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Individual consciousness

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

Kṛṣṇa has maintained spiritual individuality all along; if He is accepted as an ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, then His Bhagavad-gītā has no value as authoritative scripture.
BG 2.12, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa affirms His individuality in the past and confirms His individuality in the future also. He has confirmed His individuality in many ways, and impersonal Brahman has been declared to be subordinate to Him. Kṛṣṇa has maintained spiritual individuality all along; if He is accepted as an ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, then His Bhagavad-gītā has no value as authoritative scripture. A common man with all the four defects of human frailty is unable to teach that which is worth hearing. The Gītā is above such literature.

Each and every body is the embodiment of an individual soul, and the symptom of the soul's presence is perceived as individual consciousness.
BG 2.17, Translation and Purport:

That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.

This verse more clearly explains the real nature of the soul, which is spread all over the body. Anyone can understand what is spread all over the body: it is consciousness. Everyone is conscious of the pains and pleasures of the body in part or as a whole. This spreading of consciousness is limited within one's own body. The pains and pleasures of one body are unknown to another. Therefore, each and every body is the embodiment of an individual soul, and the symptom of the soul's presence is perceived as individual consciousness. This soul is described as one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair point in size.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

The Supersoul, which is situated in all bodies as the friend of the individual soul, is conscious of all bodies. That is the difference between supreme consciousness and individual consciousness.
BG 13.34, Purport:

Thus consciousness is the proof of the presence of the soul, as sunshine or light is the proof of the presence of the sun. When the soul is present in the body, there is consciousness all over the body, and as soon as the soul has passed from the body there is no more consciousness. This can be easily understood by any intelligent man. Therefore consciousness is not a product of the combinations of matter. It is the symptom of the living entity. The consciousness of the living entity, although qualitatively one with the supreme consciousness, is not supreme, because the consciousness of one particular body does not share that of another body. But the Supersoul, which is situated in all bodies as the friend of the individual soul, is conscious of all bodies. That is the difference between supreme consciousness and individual consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

All transcendentalists other than devotees make no distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul because they miscalculate the Superconsciousness and the individual consciousness to be one and the same.
SB 3.5.4, Purport:

All transcendentalists other than devotees make no distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul because they miscalculate the Superconsciousness and the individual consciousness to be one and the same. Such miscalculation by the nondevotees makes them unfit to receive any direction from within, and therefore they are bereft of the direct cooperation of the Lord. After many, many births, when such a nondualist comes to sense that the Lord is worshipable and that the devotee is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, then only can he surrender unto the Lord, Vāsudeva. Pure devotional service begins from that point. The process of understanding the Absolute Truth adopted by the misguided nondualist is very difficult, whereas the devotee's way of understanding the Absolute Truth comes directly from the Lord, who is pleased by devotional service.

The impersonalists misinterpret the theory of reflection, and thus they wrongly accept the individual consciousness as the supreme consciousness.
SB 3.5.45, Purport:

But there are many so-called yogīs who have no concern with the Lord but are only concerned with consciousness, which they accept as the final realization. Such realization of consciousness is taught by Bhagavad-gītā within only a few minutes, whereas the so-called yogīs take continuous years to realize it because of their offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord. The greatest offense is to deny the existence of the Lord as separate from the individual souls or to accept the Lord and the individual soul as one and the same. The impersonalists misinterpret the theory of reflection, and thus they wrongly accept the individual consciousness as the supreme consciousness.

The theory of the reflection of the Supreme can be clearly understood without difficulty by any sincere common man. When there is a reflection of the sky on the water, both the sky and the stars are seen within the water, but it is understood that the sky and the stars are not to be accepted on the same level. The stars are parts of the sky, and therefore they cannot be equal to the whole. The sky is the whole, and the stars are parts. They cannot be one and the same. Transcendentalists who do not accept the supreme consciousness as separate from the individual consciousness are as offensive as the materialists who deny even the existence of the Lord.

