[Deepak ChopraModerator Upvotes: 60 votes@deepakchopra]

The question was asked by @aiden_cahill99, member of our YATU forum. Thank you Aiden!

Question:

“What does the body and brain of the homo sapiens play in all of this, how does this little organism become a subject of consciousness? Did the body and brain evolve in this universe before it was experienced by consciousness?

If so without consciousness to provide form to energy how could anything exist to be able to become a subject of consciousness? Does duality need a functioning organism or is that part of the illusion?”

As always, I welcome your comments! Please keep sending in your questions, making sure you use @question in your text!

Love,
Deepak

[Menas KafatosModerator Upvotes: 41 votes@menask]

Dear Aiden:

Body and brain are modes of experience, like everything else. To feel and experience the world of everyday experience, we possess body, senses, mind, psychic instrument, etc. They are all “part of us”, they don’t exist independently of us.

The illusion that Deepak refers to is the illusion of separate existence. Sometimes that term illusion causes confusion in our scientifically-minded world, as we may ask “then what is illusion”? The answer is, it is also an experience! No?

I prefer Saivism which, like non-dualist Vedanta, accepts Awareness as fundamental but does NOT reject the world. It takes everything in the world as part of Siva, manifesting as Sakti (the energy of creation, maintenance and reabsorption, concealment and Grace). Saivism states that Maya (illusion) is the greatest and most un-understood power of the Lord, Siva. Rather than rejecting Her (and we should be aware of that impossibility and also because she hilds the key to our own emancipation) we accept Her as the Divine Creativity.

Blessings,

Menas

[Menas KafatosModerator Upvotes: 41 votes@menask]

…she holds the key…

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