It will be easily seen that the
existence of consciousness is necessary for the differentiation between
subject and object. Hence these two phases are presented in six
different conditions, and in the last state there being no consciousness
as above stated, the differentiation in question ceases to exist. The
number of these various conditions is different in different systems of
philosophy. But whatever may be the number of divisions, they all lie
between perfect unconsciousness at one end of the line and our present
state of consciousness or Bahipragna at the other end. To understand
the real nature of these different states of consciousness, I shall
request my readers to compare the consciousness of the ordinary man with
the consciousness of the astral man, and again compare the latter with
the consciousness of the spiritual Ego in man. In these three
conditions the objective universe is not the same. But the difference
between the Ego and the non-Ego is common to all these conditions.
Consequently, admitting the correctness of Mill's reasoning as regards
the subject and object of our present plane of consciousness, the great
Adwaitee thinkers of India have extended the same reasoning to other
states of consciousness, and came to the conclusion that the various
conditions of the Ego and the non-Ego were but the appearances of one
and the same entity--the ultimate state of unconsciousness.
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