“‘The Radiant Infinite being who is immortal and moves alone, preserves the unclean nest (the body) with the help of the vital force, and roams out of the nest. Himself immortal, he goes wherever he likes. ‘In the dream world, the shining one, attaining higher and lower states, puts forth innumerable forms. He seems to be enjoying himself in the company of women, or laughing, or even seeing frightful things. ‘All see his sport, but none sees him’. They say, ‘Do not wake him up suddenly’. If he does not find the right organ, the body becomes difficult to doctor. Others, however, say that the dream state of a man is nothing but the waking state, because he sees in dream only those things that he sees in the waking state. (This is wrong) In the dream state the man himself becomes the light. ‘I give you a thousand (cows), sir. Please instruct me further about liberation’. After enjoying himself and roaming, and merely seeing (the result of) good and evil (in dream), he (stays) in a state of profound sleep, and comes back in the inverse order to his former condition, the dream state. He is untouched by whatever he sees in that state, for this infinite being is unattached. ‘It is just so, Yajnavalkya. I give you a thousand (cows), sir. Please instruct me further about liberation itself.’ After enjoying himself and roaming in the dream state, and merely seeing (the results of) good and evil, he comes back in the inverse order to his former condition, the waking state. He is untouched by whatever he sees in that state, for this infinite being is unattached. ‘It is just so, Yajnavalkya. I give you a thousand (cows), sir.” ~Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Radiant Infinite Being
The radiant infinite being that preserves the physical body can be none other than the Soul. It preserves the body only in the sense that being spiritual and permanent, the soul holds the body together. Without the spirit and soul, the physical body would be like Jello without a Jello mold. The spirit has certain energies that keep the body from disintegrating much faster than it does. It happens anyway, but far more slowly.
He Goes Where He Likes
The Radiant Infinite Being can go where it wishes to because spirits are not confined in any way by the laws of space and time. Those laws apply to the physical only, or to those things that are part physical and part spiritual. While some think that humans are part physical and part spiritual, those parts are not blended together. The Spirit and Soul, and the physical body and mind remain separate like two beings living in the same place. So the Soul is free to go where it wishes without having to deal with the limitations of the physical body.
Man Becomes the Light
The quote says that in a dream state, man becomes the light. That doesn’t mean that w can only experience the Light of Spirit while sleeping. Nor does it mean that such states of higher consciousness are just fantasies from dreams. It means that when we are sleeping, our conscious, active mind is relaxed, and that permits the spiritual mind to move forward. It is as if a door has been unlocked or a barrier removed. The soul probably tries to communicate with the mind often, but usually fails, or has extremely limited success, because of the blocks set up by the mind. Some say that is why the ego must be destroyed, but they are wrong. Ego is necessary to function in the physical world. It needs to be controlled, subdued, not destroyed.
The good news is that it isn’t necessary to be sleeping to “become the light”. The Radiant Infinite Being can be set free and allowed to communicate with the conscious mind while fully awake. It just takes discipline and practice. A lot of practice. And shortcuts like drugs do not actually help at all, they merely make hallucinations and illusions seem to be a spiritual awakening. Fortunately, we are in the age of the Sun of Righteousness. That special variation of the Spiritual Sun is sending out spiritual light in greater amounts and higher frequencies than ever before. It will affect all of us, but mostly those who turn to it and absorb that Spiritual Light willingly. Your Radiant Infinite Being will really appreciate your doing that. So will your conscious self when your Soul reaches the highest levels of consciousness and you achieve the ultimate knowledge called Gnosis.
