In this Sutra, Patanjali tells us that Ishvara (God) is a unit of consciousness just like us humans (Purushas).
The difference is that He is not bound by Klesas arising from Karma, while those of us
still involved in the cycle of evolution, are. We all eventually evolve and become free from the bindings of our
Karma upon attaining Kaivalya (Liberation), at which point the vehicle through which Karma works - known as Karmasaya -
is destroyed or burnt up.
From Human (Purusha) To God (Ishvara)
In what way then does
the consciousness of the Absolute - Lord of the entire Cosmos or Parabrahaman - differ
from the other liberated (Mukta) beings, and what happens when we climb the ladder of evolution?
To answer this question one needs to look at our Cosmos as a hierarchy of realms where each higher existence is governed by
a Consciousness that has evolved sufficiently to manage that realm. Within the Cosmos, there are infinite number of Universes and
within these Universes there are innumerable of Galaxies and within each Galaxy trillions of Solar Systems within which are
planets.
Within these planets, innumerable other types of beings live with their own unique individual consciousnesses.
According to Vedic science, planet earth alone has 8.4 million different species.
The whole process of the evolution is very comples and very very difficult.
The different types of people or groups that are available in the process of evolution. And the group that
the people are is the result of their effort and the direction in which they have chosen to embark.
The Absolute, or the Supreme Being, is the Consciousness that
pervades and sustains the entire Cosmos. All other
consciousnesses inherit the essence of the Absolute, but nevertheless, retain their personal
uniqueness as they evolve
towards liberation.
After Liberation
Liberation is not the end, but rather the first rung in the evolutionary process leading
to new vistas of further achievement.
We can hardly comprehend the nature of this process or the work which it involves but
that further stages do exist beyond Kaivalya is taken for granted in Occult Science.
The further unfoldment of consciousness which takes place in the evolutionary progress
beyond Kaivalya passes through many stages and culminates ultimately in that
tremendously high and glorious stage in which the Purusa becomes the presiding Deity
of a Solar system.
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As our consciousness evolves, we begin to occupy and manage higher
and higher offices in the hierarchies which govern and guide the various activities in
the Solar system. As a lberated being, one may incarnate as a Buddha or Christ, known as
Adhikari Purusas. Their lberated state can be imagined as a ladder the lower rung of which
rests on the rock of Kaivalya and the higher
end is lost in the unimaginable glory and splendour of Divine
Consciousness.
The office of Isvara is one of the highest rung of this
ladder. He is the Supreme Ruler of a Solar system or Brahmanda. It is in His Consciousness
that the Solar system lives, moves, and has its being.
The different planes of
the Solar system are His bodies and the powers working the machinery of the Solar
system are His powers. In short, He is the Reality whom we generally refer to as God.
Keep in mind that this is just one solar system among trillions. There are still many
stages of unfoldment in consciousness between an Ishwara (Diety of a Solar System), and
Parabrahman, the undifferentiated Ultimate Reality or God who generates,
pervades, and sustaines the entire Cosmos.
To think that the Presiding Deity of each of
these Solar systems is a Purusa Visesa who has passed through the evolutionary cycle
like each one of us and attained to that inconceivably high level lends a new significance to the
idea of human evolution by placing it on an entirely new basis. This possibility is open to each of
us and the study and practice of Yoga is one of the roads which take us there.