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It is from Ego-ism and distinctions between mine and thine, that the illusion [distinction between individual ‘soul’ and the Cosmic Field] is produced. The senses and the object of the senses, as far as the mind can reach, are all an illusion. ... Knowledge, in which there is no particle of self-consciousness, sees the [Cosmic Field] equally in all things. ... That is to be called [individual] soul which through the power of delusion does not recognize itself as being really God [the Cosmic Field], the sender forth of delusion and the one goal.
The Ramayana of Tulsi-Das, Doha 11 - The Forest
One may think of such a deterministic view of life as being alarmingly defeatist. One might easily shrink in despondency from the knowledge that one is powerless to change destiny. For the ego, this is suicide.
To the contrary, this view is the ultimate liberator. We are liberated in the knowledge that we are free to perform our roles in society with the greatest of confidence and vigor since, by definition, our actions can never be “out of tune” with the cosmic order. Our actions, whatever they may be, are guided by the Cosmic Script of the forces of energy unleashed by the “Big Bang” and therefore, those actions can be played out with all the vibrancy, inner detachment, and energy of a great actor playing out his lines without the weight, the burden, of concern for the fruits of the actions of his character. The weight of the ego is lifted. This is freedom.
In the preceding pages, we have explained that everything in the universe is entirely preordained and that free will is an illusion. Yet, we now teach that one should do this, or not do that. Why should we engage in such activities if “free-will” is an illusion and we have no power to change what happens anyways ? Why should we continue to work, to act, to endeavor, to strive towards self-improvement and so forth? This question will continue to be addressed throughout this book indirectly, and as the reader re-reads he will no doubt begin to see the answer to this riddle. However, to make it easier, one can initially look at this apparent contradiction in the following way.
Each night we dream. We know that there is no reality in the dream itself, and yet we continue to dream night after night. Why do we do it if it isn’t real ? As the architect of the dream we have already determined its outcome, but still, the dream continues to evolve, and the characters we have created within the dream continue to act. We dream because it is a creative outlet for our inner thoughts. Similarly, we act in our greater dream of life simply because we enjoy it. It too is a creative outlet for our much greater selves. But as we mature, as in all creative pursuits, this begins ever so slowly to wear thin, and we begin to look for a way out of the dream - as it were, a way to “get out alive”.
Further, there is a second “apparent contradiction” which needs to be clarified (which the reader will also no doubt be able to come to terms with after some introspection). We speak of the illusion of separateness; that we are all actually a single indivisible entity, and yet, here I am now, writing to YOU (then by definition, YOU are separate from ME). How can we speak at times as if we are all One and at other times when it suits our fancy, speak of this and that, as “separate” entities ? Here again, we shall return to the dream analogy. You had a dream last night. Were YOU in the dream ? How many people were in your dream other than you - separate from YOU ? Were they individual “separate” people ? How could they be individual or separate when the dream was “inside” you, when You ARE the dream itself ? You created each one of those members of the dream. They were entirely made of your own One mind. There were no “individual - separate” people in the dream, it only seemed that way for the moment. Similarly, in this waking life, the individual people, animals, things, are just as real - or imaginary as the dream we dreamt last night. That is not to say that it is not real - of course it is real. This book is real, and your reading it right now is also real, but no more so, and no less so than “individual things” in your dream were also “real”. The dream did exist. We did experience the dream. We can and should examine the dream. It the same way, our waking life is real and the “individuality” that we perceive is real, but only to the same extent. It is not to be dismissed as an illusion, but rather understood for what it is - a very real reflection and creation of our Higher, Greater, Eternal Self Within.
When we were children, it was difficult to distinguish between our dreams and waking life. While we dreamt, we thought the events in the dream, and its characters, were real and indistinguishable from our waking life. It was only after awakening, that we realized that the waking state was different from the dream state we had just experienced. As we grew, we learned to differentiate the dream state from the waking state while we were asleep. We were able to view the dream from a distance and realize as it progressed that it was just a dream. As long as we did not become too absorbed in the dream we could awaken from it at will. Similarly, as the thought exercises are reviewed, and as the Ten Principles which are presented in Part III are followed, you will find that you are able to begin to view waking life with all of its illusions, in the same way that we have learned to view dreams - as “real” events of which we must remain aware, in which we must continue to participate, but from which we must also distance ourselves as we come to understand the relative illusory nature of what we are perceiving; the wonderful illusion of time, space and individuality - but an illusion never-the-less. Only then can we begin to see our true Selves, the Mother of all awareness, the creator of the illusion, the primordial singularity of the Big Bang, the Eternal Self which rests within.
One could also suppose perhaps, that as a result of our theory of the illusory nature of causality, we should take no responsibility for our actions. If everything, like the kinematics of flying debris from an explosion, is entirely predetermined, what have we to live for, or to take happiness in ? Can the mother be proud and happy with herself for the way she has raised her children ? Can the Nobel prize winner really congratulate himself for his hard work and achievements ? All of our achievements, or events, have according to our theory, already been preordained. It is satisfaction in such events that drives us to carry on in life, to strive for a better life, and to rest peacefully at night, knowing that we reached our goals, or with the thought that with some determination and will power, we will reach our goals which will lead to a higher level of contentment. In a pre-written play of life, what would we have to look forward to if the wheels of fate had in fact been placed into motion twelve billion years ago with no hope of change? Such a situation of helplessness could lead to despondency and even the loss of the will to live.
In fact, our theory of determinism, far from resulting in a despondent surrender from life, should result in a far greater joy and sense of inner peace in the knowledge that in reality we are free from the weight and burdens of making the right decisions both in trivial daily matters as well as in matters of substance. In such a deterministic universe, ours would be only to play the part on the stage of life. Like a blissful child reading his lines in a school play.
Furthermore, as the Swiss Photon exercise suggests, since all the universe could have been considered a single “entangled” entity at the moment of the Big Bang, then because of our intimate connection with what we can loosely call the “the quantum field” of the universe, which governs the deterministic outcome of events, then just as in the case of the “entangled” photons, we are constantly and instantaneously, on a deeper level being fed the information relating to the unfolding events of the universe, or in this analogy, the “lines to the play” without even the need of learning the lines !
Hence, we can be perpetually calm in the contentment that as actors on the stage, in honor or dishonor, bravery or cowardice, wealth or poverty, the scenes are not of our own making. Rather, we are playing our roles with the greatest of vigor and vitality and professionalism without individual, personal attachment to the outcome of the scene.