"
This does not imply annihilation of identity, _absorption_ of
consciousness, although it has been so interpreted by many students. On the
contrary, instead of losing consciousness of the Self (which is not merely
the personality), we _find_ the Real Self.
As an adult we realize more consciousness than we do as infants. Not that
we possess more consciousness. We cannot acquire consciousness as we
accumulate _things_. We can not add one iota to the sum of consciousness,
but we can and do uncover portion upon portion of the vast area of
consciousness which _is_.
Says the Dhammapada:
"As kinsmen, friends and lovers salute a man who has been long away and
returns safe from afar; in like manner his good deeds receive him who has
done good, and who has gone from this world to the other, as kinsmen
receive a friend on his return."
If this state of _mukti_ were annihilation of individual consciousness it
would hardly be an incentive to do good deeds, except that good deeds in
themselves bring happiness, but if the bringing of happiness did not also
bring with it a larger consciousness, it would not be true happiness, but
merely a _condition_, and conditions are always subject to change.
Pages:
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119