You and I experience the miracle of consciousness every day of our lives, but often fail to notice or appreciate it. Yes, human beings are conscious, and we are conscious of being conscious. However, some scientists will tell us that consciousness is no miracle; it is merely a coincidental artifact of the interaction between our neurological constitution and the concrete world. In other words, the depths of meaning, insight, and love that you and I experience have no real or ultimate value; they are just the result of electrochemical processes within our brains. But how can something entirely material and mechanical in nature (the brain) give rise to awareness, to concern for others, to empathy, to courage, to creativity, to forgiveness, to conscience, to intentionality? Yogananda tells us, “Just as the river has a source, so the river of consciousness has a source. It descends from the consciousness of God that is beyond all creation.” Translation: the brain does not create consciousness. Rather, the brain is the physical organ that enables the consciousness of God and the soul to manifest within creation. Said another way, the human nervous system allows us to download information into the material world from the spiritual or transcendental realms. To put it in spiritual terms, our individual minds arise from the Mind of God. They are a participation in the One, Divine Mind, the Self Of All Selves. The light that makes understanding, meaning, and illumination possible is nothing other than the light of God’s Consciousness, the spark of the Divine within us. Your mind and my mind are nothing other than God’s loving and generous footprint!
May I never take
The holy temple
Of the brain
And nervous system
Of this body for granted!