The individual consciousness is advised to dovetail with the supreme consciousness, as instructed by the Lord in Bhagavad-gītā.
SB 3.6.7, Purport:

The monist believes that there is only one consciousness, whereas the sātvatas, or the devotees, believe that although there is undoubtedly one consciousness, they are one because there is agreement. The individual consciousness is advised to dovetail with the supreme consciousness, as instructed by the Lord in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66): sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. The individual consciousness (Arjuna) is advised to dovetail with the supreme consciousness and thus maintain his conscious purity. It is foolish to try to stop the activities of consciousness, but they can be purified when they are dovetailed with the Supreme. This consciousness is divided into three modes of self-identification according to the proportion of purity: ādhyātmika, or self-identification with the body and mind, ādhibhautika, or self-identification with the material products, and ādhidaivika, or self-identification as a servant of the Lord. Of the three, ādhidaivika self-identification is the beginning of purity of consciousness in pursuance of the desire of the Lord.

The individual soul's consciousness cannot act in superconsciousness. This superconsciousness can be achieved, however, by dovetailing individual consciousness with the consciousness of the Supreme.
SB 3.15.45, Purport:

I can understand what is going on within my limited body, but I cannot feel what is going on in another's body. I am present throughout my body by my consciousness, but my consciousness is not present in another's body. The Supersoul, or Paramātmā, however, being present everywhere and within everyone, is also conscious of everyone's existence. The theory that the soul and the Supersoul are one is not acceptable because it is not confirmed by authoritative Vedic literature. The individual soul's consciousness cannot act in superconsciousness. This superconsciousness can be achieved, however, by dovetailing individual consciousness with the consciousness of the Supreme. This dovetailing process is called surrender, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. From the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā we learn very clearly that Arjuna, in the beginning, did not want to fight with his brothers and relatives, but after understanding Bhagavad-gītā he dovetailed his consciousness with the superconsciousness of Kṛṣṇa.

We have personal experience of consciousness, for it is spread all over the body; in every hair follicle of our body we can feel consciousness. This is individual consciousness.
SB 3.26.3, Purport:

The Lord is described as the soul, or spirit. What is the definition of spirit? Spirit is perceivable everywhere. Brahman means "great." His greatness is perceived everywhere. And what is that greatness? Consciousness. We have personal experience of consciousness, for it is spread all over the body; in every hair follicle of our body we can feel consciousness. This is individual consciousness. Similarly, there is superconsciousness. The example can be given of a small light and the sunlight. The sunlight is perceived everywhere, even within the room or in the sky, but the small light is experienced within a specific limit. Similarly, our consciousness is perceived within the limit of our particular body, but the superconsciousness, or the existence of God, is perceived everywhere. He is present everywhere by His energy.

From the total energy, the mahat-tattva, I have manifested the false ego, the three modes of material nature, the five material elements, the individual consciousness, the eleven senses and the material body.
SB 3.32.29, Translation and Purport:

From the total energy, the mahat-tattva, I have manifested the false ego, the three modes of material nature, the five material elements, the individual consciousness, the eleven senses and the material body. Similarly, the entire universe has come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Supreme Lord is described as mahat-pada, which means that the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva, is lying at His lotus feet. The origin or the total energy of the cosmic manifestation is the mahat-tattva. From the mahat-tattva all the other twenty-four divisions have sprung, namely the eleven senses (including the mind), the five sense objects, the five material elements, and then consciousness, intelligence and false ego.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Kṛṣṇa points out that every soul is individual soul, every soul. And that is our experience, that every one of us, we have got some individual consciousness, not that my consciousness is just equal to your consciousness.
Lecture on BG 2.13 -- New York, March 11, 1966:

Now, here some philosophical question may be raised. There are two classes of philosophers, that after liberation, after getting out of this body, the soul amalgamates with the Supreme Soul. That question we have already discussed. Still, there is no harm in discussing it again because any, I mean to say, substantial knowledge, if it is discussed one after another, twice, thrice, it is better. Now, Kṛṣṇa points out that every soul is individual soul, every soul. And that is our experience, that every one of us, we have got some individual consciousness, not that my consciousness is just equal to your consciousness. I do not know what is going in your soul. We are all individual souls. But according to Māyāvādī philosophers, they say, "Just like the sky, the ether"—ether is everywhere, within your body and within mine, within everyone's—that "the ether has taken a form due to this particular body, but when the body is vanquished, the ether, I mean to say, amalgamates with the greater ether."

