might seem so.’
27. ‘There are actually three strands of evolution in the Universe. The first is the strand that relates to the evolution of inanimate matter. It is as a result of this evolution that you have planets, stars, mountains, etc.’
28. ‘The second strand is connected with the origin of life and the evolution of species. Among the living species there is a distinct hierarchy. The plants are at the bottom. They cannot move about, have to feed themselves from the word go, and have no nervous system.’
29. ‘After the plants come the animals. They have a nervous system and also a brain, but with limited capacity. At the top of the to the pole is man. He is superior in every conceivable way.’
30. ‘Man is superior not merely in terms of brain capacity and creativity but because he alone can reach high levels of Consciousness. He alone can recognise God within, and it is on account of that he can exhibit Divine qualities and virtues.’
31. ‘In fact, there is something very interesting here. Though time is short, I cannot skip a reference to this. Arjuna, I wish to call attention to three important and inter-related things: Conscious, Conscience, and Consciousness. Presently I shall explain what these are, and you had better pay careful attention.’
32. ‘Being Conscious means being aware of the external world. Not only man but even animals have this capability. After Conscious comes Conscience. This, one might say, is the Voice of God within. It is through the Conscience that the Indweller speaks.’
33. ‘Obviously, animals do not have a Conscience. For them there is no such thing as right or wrong. But for humans there is, and that is why God in His Mercy speaks from within. That Voice of God is the Conscience. In other words, man can listen to God speaking to him from within.’ |
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34. ‘This Conscience is one aspect of the Universal Consciousness that is another name for the Omnipresent God. This Truth is not evident to ordinary mortals who may be good in their own way and listening to their Conscience. But when Wisdom dawns, they become aware that Conscience or Individual Consciousness as one might call it, is the same as the Universal Consciousness.’
35. ‘This Truth is described in the Vedas through the statement: Prajnanum Brahma, meaning that the Individual and Universal Consciousness are one and the same. There is another Vedic declaration that also asserts that the Self within is the same as the Universal Self, meaning the same God resides in all. This says: Ayam Atma Brahma, which essentially means that the God within and without are one and the same.’
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36. ‘This Universal Consciousness is Supreme. It is that which is also called the Atma, God, etc. This I have told you before but since the point is important, I stress it again.’
37. ‘The Atma or the Universal Consciousness is the source of Creation. In the entities in Creation, aspects of this Universal Consciousness show up in a limited manner in the lower species. In animals, for example, it shows up merely as the ability to be conscious of the world outside.’
38. ‘In humans it manifests additionally as the Conscience within that acts as the guide to life. But if the human is evolved, he attains the state of what may be called Constant Integrated Awareness. That is the person sees God everywhere, in everything, and all the time. In other words, he becomes one with the Universal Consciousness.’
39. Arjuna asks, ‘ Krishna, could I put it this way? In life one must first be Conscious of one’s Conscience and from there rise to the level of Universal Consciousness?’ |
40. Expressing delight, Krishna exclaims, ‘Arjuna, that’s great! You are now beginning to get the hang of things. Good show indeed and keep it up!’
To Be Continued...
– Heart2Heart Team
