Question:
Why is my awareness and senses only limited to my body? Why can’t I experience the entire cosmos? Why can I only see through my eyes? Why can’t I see through other people’s eyes? Why is there this separation?
Sri Prabhuji:
1. Why is my awareness and senses only limited to my body ?
Awareness is not limited to body. Entire universe is appearing in awareness. Everything in the universe appears in awareness only. No awareness, no universe. For seeing the universe, awareness in the form of attention flows through sense organs.
Why can’t I experience the entire cosmos ?
Where is the experience of entire cosmos taking place ? It is happening within your brain. The infinite cosmos is a small image in the brain. All our life we are seeing the image of the world in the brain only. We have never seen any wolrd outside. Our body is also image in the brain. Brain is appearance in mind. An example: When you see the dream world which is outside of you, was there anything outside ? Dream world was in your mind only. Similarly in the waking state, the so called objective world is nothing but appearance in the mind only.
Another way of looking at this thinking that there is objective cosmos out there we can contemplate in following way:
You are experiencing the entire cosmos already through your five sense organs (eyes, ears…. skin etc). The sense organs are limited in nature. To the extent of abiity of sense organs you are experiencing the cosmos. This is the objective experience of cosmos. Using telescope, microscope, the ability of sense organs can be extended to experience deeper aspect of cosmos.
Why can I see only through my eyes ?
Aliveness in the body is reflection of awareness in the body – this is life. A dead body cannot reflect awarenss. Awareness is not property of body. Awareness reflects in the body. For reflection – reflecting surface is needed. Reflecting surface is the mind. Mind in human body reflects awareness this is called chidabhasa. Secondary reflection from chidabhasa makes body alive. Reflected light flows through the alive body and sense organs and illuminates the world.
Why can’t I see through the eyes of the other ?
Each body mind complex is like an instrument say microscope or telescope. Microscope can see small objects while telescope can see distant objects. While microscope an telescope are inert instruments, body-mind complex of individual is alive-animated instrument. Body mind complex sees through the eyes and thinks I am the seer due to the consciousness reflected in the body mind. In reality the “seer” is not body-mind. It is the awareness which sees. There is a confusion of body-mind- personality seeing the world. In reality awareness sees through the body-mind-personality instrument. Why cant I see through the others eyes is like a telescope asking why I can’t see through the microscope.
Why I can’t see through the eyes of the other ?
The real seer is awareness. Awareness is not personal. Awareness is non dual. Awareness alone appears as everything in the universe. Just like saying water alone appears as ocean and wave. From the point of view of awareness (absolute) reality there is no other. Hence there is no subject-object duality. There is nothing to see in the absence of subject object duality.
We can also say that awreness is the real seer through all the eyes of all living beings. It is “ALL SEEING”. When there is all seeing – there is no seeing at all. For example if we see an apple, apple has a shape and form. Imagine apple being seen from all angles, inside outside – then there is no really seeing.
From this perspective we can very well say “I” see through all the eyes of all beings. Here I means pure awareness – not individual.