The conclusion is that the individual consciousness should surrender to the supreme consciousness and act accordingly. That is the position of standing on the conscious plane.
Lecture on BG 2.51-55 -- New York, April 12, 1966:

So superconsciousness and individual consciousness. So our relationship, the superconsciousness and individual consciousness, is eternal, eternal. They cannot be, I mean to say, separated. Therefore my position is... Just like there is superior one and the inferior one. Inferior one is subordinate to the superior one, and inferior one is to act according to the superior one. Just like it is taught here that Kṛṣṇa is the superconsciousness; He's trying to convince Arjuna that "You act according to My direction. Because you are individual consciousness, subordinate to Me, and I am Superconsciousness." And in the last phase of Bhagavad-gītā, you'll see that He summarized, Lord Kṛṣṇa summarized, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You just surrender unto Me." This is the sum and substance of everything. So therefore the conclusion is that the individual consciousness should surrender to the supreme consciousness and act accordingly. That is the position of standing on the conscious plane. That is the position of conscious plane.

Kṛṣṇa is being questioned by Arjuna that "What are the symptoms of such person who is already in that position of dovetailing the individual consciousness with the superconsciousness?"
Lecture on BG 2.51-55 -- New York, April 12, 1966:

This is the position of yoga. Yoga, samādhi. Samādhi means to be always in the, situated in the superconsciousness, situated in the business of dovetailing with the superconsciousness. That is called samādhi. Bhagavad-gītā. Śruti-vipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā. You are not deviated even by hearing so many other things. If you are not deviated, then that position is called samādhi, and that position is the highest position of your life.

Now, Kṛṣṇa is being questioned by Arjuna that "What are the symptoms of such person who is already in that position of dovetailing the individual consciousness with the superconsciousness? What are the symptoms?"

The supreme consciousness and my consciousness is qualitatively one. But quantitatively, the supreme consciousness is different from individual consciousness. Individual consciousness is limited, and the supreme consciousness is unlimited.
Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

Kṛṣṇa is supreme consciousness. And Arjuna is individual consciousness. About consciousness, I have explained several times that we are all consciousness, but we are not supreme consciousness. Supreme consciousness is the Supreme Lord. That we have to understand first, that supreme consciousness... We are consciousness undoubtedly, but we are not supreme consciousness. If we falsely claim that "I am also the supreme consciousness," that will be a false claim. We are not actually the supreme consciousness. Qualitatively, we are one. Qualitatively, we are one. The supreme consciousness and my consciousness is qualitatively one. But quantitatively, the supreme consciousness is different from individual consciousness. Individual consciousness is limited, and the supreme consciousness is unlimited.

As soon as the hand is paralyzed, you cannot do anything. You claim your hand, that "This is my hand," but when your hand is paralyzed, you cannot move it. Your, that individual consciousness, is unable to do anything.
Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

Now the sun is described here, yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā: "Now, this sun planet is the king of all planets." But what it is? "It is the eye of the Supreme Lord." Now, just imagine: we have got eyes, but unless the Lord sees with eyes of the sun, our eyes have no meaning. No meaning. If there is no daylight, then all eye, our all pride of having a two, one pair of eyes, finished. Everything finished. We must have light. And that is, that light is by the Lord. So in every respect... Therefore Lord is called Hṛṣīkeśa. Our senses, they are actually the property, property. I think, "Oh, I have got this hand. I move this way. All right. So I move this way. This is my hand. I can do this way or that, as I like." No. You cannot do it. As soon as the hand is paralyzed, you cannot do anything. You claim your hand, that "This is my hand," but when your hand is paralyzed, you cannot move it. Your, that individual consciousness, is unable to do anything.

"I am individual consciousness, and I shall be dovetailed with the Supreme Consciousness." That is jñāna.
Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

If we can surrender unto Kṛṣṇa and fully become Kṛṣṇa conscious—just the example Arjuna showed; he became Kṛṣṇa conscious—then our knowledge will be ablaze and all the reactions of our good work and bad work will be turned into ashes. We shall be purified. Na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ pavitram iha vidyate (BG 4.38). The Lord says again, "There is nothing purified things in this material world except jñāna, or knowledge." What is that knowledge? That knowledge is that, that "I am part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Therefore my business is to dovetail myself with the Supreme Consciousness. I am individual consciousness, and I shall be dovetailed with the Supreme Consciousness." That is jñāna.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

If you make analytical study, you'll know that every one of us is individual and we have got individual consciousness, limited consciousness, not extensive.
Lecture on SB 7.7.22-26 -- San Francisco, March 10, 1967:

So this illumination, this consciousness is also limited. Your consciousness, my consciousness, they are limited. You cannot perceive or understand what I am thinking; I cannot perceive or understand what you are thinking. If you are feeling, I mean to say, uncomfortable, I do not understand it. And if I am feeling happy, you do not understand it. In this way, if you make analytical study, you'll know that every one of us is individual and we have got individual consciousness, limited consciousness, not extensive. The Māyāvādī philosophers who mistake that "I am unlimited consciousness," no. If you deliberate, if you think wisely, then you are not unlimited consciousness. Your consciousness cannot approach my perception. Therefore I am limited consciousness. But because I have got consciousness, you have got consciousness, we are living soul, therefore the Supreme Soul, He has got His consciousness, and that is unlimited consciousness.

When this individual consciousness is in agreement with the superconsciousness, it is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture on SB 7.9.19 -- Hamburg, September 7, 1969, (with German Translator):

Now, as I have already explained to you, that being qualitatively one, as we have got consciousness, God has also got... He is also conscious. He has got consciousness. So when this individual consciousness is in agreement with the superconsciousness, it is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means that our consciousness at the present moment is misguided. We have to dovetail it with Kṛṣṇa's consciousness. This is called oneness, or agreeing with the superconsciousness. That is called oneness. For example, just like you are citizens of this German state. If you are in agreement with the state laws, your life is secure and safe. But if you are in disagreement with the state laws, your life is not safe. Similarly, when we are in agreement with the supreme consciousness, then we become immediately peaceful and happy.

General Lectures

This is individual consciousness: "I am present all over my body." Similarly, the supreme consciousness, he is present all over the universe, all over.
Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

The Supreme Lord is represented throughout everything, whatever you see, matter or spirit or anything, physical, chemical—whatever you can give name—there are so many things. But they are not separated from God. God is linked up in everywhere. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). Just like our Bhagavad-gītā, we have begun that yena sarvam idaṁ tatam: "That thing which is present all over the body, that you are." So this is individual consciousness: "I am present all over my body." Similarly, the supreme consciousness, he is present all over the universe, all over. This is only a small manifestation of God's energy, very minute. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find, ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). This jagat... Jagat means this material manifestation. This material manifestation is a one-fourth part demonstration of this whole energy of the Supreme Lord, one-fourth part. So nothing is different from God.

You can go on crying in the wilderness for universal fraternity, friendship, equality, but if you keep your individuality, individual consciousness, selfish consciousness, there is no possibility of peace or tranquillity in the world.
Lecture at a School -- Montreal, June 11, 1968:

So unless we dovetail our activities with the supreme consciousness, or God consciousness, there cannot be equality, fraternity, or universality as we are hankering after. It is not possible. You can go on crying in the wilderness for universal fraternity, friendship, equality, but if you keep your individuality, individual consciousness, selfish consciousness, there is no possibility of peace or tranquillity in the world. Therefore people are very much anxious at the present moment for peace and tranquillity over the world, but they do not know how that peace can be attained. Peace can be attained. The formula is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). You can attain peace only when you understand that God is the proprietor of everything.

This superconsciousness can only be achieved by dovetailing individual consciousness with the superconsciousness. And this dovetailing process is called surrender, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture -- Seattle, October 11, 1968:

I can understand what is going on within my limited body, but I cannot feel what is going on in another's body. I am present all over my body by my consciousness, but I am not present in any other's body by my consciousness. However, the Supersoul or Paramātmā, being present within everyone, situated everywhere, is conscious of every existence. The theory that the soul and the Supersoul are one is not acceptable because the individual soul's consciousness cannot act in superconsciousness. This superconsciousness can only be achieved by dovetailing individual consciousness with the superconsciousness. And this dovetailing process is called surrender, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. From the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā we learn very clearly that Arjuna in the beginning did not want to fight with his brothers and relatives. But after understanding the Bhagavad-gītā, when he dovetailed his consciousness with the superconsciousness of Kṛṣṇa, it was Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Individual consciousness and the supreme consciousness, God and we are all the same principle. God is also living being, we are also living being, but He is the supreme living being.
Lecture at St. Pascal's Franciscan Seminary -- Melbourne, June 28, 1974:

Guest (5): Now, some people would say that the source of evil is individual consciousness, our consciousness as persons. Others would have other ways of answering. I was wondering how you yourself would say.

Prabhupāda: Individual consciousness and the supreme consciousness, God and we... We are all also the same principle. God is also living being, we are also living being, but He is the supreme living being. That is stated in the Vedas. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Nitya means eternal. God is eternal; we are also eternal. But because we have fallen down in this material existence, we have forgotten our eternity; we are changing body. We are thinking, "I am this body." This is our misgivings. But God does not fall down. He is eternal. We are also eternal, but because we are very small fragment, sometimes we fall down. Therefore God's another name is Acyuta—"Never falls down." We cyuta, we fall down sometimes. When we fall down, then God comes to save us. So this is the difference between God and us, that we are also eternal and God is also eternal. We are also cognizant, God is also cognizant. In this way, qualitatively, you will find God and we are the same. But quantitatively we are different.

Philosophy Discussions

I am conscious about my body. I am not conscious of your body. This is individual consciousness.
Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

So that is our view, that consciousness, just like I am conscious, but I am conscious about my body. I am not conscious of your body. This is individual consciousness. You are conscious of your body, but you are not conscious of my body. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, kṣetra-kṣetrajña, that individual soul is conscious of his own body, each and every individual soul, but there is another consciousness, that is superconsciousness. That is God. God is in everyone's heart, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata (BG 13.3). I am also within the body, but He is not like that individual soul, limited within that body. He is residing in everyone's body, so that He is superconscious, Supersoul, Paramātmā.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

We also believe individual consciousness and cosmic consciousness. We are now studying this subject matter in our class.
Room Conversation with Rosicrucians -- August 13, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Evolution of man. So man is going to evolve more? What is that ultimate evolution?

Yogeśvara: To a reintegration of man with the cosmos or cosmic consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Cosmic consciousness. We also believe individual consciousness and cosmic consciousness. We are now studying this subject matter in our class. Kṣetra-kṣetra-jña. So kṣetra-jña, the knower... The individual soul is also knower, conscious, and the Supersoul, God, is also conscious. So we also admit, universal consciousness, that is God's consciousness. (break)... consciousness is limited.

The supreme consciousness and our individual consciousness, when they are in exchange of love, that is perfection.
Room Conversation with Rosicrucians -- August 13, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Yes. So that is the evolution, when our consciousness is in agreement with the supreme consciousness. (break) That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Yogeśvara: He says that the Rosicrucian order is a mystical and philosophical order that allows its students...

Prabhupāda: Who is Rosin? He is a philosopher?

Yogeśvara: He says that the term Rosicrucian means, it's an image of a cross with a rose in the center. It means that the disciple is aspiring towards the perfection of his consciousness and that this also means the perfection of consciousness.

Prabhupāda: So what is the ideal of that perfection of consciousness?

Yogeśvara: He says it is love.

Prabhupāda: Love, that's nice. Very good. So the supreme consciousness and our individual consciousness, when they are in exchange of love, that is perfection.

Correspondence

1967 Correspondence

The individual consciousness which is limited, when dovetailed with the Supreme Consciousness of the Lord is called Krishna Consciousness.
Letter to Madhusudana -- Navadvipa 2 November, 1967:

Differentiation between spirit & matter is clear & practical experience, when a living creature is dead no amount of material advancement of science can bring back a dead body to life. The thing which is absent from a dead body is the spirit. As there is individual spirit in individual body, similarly there is the Great Spirit in the universal material form. As the individual spirit is working systematically within the individual material body, similarly, the Supreme Spirit is conscious of the universal body. The lord knows what is happening in each & every planet as much as an individual soul knows what is happening in each & every part of his body. Therefore, the individual consciousness which is limited, when dovetailed with the Supreme Consciousness of the Lord is called Krishna Consciousness.

Page Title:Individual consciousness
Compiler:Rekha, Matea
Created:12 of Dec, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=3, SB=6, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=13, Con=2, Let=1
No. of Quotes:25