Consciousness Is Truth: The World Is An Illusion

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The scientists have proposed that the universe came into existence by accident. And due to a series of coincidences, life and consciousness evolved from inert matter. Different religions express faith that God created this universe, and He is controlling it from heaven. In this book it is propounded that both the views do not stand careful scrutiny. It is argued, in a systematic way, that the universe, comprising of space, time, matter, human body, ego, mind and intellect, is not real. Consciousness is the only reality behind this illusory appearance of the world. Everything else is a superimposition on this Consciousness. Removal of ignorance, through self-knowledge, is the only solution for all the ills facing the society. It is beyond caste, creed, race, religion and nationality. This book is meant for all age groups. The young will learn how to lead a happy life, and the old will learn how to die peacefully.

The author holds a Post Graduate Degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for thirty-one years. He has worked closely with Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on the SLV-3 project. He has also worked as a Project Manager on the PSLV project at VSSC, Trivandrum. At ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, he worked as a Senior Scientist, on Micro Gravity and Satellite Recovery Project. After retirement from ISRO, he worked as a Professor in different engineering colleges, at Bangalore, for a decade. This is his fifth book and he is currently interested in pursuing science and spirituality.

All living beings that are born on this Earth strive to lead a happy life. But, little analysis shows that this happiness is temporary in nature because unhappy moments always surround few happy moments. Animals might content with such transient happiness, but man, with his inquisitive nature, can imagine the happiness that lasts for ever. This state is known as Bliss, which is the goal of human beings, and can be achieved in the current life if they make a determined effort. Just like a child looks for only toys, and not for gold or diamond; an ignorant man looks for only sensual pleasures in this materialistic world, and not liberation. This book is all about achieving this goal of Bliss and liberation.

In this universe we observe only three things: The God, who is responsible for this creation, the physical world (space, time and matter), and the observer, which includes each one of us.

Philosophers, around the globe, pondered for over centuries to understand the nature of God, who is behind the creation of this world comprising of living beings and non-living things. They succeeded in disciplining the society by inculcating the fear of God in the minds of its citizens. They conceptualised God who is in heaven, punishing the wrong doers and rewarding virtuous. But, in the process, they created many religions, with conflicting philosophies, which divided the societies and nations across the continents. The history of religious conflicts around the world is an ample proof. Therefore, the philosophers could not achieve their goal because of their limited knowledge about the nature of God.

The journey of life attains meaning and profundity when one is able to clearly distinguish between the real and the unreal, the spiritual and the corporal and consciousness and illusion. The great sage Adi Sankaracharya expressed this sagaciously and concisely in his Advaita philosophy when he said: "Brahma Satyam; Jagat Mithya" meaning "Only God is Real, rest is unreal."

From the earth's perspective, the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West but if we consider the solar system as a whole, there is no Sun rise or Sun set - only the ever glowing Sun. This is the Absolute Reality. What we observe from earth is empirical reality.

There is only one Absolute phenomenon in this Universe, the Supreme Consciousness, which we call God who is all-pervasive. This truth can be realized through self-knowledge, by careful scrutiny and contemplation that the world comprising space, time and matter and human beings comprising the physical body, senses, mind, intellect and ego are all unreal.

We are all generally caught up with much of the time with worldly pursuits, sensual gratifications, gross entertainment and enjoyment, meeting the demands of life. If we make our mind free, what we observe, today, in the present world, is the extremism in all walks of life. The peaceful society is threatened with extremists from all sides. Terrorism, rapes, intolerance to religious beliefs of another community, nuclear missiles, greed, climate change and global warming, droughts, floods, accidents, etc. Of all these extremes, what causes serious concern to the society is that anger, greed, jealousy, hatred, lust, violence which are reaching their limits. The world is going to witness cultural wars over religious beliefs, shortage of food and water in addition to border disputes. It is often said, when the unrighteousness in the society reaches the extreme, then only is the beginning of time of coming to an end of it, due to some social, economic or natural catastrophe.

The solution lies in transforming the mindset of people at large. This can happen only by imparting the right knowledge. Man is trying to go to the extremes in all field of knowledge to earn livelihood, but he is ignoring to know about his true nature. He is living without any purpose in life, forgetting that all species who live on this planet try to maximise their happiness. The Self-knowledge alone brings man self-control, peace of mind, equipoise, and eternal bliss.

God or Brahman is only one, even though people of different faiths worship him in different names and forms. He is absolute. We observe, in the world, anything that has name or form would perish one day or other. One can also observe, in this, so-called God created universe, nothing is eternal. Even stars are born and die after a fixed life span.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages